Are y’all ready for the three day weekend? We know we are and so we’d thought we’d bless you with some quality content before you head out. First, some of our favorite music podcasts for quality content ingestion. Second, a reminder of why you’re here on this planet from Simon Sinek. And finally a symbol of hope in the form of blues musicians Daryl Davis and his quest to listen.
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You Are What You Eat. You Produce What You’re Fed.
In the 21st century the idea of success is so heavily based on our feeds. Social media. Streaming services. Companies and creators from all sectors of business and art want to be on these feeds. They’re clamoring and clawing to be a part of your daily scroll.
However, the far more important question is:
What do YOU want in your feed?
Today we bring you some healthy mental feed. Here are some great music podcasts to fuel your creativity and motivation.
Podcasts for music lovers.
- Dissect Each season breaks down one classic album
- Because The Internet By Childish Gambino
- Lemonade by Beyonce
- DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar
- Broken Record interviews with notable artists by the producer Rick Rubin, the writer Malcolm Gladwell, and the former New York Times editor Bruce Headlam.
- Song Exploder is “a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made.”
Just like when you eat high quality food your body will feel good, if you consume high quality content that supports your creativity, you will see the results in your music.
Simon Sinek: Start With Why
Simon Sinek is a world renowned author, speaker, and thinker who hosted one of the highest viewed TED Talks of all time.The topic of that TED Talk: Start with WHY.
In the above TED talk, Simon breaks down what he calls “The Golden Circle”, from the center out this three ringed circle is: Why, How and finally What. Often artists get caught up in the two outer rings.
- What do I call it? What genre is this?
- How will I make money? How did they do it?
If someone gets stuck in this loop there is a limitless amount of potentialites and hypotheticals creating the infamous “paralysis by analysis”. And what comes after that? Frustration, fatigue and usually a Netflix binge of distraction.
Start with “Why”
Why do you make music? Why do you sit alone in a dark room EQing a snare for 4 hours? What sane person does that?! You know why. We all know why. Creating music is one of the most inspiring and fascinating experiences a person can have in life. Start there and follow that feeling, the “how” and “what” will come after.
One Musician Convinced 200 Ku Klux Klan Members To Give Up Their Robes
What do you think it takes for a member of the KKK to change their beliefs? Renowned blues pianist Darly Davis proved that all it takes is MUSIC. Music has the power to connect people regardless of how separate they may seem. Music can break boundaries between humans unlike any other force.
Davis first encountered the klan when a member bought him a drink after watching him play piano. The klan member was resolved in his belief that Davis was inferior, but he was still willing to sit with Davis because he respected Davis as a musician.
Intrigued by this interaction, Davis started meeting more klan members and even attending meetings, all the while treating them with respect. Not because he respected their beliefs. Because he respected their right to hold their beliefs. After receiving sound respect from Davis despite their hatred for him, hundreds of them realized their bigotry and gave up their robes.
It was MUSIC that made this possible. Consider that the next time you’re in the studio. What you’re creating has the power to change people’s fundamental beliefs. It has the power to form bonds between people that would otherwise seem impossible.
Check out some of Davis’s insight below to further understand this journey.: