Music Transforms -- Chad Lawson on creativity, healing, and human connection

WEBVTT
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My role is not to impress the mind, but to impact
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the heart. My role is to hold your hand through
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whatever it is that you're going through. And
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my role is to sometimes even bring forth attention
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to a need that you may not even know you had.
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We live in a time where we have seen everything.
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everything. And yet we live in a time where we
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no longer feel anything. Be in an Uber in the
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backseat with the window down and have a smile
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on your face because this song just tracks so
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well. That is what I hope my music will do, is
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invite the listener to simply just... Welcome
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to the very first episode of Season 6 of The
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Piano Pod, my friends. It's finally here. How
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was your summer? I had a great one. Not much
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traveling, but a really productive summer. I
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share more about that in the Season 6 intro episode,
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which came out last week, so be sure to catch
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up if you haven't yet. The link is in the show
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notes. This season is all about creativity and
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connection. And I can't tell you how thrilled
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I am to begin the season new chapter with you.
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One of the biggest announcements is something
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I have been dreaming of for a long time. Our
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very first live event on October 4th, the Piano
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Pot Live in Concert at Stiefel Hall, presented
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in partnership with Manus Prep at the New School,
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a pre -college music program offering comprehensive
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and nurturing training for young musicians. All
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the details are in the introductory episode as
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well. And if you're in the New York City area
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on October 4th, I'd love for you to join us.
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Let's celebrate creativity, connection, and live
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music together. And now let's talk about today's
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guest. To start this season of creativity and
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connection, I can't think of a more fitting guest
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than Steinway artist, composer, and wellness
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advocate, Chad Lawson. Chad is not only a composer
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and pianist whose music has reached millions
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around the world, he is also the creator and
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host of the renowned podcast, Calm It Down, where
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he helps people slow down, breathe, and find
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a moment of peace in the middle of life's chaos.
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And in 2024, he became the very first musician
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to be appointed a United Nations Ambassador for
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the World Federation of Mental Health, composing
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The Light Within. as the official theme song
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for World Mental Health Day. But what moves me
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most about Chad is the way he approaches his
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artistry with deep kindness and empathy. A little
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spoiler here. He told me in our conversation
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that there are artists who create for themselves
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and there are other artists who create for their
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audience. And he said, I create because I want
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to help people with whatever they are going through
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emotionally. That's my role as an artist. When
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you listen to his music, you can feel the intention
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that he is right there with you, offering presence,
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compassion through sound. So, as we open this
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new season, I invite you to lean in. This is
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not just a conversation about music. It's about
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presence, empathy, and what it means to create
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with others in mind. And before we begin, I want
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to thank you for being here. Every time you hit
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the thumbs up, leave a rating, subscribe on your
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favorite podcast platform, or share an episode
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with your friend, it really helps this work continue.
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It means the world to me. Here is Season 6, Episode
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1 of The Piano Pod with Billboard chart -topping
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artist and UN Ambassador Chad Lawson. Please
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enjoy the show. You are listening to The Piano
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Pod, where we talk to the brightest minds in
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the industry about how they are bringing the
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piano into the future and thriving in a complex,
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ever -evolving world. Chad, welcome to The Piano
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Pod, and thank you so much for being here today.
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What an honor. Oh my gosh, Yukimi. I mean, honestly,
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the honor is mine. Congrats on the new episode
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series. This is fantastic. I'm going to turn
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the conversation just a little bit and ask you
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in the five seasons, right? This is season six,
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right? My word, so much work. In the five seasons,
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what has surprised you the most about the conversations
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you've had? Like right now, I have never thought
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I would be asked that question. That's a surprise.
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You said, what surprised me? Yeah, if you could,
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like, what has, like, yeah, like, what if up
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to this point? That, wow, classical musicians,
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you know, because this is a classical piano podcast.
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We are so creative people. Yeah, you know, because
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the training was so hard and as much as we love
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it, but. It was a strict rigor training. But
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then when I talked to the people, wow, we are
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such creatives. And I've been, I'm learning so
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much. I've been so encouraged. Because the beginning
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of, the reason why, one of the reasons why I
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wanted to start it was that I was quite angry,
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you know? It's like, the classical music is dead.
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it's dying. I've been hearing this over and over
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and it's like, it is, you know, I'm teaching
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young children. And then when I see them, they
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listen to pop music, which is great. But so,
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you know, that's how I started. But when I dig
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deeper into this conversation and meet more people,
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and then lately I've been invited to so many
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events by guests. And then I realized, wow, we're
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a bunch of crazy creative people. Yeah. Well,
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I think you really hit on something. Um, which
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is like, I think that there is an audience that
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we actually don't even see, right? Like, like,
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like even with my music, and I think this is
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the case with classical and neoclassical and
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instrumental music is like, there's a large listening
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audience for it. I mean, there are, you know,
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you know, playlists on streaming music where
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that's some of their largest playlisting. And
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it's this type of music. And so I think the interesting
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thing is, is like, sorry to dive in here really
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quick, but I think to your point of like, you
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know, I was thinking the same thing too, which
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is like, you know, classical music is dead. It
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has no longer any relevance. Like people are
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giving away pianos. I think the interesting thing
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about what the pandemic did is it went back and
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it showed the importance of one creativity to
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your point. And it also highlighted just like
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the need for us to create and to like really
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put our hands to things. Then also to like have
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that activity of like creating something beautiful
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that's also like calming music. And so it's one
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of those things where if you look at the genre
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of the music that we're doing, like if we look
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at my data, I'm a data nerd. Sunday night through
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Thursday, like my numbers or streaming numbers
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are super high, which I'm grateful. Come Thursday
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night, they drop like a rock because nobody wants
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to listen to this on the weekends. And then,
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but Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening, they
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come up again. Right. And so like you have like.
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This large group of people that just want something
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on the background to either read or to study
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or to relax or just not be distracted when they're
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doing something. And I think it's really interesting
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what the landscape has changed so much with streaming
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music because it's removed that barrier of this
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is classical, this is not, or this is one genre
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and this is not. And so like even now, I mean,
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you know, my my oldest son, he turns 15 in two
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weeks and I'll go through and he'll be listening
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to like, you know, solo violin or he'll be listening
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to Queen or he'll be listening to, you know,
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some random bands I've never heard of. But then
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you go back again and then he's listening to
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Bach, you know, and it's like I think the incredible
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thing is it's removed that barrier. that it has
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to be one of these things. And now that I don't
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even know if the word curiosity comes into play
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anymore. Cause I mean, I think it used to like
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people used to have to be like really curious
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to find good music. And it's like, no, it's out
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there. You just have to look for it. And I almost
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think we're at a point now where it's just like,
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how much like, do you really have to go out of
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your way to find it? You know? And so I think
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it's beautiful. I think it's fantastic. Sorry.
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But I also I think that's why, you know, you're
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starting off with season six, because like you
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have so much conversation and so many people
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that are not only wanting to share, but also
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wanting to hear. I think it's really fantastic.
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Oh, same. I feel the same thing way about you
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and how you're reaching to your audience. And
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then, in fact, a couple of weeks ago, I have
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a lot of adult students now where they have never
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taken lessons. They live in I live in Brooklyn.
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and williamsburg so the generation is younger
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you know young uh millennials or gen z i'm seeing
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gen z's as well and then they i'm surprised at
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how much they are eager to learn you know and
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they didn't receive proper music education per
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se you know and so music to them is just pressing
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their device and listening instead of creating
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So, and they love listening to, yeah, minimalistic
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music. And then I introduce your music because
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I got to know your music through this conversation
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before even then. And they love it. They fell
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in love. And then they're like, when does this
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episode come out? Oh, thank you. That's so kind.
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Yeah, so there's a magic that you do to be able
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to connect, not just in terms of this traditional
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concert, live concert setting, but also podcast
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has your music and also meditative because you're
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a certified meditation teacher, right? So certified
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in breathwork. I have a couple of certifications
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in breathwork education, and then I go around
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to universities and just help young adults just
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decompress. I help them learn what anxiety is
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or learn how to just kind of downshift, which
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is, it's, I mean, it's, it's open doors that
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I never have ever imagined as far as like the
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mindfulness space. But I mean, that's, You know,
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it's funny because we have two types of artists.
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We have the artists that they have to produce
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art because that is what they have to do. So
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like the David Bowies, right, or the Todd Rundgrens
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or the Thelonious Monks. They didn't care. They
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just had to create. And it didn't matter to them
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what kind of response they received. So we need
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those types of artists. And then the other artist
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is artists that create for their audience, that
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they know what their audience is and they want
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to be able to say, I'm creating with you in mind.
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We need those artists too. And I feel like I
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fall in that category, which is like I create
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because I want to help people. with whatever
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it is they're going through emotionally. And
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it took me a long time to actually be okay with
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that. Not okay with like helping people, but
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okay with the mindset of like, that is my role
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in creating. And the reason why I say that is
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because to your point, and you've spoken to many
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pianists, like we spend our lives locked away
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in a room with one of these things and four hours
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on end, right? Six hours a day to where you're
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just mastering your craft, you're honing your
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craft, you're really wanting to be able to play.
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like perfectly, right? And so it only makes sense
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that as an artist or a composer or what have
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you, that they would then want to bring that
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music to fruition. But the interesting thing
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that I found for me personally, because I came
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from a really strong jazz background, and so
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like improvisation, and so it was classical,
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and then it was jazz. And I still study jazz.
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I still take lessons. But it's one of those things
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where it's just like when I started doing like
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this solo piano, like neoclassical, post -classical,
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minimalist kind of thing, you know, my mindset
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was like, I'm going to raise the bar. Like I'm
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really going to like, let's bring something like
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really creative. And the interesting thing was
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that music fell flat. It did not land anywhere.
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I don't say anywhere, but it was one of those
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things where it's just like. it just didn't work.
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And so I really had to stop and think about it
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because I was really trying to do something incredibly
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creative in this minimalist space. And what I
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came to figure out is people don't want to be
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challenged. And I mean that respectfully. And
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so let me explain that a little bit. They don't
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want to be challenged in the sense of they might
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work a job that they don't enjoy. Or they might
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come home to like a leaky faucet or maybe to
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like a sick kid or to, you know, fill in the
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blank of all the things that we go through every
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day. And so like the last thing that they want
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to come home and put on a vinyl or put on some
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music and then have the, okay, now I'm going
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to focus. Like nobody has that bandwidth whatsoever.
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And so like, that's kind of what was happening.
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It was just like, no, this is really creative.
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Check out this sharp 11 and check out these subdominants
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and the, you know, tritone substitutions. And
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people were just like, yeah, man, I don't have
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the headspace for that. I just want something
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that's just going to like make me feel better.
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Right. And so that took me a long time to figure
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out. And then once I figured that out, I was
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just like, oh, okay. you know so going back to
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those two types of artists the ones that create
00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:48.580
the ones that you know create for their audience
00:15:48.580 --> 00:15:53.220
i fall in that category because for me personally
00:15:53.220 --> 00:15:56.860
um i'm an empath by nature and so like i don't
00:15:56.860 --> 00:15:58.840
want to create something and then put it out
00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:01.840
there and then just ignore the audience like
00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:04.740
like i want to be really intentional because
00:16:04.740 --> 00:16:07.840
you know my audience which i'm really grateful
00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.990
for they're very they reach out and they share
00:16:10.990 --> 00:16:12.889
and they share messages and they share emails
00:16:12.889 --> 00:16:15.509
and they share, you know, after a live performance,
00:16:15.669 --> 00:16:18.009
they'll come up and they'll want to talk. And
00:16:18.009 --> 00:16:22.429
they'll say, you know, my father is, you know,
00:16:22.429 --> 00:16:25.129
struggling through all these things. And I just
00:16:25.129 --> 00:16:26.850
sit and I listen to your music and I, I just,
00:16:26.889 --> 00:16:30.549
I cry. And so at that point, it really becomes
00:16:30.549 --> 00:16:35.509
less about creating for the sake of just creating
00:16:35.509 --> 00:16:41.460
to like, to be. to be sharp 11 tritone subdominance
00:16:41.460 --> 00:16:44.559
to where you're just creating music because you
00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:47.860
just literally want to help people. And for me
00:16:47.860 --> 00:16:50.519
personally, that is kind of what I landed on
00:16:50.519 --> 00:16:55.320
two years ago, like specifically. I waited tables
00:16:55.320 --> 00:16:57.019
for 15 years. I'm going to go down the rabbit
00:16:57.019 --> 00:16:59.179
trail really quick. I waited tables for 15 years.
00:16:59.629 --> 00:17:02.409
And New York. Peter Luger's actually was my last
00:17:02.409 --> 00:17:05.450
job up in New York City. Oh, I live very near.
00:17:07.450 --> 00:17:10.509
Amazing place, amazing people. But I mean, you
00:17:10.509 --> 00:17:12.849
know, as an artist, I mean, that's the role.
00:17:13.049 --> 00:17:14.829
I mean, you have a stake in one hand and you
00:17:14.829 --> 00:17:16.910
have a promo pack in the other. And so you're
00:17:16.910 --> 00:17:18.990
constantly trying to like, you know, find a gig
00:17:18.990 --> 00:17:21.329
while still working and whatnot. But the interesting
00:17:21.329 --> 00:17:23.730
thing about waiting tables that taught me the
00:17:23.730 --> 00:17:26.529
greatest thing is how to connect with people.
00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:29.619
Because at every given point, you have about
00:17:29.619 --> 00:17:32.240
30 different personalities that you're trying
00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:36.359
to tend to and navigate and eggshell and connect
00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:41.500
with and also just take care of. And that's the
00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:45.240
role of someone, I see it, as waiting tables.
00:17:45.579 --> 00:17:50.119
And so if someone ran out of their water and
00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:53.539
they had to ask, then I missed that opportunity
00:17:53.539 --> 00:17:55.920
to take care of them. I totally dropped the ball.
00:17:56.589 --> 00:17:59.950
Whereas if I refill their water without them
00:17:59.950 --> 00:18:02.730
even noticing that they were low or without them
00:18:02.730 --> 00:18:05.930
asking, then I'm taking care of them. I'm accommodating
00:18:05.930 --> 00:18:07.970
their needs even without them knowing they have
00:18:07.970 --> 00:18:12.269
a need. Now, the way I see art, for me personally,
00:18:12.450 --> 00:18:16.990
is the same. My role is to hold your hand through
00:18:16.990 --> 00:18:19.750
whatever it is that you're going through. And
00:18:19.750 --> 00:18:24.950
my role is to sometimes... even bring forth attention
00:18:24.950 --> 00:18:27.569
to a need that you may not even know you had.
00:18:28.250 --> 00:18:31.150
And so what that means is creating something
00:18:31.150 --> 00:18:33.950
where someone can just sit in stillness, close
00:18:33.950 --> 00:18:37.150
your eyes and listen to something. And then they
00:18:37.150 --> 00:18:40.869
begin to peel back some of the self -reflection.
00:18:41.170 --> 00:18:46.069
They begin to ask, what am I feeling? What emotions
00:18:46.069 --> 00:18:49.509
am I going through right now? Right. But they
00:18:49.509 --> 00:18:53.230
have to have that bed. for that. And I think
00:18:53.230 --> 00:18:55.869
that's where the creative element comes in. So
00:18:55.869 --> 00:18:58.529
it's almost as if like, we're not creating to,
00:18:58.650 --> 00:19:04.269
I always say this, my role is not to impress
00:19:04.269 --> 00:19:08.589
the mind, but impact the heart. And I think that's
00:19:08.589 --> 00:19:12.289
really important as far as creatives. It's just
00:19:12.289 --> 00:19:14.069
like, we have to get to the point where it's
00:19:14.069 --> 00:19:16.609
like, it's not about impressing the mind. It
00:19:16.609 --> 00:19:18.789
really is about impacting the heart and just
00:19:18.789 --> 00:19:22.549
letting that really resonate. Because songs are
00:19:22.549 --> 00:19:26.329
given to us. I have this woo -woo theory that
00:19:26.329 --> 00:19:30.390
I might lose some people here. But what if, imagine,
00:19:30.430 --> 00:19:33.549
Yukimi, that, like, every song has already been
00:19:33.549 --> 00:19:37.849
written. Every song, right? So, like, imagine,
00:19:37.890 --> 00:19:41.269
like, Fur Elise to where, like, Fur Elise was
00:19:41.269 --> 00:19:44.130
already created. It was just looking for that
00:19:44.130 --> 00:19:47.369
person, like, the specific person that was going
00:19:47.369 --> 00:19:50.329
to bring that song into fruition. so like who
00:19:50.329 --> 00:19:53.849
is in the headspace to be able to say i'll take
00:19:53.849 --> 00:19:55.529
it i'm the person that's going to bring that
00:19:55.529 --> 00:19:58.730
to you right and the reason why this is the case
00:19:58.730 --> 00:20:02.029
and i'm just bear with me here it's just like
00:20:02.029 --> 00:20:04.089
how many doors if you're at least knock on before
00:20:04.089 --> 00:20:06.490
beethoven was in the headspace of being like
00:20:06.490 --> 00:20:11.150
i'm i'm the person for this because songs are
00:20:11.150 --> 00:20:16.089
given to us they're not ours We are a catalyst
00:20:16.089 --> 00:20:18.789
of art. We are a catalyst of emotion. We are
00:20:18.789 --> 00:20:21.769
a catalyst of healing, of comfort, of dancing,
00:20:22.190 --> 00:20:24.609
of singing, of all the things that are attached
00:20:24.609 --> 00:20:29.589
to art, right? And so like our role as artists,
00:20:29.650 --> 00:20:33.190
the way I see it, is we are given something and
00:20:33.190 --> 00:20:36.109
then we have to release what that is. And so
00:20:36.109 --> 00:20:38.750
like when we release what that creative piece
00:20:38.750 --> 00:20:41.910
is, be it poetry, be it music, be it fill in
00:20:41.910 --> 00:20:45.430
the blank. Then that piece of art is going to
00:20:45.430 --> 00:20:48.970
be able to go further because we're letting it
00:20:48.970 --> 00:20:54.150
go rather than us saying, this is mine, I created
00:20:54.150 --> 00:20:57.329
it, and you should listen to it and then give
00:20:57.329 --> 00:21:00.670
me praise. At that point, the intention of that
00:21:00.670 --> 00:21:06.029
art is capped. It has a glass ceiling. So that
00:21:06.029 --> 00:21:08.170
can only go so far. Is it beautiful? It might
00:21:08.170 --> 00:21:11.529
be. Yeah, very much so. But have you just all
00:21:11.529 --> 00:21:14.460
of a sudden... capped where that piece of art
00:21:14.460 --> 00:21:18.900
can really go yeah and so if we get into this
00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:21.720
creative vibe this creative mindset of like we're
00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:23.920
meant to create but we also have to realize that
00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:27.380
creation is meant to like go further than we
00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:29.880
would ever be able to do it on our own right
00:21:29.880 --> 00:21:33.000
so even with me with writing with writing music
00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:38.079
i never name my songs so the songs are always
00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:41.619
like whatever the key is so you know so on the
00:21:41.619 --> 00:21:46.700
album breathe you know g minor c minor d right
00:21:46.700 --> 00:21:49.039
and like even that like on the scores and the
00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:51.500
charts they're all labeled that so because the
00:21:51.500 --> 00:21:55.059
reason is i don't want to dictate what that song
00:21:55.059 --> 00:22:01.539
is meant to bring to life um so a lot of times
00:22:01.539 --> 00:22:04.059
i have no idea what the song is about and so
00:22:04.059 --> 00:22:05.920
for me personally the way i create the way i
00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:09.960
write is i'll get a melody in my head and then
00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:11.960
another melody in my head, and then another melody
00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:14.319
in my head. And then once I have all of these
00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:17.359
melodies in my head, then I go to the piano and
00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:21.460
I write out the melodies. And then I go and I
00:22:21.460 --> 00:22:23.759
start building the chords and the structure around
00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:27.220
the melodies. But so I'm not one of those people
00:22:27.220 --> 00:22:29.700
that just like... you know, sit for 45 minutes
00:22:29.700 --> 00:22:31.599
every day and just write, you know, this is the
00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:34.259
time. And there are people that do that and that's
00:22:34.259 --> 00:22:36.519
good on them. That's fantastic. For me, I have
00:22:36.519 --> 00:22:40.180
found that doesn't really work so well. And so
00:22:40.180 --> 00:22:44.960
we record the album and they're all called this
00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:48.619
key signatures. And then I'll usually take about
00:22:48.619 --> 00:22:52.240
a month away from the recording. So I won't listen
00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:54.160
to it for a month. So I want to like kind of
00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:56.900
step away from it a little bit. And then I'll
00:22:56.900 --> 00:22:59.259
just, after about a month, I'll sit and I'll
00:22:59.259 --> 00:23:01.680
have the album playing very lightly in the background
00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:04.500
and I'll just read. I'll read poetry. I'm a huge
00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:07.440
poetry nerd. And I'll just sit through and then
00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:10.279
I'll just, as I'm reading something and I hear
00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:14.680
something, then I'll be like, that kind of connects.
00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:18.119
What I'm reading right now and that song, they
00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:21.519
kind of connect with each other. But the reason
00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:23.740
why I do this is because I don't want, if I were
00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:28.559
to write a song, and title it sunflowers you
00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:31.779
instantly have an image of sunflowers whereas
00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:34.819
like you might hate sunflowers and so like you
00:23:34.819 --> 00:23:36.539
would probably see that and just be like skip
00:23:36.539 --> 00:23:39.059
i don't want to hear that right and so like if
00:23:39.059 --> 00:23:42.599
we allow ourselves to be giving of whatever the
00:23:42.599 --> 00:23:46.000
song is and so case in point there is a song
00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:49.480
on the album breathe um called called g minor
00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:54.259
um called filter forever And it's very similar
00:23:54.259 --> 00:23:56.500
to that song. Like that song began to tell me
00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:58.799
what it was about during the recording session.
00:23:59.220 --> 00:24:03.799
So we were at Abbey Road Studio 2. I had cellist
00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:06.539
Peter Gregson with me and I had violinist Esther
00:24:06.539 --> 00:24:08.819
Yu. And so the three of us were literally in
00:24:08.819 --> 00:24:11.359
the same room together. The red light was on.
00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:14.880
We're playing this song called G minor. And in
00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:18.359
the middle of the song, I started getting these
00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:22.859
images just flooding me. of my mom and dad and
00:24:22.859 --> 00:24:26.119
their happiest moments. And I had lost my dad
00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:29.579
about two years before that. So fairly recent.
00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:33.319
And it was just overwhelming. And so like, and
00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:35.720
they were like these little moments, like them
00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:38.380
watching TV together or having a picnic or like,
00:24:38.460 --> 00:24:41.599
you know, driving on the parkway. But like, I
00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:44.140
instantly started getting flooded with these
00:24:44.140 --> 00:24:46.339
images and just like to the point where like.
00:24:46.859 --> 00:24:48.640
I'm like, okay, I really appreciate you telling
00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:50.380
me what the song is about, but could you have
00:24:50.380 --> 00:24:53.519
waited until after we recorded it? So it was
00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:56.480
really overwhelming. And it was one of those
00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:59.440
things where like, I allowed that song to kind
00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:03.579
of tell me where it was supposed to go. And that
00:25:03.579 --> 00:25:05.640
is the one song that every time I play that live,
00:25:05.720 --> 00:25:08.039
someone comes up and goes, you know, I have no
00:25:08.039 --> 00:25:10.359
idea what that song is about, but it just wrecks
00:25:10.359 --> 00:25:14.059
me every time I hear it, right? So the role of
00:25:14.059 --> 00:25:19.710
a creator. is to be selfless and to rid ourself
00:25:19.710 --> 00:25:22.750
of the idea of like, this is my creation. I own
00:25:22.750 --> 00:25:24.630
it. I created it. You should be proud of me.
00:25:25.529 --> 00:25:28.549
To where it's like, hey, you know what? I was
00:25:28.549 --> 00:25:31.589
given flowers and now I want to turn around and
00:25:31.589 --> 00:25:34.569
I want to give these flowers to you. So that's
00:25:34.569 --> 00:25:37.890
how I see creativity for me personally. Wow.
00:25:38.890 --> 00:25:44.599
Thank you. I know. No, lovely, beautiful. Thank
00:25:44.599 --> 00:25:50.220
you so much. So I don't know, it's the way you
00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:57.599
write songs, music, or the way you speak. There's
00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:01.339
something about you, your artistry set them apart
00:26:01.339 --> 00:26:07.000
from others. So what do you think that is besides
00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:11.720
what you just mentioned? Well, I have a different
00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:15.200
voice. Like every artist has, like, you know,
00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:18.579
I hadn't planned on playing the piano, oddly
00:26:18.579 --> 00:26:21.700
enough. But if you look at the piano, let's take
00:26:21.700 --> 00:26:23.920
an octave, for instance. Yeah, you can see that.
00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:27.460
And if you look at this octave, like each note
00:26:27.460 --> 00:26:30.700
is entirely different. So like this C will always
00:26:30.700 --> 00:26:34.059
be a C. This D will always be a D. They each
00:26:34.059 --> 00:26:36.640
have their own tonality to them. I feel like
00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:39.759
artists are the same way. So like, you know,
00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:43.039
with certain songs, if I'm in the key of C, more
00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:44.900
than likely I'm not going to be playing an F
00:26:44.900 --> 00:26:48.119
sharp. It just doesn't fit, right? And so if
00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:51.680
you think about how certain notes are really
00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:53.819
important, they're actually, they're all important,
00:26:53.940 --> 00:26:57.859
but they're not always needed in that particular
00:26:57.859 --> 00:27:00.599
environment, such as a song in the key of C.
00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:05.440
And we know that like when you're listening to
00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:07.640
something pleasant, it's because you have these
00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:11.279
keys and they sound pleasant. I feel like artists
00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:15.200
are the same way. to where every artist has their
00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:19.180
own particular key. And for some people, that
00:27:19.180 --> 00:27:22.160
note is going to ring out really beautiful on
00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:24.579
a song. But some people might hear that same
00:27:24.579 --> 00:27:26.940
note or that same song and be like, eh, it's
00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:31.759
not for me. And it's no shade on the artist that
00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:34.759
it's not for them. Everyone has their own particular
00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:36.940
taste. I don't know if you've ever watched that
00:27:36.940 --> 00:27:41.680
Philip Glass documentary called Glass. The opening
00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:43.200
scene is one of my favorite things in the entire
00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:45.839
planet. It's like, it's him on a roller coaster
00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:49.759
and he's doing this voiceover and he says it
00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:52.619
so perfectly. The only, you know, Philip Glass
00:27:52.619 --> 00:27:54.900
is the only person that could say this. And the
00:27:54.900 --> 00:27:58.059
voiceover is like, there is so much music out
00:27:58.059 --> 00:28:01.240
there. You have Bach, you have the Beatles, you
00:28:01.240 --> 00:28:03.400
have the Rolling Stones, you have any list, like,
00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:05.740
you know, whatever. And he goes, you don't have
00:28:05.740 --> 00:28:10.029
to listen to me. I don't care. Just go listen
00:28:10.029 --> 00:28:12.210
to something, something that like makes you feel
00:28:12.210 --> 00:28:14.869
alive. And I'm like, that's it right there. Like
00:28:14.869 --> 00:28:19.470
we all have like our definitive note and the
00:28:19.470 --> 00:28:22.609
notes that I play, they're going to land somewhere
00:28:22.609 --> 00:28:25.410
with someone, but they're also not going to land
00:28:25.410 --> 00:28:29.509
with some people. Whereas like you, you can be,
00:28:29.609 --> 00:28:33.670
you can be, sorry. Your notes are going to land
00:28:33.670 --> 00:28:37.990
probably in an audience that. my notes won't.
00:28:38.089 --> 00:28:40.730
And so I think that's really important for us
00:28:40.730 --> 00:28:44.170
to like, you know, to create, not compete. That's
00:28:44.170 --> 00:28:46.210
kind of a mantra to live by. It's like, we're
00:28:46.210 --> 00:28:48.470
not here to like compete. We're here to create
00:28:48.470 --> 00:28:51.069
and to understand that like everybody has their
00:28:51.069 --> 00:28:55.490
unique key. And also a really big thing that
00:28:55.490 --> 00:28:59.650
I, I personally choose to do is not listen to
00:28:59.650 --> 00:29:05.700
artists in my circle, in my genre. So many of
00:29:05.700 --> 00:29:08.839
them are friends. They're incredibly talented,
00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:12.400
but I make it a higher priority not to listen
00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:14.299
to them because I don't want to be influenced
00:29:14.299 --> 00:29:17.079
by them. And that's really important because
00:29:17.079 --> 00:29:21.000
I recognize that they have their audience and
00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:23.180
that their audience is their audience, whereas
00:29:23.180 --> 00:29:26.559
my audience is my audience. And so why would
00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:31.839
I try to deceive my audience in trying to sound
00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:36.279
like someone else? So that's just me personally.
00:29:36.380 --> 00:29:38.339
Coming from the jazz background, it's one of
00:29:38.339 --> 00:29:40.900
those things where you hear something and you
00:29:40.900 --> 00:29:42.759
steal it and then you begin to play it and you
00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:45.740
begin to make it yours. I want to make sure that
00:29:45.740 --> 00:29:50.180
I'm respecting those artists, the artists that
00:29:50.180 --> 00:29:54.019
are in this circle, and not trying to mimic or
00:29:54.019 --> 00:29:57.200
replicate or to steal from what they're doing
00:29:57.200 --> 00:29:59.500
as well. And so I think, I don't know if that
00:29:59.500 --> 00:30:02.970
has something to do with why... as you mentioned,
00:30:03.049 --> 00:30:06.630
which is so kind. My sound might be a little
00:30:06.630 --> 00:30:10.250
different than others. I really am trying to
00:30:10.250 --> 00:30:12.890
keep it as pure and authentic to my own self
00:30:12.890 --> 00:30:15.990
as I can. That's my hope, at least, for sure.
00:30:17.349 --> 00:30:21.009
Let's talk about your actual album, the latest
00:30:21.009 --> 00:30:26.769
one, Where We Are, Unity Edition. I understand
00:30:26.769 --> 00:30:29.410
that you mentioned about your audience. There
00:30:29.410 --> 00:30:34.579
is an original version. which is the 2024, right?
00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:39.079
Yeah. And then the 2024 version, I believe I
00:30:39.079 --> 00:30:43.980
read somewhere that there were a lot of DMs or
00:30:43.980 --> 00:30:48.180
emails from your audiences, your fans, and that
00:30:48.180 --> 00:30:53.480
inspired to create where we are to the original
00:30:53.480 --> 00:30:57.880
2024. But that evolved into so many different.
00:30:58.619 --> 00:31:01.619
things and then came together as unity edition
00:31:01.619 --> 00:31:04.539
so can you tell us what they are please sure
00:31:04.539 --> 00:31:07.099
absolutely i'd be happy to so the funny thing
00:31:07.099 --> 00:31:11.579
about where we are um i had already started writing
00:31:11.579 --> 00:31:14.839
a whole different album and it was about dreams
00:31:14.839 --> 00:31:18.539
it was about the dreams we chase like why do
00:31:18.539 --> 00:31:20.519
you go after that dream that you're going after
00:31:20.519 --> 00:31:24.700
and what if you never caught that dream like
00:31:24.700 --> 00:31:26.519
what if it never happened would you still continue
00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:29.339
every day like going after it So it was very
00:31:29.339 --> 00:31:32.900
much like appreciating the challenge kind of
00:31:32.900 --> 00:31:35.279
thing in a roundabout way. And so the album was
00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:37.859
actually quite different than what most of my
00:31:37.859 --> 00:31:41.960
albums have been. I wanted to be able to make
00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:44.160
it a little bit more classical leaning and a
00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:47.019
little bit more ambitious and rigorous and a
00:31:47.019 --> 00:31:48.720
little bit more demanding, musically speaking.
00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:53.339
And as I'm writing this album, I was applying
00:31:53.339 --> 00:31:55.640
some of the dreams that I had in my life. There
00:31:55.640 --> 00:32:00.400
was a studio up in Norway. in Oslo, um, that
00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:02.599
I had always dreamed of recording. So that was
00:32:02.599 --> 00:32:05.019
going to be part of it. Um, coming from the jazz
00:32:05.019 --> 00:32:09.059
head, the jazz nerds, um, the record label ECM,
00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:12.359
uh, was based out there. So the, the, the studio
00:32:12.359 --> 00:32:14.660
rainbow studio, I was like, I've always dreamed
00:32:14.660 --> 00:32:17.160
of recording the rainbow. So that was like part
00:32:17.160 --> 00:32:20.039
of it. And so like, we had this date, it was
00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:25.400
October, um, of 23. Um, and so like I had a deadline.
00:32:25.950 --> 00:32:28.549
And so like the album was coming along and I
00:32:28.549 --> 00:32:30.910
was really, really happy, but I was like, man,
00:32:30.910 --> 00:32:33.089
something's just not right about this. I can't
00:32:33.089 --> 00:32:36.130
figure it out. And so I was just kind of torn
00:32:36.130 --> 00:32:38.230
because it just wasn't feeling like it was completely
00:32:38.230 --> 00:32:41.009
settled. And then I was doing a live performance
00:32:41.009 --> 00:32:47.309
at Auburn and this young lady, she came up to
00:32:47.309 --> 00:32:51.450
me and she was just absolutely, she couldn't
00:32:51.450 --> 00:32:53.150
form a sentence because she was crying so hard.
00:32:54.059 --> 00:32:57.460
And she said, my dad is dying of stage four cancer
00:32:57.460 --> 00:33:00.900
and all I can do is listen to your music. And
00:33:00.900 --> 00:33:04.559
at that point right there in my mind, I heard
00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:07.700
people aren't ready to dream because they're
00:33:07.700 --> 00:33:11.599
still trying to heal. I have chills right now.
00:33:12.319 --> 00:33:16.180
And that really resonated with me. And so I was
00:33:16.180 --> 00:33:18.339
just like, why am I trying to create something
00:33:18.339 --> 00:33:23.890
that is about me? And so I went home. And I only
00:33:23.890 --> 00:33:26.069
had like, I want to say like two weeks before
00:33:26.069 --> 00:33:29.170
the recording date. And I was like, I need to
00:33:29.170 --> 00:33:31.410
start over and write like a whole new album.
00:33:31.589 --> 00:33:35.329
And so in two weeks, I created Where We Are.
00:33:36.009 --> 00:33:39.430
And that really was like an invitation to heal
00:33:39.430 --> 00:33:46.410
and an invitation to like, to find the idea of
00:33:46.410 --> 00:33:49.109
that, that young lady, she spawned everything
00:33:49.109 --> 00:33:54.130
in the sense of people are suffering people are
00:33:54.130 --> 00:33:56.069
going through difficult times and so i wanted
00:33:56.069 --> 00:33:58.190
to be like you know i wanted to create something
00:33:58.190 --> 00:34:01.170
that is like with them like where they are like
00:34:01.170 --> 00:34:04.769
emotionally and so but instead of like being
00:34:04.769 --> 00:34:06.950
like where you are i was like you know we're
00:34:06.950 --> 00:34:09.110
all in this together and so it really turned
00:34:09.110 --> 00:34:11.510
into like a where we are thing so i wanted to
00:34:11.510 --> 00:34:15.750
like sit and be with people like with them in
00:34:15.750 --> 00:34:18.710
all of this and so in particular there's a song
00:34:18.710 --> 00:34:21.949
called sanctuary on the album And it's like,
00:34:22.010 --> 00:34:26.389
what is your personal sanctuary? What is that
00:34:26.389 --> 00:34:30.309
healing space for you that you can just go and
00:34:30.309 --> 00:34:35.090
just like sit alone? And some people have never
00:34:35.090 --> 00:34:38.429
created that for themselves. And it's like, oh,
00:34:38.530 --> 00:34:40.030
I didn't really thought about that, you know?
00:34:40.170 --> 00:34:42.269
So it was just like, it was an invitation for
00:34:42.269 --> 00:34:44.349
people just to pause and just to take a moment.
00:34:45.269 --> 00:34:47.389
And so the whole album was like really about
00:34:47.389 --> 00:34:50.860
just togetherness. creating something that's
00:34:50.860 --> 00:34:54.860
like intentional about everyone understanding
00:34:54.860 --> 00:34:56.619
like what you're going through. You're not alone
00:34:56.619 --> 00:34:59.659
because I get emails all the time. And a lot
00:34:59.659 --> 00:35:01.940
of times it's the same conversations, different
00:35:01.940 --> 00:35:04.400
people, you know, different, different people,
00:35:04.460 --> 00:35:07.940
but like kind of the same story. And so when
00:35:07.940 --> 00:35:12.619
we decided to do unity, I wanted to extend that.
00:35:12.699 --> 00:35:15.099
I wanted to open up the idea of like bringing
00:35:15.099 --> 00:35:17.989
more people in. I've actually really never done
00:35:17.989 --> 00:35:21.269
like major collaborations. I've had, you know,
00:35:21.269 --> 00:35:24.550
as I mentioned, Esther and Peter, but for the
00:35:24.550 --> 00:35:26.949
most part, like I've never really done any work
00:35:26.949 --> 00:35:29.510
where it's like collaborating, but also like,
00:35:29.570 --> 00:35:32.639
here's the song. do whatever you want to do.
00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:35.519
Like, put your emotion, put your fingerprint.
00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:39.260
Like, what are you feeling when you are hearing
00:35:39.260 --> 00:35:42.380
this? And it was just absolutely fascinating
00:35:42.380 --> 00:35:46.460
to work with, like, Helios and with Holly Kenneth.
00:35:46.760 --> 00:35:50.619
I mean, she's just fantastic. And it was just
00:35:50.619 --> 00:35:54.380
really wonderful to, like, not, again, going
00:35:54.380 --> 00:35:56.519
back to the point to where, like, we're given
00:35:56.519 --> 00:35:59.869
something, and then... in order for us to like,
00:35:59.869 --> 00:36:02.090
let that be art, we also have to let it go. And
00:36:02.090 --> 00:36:06.010
so like my giving them carte blanche, I've been
00:36:06.010 --> 00:36:09.809
like, you know, Brian Senti as well, which is
00:36:09.809 --> 00:36:12.289
just a really wonderful, wonderful musician.
00:36:12.789 --> 00:36:14.510
I've just been like, you have carte blanche,
00:36:14.670 --> 00:36:17.789
like just put your, put your voice to it, you
00:36:17.789 --> 00:36:20.250
know? And so that's why I wanted it to be a unity
00:36:20.250 --> 00:36:22.949
because it just kind of, it did feel really together,
00:36:23.050 --> 00:36:25.570
even though like we were like, the creation process
00:36:25.570 --> 00:36:29.130
was not together whatsoever. but it was a continuation
00:36:29.130 --> 00:36:32.469
and it just felt really, just really natural
00:36:32.469 --> 00:36:34.869
and really beautiful to the point where there's
00:36:34.869 --> 00:36:38.730
actually something, you know, that's releasing
00:36:38.730 --> 00:36:41.829
in October, October 10th. And it's a three song
00:36:41.829 --> 00:36:45.730
EP just going even further with that, with these
00:36:45.730 --> 00:36:49.329
collaborations and the names are just fantastic.
00:36:50.329 --> 00:36:53.070
So, but I can't, can't spoil it because this
00:36:53.070 --> 00:36:59.119
is September. And so that's the wait. Okay. But
00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:02.579
so this new three, you said it's three pieces,
00:37:02.679 --> 00:37:07.000
right? Yeah, yeah. That are coming out of this
00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:10.000
unity. So they're coming out of where we are.
00:37:10.079 --> 00:37:12.780
So there are reworks of where we are. So three
00:37:12.780 --> 00:37:16.219
songs from where we are. I will say one of them
00:37:16.219 --> 00:37:19.039
will already have been released September. So
00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:23.019
that would be a song with Votus 8 and the cellist
00:37:23.019 --> 00:37:26.559
Seth Parker Woods. And then what we did, going
00:37:26.559 --> 00:37:30.980
back to my being a poetry nerd, we took the poetry
00:37:30.980 --> 00:37:33.099
of Rupi Kaur. I don't know if you're familiar
00:37:33.099 --> 00:37:35.860
with Rupi Kaur. So for those that are listening,
00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:40.199
her name is spelled R -U -P -I -K -A -U -R. A
00:37:40.199 --> 00:37:44.639
wonderful poet, Canadian. And so we took one
00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:49.420
of her poems and Jeff Lawson, no relation, the
00:37:49.420 --> 00:37:52.179
arranger, he took her poetry and put it into
00:37:52.179 --> 00:37:57.260
the vocals, the lyrics for Votus 8. And it's
00:37:57.260 --> 00:38:00.280
just stunning. And see, that's so, that's, that's
00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:02.519
what I'm getting at like earlier. And I know
00:38:02.519 --> 00:38:04.139
I'm kind of like, you know, hitting this now
00:38:04.139 --> 00:38:07.619
a little too much on the head, but like when
00:38:07.619 --> 00:38:12.900
you have. But when you can embrace something
00:38:12.900 --> 00:38:18.219
without suffocating it, there's so much that
00:38:18.219 --> 00:38:20.500
is going to surprise you. I mean, look at your
00:38:20.500 --> 00:38:23.239
podcast. Look at your podcast, like what you
00:38:23.239 --> 00:38:26.360
have done. Like you were like, you know what?
00:38:26.360 --> 00:38:28.480
I want to talk to musicians. I want to talk about
00:38:28.480 --> 00:38:31.280
creativity, right? And I just want to hear stories.
00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:36.550
Now we're in like season six. And so because
00:38:36.550 --> 00:38:39.849
you created something really pure and authentic,
00:38:39.989 --> 00:38:43.170
I just want to put this out there and the energy
00:38:43.170 --> 00:38:47.989
behind that and just the selflessness in what
00:38:47.989 --> 00:38:51.610
you're doing. Because my word, I know personally
00:38:51.610 --> 00:38:55.349
how much time podcasts take. It's immense. But
00:38:55.349 --> 00:39:00.130
you're in season six, which is just unbelievable.
00:39:01.099 --> 00:39:03.199
And so it's the same thing, like, with this three
00:39:03.199 --> 00:39:06.960
-song EP. Like, I never in my life did I ever
00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:12.119
dream that I would get to sit and, like, in an
00:39:12.119 --> 00:39:16.539
old church, listening to Vocious 8, like, sing
00:39:16.539 --> 00:39:19.760
an arrangement to one of my songs. I mean, like,
00:39:19.920 --> 00:39:23.579
and I literally, I was just like, I wish every
00:39:23.579 --> 00:39:26.059
artist could, like, experience this once. Because
00:39:26.059 --> 00:39:34.039
it was so blissful. I think because I've been
00:39:34.039 --> 00:39:37.320
able to like release the idea of like, this is
00:39:37.320 --> 00:39:39.119
mine, this is mine, this is mine, this is mine,
00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:41.699
this is mine. And so when you, when you turn
00:39:41.699 --> 00:39:45.739
that around and say, this is everyone's for them
00:39:45.739 --> 00:39:49.159
to experience, then it's just going to open doors.
00:39:49.260 --> 00:39:51.800
You just never even anticipated, you know, to
00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:54.460
be able to like. work with rupee and to work
00:39:54.460 --> 00:39:57.179
with morgan harper nichols who's doing the artwork
00:39:57.179 --> 00:40:00.880
for the ep and like it's just i have chills right
00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:04.619
now right um so yeah so that's that's kind of
00:40:04.619 --> 00:40:06.739
the parts where you know it started with where
00:40:06.739 --> 00:40:09.219
we are and then it went over to unity and now
00:40:09.219 --> 00:40:14.099
it's this is called together um so where we are
00:40:14.099 --> 00:40:17.059
together that's uh that will release october
00:40:17.059 --> 00:40:21.739
10th um but yeah it's it's mind -blowing so i'm
00:40:21.739 --> 00:40:26.989
excited wow But it sounds like, I mean, I used
00:40:26.989 --> 00:40:30.409
to practice yoga intensively. And the pandemic
00:40:30.409 --> 00:40:32.949
hit, and then I've been lazy about that. But
00:40:32.949 --> 00:40:37.010
what I learned from yoga is not only about breathing,
00:40:37.130 --> 00:40:41.849
but also letting go. So it sounds like that's
00:40:41.849 --> 00:40:43.650
what you're talking about, right? Letting go.
00:40:43.789 --> 00:40:48.050
It's not about you. Yes, it is, but it's not.
00:40:48.170 --> 00:40:52.030
And once you let go of yourself, this is mine,
00:40:52.090 --> 00:40:54.550
this is mine. And then you can invite people
00:40:54.550 --> 00:40:57.630
in and there's more opportunity, opportunity,
00:40:57.869 --> 00:41:03.889
not as in the greedy sense, but opportunity of
00:41:03.889 --> 00:41:09.349
people coming together. So much. I mean, you
00:41:09.349 --> 00:41:11.429
just said it so perfectly. I mean, if you think
00:41:11.429 --> 00:41:13.989
about like creativity, I'm a really big fan of
00:41:13.989 --> 00:41:18.789
reverse engineering. So like, you know, what
00:41:18.789 --> 00:41:22.760
is the end result look like? Right. And so you
00:41:22.760 --> 00:41:25.679
have to be kind of careful with that when it
00:41:25.679 --> 00:41:28.260
comes to art. Now, when I say reverse engineering,
00:41:28.500 --> 00:41:30.420
that's more of like the business side of things.
00:41:32.519 --> 00:41:34.500
Whereas like with the creative side of things,
00:41:34.619 --> 00:41:37.719
I don't know if you can look at creativity with
00:41:37.719 --> 00:41:43.179
the end in mind. You know, I read this really
00:41:43.179 --> 00:41:45.239
fascinating article and then I reached out to
00:41:45.239 --> 00:41:47.500
a friend of mine that actually works at Amazon
00:41:47.500 --> 00:41:49.000
and they were like, yes, it's kind of how it
00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:52.769
goes. And the article goes that before Amazon
00:41:52.769 --> 00:41:56.769
even begins like designing or building or putting
00:41:56.769 --> 00:41:59.789
anything like time intensive into a new product,
00:41:59.969 --> 00:42:03.730
they build the press release first. And they're
00:42:03.730 --> 00:42:07.170
like, let's be very specific and write. What
00:42:07.170 --> 00:42:11.989
does this thing do before we even begin? Right.
00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:14.639
And I thought that was really wonderful because
00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:17.280
then there's like a clear definitive, like, and
00:42:17.280 --> 00:42:19.619
then they work backwards. Like, okay, so it does
00:42:19.619 --> 00:42:23.099
this. Well, how did we get it to do that? Well,
00:42:23.219 --> 00:42:25.579
because we put these things into place. Well,
00:42:25.659 --> 00:42:27.599
how did those things get there? Right. And so
00:42:27.599 --> 00:42:29.360
from a business mindset, which I love talking
00:42:29.360 --> 00:42:32.239
about business, it's brilliant. Now, from a creative
00:42:32.239 --> 00:42:34.639
perspective, I don't think that's really the
00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:40.349
way to go as far as. artistically so if you think
00:42:40.349 --> 00:42:44.550
about it like if I play this note I'm not playing
00:42:44.550 --> 00:42:47.730
it with a I'm going to record that and it's going
00:42:47.730 --> 00:42:49.849
to be like epic and it's going to get on a TV
00:42:49.849 --> 00:42:51.869
series it's going to get a commercial for Apple
00:42:51.869 --> 00:42:54.750
all these things just like no I play this note
00:42:54.750 --> 00:42:57.809
because I wanted to hear what it sounded like
00:42:57.809 --> 00:43:01.570
right And so like, I think we have to like, when
00:43:01.570 --> 00:43:03.969
you say letting go, I mean, you hit it spot on
00:43:03.969 --> 00:43:06.190
to where it's just like, we have to let go of
00:43:06.190 --> 00:43:09.610
the idea that there is an end result. Like when
00:43:09.610 --> 00:43:12.289
we create, if you're creating with a mindset
00:43:12.289 --> 00:43:17.989
of like, I want this to be X, then you're already,
00:43:18.070 --> 00:43:21.730
again, putting that glass ceiling on whatever
00:43:21.730 --> 00:43:23.650
it is. Plus you're taking the fun out of it,
00:43:23.710 --> 00:43:26.349
to be honest. But like, if we have the approach
00:43:26.349 --> 00:43:33.030
of like, if I'm literally just. The sound of
00:43:33.030 --> 00:43:39.909
that note just brings a smile to my face. And
00:43:39.909 --> 00:43:42.789
if you just imagine the color and the warmth
00:43:42.789 --> 00:43:47.929
and just the tone of it, you're like, well, what
00:43:47.929 --> 00:43:51.090
can I do with that note? I want to have fun with
00:43:51.090 --> 00:43:54.130
it. So you have to let go of the idea, to your
00:43:54.130 --> 00:44:02.880
point, of it. That note. perhaps that I just
00:44:02.880 --> 00:44:07.219
played, its only purpose was to bring a smile
00:44:07.219 --> 00:44:13.300
on my face just now. Right? And for that, that's
00:44:13.300 --> 00:44:16.539
enough. And so like a lot of times I think we're
00:44:16.539 --> 00:44:20.500
in this, you know, where we are with the world
00:44:20.500 --> 00:44:25.360
and screens and all the things, you know, I have
00:44:25.360 --> 00:44:28.650
this theory like a social media. Really, it's
00:44:28.650 --> 00:44:30.849
boiled down to two things. There are two things
00:44:30.849 --> 00:44:34.489
on social media. Someone's either screaming or
00:44:34.489 --> 00:44:37.670
they're selling. And once you learn it's one
00:44:37.670 --> 00:44:40.550
of those two things, try it. Next time you go
00:44:40.550 --> 00:44:42.909
to Instagram, watch every video. Either someone's
00:44:42.909 --> 00:44:44.889
trying to sell you something or they're just
00:44:44.889 --> 00:44:48.610
screaming mad about something, right? And so
00:44:48.610 --> 00:44:51.110
it's difficult for us to be in the mindset of
00:44:51.110 --> 00:44:55.269
just doing something for pure pleasure. I'm not
00:44:55.269 --> 00:44:58.269
trying to sell that. Nor am I trying to tell
00:44:58.269 --> 00:45:00.469
you how amazing that is. I'm not screaming at
00:45:00.469 --> 00:45:03.670
you about it. I'm just inviting you just to be
00:45:03.670 --> 00:45:11.829
like... Watch this. I got this in London when
00:45:11.829 --> 00:45:16.530
I was there earlier this year. And this thing
00:45:16.530 --> 00:45:19.590
is like 100 years old, this bowl. What is that?
00:45:20.230 --> 00:45:23.849
So this is a singing bowl. And I have like eight
00:45:23.849 --> 00:45:26.989
of them. I have way too many of them. But if
00:45:26.989 --> 00:45:40.929
you think about a singing bowl. That moment will
00:45:40.929 --> 00:45:56.880
never happen again. Like you and I can get on
00:45:56.880 --> 00:45:59.820
another interview and, you know, we could have
00:45:59.820 --> 00:46:01.679
the same lighting, you know, we could wear the
00:46:01.679 --> 00:46:04.000
same things that have my little Pellegrino, my
00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:05.920
dog snoring, like on the other side of the camera.
00:46:06.440 --> 00:46:09.380
And if I strike this, it's going to be different
00:46:09.380 --> 00:46:11.139
because we're going to be somewhere different
00:46:11.139 --> 00:46:12.800
emotionally. We're going to be somewhere different
00:46:12.800 --> 00:46:15.559
in the day. Maybe, you know, I spilled coffee
00:46:15.559 --> 00:46:19.539
on myself. Maybe, you know, maybe someone gave
00:46:19.539 --> 00:46:22.119
me a free donut. Right. So like emotion, like
00:46:22.119 --> 00:46:25.139
really. affected by this and so like the interesting
00:46:25.139 --> 00:46:30.440
thing about like art and creating is um twofold
00:46:30.440 --> 00:46:32.920
but i'll stick with one just for now um is it
00:46:32.920 --> 00:46:37.199
really is about like how do i create something
00:46:37.199 --> 00:46:42.800
just for pure pleasure but also to like bring
00:46:42.800 --> 00:46:44.719
me into the moment you know you were saying earlier
00:46:44.719 --> 00:46:49.400
that you you were doing yoga and because it allowed
00:46:49.400 --> 00:46:55.650
you to let things go and i love that I actually
00:46:55.650 --> 00:46:58.869
started yoga at the pandemic. So I've been doing
00:46:58.869 --> 00:47:00.750
it for like five years now, like an hour every
00:47:00.750 --> 00:47:03.730
day, as much as best as I can. And the reason
00:47:03.730 --> 00:47:06.829
why I do it is because it gets me out of my head.
00:47:07.650 --> 00:47:10.150
So like for an hour, I'm listening to someone
00:47:10.150 --> 00:47:14.050
like instruct and I'm listening to someone. guide
00:47:14.050 --> 00:47:16.289
me through something to where i'm not thinking
00:47:16.289 --> 00:47:19.510
about a free donut or if someone spoke coffee
00:47:19.510 --> 00:47:22.849
or me or whatever and so like i have that time
00:47:22.849 --> 00:47:26.510
to where like i'm just literally out of my head
00:47:26.510 --> 00:47:30.010
and art is kind of the same way right to where
00:47:30.010 --> 00:47:32.909
it's just like just sitting with the singing
00:47:32.909 --> 00:47:36.170
bowl or the piano or in the shower and just singing
00:47:36.170 --> 00:47:41.880
that like that is to really just get yourself
00:47:41.880 --> 00:47:44.340
out of your head and to just be present in the
00:47:44.340 --> 00:47:46.980
moment and to actually just enjoy something.
00:47:48.280 --> 00:47:51.719
Yeah. And, and that's, that's, it is sticky because
00:47:51.719 --> 00:47:53.739
like as a creative that's doing this for a living,
00:47:53.840 --> 00:47:57.480
you do also have like the monetization of this,
00:47:57.559 --> 00:47:59.539
which is like at the end of the day, it's still,
00:47:59.559 --> 00:48:03.980
let's be blunt. It's a product because like it
00:48:03.980 --> 00:48:08.170
is an offering. And it puts food on my family's
00:48:08.170 --> 00:48:11.750
table, for which I am grateful, incredibly grateful.
00:48:11.889 --> 00:48:15.510
And so it is difficult to sometimes separate
00:48:15.510 --> 00:48:18.650
the idea of it being music or it being manipulation.
00:48:19.550 --> 00:48:22.190
Let me say that one more time. As creatives,
00:48:22.190 --> 00:48:25.349
it can be really difficult to be able to separate
00:48:25.349 --> 00:48:30.190
the idea of it being music or manipulation. Because
00:48:30.190 --> 00:48:34.409
anytime that you involved a return on something,
00:48:35.019 --> 00:48:38.340
then that opens the door for there to be a manipulation
00:48:38.340 --> 00:48:42.119
for that set of return, right? And so it's really
00:48:42.119 --> 00:48:45.719
difficult to make sure that you're not all of
00:48:45.719 --> 00:48:48.579
a sudden turning into a manipulation factory,
00:48:48.920 --> 00:48:52.980
right? It was like, oh, I know what works to
00:48:52.980 --> 00:48:55.400
make this end result. So I'm going to do that
00:48:55.400 --> 00:48:58.860
again. And I think when that happens, I think
00:48:58.860 --> 00:49:00.820
when we see that with artists, I think that we
00:49:00.820 --> 00:49:04.219
see that like after two or three albums of that,
00:49:04.300 --> 00:49:06.659
people are kind of like, yeah, done. It's not
00:49:06.659 --> 00:49:09.260
really hitting the same anymore, right? And it's
00:49:09.260 --> 00:49:12.300
not because the music isn't great, but I think
00:49:12.300 --> 00:49:14.739
it's because like it's lost what the purpose
00:49:14.739 --> 00:49:19.400
of that creation was intended for, right? So
00:49:19.400 --> 00:49:21.380
like, I mean, if you eat the same exact meal
00:49:21.380 --> 00:49:26.019
for, you know, six straight days, like everything's
00:49:26.019 --> 00:49:28.559
the same, it's going to lose its flavor no matter
00:49:28.559 --> 00:49:30.320
how much that was your favorite meal to begin
00:49:30.320 --> 00:49:35.260
with, right? And yes, obviously, you know, we
00:49:35.260 --> 00:49:37.300
do get tired of things, but also like everything
00:49:37.300 --> 00:49:41.340
around that mill changes constantly, right? Your
00:49:41.340 --> 00:49:46.000
emotions, your interactions, you know, all the
00:49:46.000 --> 00:49:49.679
things that are just tied into life. And so I
00:49:49.679 --> 00:49:52.079
think art has to be the same way where there's
00:49:52.079 --> 00:49:56.539
like this ever, ever evolving space of what art
00:49:56.539 --> 00:49:59.739
is, of what creativity is, of what. the meaning
00:49:59.739 --> 00:50:02.619
behind it all is, which is why it is so important
00:50:02.619 --> 00:50:04.599
to like grab a singing bowl and to hit it or
00:50:04.599 --> 00:50:07.860
to sing in the shower or to like, you know, turn
00:50:07.860 --> 00:50:09.900
on the radio dial and listen to something that
00:50:09.900 --> 00:50:11.539
you've never listened to just because it's going
00:50:11.539 --> 00:50:13.360
to like bring you in there just for a moment,
00:50:13.500 --> 00:50:18.440
you know, or listen to a podcast. Just one, one
00:50:18.440 --> 00:50:20.940
more thing from the album. I'm curious about
00:50:20.940 --> 00:50:25.840
the light within, which became the world of mental
00:50:25.840 --> 00:50:30.480
health, the theme song. for official theme song
00:50:30.480 --> 00:50:35.579
for world mental health day and uh is also somewhat
00:50:35.579 --> 00:50:39.139
connected to you being the united nation ambassador
00:50:39.139 --> 00:50:42.360
for the world federation for mental health so
00:50:42.360 --> 00:50:46.800
i really would like to know the backstory and
00:50:46.800 --> 00:50:49.840
i tell you it's one of those things thank you
00:50:49.840 --> 00:50:51.340
for asking actually it's one of those things
00:50:51.340 --> 00:50:53.460
where like i still just shake my head like i
00:50:53.460 --> 00:50:56.710
have no idea like i'm in an ocean i'd I don't
00:50:56.710 --> 00:51:00.309
even feel like I belong in it to be honest. Um,
00:51:00.610 --> 00:51:04.269
because like, you know, creating music to help
00:51:04.269 --> 00:51:06.349
people heal, to hold their hands and all these
00:51:06.349 --> 00:51:10.690
things, um, really it stemmed from my doing the
00:51:10.690 --> 00:51:13.869
podcast, to be honest, the whole UN and all those
00:51:13.869 --> 00:51:17.670
conversations. So once COVID hits, I was grounded.
00:51:17.769 --> 00:51:21.590
I couldn't tour, but I still wanted to like be
00:51:21.590 --> 00:51:24.730
relevant to my listening audience. And so instead
00:51:24.730 --> 00:51:27.460
of just, connecting with them from the stage,
00:51:27.679 --> 00:51:30.360
I thought I would connect with them through the
00:51:30.360 --> 00:51:32.699
microphone and created a podcast that centered
00:51:32.699 --> 00:51:36.760
around mental and emotional health. And so what
00:51:36.760 --> 00:51:38.900
that did, I thought, you know what, this will
00:51:38.900 --> 00:51:41.780
be temporary. This will be just for this few
00:51:41.780 --> 00:51:44.679
weeks for this whole, you know, COVID thing,
00:51:44.739 --> 00:51:46.519
whatever it is, it'll pass away and we'll all
00:51:46.519 --> 00:51:49.860
get back to normal. And what the incredible thing
00:51:49.860 --> 00:51:52.820
is, is it became a whole life of its own, the
00:51:52.820 --> 00:51:56.340
podcast. It's called Calm It Down, as in calm
00:51:56.340 --> 00:51:59.739
down the mind. And the interesting thing is that
00:51:59.739 --> 00:52:04.039
opened doors into avenues that like, I don't
00:52:04.039 --> 00:52:06.079
know if music would have opened necessarily by
00:52:06.079 --> 00:52:08.579
itself, but because it was related to music,
00:52:08.619 --> 00:52:12.659
it had an opening, which is like, oh, he talks
00:52:12.659 --> 00:52:16.079
about breathing and decompressing and anxiety.
00:52:16.760 --> 00:52:19.039
Oh, Yasuo plays the piano? Oh, this is great.
00:52:19.159 --> 00:52:23.260
Let's talk to him. And so there was an introduction
00:52:23.260 --> 00:52:29.400
to, October is World Mental Health Day, October
00:52:29.400 --> 00:52:36.400
10th each year. And in 2024, we started having
00:52:36.400 --> 00:52:38.639
conversations about, okay, what can we do around
00:52:38.639 --> 00:52:43.159
World Mental Health Day? And so we met the World
00:52:43.159 --> 00:52:46.760
Federation for Mental Health. And we just, I
00:52:46.760 --> 00:52:51.219
had their secretary general on my podcast and
00:52:51.219 --> 00:52:53.739
we started talking about what can we be doing
00:52:53.739 --> 00:52:57.800
globally for the young adults that are struggling
00:52:57.800 --> 00:52:59.860
with mental health issues or emotional health
00:52:59.860 --> 00:53:02.480
issues. And really we just built this relationship.
00:53:02.699 --> 00:53:07.280
And then one day I got an email from them and
00:53:07.280 --> 00:53:09.659
it was one of those things where like, I literally
00:53:09.659 --> 00:53:13.639
start crying. um i'm with my older son we're
00:53:13.639 --> 00:53:16.000
out and about somewhere and i get the email and
00:53:16.000 --> 00:53:17.840
i open it up on my phone and he's looking over
00:53:17.840 --> 00:53:21.019
my shoulder and basically the email was like
00:53:21.019 --> 00:53:23.599
we would like for you to be a representative
00:53:23.599 --> 00:53:30.179
at the un for mental health and he looked at
00:53:30.179 --> 00:53:33.880
me with the biggest eyes and like for my entire
00:53:33.880 --> 00:53:36.780
life of all the things i've done musically there's
00:53:36.780 --> 00:53:39.380
like okay whatever but like with this he was
00:53:39.380 --> 00:53:43.500
just like it's a big deal, you know? And so like,
00:53:43.519 --> 00:53:46.039
we had this really bonding moment together of
00:53:46.039 --> 00:53:47.699
like how cool it was. And I have to, I have to
00:53:47.699 --> 00:53:50.719
admit to me, it was just like, even now just
00:53:50.719 --> 00:53:53.079
thinking about it, it's just mind blowing. So
00:53:53.079 --> 00:53:57.019
what, so sorry, rambling. And so like when we
00:53:57.019 --> 00:53:59.519
started talking to the Federation, World Federation
00:53:59.519 --> 00:54:02.800
for Mental Health, we're like, you guys need
00:54:02.800 --> 00:54:05.340
a theme song. Like let's create something that
00:54:05.340 --> 00:54:08.519
like we can center around World Mental Health
00:54:08.519 --> 00:54:12.099
Day. And let's talk about the Federation and
00:54:12.099 --> 00:54:16.079
let's talk about like, what does this young audience
00:54:16.079 --> 00:54:20.079
need? Young adults need right now. And so that's
00:54:20.079 --> 00:54:23.000
where the idea of the light within came, where
00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:27.880
it's just like, we, we have, we have so many
00:54:27.880 --> 00:54:31.239
things that we're like trying to find solace
00:54:31.239 --> 00:54:33.360
and, or hope and, or comfort and, and all of
00:54:33.360 --> 00:54:36.039
these things. And it's just like, when we can
00:54:36.039 --> 00:54:39.860
actually sit still and like, just like, for a
00:54:39.860 --> 00:54:42.940
moment, put those things away, we begin to like
00:54:42.940 --> 00:54:45.960
search within ourselves. And that's really difficult.
00:54:46.099 --> 00:54:48.599
It's actually quite difficult because there are
00:54:48.599 --> 00:54:50.400
a lot of layers in there that we don't want to
00:54:50.400 --> 00:54:52.679
address yet. But when we begin to like peel that
00:54:52.679 --> 00:54:55.559
back and then we begin to heal and we begin to
00:54:55.559 --> 00:54:57.840
have conversations with other people about healing.
00:54:58.440 --> 00:55:02.019
And sometimes that means with a professional
00:55:02.019 --> 00:55:05.519
guidance counselor or a therapist, we begin to
00:55:05.519 --> 00:55:10.739
like see that like. Our true selves and the sense
00:55:10.739 --> 00:55:16.159
of like, it's really hard for people to love
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:20.659
themselves. It is. Oh, yeah. There are so many
00:55:20.659 --> 00:55:23.380
factors, right? Like we're constantly judging
00:55:23.380 --> 00:55:27.420
ourselves, right? We're constantly like, we have
00:55:27.420 --> 00:55:34.380
this grid of a spectrum of like where we should
00:55:34.380 --> 00:55:39.699
be. But the crazy thing about this, though, there
00:55:39.699 --> 00:55:44.599
is no spectrum. There is no official, this is
00:55:44.599 --> 00:55:48.960
great, this is not great. Where do you fall in
00:55:48.960 --> 00:55:51.920
this category? Because there's nothing that says
00:55:51.920 --> 00:55:55.219
officially, well, this is great and this is not
00:55:55.219 --> 00:55:57.920
great, because it's different for everyone. And
00:55:57.920 --> 00:56:00.739
so when we begin to get rid of this idea that
00:56:00.739 --> 00:56:02.699
there's this gauge, that there's this measuring
00:56:02.699 --> 00:56:07.719
system of, who's good and who's not. And we begin
00:56:07.719 --> 00:56:11.000
to like, let go of the idea. Okay. We're talking
00:56:11.000 --> 00:56:13.599
to classical pianists right now. Right. So if
00:56:13.599 --> 00:56:17.760
we look at all of the classical pianists that
00:56:17.760 --> 00:56:20.019
just dominate, you know, I don't want to mention
00:56:20.019 --> 00:56:22.699
names right now, but we all know who they are.
00:56:22.719 --> 00:56:26.739
I was like, I'll never be like them. I'll never
00:56:26.739 --> 00:56:32.000
be that great. Or, you know, or I can play better
00:56:32.000 --> 00:56:34.539
than so -and -so. And so there's always this
00:56:34.539 --> 00:56:40.139
constant measuring of pianistically of what we
00:56:40.139 --> 00:56:45.320
can and can't do. But if we were to close the
00:56:45.320 --> 00:56:49.039
lid on that just for a second, and then we ask
00:56:49.039 --> 00:56:53.280
ourselves, why do I play piano? Like, really?
00:56:54.079 --> 00:56:57.039
When was the last time any of us actually stopped
00:56:57.039 --> 00:57:03.530
and said, why do I do this? What? It makes me
00:57:03.530 --> 00:57:07.190
happy. Right. And then you begin to like, tell
00:57:07.190 --> 00:57:10.690
that back. Okay. So if it makes me happy, then
00:57:10.690 --> 00:57:15.650
why am I so worried about how they're playing
00:57:15.650 --> 00:57:20.750
10, 10 BPM is faster than I am. Right. And so
00:57:20.750 --> 00:57:23.809
it's like, maybe that song is connecting with
00:57:23.809 --> 00:57:26.610
you at the tempo that you're playing it and letting
00:57:26.610 --> 00:57:30.570
that be enough. Whereas perhaps, you know, they're
00:57:30.570 --> 00:57:33.170
playing it at a different tempo. for whatever
00:57:33.170 --> 00:57:35.550
reason that they have. But what their reason
00:57:35.550 --> 00:57:39.409
is, it's not my concern. Like I should not be
00:57:39.409 --> 00:57:42.630
like wrapped up why so -and -so is playing at
00:57:42.630 --> 00:57:47.829
this tempo, at this veracity that they are, because
00:57:47.829 --> 00:57:51.730
that's them. What I'm concerned about is like,
00:57:51.849 --> 00:57:56.530
why am I doing what I'm doing? And then when
00:57:56.530 --> 00:58:00.760
we get to... like, ask that of ourselves, like,
00:58:00.800 --> 00:58:04.679
in an honest way, then we begin to understand,
00:58:04.940 --> 00:58:08.760
I like playing piano because it just makes me
00:58:08.760 --> 00:58:12.239
feel good, right? Now, I'll take that to, like,
00:58:12.340 --> 00:58:15.059
ourselves too emotionally. When we begin to,
00:58:15.079 --> 00:58:18.340
like, find that answer, like, there is this light
00:58:18.340 --> 00:58:21.139
that's within us, and we're not trying to look
00:58:21.139 --> 00:58:23.519
at the light that someone else has that's really
00:58:23.519 --> 00:58:26.460
bright, that's, you know, or maybe it's not,
00:58:26.639 --> 00:58:31.460
right? So I think for me personally, the whole
00:58:31.460 --> 00:58:33.639
partnership with World Federation for Mental
00:58:33.639 --> 00:58:36.179
Health and The Light Within was just trying to
00:58:36.179 --> 00:58:39.539
illustrate that. It's just like, who are you?
00:58:40.559 --> 00:58:43.139
And it's really hard to answer a lot of times.
00:58:43.199 --> 00:58:46.000
It's really hard for us to answer because sometimes
00:58:46.000 --> 00:58:47.880
we don't want to go there because then we're
00:58:47.880 --> 00:58:52.500
just like, well, I'm nobody. Let's open that
00:58:52.500 --> 00:58:56.860
up a little bit. I'm no one as a pianist. Why
00:58:56.860 --> 00:59:00.519
is that? Well, I'm just not like them. Okay.
00:59:01.579 --> 00:59:03.719
Right. And then you begin to go even further
00:59:03.719 --> 00:59:07.559
with us. Well, do you want to be like them? No.
00:59:09.239 --> 00:59:11.300
So then why are you comparing yourself to them?
00:59:11.780 --> 00:59:15.360
I don't know. You know, but then like everyone
00:59:15.360 --> 00:59:20.239
has the reason why they do something truly authentically.
00:59:21.039 --> 00:59:23.440
And then I think to some degree, we all have
00:59:23.440 --> 00:59:27.960
like this also idea of what we should be. And
00:59:27.960 --> 00:59:30.800
I think it's okay to aspire to play that 10 BPM
00:59:30.800 --> 00:59:33.840
faster, or I think it's okay to aspire to play
00:59:33.840 --> 00:59:36.579
certain pieces that maybe are just like steps
00:59:36.579 --> 00:59:40.679
ahead of us right now. But also like we have
00:59:40.679 --> 00:59:49.019
to remember why, why we create, why we're actually
00:59:49.019 --> 00:59:52.440
at this thing for like six hours a day. And it's
00:59:52.440 --> 00:59:56.440
not to play fast and it's not to impress. And
00:59:56.440 --> 01:00:02.059
it's not to like sit center stage and say, look
01:00:02.059 --> 01:00:07.719
at me, right? Because if we pursue it that way,
01:00:07.760 --> 01:00:10.659
we're going to burn out. We're going to have
01:00:10.659 --> 01:00:13.179
that moment towards just like, this isn't fun
01:00:13.179 --> 01:00:17.940
anymore, right? And so I really encourage anyone
01:00:17.940 --> 01:00:20.519
listening right now that's kind of like wondering,
01:00:20.800 --> 01:00:25.980
you know, when will I get there? Maybe pause
01:00:25.980 --> 01:00:29.840
for a second and just be like, let me enjoy where
01:00:29.840 --> 01:00:35.340
I am right now here and just enjoy this and just
01:00:35.340 --> 01:00:43.179
play a note and just let that like reside in
01:00:43.179 --> 01:00:47.900
you for a moment. So that's how the conversation
01:00:47.900 --> 01:00:49.860
with the World Federation for Mental Health.
01:00:51.050 --> 01:00:54.090
And, you know, it ties into, you know, even I
01:00:54.090 --> 01:00:59.070
know the UN right now has like mixed, not mixed
01:00:59.070 --> 01:01:02.530
feelings, but like people look at the UN kind
01:01:02.530 --> 01:01:05.949
of mixed right now. Some good, some bad. And
01:01:05.949 --> 01:01:07.429
I think it's one of those things where it's like
01:01:07.429 --> 01:01:13.409
the experiences I've had there at the UN has
01:01:13.409 --> 01:01:16.030
always been about like, how do we take care of
01:01:16.030 --> 01:01:21.280
people? And I think that's. something i just
01:01:21.280 --> 01:01:25.619
i'm incredibly grateful to be a part of like
01:01:25.619 --> 01:01:30.699
what are we doing to truly just make people's
01:01:30.699 --> 01:01:37.019
lives better even just five percent ten percent
01:01:37.019 --> 01:01:40.159
fifteen percent right and a lot of times that
01:01:40.159 --> 01:01:42.619
that's through art a lot of times as to what
01:01:42.619 --> 01:01:47.639
we create um as long as it's like created from
01:01:47.639 --> 01:01:56.000
a pure intentional motive. Sorry. What you just
01:01:56.000 --> 01:01:58.320
said, no, please don't be sorry. But what you
01:01:58.320 --> 01:02:02.260
just said, just really coming through your creativity,
01:02:02.460 --> 01:02:06.380
like artistry, and you mentioned about, you know,
01:02:06.380 --> 01:02:10.239
healing and so on. So I'm curious about this
01:02:10.239 --> 01:02:14.519
one moment of your life. You had some challenge.
01:02:14.619 --> 01:02:17.949
I mean, we all have challenges in lives. in our
01:02:17.949 --> 01:02:21.170
lives but this one particular moment of health
01:02:21.170 --> 01:02:27.750
care is is that okay yeah absolutely yeah so
01:02:27.750 --> 01:02:34.570
did that anything to do with your maybe mission
01:02:34.570 --> 01:02:40.650
and artistry right now yeah the interesting thing
01:02:40.650 --> 01:02:43.170
so i had ulcerative colitis for many years and
01:02:43.170 --> 01:02:44.530
for those listening that don't know what that
01:02:44.530 --> 01:02:46.469
is it's kind of like crones and around the body
01:02:46.469 --> 01:02:51.949
it's like the the spouse, the sibling of Crohn's.
01:02:52.050 --> 01:02:58.550
So it was quite debilitating. It was very...
01:02:58.550 --> 01:03:02.670
My dog is no longer snoring. Now he wants to
01:03:02.670 --> 01:03:04.829
be in the interview. Sorry, buddy. It's okay.
01:03:06.070 --> 01:03:08.510
So I had all sorts of clients. So basically,
01:03:08.670 --> 01:03:11.329
I lost like 40 pounds in a month and a half.
01:03:11.570 --> 01:03:15.750
I mean, I was bedridden. I just went. to have
01:03:15.750 --> 01:03:18.909
three major surgeries. But even before the very
01:03:18.909 --> 01:03:21.170
first one, I had to be in the hospital for two
01:03:21.170 --> 01:03:24.710
weeks just to let my body heal. The amazing thing
01:03:24.710 --> 01:03:29.070
is all of that was going on right before I recorded
01:03:29.070 --> 01:03:32.289
my very first solo piano album called Set on
01:03:32.289 --> 01:03:37.849
a Hill, which was the very first solo piano album.
01:03:38.130 --> 01:03:40.929
And so I recorded that album in a day and a half.
01:03:41.130 --> 01:03:44.329
I think we had two days for it. We were living
01:03:44.329 --> 01:03:47.030
in Brooklyn, and so we drove up to, like, Vermont,
01:03:47.269 --> 01:03:51.369
I think is where the studio is. And during the
01:03:51.369 --> 01:03:55.030
recording process, I mean, it was rough. It was
01:03:55.030 --> 01:03:58.449
really, really rough. So, like, we would record
01:03:58.449 --> 01:04:01.010
a track, and then I literally would lay underneath
01:04:01.010 --> 01:04:03.730
the piano while my wife and the producer would
01:04:03.730 --> 01:04:05.849
listen back. And they were like, okay, it's a
01:04:05.849 --> 01:04:08.090
good take, or can we do one more kind of thing?
01:04:08.510 --> 01:04:11.769
And so it was really, really, really challenging
01:04:11.769 --> 01:04:15.710
time. Um, but I will say like that, you know,
01:04:15.750 --> 01:04:18.070
the next day when we got back to Brooklyn, that's
01:04:18.070 --> 01:04:19.530
when I went into the hospital for two weeks.
01:04:19.769 --> 01:04:22.849
So there was like this emotional element behind
01:04:22.849 --> 01:04:28.190
that album of like as a healing process. And
01:04:28.190 --> 01:04:31.610
it was, it was kind of a battle for me a little
01:04:31.610 --> 01:04:34.110
bit because that's where I began understanding
01:04:34.110 --> 01:04:37.989
where coming from the jazz background that I
01:04:37.989 --> 01:04:41.769
did and then releasing this album that was very
01:04:41.769 --> 01:04:44.889
meditative. like the opening notes of that album
01:04:44.889 --> 01:04:48.050
were very calming very like draw you in kind
01:04:48.050 --> 01:04:50.230
of thing and i had so many people push back on
01:04:50.230 --> 01:04:52.429
that like dude you can't start an album this
01:04:52.429 --> 01:04:54.829
way you gotta like have energy and make it like
01:04:54.829 --> 01:04:57.829
really interesting like no no i think it's meant
01:04:57.829 --> 01:05:01.949
to be this way and that album is when i started
01:05:01.949 --> 01:05:04.050
getting feedback from listeners getting emails
01:05:04.050 --> 01:05:06.789
from people saying You know, I'm going through
01:05:06.789 --> 01:05:09.170
a divorce right now and I just go home and I
01:05:09.170 --> 01:05:11.590
lay on the floor and I listen to this or I just
01:05:11.590 --> 01:05:14.289
lost a loved one and I just I just put this on.
01:05:15.030 --> 01:05:17.369
And so that album really began showing me like
01:05:17.369 --> 01:05:19.789
the importance of healing. And for myself, it
01:05:19.789 --> 01:05:23.309
was a healing process as well. But the power
01:05:23.309 --> 01:05:26.050
of music and healing, the power of music and
01:05:26.050 --> 01:05:28.730
being able to just like embrace someone. And
01:05:28.730 --> 01:05:32.190
so that really was like a eureka moment for me.
01:05:33.219 --> 01:05:35.280
because I will say it's been really difficult
01:05:35.280 --> 01:05:39.000
because like, I joke that I chose the wrong career.
01:05:39.760 --> 01:05:42.800
I don't like the spotlight. I don't like the
01:05:42.800 --> 01:05:45.199
attention. Like seeing my name on a marquee is
01:05:45.199 --> 01:05:47.360
not why I wake up every day. It's actually like,
01:05:47.360 --> 01:05:50.139
I, if I could be on the other side of this camera,
01:05:50.219 --> 01:05:54.159
I would be, that's just me personally. And so,
01:05:54.159 --> 01:05:56.119
you know, it's something I really have struggled
01:05:56.119 --> 01:06:01.349
with because like that's, I'm just not. I'm a
01:06:01.349 --> 01:06:05.170
quiet introvert, right? And so this is something
01:06:05.170 --> 01:06:06.829
I was really dealing with for quite some time.
01:06:07.389 --> 01:06:10.969
And this one lady, she emailed me on a Saturday
01:06:10.969 --> 01:06:13.269
morning. It was 7 a .m. on Saturday morning.
01:06:13.349 --> 01:06:17.429
I'll never forget this. A couple years ago. And
01:06:17.429 --> 01:06:19.250
she goes, I'm sitting here listening to one of
01:06:19.250 --> 01:06:23.590
your songs. And the tempo of the song matches
01:06:23.590 --> 01:06:26.869
the pacing of my husband's breath as he takes
01:06:26.869 --> 01:06:35.980
his last one. I get those a lot. Wow. And at
01:06:35.980 --> 01:06:42.400
that point, that's where my mind said, you're
01:06:42.400 --> 01:06:46.179
being on camera or on a magazine or in a playlist
01:06:46.179 --> 01:06:50.179
or on a marquee. It's not for your own benefit.
01:06:51.300 --> 01:06:54.539
It's to bring people some hope, some healing,
01:06:54.619 --> 01:06:58.219
some comfort, some peace, some calm. That's why
01:06:58.219 --> 01:07:05.150
you're doing this. And that really, I needed
01:07:05.150 --> 01:07:09.210
that. I needed to hear that because then that
01:07:09.210 --> 01:07:14.349
became my purpose of like having the experience
01:07:14.349 --> 01:07:17.389
physically where like, I literally thought I
01:07:17.389 --> 01:07:21.130
was going to die and just the struggle that that
01:07:21.130 --> 01:07:26.250
came with and how like, even just like my laying
01:07:26.250 --> 01:07:27.989
on the floor underneath the piano during that
01:07:27.989 --> 01:07:30.949
recording session, was almost like, you know,
01:07:30.949 --> 01:07:35.230
this bomb, if you will. We're like understanding
01:07:35.230 --> 01:07:40.090
that, well, why would my music not be the same
01:07:40.090 --> 01:07:42.949
to someone else going through something difficult
01:07:42.949 --> 01:07:45.989
as well? And so that's something I've always
01:07:45.989 --> 01:07:49.130
have really tried to keep in mind, going back
01:07:49.130 --> 01:07:51.449
to even where we are, the album and creating
01:07:51.449 --> 01:07:55.489
the process. I was like, I needed that kind of
01:07:55.489 --> 01:07:58.110
shake, slap in the face, wake up. I'm like, no,
01:07:58.210 --> 01:08:02.590
no, no. Don't forget why you do this. Chad Lawson
01:08:02.590 --> 01:08:11.230
is not meant to like, wow. Right. I'm meant to
01:08:11.230 --> 01:08:16.310
just be like, I needed that. Yeah. So for me
01:08:16.310 --> 01:08:18.090
personally, yeah. Going back to your point of
01:08:18.090 --> 01:08:22.750
like having that physical period that I did really
01:08:22.750 --> 01:08:26.989
allowed me to understand that, like the importance
01:08:26.989 --> 01:08:29.810
of it. the significance behind it. And I think
01:08:29.810 --> 01:08:36.789
that's also where like, where I, it's, how do
01:08:36.789 --> 01:08:40.369
I say this? I think certain people create music
01:08:40.369 --> 01:08:44.310
just for knowing that going back to that point,
01:08:44.350 --> 01:08:46.310
knowing that there's going to be a return, a
01:08:46.310 --> 01:08:48.789
financial gain behind it. This playlist, the
01:08:48.789 --> 01:08:50.350
style is doing really well. So I'm going to do
01:08:50.350 --> 01:08:53.350
something with that. And I have a hard time with
01:08:53.350 --> 01:08:56.880
that. because actually i i personally know artists
01:08:56.880 --> 01:09:01.720
that do that and it's really i have a hard time
01:09:01.720 --> 01:09:03.920
with that because you're messing with people's
01:09:03.920 --> 01:09:07.159
emotions at that point right like you're you're
01:09:07.159 --> 01:09:10.300
creating something those artists that are doing
01:09:10.300 --> 01:09:15.060
that they are creating for the sense of seeing
01:09:15.060 --> 01:09:19.279
that there is something that they can sell and
01:09:19.279 --> 01:09:23.060
that just doesn't sit well with me and so um
01:09:24.390 --> 01:09:29.069
I think all of that stems from the idea of I
01:09:29.069 --> 01:09:32.229
know what I've been through and I hear all the
01:09:32.229 --> 01:09:35.789
time what others are going through. And so, man,
01:09:35.829 --> 01:09:41.350
shame on me if I ever just decide to try to make
01:09:41.350 --> 01:09:45.989
a money machine out of it, you know. So because
01:09:45.989 --> 01:09:49.970
like when you go through something so difficult
01:09:49.970 --> 01:09:53.010
as what I did or as what other people are going
01:09:53.010 --> 01:10:01.260
through. as well. Our role is just meant to just
01:10:01.260 --> 01:10:05.319
be there for them. I hear all the time from PTSD
01:10:05.319 --> 01:10:09.720
and people that are suffering with PTSD. And
01:10:09.720 --> 01:10:16.520
it's just the fact that I am able to create something
01:10:16.520 --> 01:10:20.279
that's allowing them to just find some rest.
01:10:24.720 --> 01:10:27.779
And it's important to me because like I've been
01:10:27.779 --> 01:10:30.560
through seasons physically where, you know, it
01:10:30.560 --> 01:10:34.939
was tough. And so now I understand, I get it.
01:10:35.159 --> 01:10:38.800
Right. So does that affect my writing? It does.
01:10:39.199 --> 01:10:44.279
Absolutely. Because at the end of the day, I
01:10:44.279 --> 01:10:50.180
want to create something just to help. Is that
01:10:50.180 --> 01:10:54.819
where this wellness bring? music and wellness
01:10:54.819 --> 01:11:00.060
together came. The idea of, not idea, but I guess
01:11:00.060 --> 01:11:07.159
inspiration. Yeah, it's funny. Years ago, somebody
01:11:07.159 --> 01:11:08.899
asked me, you know, if you weren't doing music,
01:11:09.000 --> 01:11:12.779
what would you be doing besides music? And I
01:11:12.779 --> 01:11:14.239
was like, oh, I probably would be a psychologist,
01:11:14.560 --> 01:11:17.000
you know, because I love talking about this stuff.
01:11:17.380 --> 01:11:20.380
And they're like, well, you kind of already are
01:11:20.380 --> 01:11:24.750
with your music. I'm like, huh it's interesting
01:11:24.750 --> 01:11:27.289
to think about right but when you when you when
01:11:27.289 --> 01:11:30.529
you see the connection of music and wellness
01:11:30.529 --> 01:11:35.130
and music and mindfulness there are i mean scientifically
01:11:35.130 --> 01:11:36.890
there's a couple things that are going on but
01:11:36.890 --> 01:11:39.630
then also like in the wellness space emotionally
01:11:39.630 --> 01:11:41.409
there's a couple things going on so scientifically
01:11:41.409 --> 01:11:46.550
if you look at music there was a wonderful study
01:11:46.550 --> 01:11:49.939
by harvard and oxford press That said, listening
01:11:49.939 --> 01:11:52.060
to calming music three to five minutes, just
01:11:52.060 --> 01:11:55.039
three to five minutes raises this thing called
01:11:55.039 --> 01:11:59.140
BDNFs, which is a fancy like protein in your
01:11:59.140 --> 01:12:02.020
body, basically around the beltway. But it's
01:12:02.020 --> 01:12:04.739
what makes you feel good if you work out or if
01:12:04.739 --> 01:12:07.380
you have coffee with a friend or if you take
01:12:07.380 --> 01:12:10.819
a walk in nature or if you, you know, one of
01:12:10.819 --> 01:12:12.380
those things where like you just feel better
01:12:12.380 --> 01:12:15.380
when you're doing it. Those are your BDNFs that
01:12:15.380 --> 01:12:18.640
are being elevated. Well, music does the same.
01:12:19.119 --> 01:12:21.819
But the interesting thing about this study is
01:12:21.819 --> 01:12:26.239
that music was the only passive thing. Everything
01:12:26.239 --> 01:12:28.779
else had to be like an active participatory,
01:12:28.899 --> 01:12:31.920
you know, walking, talking, you know, all the
01:12:31.920 --> 01:12:34.880
things. Whereas music, you could just lay on
01:12:34.880 --> 01:12:38.319
the floor and hit play. And then all of a sudden
01:12:38.319 --> 01:12:40.939
you started feeling better. So like there's science
01:12:40.939 --> 01:12:44.220
to this, like neurologically speaking. And so
01:12:44.220 --> 01:12:47.079
like. You're feeling better scientifically. But
01:12:47.079 --> 01:12:49.600
then if we look at this from a wellness perspective
01:12:49.600 --> 01:12:52.420
or from an emotional perspective, what music
01:12:52.420 --> 01:12:55.340
does is it brings us into the present moment
01:12:55.340 --> 01:12:58.859
if we allow ourselves to be there. But think
01:12:58.859 --> 01:13:06.819
of months ago, I was in LA in an Uber, had the
01:13:06.819 --> 01:13:10.109
window down. and like a song came on and i literally
01:13:10.109 --> 01:13:11.970
just started like smiling ear to ear because
01:13:11.970 --> 01:13:14.329
it was like it was perfect day it was like temperature
01:13:14.329 --> 01:13:17.649
was amazing the sun and the song came on i don't
01:13:17.649 --> 01:13:19.369
want to mention who it was but like it was so
01:13:19.369 --> 01:13:22.989
it was a pop song and i'm just smiling and i'm
01:13:22.989 --> 01:13:27.390
just like man like how often do we just forget
01:13:27.390 --> 01:13:30.470
to like just enjoy music just for a second and
01:13:30.470 --> 01:13:32.890
just like all the things that's related to it
01:13:32.890 --> 01:13:35.149
right like i have still all that imagery in my
01:13:35.149 --> 01:13:40.569
head But even going back to this, I mean, music,
01:13:40.670 --> 01:13:44.489
the reason why I love it so much attached to
01:13:44.489 --> 01:13:49.189
the wellness idiom is that it does bring you
01:13:49.189 --> 01:13:51.649
into that moment. But the way I like to describe
01:13:51.649 --> 01:13:56.510
music is it can be a distraction for your distractions.
01:13:57.710 --> 01:14:01.729
And so what I mean by that is we constantly are
01:14:01.729 --> 01:14:05.510
being bombarded by like 10 ,000 things, right?
01:14:05.609 --> 01:14:08.270
And so we have all of these distractions. And
01:14:08.270 --> 01:14:11.449
this is why when I teach meditation or when I
01:14:11.449 --> 01:14:14.029
share this with young adults, I talk about even
01:14:14.029 --> 01:14:18.470
just trying to be still and to breathe or trying
01:14:18.470 --> 01:14:21.130
to be still and just to sit silently just for
01:14:21.130 --> 01:14:23.710
a little bit. Because what you're beginning to
01:14:23.710 --> 01:14:25.850
do is you're beginning to build this internal
01:14:25.850 --> 01:14:29.670
mechanism. where you can, I don't say turn off
01:14:29.670 --> 01:14:32.170
those distractions, but you can acknowledge them,
01:14:32.250 --> 01:14:34.829
you notice them, but they're no longer pulling
01:14:34.829 --> 01:14:38.109
you, they're no longer distracting you. And so
01:14:38.109 --> 01:14:42.090
music can be the same thing. So what we're trying
01:14:42.090 --> 01:14:44.310
to do, for instance, here, I'll do this with
01:14:44.310 --> 01:14:48.710
you, if you don't mind. And if you're watching,
01:14:48.890 --> 01:14:50.750
for those that are watching, if you would just
01:14:50.750 --> 01:14:55.899
close your eyes. And with your eyes closed, I
01:14:55.899 --> 01:14:59.520
want you to wait until I hit the singing bowl.
01:14:59.779 --> 01:15:01.939
And when you do hear it, just keep your eyes
01:15:01.939 --> 01:15:03.920
closed. But right now what we're doing is we're
01:15:03.920 --> 01:15:11.880
simply waiting to hear it. No peeking. Keep your
01:15:11.880 --> 01:15:38.739
eyes closed. You can open your eyes if you want.
01:15:39.579 --> 01:15:42.800
So during that 30 seconds or so that we just
01:15:42.800 --> 01:15:48.239
did, we had our mind focusing on one thing, waiting
01:15:48.239 --> 01:15:51.960
for the sound of the bowl. We weren't thinking,
01:15:52.079 --> 01:15:55.560
is my car on the wrong side of the street? Am
01:15:55.560 --> 01:15:57.300
I going to get a parking ticket? We're not thinking,
01:15:57.460 --> 01:16:00.500
you know, all the things. We're literally focusing
01:16:00.500 --> 01:16:04.060
on when is he going to strike the bowl? And so
01:16:04.060 --> 01:16:07.870
what just happened is we began meditating. We
01:16:07.870 --> 01:16:13.670
created a distraction for our distractions. And
01:16:13.670 --> 01:16:15.250
so what we're trying to do is we're trying to
01:16:15.250 --> 01:16:19.409
get our mind to focus on one thing. So we have
01:16:19.409 --> 01:16:23.369
this thing called the ANS, basically, just like
01:16:23.369 --> 01:16:25.670
your nervous system, that we're trying to get
01:16:25.670 --> 01:16:29.390
it just to focus on one thing. Music can be that
01:16:29.390 --> 01:16:33.930
distraction. So be it practicing piano. be it
01:16:33.930 --> 01:16:36.850
focusing on scales, be it focusing on Bach and
01:16:36.850 --> 01:16:40.149
the fingering, that is meditation. So a lot of
01:16:40.149 --> 01:16:41.569
times people are like, I don't know how to meditate.
01:16:41.930 --> 01:16:43.649
What's something that you really enjoy doing,
01:16:43.810 --> 01:16:48.310
right? So for us as pianists, it's practicing,
01:16:48.430 --> 01:16:52.689
like slowly, intentionally. And if our mind begins
01:16:52.689 --> 01:16:55.550
to wonder, I'm hungry. What's going on in the
01:16:55.550 --> 01:16:58.590
news? I should check my phone. But if we pause
01:16:58.590 --> 01:17:02.850
and if we bring back to one, four, two, three,
01:17:03.109 --> 01:17:07.949
we are returning to meditation. We're creating
01:17:07.949 --> 01:17:10.890
that distraction of our distractions. Or when
01:17:10.890 --> 01:17:14.229
we listen to music, if we turn everything off
01:17:14.229 --> 01:17:16.050
and we close our eyes and we put on Horowitz,
01:17:16.310 --> 01:17:20.069
right? Or we put on, you know, Murray Pariah
01:17:20.069 --> 01:17:25.090
or Yuzhu Wang and we just... Listen. That's meditation.
01:17:26.029 --> 01:17:29.829
Right. So that's, that's why I love, like, I
01:17:29.829 --> 01:17:33.390
mean, I feel like it's just wellness and music.
01:17:33.630 --> 01:17:37.130
They're just, they're one. If we look at it in
01:17:37.130 --> 01:17:40.270
the right way. And that's at least how I see
01:17:40.270 --> 01:17:45.310
it. Oh, thank you. Well, I really needed the
01:17:45.310 --> 01:17:50.319
30 seconds. It's so good. Right. Yeah. look how
01:17:50.319 --> 01:17:53.520
good you felt doing it. Like even myself, it's
01:17:53.520 --> 01:17:56.680
like, it's good. It's a brainwash. That's what
01:17:56.680 --> 01:17:59.000
I call. No, you just close your eyes. You just
01:17:59.000 --> 01:18:02.079
imagine like, you just like scrubbing your brain.
01:18:02.100 --> 01:18:04.779
You're like, Oh, this feels so good. Why don't
01:18:04.779 --> 01:18:09.760
I do this more often? So I want to talk about
01:18:09.760 --> 01:18:12.340
your podcast. So bringing everything together,
01:18:12.399 --> 01:18:16.970
basically your wellness and music. And also you're
01:18:16.970 --> 01:18:19.989
literally speaking to people. And every episode
01:18:19.989 --> 01:18:24.869
comes in like bite -sized, you know, 10, 15 minutes.
01:18:25.149 --> 01:18:28.590
And you also do meditation, like two -minute
01:18:28.590 --> 01:18:33.550
episodes, right? Yeah, I do morning affirmation,
01:18:33.670 --> 01:18:38.090
yeah. Oh, they are so great. And then every episode
01:18:38.090 --> 01:18:42.550
has a specific message, whether that is anxiety
01:18:42.550 --> 01:18:46.170
or whether that is, I don't know. different topics
01:18:46.170 --> 01:18:50.750
i think so yeah so again going back and you know
01:18:50.750 --> 01:18:53.590
i'm not licensed i'm not a therapist i just i'm
01:18:53.590 --> 01:18:57.710
really curious and i love to read um and you
01:18:57.710 --> 01:19:00.350
know with the podcast it took me a little while
01:19:00.350 --> 01:19:01.909
to figure out took me a little while to find
01:19:01.909 --> 01:19:05.229
my own voice as all of us with our pianistic
01:19:05.229 --> 01:19:11.710
approaches um and what i found like was two things
01:19:11.710 --> 01:19:17.409
um bite size Cause I tried different like lengths
01:19:17.409 --> 01:19:21.149
of the podcast. Like I think 30 minutes was the
01:19:21.149 --> 01:19:23.130
longest I ever did. But when I started getting
01:19:23.130 --> 01:19:25.250
around that 15 minute mark, that's when people
01:19:25.250 --> 01:19:27.869
really started being able to comment and just
01:19:27.869 --> 01:19:30.029
kind of, Hey, I really liked that. It was really
01:19:30.029 --> 01:19:32.390
wonderful. Cause also this is a very, it can
01:19:32.390 --> 01:19:34.989
be a heavy subject because we're dealing with
01:19:34.989 --> 01:19:38.630
heavy things. And I wanted to make sure with
01:19:38.630 --> 01:19:41.689
the podcast, it's called calm it down. I wanted
01:19:41.689 --> 01:19:45.420
to make sure that it was. lighthearted, encouraging,
01:19:45.720 --> 01:19:48.500
and that there was always one or two little takeaways,
01:19:48.800 --> 01:19:50.760
like something that the listener could take with
01:19:50.760 --> 01:19:52.739
them until the next week that they could work
01:19:52.739 --> 01:19:56.460
on and try through. Because I had found for me
01:19:56.460 --> 01:20:00.439
personally, a number of podcasts in this space
01:20:00.439 --> 01:20:03.340
were kind of heavy, you know, because it is such
01:20:03.340 --> 01:20:05.899
like a heavy topic that I almost felt worse after
01:20:05.899 --> 01:20:08.760
listening to the episodes. So I was like, you
01:20:08.760 --> 01:20:10.020
know, I want to create something like kind of
01:20:10.020 --> 01:20:12.699
lighthearted and just encouraging. And so with
01:20:12.699 --> 01:20:15.939
Calm It Down, it really is meant to be just,
01:20:16.020 --> 01:20:17.960
you know, 10 to 15 minutes of something really
01:20:17.960 --> 01:20:21.020
encouraging. Now, the subject matter is really
01:20:21.020 --> 01:20:24.220
interesting, though. Like, where do I find the
01:20:24.220 --> 01:20:27.500
subject matter? And I have to be honest, I get
01:20:27.500 --> 01:20:31.119
it from TikTok. So because you have this young
01:20:31.119 --> 01:20:35.779
audience who they are unapologetic in how they
01:20:35.779 --> 01:20:41.609
feel. And they are just without, they are just
01:20:41.609 --> 01:20:43.869
brazen and they just put it out there. This is
01:20:43.869 --> 01:20:45.829
what I'm feeling, right? Whereas like, I feel
01:20:45.829 --> 01:20:49.029
like maybe my generation and my parents' generation,
01:20:49.210 --> 01:20:51.329
it was complete opposite. And it was very suppressed.
01:20:51.510 --> 01:20:53.430
And we don't talk about things and we just keep
01:20:53.430 --> 01:20:55.909
them inside. And I feel like this younger generation,
01:20:56.029 --> 01:20:58.590
they're just like, no, like this is what I'm
01:20:58.590 --> 01:21:01.149
feeling. I want to share. And then you have other
01:21:01.149 --> 01:21:03.649
people that are like, oh my gosh, that's exactly
01:21:03.649 --> 01:21:06.569
what I'm going through. And now you've got this
01:21:06.569 --> 01:21:09.409
shared opportunity. I mean, there are a lot of
01:21:09.409 --> 01:21:11.770
shade that we can throw to social media, such
01:21:11.770 --> 01:21:14.090
as, you know, TikTok and whatnot. But also I
01:21:14.090 --> 01:21:17.390
think there's a lot of things that are like good
01:21:17.390 --> 01:21:20.289
about it, right? So it's getting people to talk.
01:21:20.390 --> 01:21:22.470
It's bringing up conversations. It's bringing
01:21:22.470 --> 01:21:24.750
up points that like people feel like they're
01:21:24.750 --> 01:21:28.770
just alone in. So most of my stuff, as far as
01:21:28.770 --> 01:21:32.010
topics are concerned, it comes from TikTok. Again,
01:21:32.109 --> 01:21:33.909
going back to being the data nerd that I am.
01:21:34.729 --> 01:21:41.310
My listening audience is 73 % female, aged 14
01:21:41.310 --> 01:21:45.630
to 28. It does go up to like 32, kind of in that
01:21:45.630 --> 01:21:51.250
area. And it's over 7 million downloads right
01:21:51.250 --> 01:21:58.989
now. That is a lot. And it's one of those things
01:21:58.989 --> 01:22:02.170
where, like, I literally thought this was going
01:22:02.170 --> 01:22:04.720
to be temporary. And even to the point where
01:22:04.720 --> 01:22:07.159
like when the last, I think even two years ago,
01:22:07.260 --> 01:22:09.680
I'm like, you know what? I should really want
01:22:09.680 --> 01:22:12.039
to get back to my piano, you know, because it's
01:22:12.039 --> 01:22:13.699
like two or three days I didn't have in the week
01:22:13.699 --> 01:22:16.979
to begin with. But each time like that's come
01:22:16.979 --> 01:22:19.939
to mind, there's always been like an email about,
01:22:20.060 --> 01:22:24.220
you know, all the things, right? I mean, I get
01:22:24.220 --> 01:22:26.760
emails that literally say, you know, I woke up
01:22:26.760 --> 01:22:28.880
this morning and I was going to take my life.
01:22:29.239 --> 01:22:33.510
And I heard your episode and decided. One more
01:22:33.510 --> 01:22:36.270
day. So like, how do you say no to that? How
01:22:36.270 --> 01:22:39.590
do you say, I wish you well? You don't. Right.
01:22:39.789 --> 01:22:42.949
And so like, this is the part of like art that
01:22:42.949 --> 01:22:45.289
I was saying earlier to where it's just like,
01:22:45.369 --> 01:22:50.289
you create it because like there is an audience
01:22:50.289 --> 01:22:54.829
that really, really is affected by it. Right.
01:22:54.909 --> 01:22:58.170
And so I'm fortunate enough. I'm grateful enough.
01:22:58.229 --> 01:23:00.470
And there are many other podcasts in this lane.
01:23:00.510 --> 01:23:05.609
Some are great. And, like, I am fortunate enough
01:23:05.609 --> 01:23:07.390
to be one of those people to where it's just,
01:23:07.430 --> 01:23:10.689
like, I feel like what I've been given to say
01:23:10.689 --> 01:23:14.670
is resonating. And so I'll continue doing this
01:23:14.670 --> 01:23:20.369
until it no longer resonates. And it's a lot.
01:23:20.850 --> 01:23:26.689
But, you know, if you think about it, like, the
01:23:26.689 --> 01:23:32.579
whole idea, you know, my average. listening audience
01:23:32.579 --> 01:23:39.220
for the episodes is roughly around like 20 ,000
01:23:39.220 --> 01:23:43.380
or so per episode. And, you know, I think of
01:23:43.380 --> 01:23:47.060
that number and I'm like, okay. And I shared
01:23:47.060 --> 01:23:49.960
this with a friend recently and they were like,
01:23:50.000 --> 01:23:54.880
you realize that's a stadium. That's literally
01:23:54.880 --> 01:23:58.220
a stadium listening to you every week. And that
01:23:58.220 --> 01:24:03.449
really got me because I was like, Oh, to look
01:24:03.449 --> 01:24:06.409
at it in that perspective. Right. But I don't
01:24:06.409 --> 01:24:09.250
look at it in the perspective of like, here's
01:24:09.250 --> 01:24:13.029
a stadium listening to me, but here's the stadium
01:24:13.029 --> 01:24:15.270
of 20 ,000 people every week that are wanting
01:24:15.270 --> 01:24:23.489
to like find help, find hope, like find what
01:24:23.489 --> 01:24:27.270
it is that can like make them look forward to
01:24:27.270 --> 01:24:29.770
the sun coming up the next day. You know, I'm
01:24:29.770 --> 01:24:32.199
not saying that like, you know, my listeners
01:24:32.199 --> 01:24:34.819
are like all like manic depressive. That's not
01:24:34.819 --> 01:24:39.340
it at all. But you do have like, you do have
01:24:39.340 --> 01:24:42.319
to look at it and say, these people, they need
01:24:42.319 --> 01:24:44.619
encouragement. Right. That's what we all do.
01:24:45.159 --> 01:24:50.300
Right. We all do. And so like, that's really
01:24:50.300 --> 01:24:53.479
just hard to let the podcast is kind of. slip
01:24:53.479 --> 01:24:56.140
away and just you know go back to my selfish
01:24:56.140 --> 01:24:58.859
practice time it doesn't that's not because then
01:24:58.859 --> 01:25:01.020
i think if i were to do that i'd be at the piano
01:25:01.020 --> 01:25:04.279
and that probably would even affect like what
01:25:04.279 --> 01:25:06.859
i'm producing musically speaking because now
01:25:06.859 --> 01:25:10.560
it's about me again and uh i i want no part of
01:25:10.560 --> 01:25:14.060
that so i appreciate you bringing up the podcast
01:25:14.060 --> 01:25:17.079
very much oh yeah of course and so it's called
01:25:17.079 --> 01:25:21.539
calm it down and available everywhere On podcast
01:25:21.539 --> 01:25:27.600
platforms. And also you can check out Chaz's
01:25:27.600 --> 01:25:32.500
website for his works. Oh, I was wondering, so
01:25:32.500 --> 01:25:34.699
all the music you produce, do you have scores,
01:25:34.979 --> 01:25:39.079
sheet music? I do, yes. Oh, great. Oh, wonderful.
01:25:39.260 --> 01:25:42.180
So they are available on your website at chadlawson
01:25:42.180 --> 01:25:47.979
.com? Yes, absolutely. Wonderful. So, I mean.
01:25:48.470 --> 01:25:50.670
we're coming to toward the end of our conversation,
01:25:50.810 --> 01:25:53.569
but I have one more question that would be, I
01:25:53.569 --> 01:25:56.810
know you're not the me, me, me person. And then,
01:25:56.810 --> 01:26:00.130
you know, what you do is like you said, it's
01:26:00.130 --> 01:26:04.850
to serve like service, right. To people. But
01:26:04.850 --> 01:26:10.470
I like to ask this, what do you hope your artistic
01:26:10.470 --> 01:26:17.970
legacy will be? I know you're still very young,
01:26:18.050 --> 01:26:22.210
but. Oh, thanks. I appreciate that. Very kind.
01:26:23.869 --> 01:26:32.869
As a man of 50. My legacy, I hope. There was
01:26:32.869 --> 01:26:35.890
an amazing book years ago called Good to Great.
01:26:36.810 --> 01:26:39.810
And in this book, Good to Great, I'm obviously
01:26:39.810 --> 01:26:43.489
a big reader. And this book, Good to Great, this
01:26:43.489 --> 01:26:45.789
guy followed all of these businesses throughout
01:26:45.789 --> 01:26:49.270
decades. And he was curious why some businesses
01:26:49.270 --> 01:26:52.810
were able to, like, sustain whatever the scenario
01:26:52.810 --> 01:26:55.909
was. And some would start and they would fizzle
01:26:55.909 --> 01:26:58.609
out. And he was like, what was it about these
01:26:58.609 --> 01:27:04.390
ones that last, you know, for even today? And
01:27:04.390 --> 01:27:09.869
he coined a phrase called just cause. The ones
01:27:09.869 --> 01:27:12.569
that were successful, they each had a just cause.
01:27:13.109 --> 01:27:17.409
And that just cause was basically what did this
01:27:17.409 --> 01:27:21.470
company stand for? What was their purpose? What
01:27:21.470 --> 01:27:24.369
was their meaning behind it? And it wasn't like
01:27:24.369 --> 01:27:26.489
an elevator pitch, but like if you could put
01:27:26.489 --> 01:27:30.770
like into like one or two words, what you do,
01:27:30.970 --> 01:27:37.920
what you are, that is your just cause. And I
01:27:37.920 --> 01:27:39.800
had to sit with that for a little while. Because,
01:27:39.859 --> 01:27:42.079
I mean, you know, I'm 50. I started playing when
01:27:42.079 --> 01:27:44.680
I was five. So I've been playing piano for a
01:27:44.680 --> 01:27:48.460
really long time. And it actually made me stop
01:27:48.460 --> 01:27:53.720
and ask, why do I play? Why do I do this? What's
01:27:53.720 --> 01:27:59.220
my point? And that really brought to the attention.
01:27:59.420 --> 01:28:01.500
And I chewed through this for, like, months.
01:28:02.060 --> 01:28:06.399
And I came to help people. Those three words.
01:28:07.020 --> 01:28:09.060
Like literally to help people. And if you look
01:28:09.060 --> 01:28:10.899
at it, it could be through the podcast. It could
01:28:10.899 --> 01:28:12.460
be through music. It could be through breathing.
01:28:12.579 --> 01:28:14.680
It could be through conversations. It could just
01:28:14.680 --> 01:28:19.199
be just sitting down with someone. And I think
01:28:19.199 --> 01:28:24.739
for musically speaking, my hope is not for someone
01:28:24.739 --> 01:28:28.119
to hear my music longer after I'm gone and to
01:28:28.119 --> 01:28:30.979
be like, that was incredible. My hope is for
01:28:30.979 --> 01:28:37.260
them to say, I really felt something. Like that's
01:28:37.260 --> 01:28:38.979
so emotional. Like my wife can't even listen
01:28:38.979 --> 01:28:41.159
to my music. She's like, it's just too emotional.
01:28:42.100 --> 01:28:46.779
So it's like, yeah. So I guess my legacy, I would
01:28:46.779 --> 01:28:52.899
use that word is to invite people just to feel.
01:28:54.159 --> 01:29:00.000
Okay. That's and I'll end on this because I think
01:29:00.000 --> 01:29:04.020
that's something that we've kind of lost. Yeah,
01:29:04.119 --> 01:29:10.960
I open every show with this. I say, we live in
01:29:10.960 --> 01:29:15.140
a time where we have seen everything. And we
01:29:15.140 --> 01:29:18.119
live in a time where we have heard everything.
01:29:19.920 --> 01:29:24.359
And yet we live in a time where we no longer
01:29:24.359 --> 01:29:29.600
feel anything. We've seen it. We've heard it.
01:29:30.260 --> 01:29:34.350
But we don't feel it. And I think that's the
01:29:34.350 --> 01:29:39.149
importance of music is for us to like understand,
01:29:39.270 --> 01:29:45.369
to strip away everything and to be able to have
01:29:45.369 --> 01:29:47.810
the wherewithal to just sit and to listen to
01:29:47.810 --> 01:29:50.949
a singing bowl or to listen to someone play Chopin
01:29:50.949 --> 01:29:55.270
or, you know, or Billie Holiday or whatever it
01:29:55.270 --> 01:29:59.039
may be. to be in an Uber in the backseat with
01:29:59.039 --> 01:30:01.199
the window down and to have a smile on your face
01:30:01.199 --> 01:30:05.979
because this song just tracks so well, right?
01:30:07.920 --> 01:30:13.039
That is what I hope my music will do is invite
01:30:13.039 --> 01:30:19.100
the listener to simply just feel. That's my hope.
01:30:20.739 --> 01:30:26.100
Well, thank you. So Now, what's next for you?
01:30:26.159 --> 01:30:28.800
I know you mentioned there are three songs coming
01:30:28.800 --> 01:30:32.000
up in October, but is there anything else? Some
01:30:32.000 --> 01:30:35.220
ideas, cooking? I start hitting the road soon.
01:30:35.720 --> 01:30:39.619
End of September, I go to Tokyo. Oh, that's where
01:30:39.619 --> 01:30:46.729
I am originally from. Oh, fantastic. uh speaking
01:30:46.729 --> 01:30:49.810
at a un world health organization engagement
01:30:49.810 --> 01:30:51.829
there there's a conference going over there um
01:30:51.829 --> 01:30:54.109
as well as doing a performance my very first
01:30:54.109 --> 01:30:57.630
time in tokyo and then i have some dates in europe
01:30:57.630 --> 01:31:01.949
in october i'm in dublin amsterdam hamburg and
01:31:01.949 --> 01:31:06.770
then in london um so london is some private things
01:31:06.770 --> 01:31:10.050
there are no no live performances but if you
01:31:10.050 --> 01:31:14.500
are in the dublin amsterdam or hamburg area Do
01:31:14.500 --> 01:31:16.899
look up on my website. I would love to see you.
01:31:16.899 --> 01:31:19.819
Come and say hello. So, yeah, I've got a couple
01:31:19.819 --> 01:31:22.159
of busy months ahead of me. So a lot of practicing.
01:31:22.880 --> 01:31:25.640
Oh, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. Great.
01:31:25.800 --> 01:31:27.939
And in the meantime, we can listen to your podcast,
01:31:28.239 --> 01:31:31.579
right? Indeed. Every Tuesday. Every Tuesday.
01:31:32.100 --> 01:31:36.140
Every Tuesday. Got it. Wonderful. So it's been
01:31:36.140 --> 01:31:38.079
a wonderful conversation. But before I let you
01:31:38.079 --> 01:31:40.060
go, we have one more thing. It's the rapid fire
01:31:40.060 --> 01:31:45.479
questions. So it's the each question is silly
01:31:45.479 --> 01:31:48.779
and fun. And I would like for you to answer them
01:31:48.779 --> 01:31:52.739
with shortest response possible. No explanation
01:31:52.739 --> 01:31:56.640
is needed. Okay. So level one. Can I like plead
01:31:56.640 --> 01:31:59.640
the fifth? There's like a fifth. Sure. Sure.
01:32:01.020 --> 01:32:04.699
All right. First one. What is your comfort food?
01:32:06.720 --> 01:32:12.159
Sushi. Great. Amen to that. How do you like your
01:32:12.159 --> 01:32:16.760
coffee in the morning? Black, 100%. Sunrise or
01:32:16.760 --> 01:32:24.039
sunset? Sunrise. Summer or winter? Winter. Okay.
01:32:24.739 --> 01:32:28.319
Level two. What skill have you always wanted
01:32:28.319 --> 01:32:31.029
to learn but haven't had a chance to? Handstand.
01:32:32.050 --> 01:32:37.369
Oh, handstand. Okay. What is your word or words
01:32:37.369 --> 01:32:43.630
to live by? Be kind. Oh, wonderful. Do you have
01:32:43.630 --> 01:32:46.689
any favorite venue you've performed in or a dream
01:32:46.689 --> 01:32:52.890
venue? Oh, gracious. I mean, Concert Cabal and
01:32:52.890 --> 01:32:55.470
El Philharmonic. I've done both of their recital
01:32:55.470 --> 01:32:58.550
rooms. Hopefully one day I'll be doing their...
01:32:58.989 --> 01:33:02.470
their main rooms. So that's those two. That's
01:33:02.470 --> 01:33:05.329
what I'm looking forward to. Oh, wow. Yes. And
01:33:05.329 --> 01:33:08.350
I know your dream will come true. All right.
01:33:08.390 --> 01:33:10.909
What is the most important quality you look for
01:33:10.909 --> 01:33:15.489
in other people? Kindness. Name a composer you
01:33:15.489 --> 01:33:20.569
wish more people knew about. Oh, fantastic. I
01:33:20.569 --> 01:33:24.010
really, I can't even pronounce her name to be
01:33:24.010 --> 01:33:27.590
honest, but can you give me two seconds? Yeah.
01:33:27.689 --> 01:33:31.539
Yeah. I'm sure many in your audience know her.
01:33:32.140 --> 01:33:34.619
Mel Bonas. Are you familiar with her at all?
01:33:34.979 --> 01:33:38.939
So she came, there we go. She came out of like
01:33:38.939 --> 01:33:42.460
the Debussy, Ravel kind of era. Look her up.
01:33:42.460 --> 01:33:46.079
I don't know. I didn't know. She is, I have three
01:33:46.079 --> 01:33:48.100
of her books I'm trying to like go through and
01:33:48.100 --> 01:33:51.460
like, not only analyze, but just play her stuff.
01:33:53.079 --> 01:33:57.619
This piece. Sorry, I know this is supposed to
01:33:57.619 --> 01:34:00.460
be rapid fire. It's okay. No, no, no. So look
01:34:00.460 --> 01:34:02.359
for this on streaming. Come on. There we go.
01:34:03.020 --> 01:34:08.960
Ophelia. And again, Melbonis, M -E -L -B -O -N
01:34:08.960 --> 01:34:16.199
-I -S. You may see her name listed as this. Right
01:34:16.199 --> 01:34:22.840
there at the very top. Okay. Beautiful. Gorgeous.
01:34:23.399 --> 01:34:28.420
Like I'm all things like female composers. I
01:34:28.420 --> 01:34:32.600
wish more people talked about them. When I am
01:34:32.600 --> 01:34:37.000
asked to create playlists for Apple, if they
01:34:37.000 --> 01:34:38.899
are like, hey, will you create a playlist or
01:34:38.899 --> 01:34:42.060
Spotify or anybody? I have a very strict rule
01:34:42.060 --> 01:34:45.680
and my team knows this because someone tried
01:34:45.680 --> 01:34:52.590
to tamper with it once and I got vocal. I have
01:34:52.590 --> 01:34:55.890
a very strict role of 60 -40. 60 % female, 40
01:34:55.890 --> 01:34:58.289
% male. Because I think a lot of times in this
01:34:58.289 --> 01:35:02.029
space, you have the same people over and over
01:35:02.029 --> 01:35:03.630
and over again that are always in the playlist,
01:35:03.829 --> 01:35:07.369
and it's very male -dominant. And I'm like, that's
01:35:07.369 --> 01:35:11.449
bunk. So I think, for me personally, there is
01:35:11.449 --> 01:35:14.970
a very strong 60 -40 rule when it comes to anything
01:35:14.970 --> 01:35:20.920
related to art. in my opinion, because there's
01:35:20.920 --> 01:35:23.819
a lot of creative women out there. I have an
01:35:23.819 --> 01:35:27.619
internal team, not related to the label that
01:35:27.619 --> 01:35:31.300
are seven people and all of them, but one are
01:35:31.300 --> 01:35:34.579
female. And there's a reason for that because
01:35:34.579 --> 01:35:38.199
I think women are smarter to be honest, because
01:35:38.199 --> 01:35:40.619
you all see things that like a lot of times,
01:35:40.680 --> 01:35:43.439
like I'm speaking just from my own personal experience.
01:35:44.239 --> 01:35:48.579
We don't. And so like, there's some, Insanely
01:35:48.579 --> 01:35:50.899
creative women out there. And I'm like, why are
01:35:50.899 --> 01:35:54.420
these women not being put into the spotlight
01:35:54.420 --> 01:35:58.359
more so? Caroline Shaw, buckets. Like, why are
01:35:58.359 --> 01:36:00.060
people not listening to Caroline Shaw, like,
01:36:00.140 --> 01:36:04.340
as much as anybody else, right? Sorry, it's a
01:36:04.340 --> 01:36:07.520
little tangent of mine. So check out, I know
01:36:07.520 --> 01:36:09.800
I'm pronouncing her name incorrectly, but Mel
01:36:09.800 --> 01:36:12.039
Bonas or Mel Bonet, or I don't know how it's
01:36:12.039 --> 01:36:14.100
pronounced, but definitely worth looking into.
01:36:14.300 --> 01:36:16.800
Yeah, well, check her out. Thank you so much
01:36:16.800 --> 01:36:19.619
for sharing. And I'm sorry to go back. There's
01:36:19.619 --> 01:36:21.779
one more going back to the rapid fire thing.
01:36:21.840 --> 01:36:23.039
When you said, what do you look for in people?
01:36:23.619 --> 01:36:27.859
Or do you wish people could be curious as well?
01:36:27.979 --> 01:36:30.239
Curious is one of my favorite words. So sorry.
01:36:30.479 --> 01:36:34.000
Yeah. No, it's okay. Thank you. So speaking of
01:36:34.000 --> 01:36:37.039
playlist, name one piece in your current playlist.
01:36:42.050 --> 01:36:45.470
Anything by the yeah, yeah, yes. I'm a huge yeah,
01:36:45.489 --> 01:36:50.850
yeah, yes fan. So maps, I guess. You know what?
01:36:50.869 --> 01:36:55.229
Also, let me see. Now I'm really curious myself.
01:36:55.770 --> 01:36:58.130
I've been listening to a lot of traditional Indian
01:36:58.130 --> 01:37:02.310
music lately. Like a lot. Again, I like listening
01:37:02.310 --> 01:37:05.909
to things that are outside of my circle just
01:37:05.909 --> 01:37:11.569
because it makes me learn something. I'm not
01:37:11.569 --> 01:37:16.649
really exposed to. Great. Wonderful. Last question.
01:37:16.890 --> 01:37:20.890
Fill in the blank. Music is blank. Everything.
01:37:21.710 --> 01:37:27.789
Ah, great. Chad, thank you so much for joining
01:37:27.789 --> 01:37:31.069
us today. Oh my goodness. Yukimi, you have been
01:37:31.069 --> 01:37:34.489
so kind and so inquisitive and so like patient
01:37:34.489 --> 01:37:38.039
with my rambling. So thank you so much. It's
01:37:38.039 --> 01:37:40.239
been like over 90 minutes and thank you so much
01:37:40.239 --> 01:37:43.199
for staying with me and then sharing your artistry
01:37:43.199 --> 01:37:46.239
journey and an innovative spirit with such openness
01:37:46.239 --> 01:37:49.420
and creativity and connection. So to our audience,
01:37:49.479 --> 01:37:52.180
if you'd like to explore more of Chad's work,
01:37:52.220 --> 01:37:55.100
please visit his website at chadlawson .com.
01:37:55.140 --> 01:37:58.260
Follow his YouTube channel at Chad Lawson Piano
01:37:58.260 --> 01:38:01.579
and Instagram. at Chad Lawson. And of course,
01:38:01.579 --> 01:38:05.359
you can please listen to his enlightening podcast,
01:38:05.680 --> 01:38:08.800
Calm It Down, wherever you listen to podcasts.
01:38:09.380 --> 01:38:12.260
All the links will be in the show notes. And
01:38:12.260 --> 01:38:14.880
of course, a huge thank you. You're so kind.
01:38:15.420 --> 01:38:19.600
Congratulations on season six. Fantastic. Thank
01:38:19.600 --> 01:38:24.800
you so much. Thank you. Thank you. So for those
01:38:24.800 --> 01:38:27.800
who are listening, please stay tuned for more
01:38:27.800 --> 01:38:31.779
episodes on the Pianopod on YouTube and wherever
01:38:31.779 --> 01:38:35.140
you get your podcast and follow us on all the
01:38:35.140 --> 01:38:37.979
social media platforms. I will see you in the
01:38:37.979 --> 01:38:40.079
next episode of the Pianopod. Thank you, Chad,
01:38:40.260 --> 01:38:44.039
so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. My dog
01:38:44.039 --> 01:38:46.619
is saying goodbye. So cute.