Dre DiMura: Went From Struggling Musician to 100M+ Views I Ep. 15

Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Dude, what's up, man? How are you?
Dre DiMura: I'm good, man. How you doing?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I'm great. Where you at in the world?
Dre DiMura: I'm you caught me in Nashville right now, actually. I'm a Nashville spot, but I'll be back in LA soon.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Hell yeah. And Nashville is not home for you, right?
Dre DiMura: yes yes and no. We we've been splitting
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay.
Dre DiMura: time. So we still have a spot out in Toluca Lake and I do a lot of my work out of LA, but we
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: got a house out here in like twenty twenty one. and I was able to
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: It's so sick.
Dre DiMura: set up set up the studio here to do the content and the music stuff.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Hell yeah, I think that was the last time I actually saw you was in Nashville. Like
Dre DiMura: That's right. And we went, it was you were playing Bridgestone with Tate, and then we went to
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: Bar Taco the next day for tacos on 12 South.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Bro, that whole hang was so much fun. Like it was just great to
Dre DiMura: Yeah, that was a fun day.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: hang with everybody, you, Zach, Maria and like everybody came out, had a good time. It was such a vibe, man.
Dre DiMura: Zach was there. Shout out Zach Finski.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: My boy Z, the legend.
Dre DiMura: He he owes me a kayak trip out on the I think we're supposed to go boating in in Laguna.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Dude, we just had we celebrated a fourth with Zach and a few of our friends and he's been trying to get us to
Dre DiMura: awesome.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: go down to Lagoon and OC for the longest time. He's like, just move down here. I'm like, it's so far though.
Dre DiMura: I love it. I'm so down though to to go frolic down there. We we had a hang a couple mm weeks ago, months ago,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay.
Dre DiMura: back in like April or May. I was out for a while doing some shooting and Zach hit me up. I went down to the OC and we just had like a beach day with him and Liza and we were like you know, down there on the rocks and laguna, there's like all sorts of like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: wildlife and like crabs and stuff and like he's
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm.
Dre DiMura: all about it. I felt like we like in the crocodile hunter, you know, Steve Irwin.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Exactly.
Dre DiMura: Ha ha ha.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Zach is is the man. Like he just loves to be. Zach does everything I wouldn't do, but I appreciate that he does that.
Dre DiMura: Heard. You can live vicariously
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You know what I mean? Like it
Dre DiMura: through him.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: And he just he gets me in things that I typically wouldn't do, but I always enjoy doing with him. You know what I mean? Like he he's one of those guys like
Dre DiMura: Hm, absolutely.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I I I got somebody to let me use their boat. So we're gonna go out on a boat. Zach, who did you finesse in you know what I mean? I'm like But he's one of those guys that really if you if you hang around long enough, he will get you into really cool things that you just you wouldn't think of doing. And he's just
Dre DiMura: He's got a great spirit of adventure that I admire. I love how he comes to Nashville. He's like getting up at jam night right away.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, immediately.
Dre DiMura: shows up and he's like posting a story and and he's just got such a gift for like just talking to anyone, which you know, great life lesson. Like amazing things happen when you simply talk to people. Yeah. But he's he he
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That is a fact. No, he's amazing.
Dre DiMura: he he perfectly embodies that and he's definitely someone that I I value and appreciate spending time with because He reminds you to like go for it, you know, in your life.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes.
Dre DiMura: Like he's he's one of those guys. So nah. Nah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. I and yep.
Dre DiMura: You're an inspiration, bro.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes, shout out to Zach Finski. Yeah, if y'all don't know who he is, y'all y'all are missing out on a breath of fresh air.
Dre DiMura: I'm surprised he hasn't come on he hasn't come on the pod. Okay, great.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: He's scheduled. Yeah, he's he's he's scheduled for sure. And you've seen my also thank you for being so flexible, man. My my life has been crazy.
Dre DiMura: Of course. Yeah. No, I totally get it. You were out you were out doing the thing.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, just trying to, you know, provide for the fam. That's all. But dude, I wanted to talk to you, man. What's that?
Dre DiMura: Looked pretty sick. I'd say it look looked pretty sick. That's that's a sick way to provide.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: It was pretty cool. Yeah. very grateful for the opportunities that we we're awarded in this life, man. It's yeah. But you more specifically is the person I wanted to talk to. because you've created a space for yourself that most people don't think about doing. And then in in my opinion, don't do it at the level that you've been able to achieve. And I'm so curious of why and how that even came about. So how did you get into the space of being primarily a content creator? And yes, you still do play out, you'll still do tour and all that good stuff. But again correct me if I'm wrong, your primary thing right now is content creation on guitar.
Dre DiMura: It certainly takes up the most of my time. Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay, for sure.
Dre DiMura: certainly takes up the most of my time. I am, you know, I'm a musician by trade and and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: a guitar. Like my craft in music you know, gave me the opportunity and the ability to do something with with content and then kind of not in not intentionally, just kind of blossomed into this thing that demanded a lot more of me.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: great. And just kind of it was this open door that at the time I was like, if I don't walk through this door right now and like try it, I'm gonna regret it. Because it
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Wow.
Dre DiMura: felt like something that was, you know, new and kind of like burgeoning and like my, you know, like older people didn't necessarily get it. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: I feel like that's the type of thing that you would want to chase, you know? Like when you find something where like your parents don't understand what you're doing, then like. Okay, so that's the next thing then. Like that's gonna be the thing that
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right, yeah.
Dre DiMura: we'll look back on in like ten or twenty years and be like you were part of that, you know, you rode that wave when it was it was happening. So
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: yeah. you were asking specifically about kind of segueing from like touring f or playing music full time to doing to doing contents.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, I mean, sure. And what why why go down that path besides no one else was really in in those waters with you? You know, was it were you finding more traction there? Were you getting more notoriety there? Was it something that even like myself, I I've stepped into a lane recently that I didn't see myself going down, but I was like, I'm kind of good at this. You know what I mean? And and and
Dre DiMura: Yeah, yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: it worked out. Like what what was what's your story with that? Like why? How? What what was that?
Dre DiMura: Sure. Well, one of my favorite sayings is like, Don't be afraid to surprise yourself.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: that's good.
Dre DiMura: it's yeah, it's it's not mine. It's the the poet Yusuf Komanyaka said that in an interview. And I like saw it in like English lit class in like eighth grade or something, and I was like,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Ha ha ha.
Dre DiMura: I love that. I think I learned that you know, when you're very married to the ego and like the narrative you've built around yourself and the idea you have
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: of like who you are and what you're supposed to do and like you know the things that maybe you imagine doing when you're younger. If you're if you're too fixated on that, you I think actually tend to miss some of the opportunities that life has to offer you. and I was definitely feeling like I mean to to be clear, like it it was the pandemic and I was at a point where I had like I'd been in LA for a while. I had b reached a point where I was able to sustain myself touring as a sideman and had done some some really great runs throughout like 20 from like 2016 to 2019, going
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: from you know club level up to arenas and stadiums, like fully realizing that part of the dream and and moving through that that stage for the first time. And pretty much as soon as I was kind of moving from like touring with like say like a C level artist to like B and A. I had like some opportunities that I had locked in for twenty twenty and within like a few weeks the pandemic happens and like everything's, you know, canceled. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: there was a lot of it was very challenging obviously for for for a lot of us. And I am I'm speaking from a place of of privilege and and good fortune to have come out on the other end of of COVID, you know, better off. which
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: is you know, is not the case for for everyone. So I wanna I wanna be clear about that. it was a very like challenging time for for all of us. And the thing that, you know, I realized was that the distractions of touring, and kind of riding that wave of success and everything, coupled with the disappointment of kind of losing a lot of those opportunities to COVID, you know, it I really just had to focus on on myself.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Wow, okay.
Dre DiMura: initially. Like I That took like a toll on my mental health. So
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: in doing in focusing on that, you know, the content thing kind of like came along at a time when I wasn't actively pursuing that f to to have like material success. It wasn't like I had these dreams or these ideas or these expectations that this was gonna become you know, a a another career path for me or like. a big thing. It just it was an outlet and it was something that I was doing along with the work that I was doing on myself at the time, kind of, you know, rising to that challenge of like having to be alone with my thoughts for the first time since I'd moved
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: to LA to like chase that dream.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: and I think through doing that, I just became very, very grateful for the opportunity to use my gift in any way, shape or form.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: given how, you know, disappointing and challenging it was to experience the loss around the pandemic and you know, feeling really creatively bottled up and, you know, not not not, you know, going from playing, you know, five nights a week for years in front of, you know, tons of people and the camaraderie of the road and I mean, you know,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: just like gone like that. And it, you know, I think because I wasn't, you know, forcing it or fixated on like the outcome. and I was focusing on my own my own health and well-being at the time too. it kind of took on a life of its own and then became something that happened like very naturally.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: and when it got to the point where I kind of had to like decide if I was gonna, you know, really commit to it, one, I I just felt grateful for the opportunity to to share what I, you know, my knowledge and my experience in music and and on tour and you know, being able to share that and and find an audience and connect with people. In a time when I think a lot of us all very disconnected,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: was really fulfilling. And, you know, like I said, I saw that opportunity. I had to like kind of have like a, you know, long hard talk with myself in the sense that like I had to let go of I had to accept the possibility that if I went like all in on this thing, you know, I might be giving up something else. And the thing that I might be giving up was that that narrative that. that dream that version of myself that I built up when I was a kid that's like, I'm gonna do this and like be in the band or like tour with the biggest artists and like, you know, do that. if I had stayed married to that though, I would have like I wouldn't have pursued making content because it didn't fit with
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: that necessarily. So I think, you know, ultimately, I was fortunate to be able to maintain both and have one inform the other.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: but it was important, like for my personal growth To kind of accept the risk and the possible consequences of like making a choice to pursue making
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: content and you know, maybe turning down some other opportunities or or or however it's however it shook out. and I think that's an important piece of growth because I think consequence is what separates, you know, your your youth from your adulthood in the sense of like when you know making decisions that have Consequences is necessary for growth, but also it's scary, you know? It's scary. You you you you
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: have something to you could be giving something up. So that's kind of what what brought me from music into content.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I think that's dope, man. So pandemic, you you got hit with all these opportunities and they were like, Nope, sit down, right? Every everybody got hit with that that thing, but Right, yeah. Everybody was and it and it
Dre DiMura: Really cool stuff too, man. You know, like yeah. I'm sure you know. Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: it's it was an insane time. But the thing I want to ask you about, and if you're willing to share, was the internal dialogue, right? Because you you you brought that up and I think that's important because I all musicians deal with that. Being a musician, a professional musician, there's it's in a roller coaster, right? You're you're you're
Dre DiMura: Mm-hmm.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: super high and you're doing the arenas, you're doing the stadiums, you're you're on tour, all of a sudden, I don't know, my phone's gonna ring. And then for you, you had to make a decision and you made a choice, but it wasn't an easy choice, I assume. So so what was the internal dialogue like? Like were you fighting with the dream of the childhood and and giving that up? And what what what was that That friction that ultimately got you to that point where you're like, you know what? I'm all in on me. So let's do it.
Dre DiMura: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you don't bet on yourself, no one will, you know? I it's a great question. there's there's a lot of answers I feel like I could give. but I think the most important one is I'm I'm gonna reference a book that I was reading at the time called Courage is Calling. I don't know if you've ever read this
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: No I
Dre DiMura: this book. it's by Ryan Holliday. He wrote like the Daily Stoic.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay, yes.
Dre DiMura: He likes the stoic philosophy books, but
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I have the de stoic, yeah.
Dre DiMura: okay, yeah. So my my therapist had like recommended this book to me. He's like, check this out, you might like he gave me a copy. He had like a bunch in the back of his car in a box. He had like like he bought like a like a case of these books. I think he was like giving them to all his clients, you know. He's like, Yeah, maybe, maybe he yeah, some ownership. So he's like, Yeah, like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: He has stock in the book and everything Right.
Dre DiMura: check this out, you might like it. And I read that book and I realized that like the Courage is not like courage is not proceeding in the absence of fear because you've like made your mind up and you feel like confident in in the choice or whatever it is that you're doing. It's persisting in spite of fear, right? Like you're going
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: to be afraid. Like things three things will be scary. and, you know, I think we tend to think, well, if I feel, you know, if I can, if I can overcome the fear, then like I know I must be on the right path. Like I've, you know. how do I how do I say this? You know, if if I can like if I can overcome or cast aside the fear, then I can feel confident that what I'm doing is the right thing. Versus
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: like I have to simply take action in spite of fear. So at no
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: point, I I don't think at any point was I like fully confident. And I think that's important because
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay. That's very
Dre DiMura: I think self doubt and like there just doubt in general. Is like an unavoidable part of your journey and growth. Like you're going to have doubt. There's going to be times when you don't know for sure. And no amount of introspection or meditation or prayer, whatever your practice of self-reflection is,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: may necessarily totally qualm like address those qualms. And you you have to just take action. You have to make like I said, like you have to make decisions of consequence, even if you're not totally sure. And you know, who knows what's on the other end, but that's kind of the exciting part of the adventure, you know? So that was that was kind of my
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah. So that was
Dre DiMura: my my internal dialogue at the time.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Got it. So y reading the book really kind of reshaped your your your own philosophy attached to your ideology.
Dre DiMura: Absolutely. Yeah. I I tend to
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's incredible.
Dre DiMura: I tend to like I tend to like philosophy, I tend to like reading, and I those things impact me like very, very deeply. So
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: I feel like the book really helped me just understand what was required of me to have maybe you know, kind of the life that I wanted and the challenges that would be associated with that and the courage that it would requ require.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: and it was kind of like totally the opposite of what I had been see or what I had been gravitating toward previously, which was like feeling comfortable, feeling com confident, feeling secure. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: mistaking that for certainty versus embracing the doubt, embracing the fear, embracing the unexpected and the
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: possibility that comes with that. But you know, you can't you can't have one without the other. And that's the
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes.
Dre DiMura: That's the scary part. Or else everyone would
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: D that's so dope.
Dre DiMura: have exactly everything they want in life all the time, you know?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. And that's I think that's a very fair point and something that I've seen musicians struggle with in personally as well. Right. We get we get the gig, we get the relationship, we get the resources, we get the endorsements, and we're like, I made it. And then all of a sudden you're like, this isn't the life that I thought. Right. And and then you just brought this up, which is what I want to ask you. You said this wasn't this really wasn't the life or you thought about what the lifestyle you want to live, right? What kind of life do you want to have? What did you land on?
Dre DiMura: see, that's a good question. I don't even
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: I don't even know if I know now. I think
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's honest, yes.
Dre DiMura: you know, I definitely got close, I think, to what I was seeking at the time, you know, having a having a multitude of creative outlets that I could use to support myself and family. You know, like that would
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: be that that that's great and and it's kind of what I was seeking at the time, but Hmm. Yeah, I think it's always evolving and it's always changing. You
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep.
Dre DiMura: know, and I think again, that's that's part of it. Like the certainty is kind of an illusion, you know. I think also, you know, I I've struggled with OCD throughout my life and and done quite a bit of work there and like, you know, mindfulness work and and workbooks and and therapy. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: kind of one of the things that was like a good exposure for me and like learn you know. working working with the OCD was like, you know, putting myself in these situations that were uncomfortable, uncertain, and kind of seeing, you know, the good that came from from that stuff, whether it was personal growth, professional growth, financial growth, spiritual growth, like the the outcomes, like I said, don't be afraid to surprise yourself. You know, it's like when I was living in my very, you know, OCD world, kind of stuck on the narrative of like, This is who Dreydomira is. This is I made my mind up when I was 14 that like I'm gonna be slash and you know, that's it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dre DiMura: Right. Then like I feel, you know, a lot of things would would have slipped through my fingers. And sometimes, you know, the results when you, you know, go through these uncomfortable experiences are, you know, better than what you could have imagined in your like puny imagination. You know, I started to find
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: that like the the outcomes were were surprising me. And that was being reinforced as like you know positive reinforcement of like, hey, I'm, you know, I'm not acquiescing to this urge to have certainty, security, to, you know, and and therefore I am like creating opportunities in my life for things to happen that would not have happened otherwise if I had, you know, tried to keep this tight vice grip of control on everything in in in
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: in my personal life, in my career, you know, you know, becoming Comfortable with uncomfortability is is the key, for sure.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: David Goggins saying, get comfortable being uncomfortable, man. It's
Dre DiMura: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: brilliant. And the fact that you you've done a lot of work and you've accepted that the uncertainty is the way to go. And that's very challenging for not just musicians, but people in general. Right? We get to this place of we work our nine to five, or we we get to this place and we're like, okay, this is the comfort. This is familiar. And that's really what we're we're attached to. That control and familiarity.
Dre DiMura: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: But the lessons that really push us to evolve are on the other side of that familiarity when you just don't know what the
Dre DiMura: Absolutely.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: heck is about to happen and you're like, you know what? Screw it. I'm gonna take a risk here. And somehow we we send to figure it out. You know, there's usually
Dre DiMura: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: not many times where you just go down in flames. And if you do, whatever. You know, like it no one has it figured out.
Dre DiMura: Whatever. Yeah, whatever. You know, again, also like failure is a part of that. Like failure is is great. you you know, you can't all be winning all the time, no matter what that rapper said, you know?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. That's so true though. Dude, I think that's amazing.
Dre DiMura: but
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: So when if you could, and this is something that a lot of people struggle with too, you talked about your OCD. What type of OCD did you have? Because I know there's different, there's different realms, and and I just recently started digesting more of what that is because I was working with the artist and this artist was talking about them having it. So could you like what would what is your type of O C D? 'Cause that what one what I'm understanding is it doesn't really go away. You just learn how to manage it a little bit better, right? Is that am I understanding that correctly? Okay.
Dre DiMura: Essentially, yeah, yeah. And it exists on on a spectrum. Like nobody has just one type of OCD. You would have, you know, maybe more of a concentration of like certain OCD tendencies over others. I watched a video the other day that was like a great example of like illustrating OCD and like an OCD brain versus a non-OCD brain. Is like, you
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay.
Dre DiMura: know, you're walking across a bridge and You know, you have the intrusive thought of like, I'm high up, like what if I jumped? You know? And a non-OCD
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: brain is gonna be like, that's like what a funny thought, or like maybe that's a weird thought. And then you like just move on, right? And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dre DiMura: go back your day. No big deal. The OCD brain is gonna have that thought. And then it's gonna go, Wait, does that does that mean I'm I wanna kill myself? No, I don't want to kill myself. No, I I'm happy with my life. But wait, is there something I'm unhappy about? And that's why I had that thought and Wait, maybe okay, I to look this up. And then you look it up. And then you're okay, but wait, but then it says that it might be a symptom of this thing, which means that wait, do is there something wrong with that? And do I need to go to a doctor and get a check? It's like, you know, great example of like the rumination that would happen in in the OCD brain versus like a neurotypical brain.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: and for me, you know, my OCD tendencies were very much around like completionist perfectionism. just right OCD, right? Like needing needing things to be a certain way in order to do other things.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: kind of having the obsession over being able to create a perfect set of circumstances or a perfect environment for me to be able to do the next thing. It's called like and then thinking.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay.
Dre DiMura: you know, like I'd go into therapy, I'd be like, you know, and if only like, but you know, I really want to do this, but like I feel like I need this first. And if only I had this and I could like make sure these things were like this way. You know, then I'll be able to like put throw myself into making that album. And it's like,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: no, make the damn album. You know? Make the damn album.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right, right, right.
Dre DiMura: Like, yeah, like my guitar needs a setup, but that's not gonna stop me. My, you know, I have this other outstanding project that I need to finish, but like I I need to put some time into this today, or like, you know, it could be no big things, little things. but I think ultimately where it started to hold me back is that it's ultimately it's about feeling okay. Right. Like that's
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay.
Dre DiMura: as human beings, we want to feel secure, we want to feel loved, we want to feel comfortable, we wanna,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: you know, all of those things. And through OCD, you're able to self-soothe and regulate uncomfortability through the behavior. So if I felt like I wasn't achieving what I needed to as on my instrument, or if I felt like I wasn't getting the type of opportunities that I felt like I deserved or that I desired, you know, as a musician or as a creator or w what have you. you know, I could soothe those feelings through the OCD behavior. So you know, try, you know, ruminating on on little things, small details, things that probably weren't necessarily going to help me advance any of my actual career goals or my craft, but made me feel good in the moment. So, like,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: you know, a great example would be like if I felt like I wasn't getting called enough, you know, my OCD behavior would be to start like, you know. scrolling and like looking at everyone I knew who was getting called and like maybe DMing some people or whatever, versus like, you know, working on my craft or just going out to to jam night and like hanging with my buds and like talking about music or just like kicking it, you know, like building the community
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: that know it that way or like whatever. So, you know, getting fixated on little details and things that make you feel like you're making progress or you're creating the circumstances you need to succeed. But they tend to just be distractions to help you, you know, avoid whatever uncomfortable feeling you're having, which is, I'm not getting called right now. You know, I'd love to be on a on on tour. Or, you
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: know, I'm bummed that that, you know, that video didn't do do well.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: so ultimately, kind of all of that, that struggle is what led me to the stuff that we talked about previously of like you know, having to do that self-work and and grow through that and start to embrace that stuff and learn from it and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: move move through the discomfort. And in doing so, to answer your question about like it never goes away, you create positive reinforcements instead of negative reinforcements. So the the negative reinforcements are like if I kept doing the behavior, you know, wasting my time or doing s you know silly tedious things to try to make sure my studio was exactly perfect so I could hit record and like play or whatever, right? it's
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Right.
Dre DiMura: just like a a hypothetical example, but you know, if I s just continue
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: But so real.
Dre DiMura: to like, yeah, just you know, push those things and avoid those feelings. you know, to answer your question, it doesn't ever go away. But by creating those positive reinforcements instead of continuing to do the negative behavior, your
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: brain, you know, you're able to kind of reprogram your brain a bit to associate the other behavior with the reward. So you're actually being rewarded
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Got it.
Dre DiMura: for exposing yourself to things that make you feel uncomfortable. You're being rewarded for doing, you know, maybe the harder thing, the thing that doesn't give you that immediate gratification or like good feeling of like now it's okay, you know, having
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: to like having to take a risk, having to deal with failure, having to, you know, make a tough decision or something like that. And and ultimately it that definitely becomes much easier to just like, you know, live your life and and experience joy and abundance in in them.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Dude, that's so dope that you're doing that, man. And and respect. You know, true, true
Dre DiMura: Thank you.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: respect for for knocking that out. I think this kind of go pivots me to my my next question for you. Is you had to start, right? You didn't just get to this place of also you just got you just crossed if I saw correctly at the time, eighty K on IG, which is amazing. Yeah, congrats on that.
Dre DiMura: on Insta video, thank you. Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: But you you didn't start there. Right. You didn't start with the recognition. You didn't start with the brand deals. You didn't start with the perfect content. You didn't start with the perfect lighting, the perfect cameras, the perfect guitar setup, the perfect train. You didn't start with that. And you didn't start with people noticing or giving a damn. Right. But somehow you stuck with it. So what was that for you that inspired you to stick with it and was like, you know what? I'm gonna go in on all in on this. The way I can, do the best I can and and just really go on his path. So what what was that?
Dre DiMura: Are you asking specifically about like my earlier journey like in music and content or like what dis
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes, sir.
Dre DiMura: kind of talked about the tipping point. You you you're talking about before that. I see.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Yeah, like the b the beginning phases of it. Right? Because you were touring and content
Dre DiMura: Yeah. Mm.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: w correct me if I'm wrong, content was not the primary focus. Now it's kinda
Dre DiMura: No, it wasn't even part of my life, really, you know?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah.
Dre DiMura: yeah, I think to to kind of echo what I said before, and then I can elaborate a little bit, like the idea of like challenging the narrative, you know, of like who I am and and what I'm supposed to do. is ultimately, I think, what like made me feel like I could take the leap and like try this this new thing. but it's I think people tend to think I'm a lot younger online, which is excellent. the C routine is is working. no really like I there's a phenomenon that I've seen or phenomenon that I've seen where a lot of my audience like associates me with like 2021, 2022, you know, starting on TikTok and doing content. And like they don't know that I had a career before that. They don't know that I did
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: that I toured and that I did music and sync and that I was on TV and in films and like did did any of that stuff before before
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: content. and to be honest, you know, that that other chapter gave me all of the skills that I needed and the knowledge that I was able to build my platform on, sharing my my experience with people.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Wow, okay.
Dre DiMura: but it was definitely you know it was definitely a grind. I mean, it's it's a grind and you know, relatively speaking, it's the entertainment business. Like we're not, you know, I'm not a heart surgeon or anything. So I'm like,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure, sure.
Dre DiMura: you know, it's it's it's entertainment, but you know, it's it's a struggle. It's tough. Like you were saying, like, you you're getting the toys, you're getting the deals, whatever, and it's like ultimate highs, ultimate lows. and for me, I, you know, I was struggling with waiting for permission.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: to do my thing, you know? And like I was feeling that with, you know, when I when I moved to LA, you know, I moved to LA to pursue pursue doing session work and pursue touring. I had figured out that like Nuno Betancourt from the band Extreme was playing guitar for Rihanna. So I was like,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Crazy.
Dre DiMura: that's a that's a job. Like that, you know, I was doing the band thing in in Jersey where I grew up and I had done like, you know, I was working semi professionally, teaching lessons, like playing in bands and stuff. But like when I figured out that that was like a career path. I was all in. I was like, that's what I want to do. Went out to LA. initially in LA, I actually got work doing like on-camera work as a guitar player for like TV and movies.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Incredible.
Dre DiMura: and started to pick up like the touring work later, later my first year, and then like, you know, ongoing after that. but what I started to realize after the kind of initial like high wore off of like, I'm getting all these cool opportunities and I just did this tour in Australia and I was in this Nickelodeon show and like all this amazing stuff, which is amazing. is
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Absolutely.
Dre DiMura: realizing that like, you know, the minute that the shoot ends, I'm unemployed. Like I worked for
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Instantly.
Dre DiMura: two you know what I mean? I'm like, I worked for two days. It was it was awesome. but like I don't, you know, I don't even have my next audition from my agent yet. The phone ain't ringing, I got nothing on the books.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep.
Dre DiMura: And it's like, you know, back to, you know, whatever supplemental odd jobs, you know, teaching lessons, whatever you can do to like, you know, get by. And I think there's like something beautiful about it. You know, I think it's like an integral part of the journey. I'm not I'm not knocking it in any way.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure. Yeah.
Dre DiMura: but I think after doing it for like a few years, you're like, you know, this ain't this ain't it. Like that there
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: needs to be, you know, there's something else that that I'm craving. And it wasn't even necessarily just like more material success or like you know consistency in that regard. It was literally, like I said, just like the chance to do my thing. Like you
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: realize that in in entertainment, in music, and in in television and film, in the arts, right? You're essentially always waiting for that that call. Yeah, you're waiting for permission. and I realize another book I read actually, by this author, Austin Cleon, called Show Your Work.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay.
Dre DiMura: and he has another book called Share Your Work. They're really good, like little coffee table books. he just encourages people to like don't wait up, you know, create every day, like even if it's for 20 minutes, just like make something, like exercise
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: your craft, do your thing. And I realized I was like, why is it that us as artists and and and musicians or actors or or whatever, it's like, why don't we just do our thing every day? Like if I were a carpenter, I would be like building something each day.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yep. Yep.
Dre DiMura: Right, like like a like a crafts person, right? I would be like devoting my time to that and like that the beauty is in doing the craft. And I realized I got very caught up in the highfalutin, like the LA, like just that the the the point became the result. I got the tour, I got the endorsement, I booked the job, I got the callback, and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yes.
Dre DiMura: I was so unhappy and my mental health was s awful. Like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: And I mean, what do you expect? It's like that's not really, you know, any kind of kind of life. It's feast or famine. And I was fortunate through in the pandemic to to kinda realize that like, okay, you know, the tours come when they come, the sessions come when they come, the auditions come in, those opportunities come, that's great. but here's something that I can do every day. I can get up, I can source my topics, I can write my scripts, I can set up my equipment, plug in my guitar, make a video.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: post the video, you know, and and kind of have a have a have a craft now that I can practice consistently and in doing so, like feed my own creative soul. and unfortunately was able to also find an audience and connect with other people around that.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: But it ultimately came down to, you know, not wanting to wait up for permission to be to be be creative. You know, it's yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: To be you. Dude, that's so dope. And I I I hope people understand that too. Is like our career is a lot of it. If if you're a hired gun, is someone calling your phone, sending you an email, and using your words, permission to s to exercise what you do. But you you've pivoted, and this is I have a very similar story of I got tired of feeling like. My worth was attached to my phone ringing. You know, and and it's it's inevitable
Dre DiMura: Yeah. Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: because it kind of is, right? If you if your phone doesn't ring, you don't make money. And if you don't make money, you can't live a certain kind of way. If you can't live a certain kind of way, then you are in poverty. Like there's no other way to shape this. You know, so that didn't resonate with my spirit. It seems like similar for you. And and creating a a platform for yourself to create. And also provide, you know, and it's not just a monetary thing. It's it's you also being to provide for your mental health and you know your your years of dedication of sitting behind your your instrument. That's it can't just be for an artist, right? It can't just be for that. It has
Dre DiMura: Absolutely. Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: to be for something else that you can say, I did this. And it and it's not just the the stake in the in the in the ground of I it's well when that two-day shoot is over, I have nothing else to go home to, right? I have nothing else to create. And dude, so respect for you, man. And now that you've pivoted, how are you navigating this space of creating your content? Because I was talking to Izzy and she has a a way of doing certain things. And I'm always so curious because y'all are in a world that I never really considered to take seriously. But it is a lane, you know, and it is a lane that is doing well.
Dre DiMura: Yeah, absolutely.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: So how are you creating that? I I know you mentioned you're writing your scripts, you're setting up your cameras and things like that. Actually, you know what? I'm more curious about this. What was the beginning phases for you? Because you had to start, right? You didn't have the perfect camera set up, you didn't have the perfect microphone set up, you didn't know all the stuff. What was that that starting point?
Dre DiMura: Absolutely. Yeah. yeah, I can answer that. No, there's something you just said though that that I love that I wanted to respond to, but like now it's slipping my mind 'cause I'm thinking about the question. But you said
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah, go back to it if you s if you want.
Dre DiMura: what what is it you just said about you said you were talking to you talking
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Izzy.
Dre DiMura: to Izzy and and then what did you say just after that?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: She has her own way of like creating her content.
Dre DiMura: gotcha. You it'll it'll it'll come back to me. Something you
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay, yeah, yeah. Feel free.
Dre DiMura: said struck me, but I can't I can't remember what it is now. yeah, so I I had an interest in like filmmaking and and and visual media. Like I I had grown up wanting to actually be a director. Like I wanted to be George Lucas and go to USC or NYU and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Wow.
Dre DiMura: make make films and like had tried to do yeah, I made like little home movies when I was a kid and like with a camcorder and you know, knew my way around like an iPhone and And all that back home and then when I moved to LA. But when it came to making content, that was, I mean, funnily enough, like not to harp on it, but like to bring it full circle to like OCD and like the the personal work,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: you know, having perfectionism, it was really tough to start in this new medium, which was very raw and unpolished. you know,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: if you're going back to 2018, 19, 20, 2020. you know, short form was the anti-Youtube at that time. It was like anti-Netflix, anti-Youtube. It was supposed to be raw, it was supposed to be gritty and authentic and relatable and a little messy. And to be honest, I think that actually helped me. the fact that now there was this opportunity to do something that was, you know, a little more forgiving as far as the production value. So it was actually easier for me
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: to just jump in and start versus feeling like. You said you have to have the perfect camera, the perfect lighting, the perfect setup. It's like, no, you can have an iPhone and and like literally just an iPhone. And,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: you know, you you could make something that could that could touch millions of people. And and I think that, you know, that made it easier for me to dive in. So, you know, when I started, it was pretty much just that. Like I had I had my phone and I think I yeah, I had like a ring light that I got off Amazon for like thirty bucks.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Great.
Dre DiMura: And that was that was pretty much it. And I didn't really invest in anything you know, better that better until, you know, I maybe like four to six months into to doing content when it had started to kind of shape into something that I, you know, realized I could I could I could have growth there. And I was like, all right, you know, I'll get like a a microphone and like some other stuff that that'll help me do this. But yeah. Yeah, literally
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. So you just start it. You're like I'm just gonna start.
Dre DiMura: just just started. And I will say the same of to anyone who wants to make content is like, just make the video. Just make the video and post the video because guess what? Then you'll make the next video. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: and and the and the first one won't won't really matter. And then you'll make the next one and the second one. You know, it's like I think the thing about content that's really cool is that because it has a short lifespan for vertical content, you know, it has a shorter lifespan. It's like, Yeah, great. Like make the video, post it. If it does well, great. You know, make a a follow-up or like, you know, make it a series or something. If it flops, like great, you'll have another video out in f twenty-four hours. Like that's really not a big deal.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right, right.
Dre DiMura: Versus like, I don't know, if you're a director and you make a film every four years and the film flops, it's like, you know, like wow, I like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, that's rough.
Dre DiMura: put years and years of my life into that. It's like it it's not this you with content, it's a lot more forgiving. It's like there's no reason to not just go for it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Absolutely. When you first got started though, you I'm I'm assuming like everybody else, including myself, no one cared. You know, what what kept you going? Right? Because it's not easy when you make a video and there's five people that watched it and the only person that commented was your mom. You know, or you you might have shouted out to your your family group chat and then they watch the video to help you. Right. We all go through these types of things. It matters.
Dre DiMura: Hey that that ma hey, all of that matters though. All of that matters. I had a met I had a music teacher in New Jersey that was like, he would like, you know, we'd do shows and we'd have to sell tickets or whatever, like locally, and he'd be like, he's like, no one no one cares about your band but your mom. You know, like that was like the first lesson.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Ha ha ha.
Dre DiMura: It's like nobody cares but your mom. So you gotta make other people care.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: yeah, I I would say for me I definitely experience quick quick growth. So I don't want to like speak
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay.
Dre DiMura: from a place of you know, I don't want to say like, you know, just keep going or whatever. And then it's like, you know, years of grinding and disappointment and like trying to trying to make something work there. Like I was fortunate, I think, to come into, you know, get on TikTok at a time when TikTok was just getting so much attention and there was a real real demand and supply shortage for quality content.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: around expertise. So like the, you know, TikTok at the time, I'm sure you remember, like it had been musically, it was all about like lip syncing and dance trends. And it was like, you know, not like you said, that wasn't really taken very seriously.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: And there was definitely a concerted push to like, you know, bring more valuable content to the the platform in terms of like education and you know sharing skills and and expertise and knowledge. And I think I was like a right place, right time thing for me, where
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: I had spent years in in media, you know, music, TV, et cetera, and then had this opportunity to share that experience and and that knowledge and that skill set, the expertise that I had cultivated from doing the work, you know, with people who genuinely were hungry for it, who had no idea how our world works.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: which is something I think maybe we tend to take for granted when it comes to like sharing our experience and why I would encourage people to, you know, still make content and still create and share your experience and your knowledge because one, yeah, everything that needs to be said has already been said, but nobody was listening, so it needs to be said again. So remember
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yep.
Dre DiMura: that, you know? And you know, things go in cycles where like, you know, things will become so old that people think they're new. you know, genres and styles and things like that. On the other hand, you have, you know, knowledge that maybe becomes common knowledge for one generation that the next generation doesn't doesn't have, doesn't know about. You
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: know, so I realized quickly on TikTok that music fans genuinely had no idea like how our world worked and the the desi like the hunger to learn about that, whether it was like how we're using in ears and like what per diemes are and you know, how we, you know, what what a load-in is and like how we do a sound
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep.
Dre DiMura: check and you know, why I bring two identical guitars on a tour, or like how wireless rigs work and why, you know, why A Ariana Grande couldn't hear herself at Coachella. You know what I mean? Like people
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure. Yep.
Dre DiMura: genuinely didn't know. so, you know, I I think I benefited from, you know, coming coming at that you know, right time, right place, where I was able to share that and immediately connect with like a large, you know, large audience and grow that very quickly.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: but in the and this I'm I'm talking about like over the course of a few months.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: but in the first in the first couple couple months, like the first two months before I had like my first viral video, I genuinely kept going simply because I wanted to and I enjoyed doing it. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's dope.
Dre DiMura: Maybe that's not like the answer people want to hear, but like it's it's the truth, you know? It's like if you
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's the truth, yeah.
Dre DiMura: if you enjoy it, it's fulfilling to you. It doesn't matter like how insignificant maybe it seems on paper, like if you're you know the videos are getting X amount of views and like a few comments or whatever, but like you're enjoying it, and you know, you don't know who you don't know who you might be influencing or who you might be connecting with.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes.
Dre DiMura: you know, and again, it's like If you're just doing it because there's the the promise of material success, you're probably going to end up disappointed, even if you achieve said success. if you love what you're doing and you happen to achieve achieve material success through that, you'll you'll have a much deeper sense of fulfillment.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: so, as cliche as it sounds, I mean, like if you love doing it, keep doing it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: and if you do if you do want to experience growth and success, then then that's where the That's where the that's where the craft comes in. That's when you have to start being self-critical and course correcting and trying to
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: grow versus you know maybe just doing it as as like a hobby or an outlet, you know?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: That's that's the next part is like actually getting good at it. Like I wasn't good
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: at making making content when I started making content. It's not good. You know? It wasn't good. No, it wasn't good. And it I you know,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay. Wasn't good at all. Yeah. Yeah.
Dre DiMura: I made To put it in perspective, you I was saying, you know, it happened in a in a few months for me, like the growth that I had experienced on TikTok. But I had posted 18 videos a week for the first three months. Like I was doing,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Whoa.
Dre DiMura: yeah, so I made over probably like a hundred I don't know how much off the top of my head, like almost 200 videos before I think I had the first video that like truly went viral and like blew my account up. So that's a lot
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's crazy.
Dre DiMura: of that's a lot of trial and error. And a lot of flops, a lot of failures, a lot of, like I said, like up, I on to the next one. Like, you know, I can't get hung up on this one. It's just like you keep keep moving. Yeah, it was like three three videos a day, essentially, for like the first three months. Yeah. I could never do that.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's incredible. Like that amount of volume is nuts. But I g I guess at a time you had the time, right? The government gave us the time. So that was kind of nice, you know? But
Dre DiMura: Hey, it but what did you do with the time? That's the question, you know?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. And I and and that's kind of a testimony to to what you did. But I have a question now, because you you you said something about self-critical, analyzing yourself when you what it from hobby to I want to make this a profession. You now had to be critical about the content you're creating, what time you're creating it, or what time you're posting it, right? you know, what type of things you're doing, understanding the algorithm. There's there's more aspects to this. What From beginning to now are some of the things you've had to alter with your approach, right? From posting, creating, etc.
Dre DiMura: Absolutely, great question. a lot. It's changed so much. I mean, even in just a short time. I think starting out, like I said, the demand was so high and the supply was so low, and the standard of the content was also much lower. Like even
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Got him.
Dre DiMura: though TikTok is still more of an organic feel versus like say Instagram where things are very polished or YouTube. Where you have higher production value, it's definitely still, you know, the the j the the the floor on content quality has in you know gone up. So
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: For sure.
Dre DiMura: there's there's definitely like more considerations there. Like I was making videos when I started, like I just got gotten out of the shower and like my hair was wet, and I was like sitting in bed just like doing a comment reply because I had posted some video. about, you know, a pro tool session and someone asked a question. So instead of like typing the comment, I just like talked to the camera for like 30 seconds.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Ha ha ha.
Dre DiMura: And that was that was like early TikTok. Like you could do that. And and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's smart though.
Dre DiMura: yeah, and and people would would engage with that and and respond to that. And the first thing that I learned was that like the audience to the audience dictates, you know, the direction for me. It was pretty
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: much from the time I had the first couple of videos that did really, really well. You know, t TikTok was the first platform to add the the video reply feature where you could reply to a comment with a video.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Very cool.
Dre DiMura: and so I just started to like use that nonstop. So like I would post a video, the video did maybe a couple million views, and there was like 2,500 comments. That's that's a hundred videos right there. You know, like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: that's with all of the the feedback and the questions you're getting, like, you know, but what if it's this way? And but what happened what another like, you in years when I had started doing videos about in ears. people are like, but why do singers take one out? great, next video. I would shoot that, and then people would comment on that one, and there'd be more questions, and then I would answer those. And like that sustained me for a long time. and I think for the it it it taught me a lesson, which was that for the first time ever, in my creative career, so to speak, I was like meeting market demand for something versus
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah.
Dre DiMura: you know, versus Trying to create market demand for like my art or like my thing,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes.
Dre DiMura: which is a noble pursuit. And I don't want to dismiss, you know, artists who have to fight to create market demand for their art because it's a legitimate thing. And there's amazing there
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure. Absolutely.
Dre DiMura: are amazing artists who don't get the recognition they probably deserve. and there just simply is not the demand there for for their art, and that's unfortunate. I think for me, I realize that. Although I enjoyed what I was creating musically and in in my bands and projects and things outside of like my touring work, no one asked for it. You know? And it doesn't make it bad. It's just nobody asked for it. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: I realized with TikTok that I had never made anything anyone asked for. I had never
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Wow.
Dre DiMura: identified a need and addressed it with call it a product, but like, you know, a video. It's an right. Like I had never
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: I had never met that demand. And there was something super fulfilling about that because I realized that for the first time I was using my creative gifts in a way that was like really providing value for people and helping to them to understand, you know, how how the world of music and production worked in a way that,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Ryan.
Dre DiMura: you know, they they didn't previously know. And it was full circle for me too, because I, you know, like I said, I grew up like I wanted to be George Lucas. I I was I wanted to make films. And I was obsessed with like special features and behind the scenes and like I wanted I always wanted to know how the cake was made.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay.
Dre DiMura: And the opportunity to like share that with an you know, another generation or like an an audience was really fulfilling. So taught me a lesson about, you know, commerce, and but also
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: creative creativity and where they can intersect and actually bring you, you know, bring you fulfillment, help meet a need for other people, and then also bring you know, financial benefit.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. And dude, that's you and Izzy said a very similar thing. She doesn't decide what she posts. She's like the market does. My following decides what I post. And you're essentially kind of saying the same thing. It's like, yeah, of course you're gonna do the things you want to do in essence, because no one can force your hand. But you're also like, I'm looking at these comments and they're asking for certain things. Okay, let's make a video about it. You know, as versus just directly engaging with one person, you're saying I can reach So many more, and it could be equally beneficial. You got your answer, other people can get the answer, and I also made content on it. So now that you you've kind of understood that and you're really navigating it flawlessly, in my opinion, I love your content. And I don't play guitar.
Dre DiMura: Thank you.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I I it's so interesting to me because of
Dre DiMura: Never too late to start.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: bro, yes, it is for me. Like it's not when I know people like you and Zach and Rosetta. Well, for what? I got my friends are amazing at it. I'll just hire you guys. But now that you you're you're creating this, right? You're not just creating an answer in a question as simple as what you were saying. I got out of bed, my hair is wet, I'm all sitting on my bed. You're a lot more strategic about how you're going about creating that response to the to the question, right?
Dre DiMura: Exactly. And yeah, sorry, I'm realizing that was the the question you asked was what changed
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah, yeah, go for it. 'Cause you're probably gonna answer what I'm asking. Go for it.
Dre DiMura: what changed. So I'll I'll bring it back to that. So yeah, I have I mean it definitely has changed a lot and it's become a lot more structured and and regimented, only because it's had to, you know, in order
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: to to grow and to scale. which is the challenging part is when you you know, you reach a certain point where You do have to adapt. And I'll put I'll put it this way. When I started on TikTok, for the first time ever, I felt like I was on like the cutting edge of something. And I was like, whoa,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay.
Dre DiMura: I'm not like stuck in the past or like operating on an old model. Because growing up in bands and like, you know, I came up right at that time, like the switch from like traditional, like physical product to iTunes and to streaming, where like all of the books that I read and all of the mentors that I had were like. You know, you gotta get your deal and you gotta do this and you're gonna, you know, keep
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: your publishing and like, you know, we we had to, you know, print our own CDs and sell them at our shows. And like that model literally did not exist by the time I was like reaching the the point in my life where I could start to like operate in the music business and work. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: I felt like I was just like clutching sand in my hands, being like, wait, like all this stuff that I was told matters doesn't matter. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: It doesn't matter.
Dre DiMura: I feel like with TikTok, for the first time I was like, wait, but like, okay, this is right here, right now.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay.
Dre DiMura: And I'm like a part of it. And I would say within like two years after starting, I was like, my God, I'm a dinosaur. I'm out of touch. You know what I mean? Like because it changes so fast.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Really? Okay.
Dre DiMura: You're like, wait, like am I, you know, am I still like, you know, close to the trends? Do I have my finger on the pulse of what's happening? And that's where, you know, that's where you have to be willing to tear down and build up. Again, it comes back to doing those uncomfortable things and taking those risks, you know, is like the problem with success is that now you have something to lose, right? But
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: if you continue to do the same thing exactly the way you're doing it, you will lose. It's like guaranteed,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You will lose, yes.
Dre DiMura: guaranteed that you will lose because you're not adapting. And the irony is that, like, in an effort to feel comfortable, we will try to, you know, cling to something. And it's like a self-fulfilling
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep.
Dre DiMura: prophecy. We're like, well, we don't. You know, we don't want to lose the thing, but like if we don't adapt and change, we're going to lose it. You know, like it's it's just how it's gonna happen. So I
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: realized that if I, you know, I realized that there was things that I, you know, series that I had had that were running for a long time that I loved, that I loved creating that just like we're not getting the traction anymore. Like it had run its course. People had had enough of like that series or that that topic that I was, you know, doing things on. And you know, I had to have kind of a a whole rebrand and like a rebuild in like 2023. I think is like when I start kicked off a lot of the series that I still have running now,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay.
Dre DiMura: you know, which is I mean great, like to have them, you know, going strong after three years. But like pretty much all of the series and all of the the content that I made, like my first two or three years on on TikTok and Reels and shorts, like they're all defunct at this point. Like they you know, I did what I could do with them and that's great, but at some point I had to change it up and You know, part of that was in the trade, in the craft, you know, you ask like what's different. It's like, you know, yes, that I did, you know, you do start to notice that people other people's camera quality is getting better. There's like a, you know, a new iPhone, or like people are switching to using these Sony cameras, or like you're starting to see a certain, you know, color grading thing happening, or like, you know, lighting's getting
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: better in videos. And it's like you have to adapt and you have to compete. I benefited
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: from being you know, coming in at a point where the floor was still low and there was just like a high demand and low supply of quality content, but then people catch up.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: And you have to, you know, adapt to that and be willing to, you know, let go maybe of some of the the things that were working before to discover what's going to work next. So that's been like the biggest
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure. That's dope.
Dre DiMura: biggest shift.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I could definitely see that. And that's I mean, y you can go on Amazon right now and get a content creator like package, you know, that that didn't exist.
Dre DiMura: Okay. Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, like it just didn't exist three years ago. I I never remember seeing that on like a trending anything. It just wasn't
Dre DiMura: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: a thing. So now that you've you you've shifted now and you're being a lot more intentional about what you're posting. And I know you're saying that the market kind of controls what you're posting and the content you're doing, but You're still doing it in your way. You have a very distinct way of approaching your content. And what is that for you? I I mean, I could I know what I see and I know what I'm guessing, but you're you're the one. I don't have to guess anymore. I can ask. So, what is the thing for you when you're like, okay, let's say this topic is talking about in ears? Are you how are you developing the script? What are you trying to say about in-ears or Are you saying, okay, I can possibly make a a series out of this or kind of see all the above?
Dre DiMura: Great question. I will say that Ultimately the story is what matters.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: and despite all of the like just to to to mention like you were saying about the the content creation like toolkit idea, right? Like I could have the best gear and I could like be keeping up technologically with everyone else, but like if my if the content's bad, like at at like the source, then it's bad. Like no amount
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: of production is gonna save a bad story and or an out-of-touch topic or something that's like poorly explained or or a or a put on, right? Like something that doesn't connect with people.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: so I I only say that because I don't want people to to to think that they have to have, you know, have to have all this nice stuff or like expensive camera gear or lighting or or audio equipment.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Ryan.
Dre DiMura: that doesn't that doesn't make something good. I see videos all the time that are like not the greatest production value, but the story is so damn good, you
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep.
Dre DiMura: know, like the content itself is so good that I'm invested. Right. Like that's
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: what you need for buy-in. I think we're past the point of like simply having like, you know, back in like 2010 on YouTube, like if you had a music video and you had a drone shot in the video, you were gonna get a hundred thousand views on it. Like if you had a drone shot,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right, right, right, right. Yep.
Dre DiMura: it was like, whoa, right, like technology. Now it's like, you know, anyone could do you don't even need a drone. You could just make it with AI. Do you know what I mean? Like it's
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, exactly.
Dre DiMura: Whatever. It's like no one cares about that. Like the quality is not indicative of the the the creative integrity of of the
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Absolutely.
Dre DiMura: piece. but you know, what's changed for me and and what I have to focus on now and like Maria, my fiance, who also helps with, you know, the logistical and the business side of of content with me is super helpful. I have to give like all credit where credit is due. Like she has the she has
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, she's amazing.
Dre DiMura: the logistics brain, I have the creative brain. you know, I'm I I execute. I'm very good at like taking action. And she's really good at like big picture creative thinking and then like planning those things logistically. so
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Love that.
Dre DiMura: I will I I don't ever set out until recently I never set out to create series. they just
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: happened because I had one video that did well on that topic, and then there was like a bunch of comments that were like make you know, do what about this and do more of this? Like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Got him.
Dre DiMura: the tone matching series that I still have now that's like one of my longest running series just started because somebody thank you. Yeah, somebody
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I love that series. Love that series.
Dre DiMura: somebody just commented and asked they were like had a sound god I can't remember if the first episode was Brian May or if it was Dimebag Daryl from Pantera. But like somebody had commented on okay, I think I'm remembering And I'm I could be wrong. I think I'm remembering. So I had someone had mentioned that Brian May used the sixpence coin to play guitar. So I like bought one from the fifties, like a 50s like British sixpence coin, and like did a demo like on it to see like how it sounded and like t and like share about it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: and then I made like a the the tone video of like what how to get the Brian May sound with the coin. and someone was like, Okay, now do Dimebag Daryl, now do Metallica, now do Mark Knoffler, now do Kirk Cobain, now do Jimi
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Ray.
Dre DiMura: Hendrix, now do and it just, you know, I think we're at like sixty something episodes now. It just like went on and on and on, and that's just become like a wellspring of of content because, you know, it the the audience decided, right? Like I didn't decide that that
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: was if that video flopped, that first one flopped, I mean, I don't know if I would have made another one. I don't even know if I would have thought to made an make another one in that series. Like I don't know better than the audience, you know, and I have
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure. Right.
Dre DiMura: to be like grateful to the audience for validating that this was a good idea and going like, hey, I we love this. We want more of this thing. it's not like my ideas are the best ideas. You know, they have they
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: are they they they arguably have better ideas than than me.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: No, all the time.
Dre DiMura: so yeah, so that was like kind of the genesis of that. Now though, you know, like alongside Maria and you know with what we're doing as far as like planning and and how we we work on the content now, like we do definitely make concerted efforts to to create series or create content that could easily become a series. it
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Hmm.
Dre DiMura: actually is a little more intentional, because you know, we tie it into other things and and launches and digital products and other stuff that that's happening. So, you know, things that tie into the the bigger picture.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep.
Dre DiMura: but again, like if it flops, then it flops and I'm gonna we're gonna we're gonna go back to the drawing board and come up with a different idea, you know.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. And that's honest and fair, you know, like to to to be willing to to pivot whenever you need to. But I think that's really dope that you guys are one phenomenal duo, by the way. Like had the best time hanging out with both of you all. Like it it's incredible. And shout out to Maria.
Dre DiMura: Likewise, man. Come yeah, we we gotta hang again soon.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Absolutely would love that. And then so when you're when so now you're making this content, right? You're you're saying this, let's just use the the tone matching series because I love it. When you go through this, are you writing scripts? Are you thinking about okay, I have to get the specific thing? Am I showcasing? Like, how are you going about it like generating that type of that video?
Dre DiMura: Yeah, so I start always with a script. it's really important to have a script if you want your content to feel produced. if you don't want it to feel produced, you can just do bullet points and then like kind
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: of talk out the bullet points, but don't like script all of it. And that'll make it feel like a little looser. but you know, it's kind of similar to like making charts, you know, you know, giving yourself like a guide. For the tone matches, you know, it does require a bit of of research and like digging for me. the the big thing is always like trusting your ears and not your eyes. a lot of
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: people get carried away with like, okay, but like, you I you know, I can look up the amps and the pedals and the pickups and the different things that the person's using, which is certainly a part of the research, and that's that's totally fine. Like, yeah, like let's start there. You know, like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: what you know, what pickups did, you know. George Harrison have in the that Epiphone guitar and and what amps were they using at the time or you know that's that's definitely a helpful starting point. but you know, any any any platform you're using, whether it's like a full analog rig, you know, tube amps and pedals, or if you're using a floor modeler or plugins or an a practice amp and an app or a hybrid rig, they're all gonna respond differently. And the, you know, you d things are gonna respond differently based on your guitar, based on your your touch and all these things.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: so I have to kind of give people suggestions that they can then use to dial like to to to dial in the tone themselves. So I try to keep the scripts you know, I try to keep the scripts informative, but also encourage people to trust their ears and not their eyes. Like just because, you know, Eddie Van Halen made the Marshall sound this way doesn't mean that like your marshall might sound this way. And if if if these EQ settings don't sound the way that you would you want them to sound or they're they're not accurate to the tone, then change the settings. Like it's just guidelines,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, change it, yes. Yep.
Dre DiMura: you know? so I tend to to do that as far as the scripting is like, you know, have the research, but also have to you have to bring your own anecdotes to it. You have to bring your own knowledge and your expertise. And then I usually bulk bulk up on the scripts. Like I batch write scripts, say five to ten scripts across multiple series or different one-off videos. I'll have all of those in a in a document. And then I'll do like a dedicated shoot day once a week where I do the talking shots. And like that's the talking headshots. So that's where I like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: read the script. and you know, I'll do like five to ten videos. And then I'll do another dedicated shoot day that's like just insert shots. So that's like the close-ups, the screen recordings, the guitar shots, or the cutaways to the products or whatever it is. And then I usually have like eight to ten videos that are in production at any time that like are shot and in the bag. and then I'll just be editing those like, you know, as they as they come out. so it's pretty
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Love.
Dre DiMura: I mean it's pretty streamlined and pretty organized. I don't know.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You gotta be if you're doing that amount of content and you're batching. Bro, batching
Dre DiMura: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: is the cheat code, by the way. anybody would think that they're you
Dre DiMura: You gotta do it, yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: you have to do it. Like it Yes, you have to do it. There's no other way around it because you just won't be able to find the time.
Dre DiMura: Is that is that how you what you are you do you batch your content as well? Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: yeah. absolutely. Just because life happens and sometimes you're not able to get in front of the camera. Sometimes I'm not able to do an interview. Sometimes I'm not able to go down
Dre DiMura: Exactly.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: and you just don't have the time, right? Because your dog is sick or you're sick, or you know, maybe you got a wedding to go to. It does have to be sad, but life is just gonna occur. So I've noticed that when I was trying to do it, like, all right, every day I'm just gonna shoot a video, yeah. But then what happens when you miss? Then now you're days behind. So
Dre DiMura: Yeah. It's a good goal to have. You know, like if you're if you're trying to get into the the flow, like yeah, shoot a video every day. but if you're trying to produce content at scale and it is a business, then like you have to you have to treat it as such. You know, like you have to have, you
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: know, call call it inventory. You know, you're
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: like, I need to have you know, I need to have inventory now for my my product, which is my which are my videos. Cause like you said, like life
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: happens, like we get You get called to go on the road or you you get, you know, you're doing a a a fly date or something personal comes up and it's like you have to be consistent and like continue to deliver your product.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: you don't always necessarily have the, you know, ability to set everything up and and film. So definitely like building in some insurance is very important to stay consistent and grow it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, I I think it's also trust. You know, one in one of the things I I had a reaction channel, I still have it. I need to get back on it, but my reaction channel was the thing that did the best at first. Like it still has like 50k on YouTube. So
Dre DiMura: nice.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: but I I learned that people They were entertained, but they trusted that they were gonna get something from me every day. You know, it
Dre DiMura: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: wasn't just I don't know when he's gonna post. You know, I don't I don't know when it They were trusting that I would one, I was being honest with my delivery. I was never, I was never sugarcoating it. And that's something I noticed that you said too. Not the word trust, but you're saying, listen to trust your ears. Guys, yes, I'm telling you what they used from my research, but also trust your ears. People can trust that from you, right? They're not just saying, do this, do this, buy this, buy this, buy this. You're
Dre DiMura: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: not a salesman. You're saying, listen, this is what I found. This is the tone I was able to get. But like if it doesn't work for you, kind of trust yourself. You know, trust your ears. And I think your audience has that trust for you. Also, your audience will start trusting you when you're consistent. Right. Because everybody, let's remove the audience. It's like when you tell your mom or your dad, I want I want to do something new. At first, they're like, all right, yeah, cool. Sounds good. But they kind of don't believe you. Right? They only start believing
Dre DiMura: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: you. After the years of consistency and dedication attached, they're like, okay, you're actually really doing this. And then they buy into it.
Dre DiMura: And yeah, and think about the investment that comes with that too. Like, you know, you you you get a new sport or a new hobby or something and you're like, I need this six hundred dollar guitar and they're like, Well, you know, let's see. 'Cause
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: maybe two months from now then you you move on to hockey or something and it's like it's the same deal, you know, like it's the buy in comes from the dedication and the consistency showing up, you know, like showing up consistently and and being dedicated.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. And I think that's amazing that you're you're doing that directly or indirectly. That is what's happening for you. You know, you're you're putting out the content very consistently and you're also being honest with your delivery, but you also recognized from early on to now, you've had to pivot. You've had to polish your videos. You've had to polish your audio. You've had to b polish your delivery. And bro, your content to me is very concise and clean. Right. I love it from a production standpoint that I can appreciate. But also when I watch it, not being a guitarist, I get it. I can't do it, but I get it. Right. I I under
Dre DiMura: That's good to hear. Yeah. Thank you.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: it just makes sense. You're like, no, these pedals do this. This happens here. This is the tone. This is where you were in the fret. Okay. I might not be able to execute it, but I understand it. And to me, that is a testimony to how excellent you are at it from beginning phases to now. Being able to deliver that message to someone who is ignorant in his true sense of the word, well done. So I'm always curious.
Dre DiMura: Thank you. Thank you very much. That's a high compliment, Jarvis. Thank you.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: man, it it's just honest. I and because I think you're honest with it. And I think for you, man, I'm always just curious what what got people there and and I I appreciate you sharing. You know, I I genuinely appreciate when
Dre DiMura: Yeah, of course.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: your transparency of the mental, the transparency of you know, the O C D, the transparency of kind of how you you you shifted to this realm. It wasn't it w it wasn't someone saying, Hey man, I think you'd be good at this. It was like I I don't know what's gonna happen here, but I gotta kind of bet on myself right now. So let's just try this. And then also shout out to your fiance for being like, got you, bro. Let's let's get to it. You know, and I think that's something too where
Dre DiMura: Yeah, a hundred percent.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I would love if you would talk about this because I'm always I'm team musician 100%. And it doesn't mean I'm anti-management or anti-artist, but I we come from the cloth of musicians. And one of the things that I've noticed with our peers is that we've struggled with the relationship aspect. And you, I would say, as of right now, is are very successful with your relationship. You have a fiance who is ultra supportive and she's phenomenal. I've I've had the privilege of hanging with her and we've worked together on on UE. But how is that dynamic, right? Because you're gone. You're you're creating a lot, you're doing a lot, it requires you to be to work eight, twelve hours days, you know, editing batching content. How is that dynamic, right? How did you get to a point where it's like she trusts you, she believes in you, she's down to support it. What types of things did you guys have to do to get to that space?
Dre DiMura: Now that's the now that's the question of the day. actually that's
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes.
Dre DiMura: my favorite that's my favorite question you've asked today.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Love it.
Dre DiMura: and I want to answer it thoughtfully. I did I did want to mention this actually. Like, you know, everything we've discussed like only happens with a community. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: you know, you're only as good, you are only as successful as the strength of your community in the sense that like I couldn't have done any of these things without fam without Maria, without you know, our family without my therapist, without my mentors and and, you know, my my friends and connections in the music business who I was able to use as a sounding board and you know, get get get support and feedback from personally, professionally, you know, what have you, like, the strength of those relationships is ultimately what makes something great. So like if you are great at anything, it's because you have great people in your life.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: Very, very few very few good things, if any, happen in a vacuum.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: you know, I guess like Igor Stravinsky technically like grew up isolated and had like never actually heard music and just like learned music out of books and created a whole new genre of of like 20th century classical music. But maybe that's the only example of anything
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: anything in a vacuum that has ever been like amazing and like groundbreaking, like you know, anything and everything is like it it it comes from, you know, the your peer group, your relationships, friends, family, the things that are going to, like you said, be there when you come home.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: and, you know, for Maria and I, she I mean, she gets it, you know, she she has a creative background as a dancer. Like she danced with Roger Waters on the Wall tour when she was like a teenager, beat me to the arena level, you know,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: which is sick. So, you know, she gets it. She understands the, you know, the creative spark and the drive to create. And, you know, we both want the same things ultimately in life. And I think that's important is like sharing a common vision and goals for for what the future can be and and and and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: and the present, you know, like how your how your relationship's gonna function and like you know, letting her set the tone, honestly, as far as like. what you know how that looks like if I'm gonna have, you know, if I'm gonna be away for a while, or if I'm gonna, you know, have these long work days and she has to take on a little more, you know, of s of something or like show up in another way, and and support us in that way, or if like she's preoccupied with the project and I kind of have to step it up a little more and make sure that like our our our home life is is rolling.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: you know, all these all these things matter and, you know, you have to be willing to Like I said, with everything else, it's just like, you know, do do the hard things, like communicate, be honest, even when it hurts, you know, like it nothing feels better than having like an open flow of communication and honesty with with with anyone, with yourself,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: with your your peers, with your partner. and, you know, you you you do have to like face adversity together. And like I said, like through that. through that challenge is when like the surprising things happen and like the the the the relationship can blossom and also you can experience you know abundance as a couple. So
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: I think for us like you know determination having common goals and like a shared vision for like what our life can look like. and then also just like ex a giving each other patience. you know I think it's probably a a cliche but like You know, it's really the truth. Like I know,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: I'm fully self-aware that like when I'm like in my z when I'm in the zone, I'm a mess. Like I am I
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: wouldn't want to be around me. You know, like I'm very chaotic and like very preoccupied.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: And like if I'm deep in a project or like, you know, I'm I'm shooting all day, then I fly out to LA for two weeks and I'm on set and and like and then I come back and like I'm you know, I have to catch up on other things at home and it's like you know, sometimes weeks at a time, like, you know, be feeling burnt out or whatever. And it's like, I know that that has an impact on her, you know, and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: I have to be fully so I have to take full ownership over that. I need to do my best to to show up, you know, and not be a jerk and like regulate and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: take care of myself and make sure that I'm still showing up no matter what, because there's no excuse for like being a shitty partner. You can be tired
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Facts.
Dre DiMura: and you can be you can be overwhelmed and overworked or you could be going through a a a funk or like something, right?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep. Could be human.
Dre DiMura: and and literally, yeah, literally all it takes sometimes is just being like, hey, I'm having a tough week. Like, I appreciate you being here. Or like, thank you for your patience with me this week. Like, just be nice. You know what I mean?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: Like, it's it's and it's a learning, you know, it's a learning process. Like it wasn't always that way for us. Like we had to figure it out together because believe it or not, like this is this is our first time doing life, you know, all of us, like this is
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: our first time doing this.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yep. Yep. Yep.
Dre DiMura: So you you you know, you do have to like learn from your experiences. and it wasn't always easy, but I just have to commend like her strength and patience for like, you know, allowing me to grow, empowering me to grow, and also like offering me that love and understanding to, you know, pushing me to be the best version of myself individually, professionally, creatively, and then also, you know, as a partner in the relationship. That's a gift. Like if you have a partner who's willing to, you know. i is going to illuminate the best in you, but then also like, you know, draw out of you maybe what you didn't know you had in in yourself. Like that's that that there's nothing else that I would want out of the the person that I'm with, you know.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sheesh. Phenomenal answer.
Dre DiMura: Some people don't want that. Some people are like, that's that sounds like too much work. And you know what? Maybe maybe it is, but to me, I'm I'm down. You know, I'm like, let's do it. I wanna, you know, I I wanna surprise myself. So if I'm with somebody who
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: who can see something in me that I don't necessarily see in myself, you know, that's what I I value that because it forces me to be more honest and it forces me to always, you know, want to be better. So I appreciate that.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: The risk versus reward. You know that that's a massive testimony to not just you, but also her and and the partnership and community you guys have generated in your home. And it's it's not easy. But the fact that you both were willing to be active participants in the life that you guys said you wanted, massive. And I think there's a there's a gem that you dropped that a lot of people may or may not have missed, but I want to reiterate this point. You guys are dreaming the same dream. You aren't on a different planet than she is, and you're wondering why it's not working. You both are very much so aligned with the dream. Now I want to ask you this. Do you guys still have different hobbies?
Dre DiMura: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we do.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay, perfect. And I want that to be known. Cause I feel like I find myself in conversations where people are like, Well, you don't do this with your partner, you don't do this. Do I have to? I just I show interest in it and I will show up from time to time, but I'm also not expecting my lady to sit behind a damn keyboard all day. You know like
Dre DiMura: Yeah. No, I mean like you know be be an individual is great. Like, you know, we have our own interests. You know, I have things that I like to do, she has things she likes to do. And then there's the things where we come together. And I was gonna say this too. It's like, you know, we know how to play together. And that's an important part of a relationship.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: you know, couples that play together stay together. And I mean play, you know, I'm saying you could literally be playing, like we like to rock a like co op games on Xbox together and like She's gotten really into to football along with me and like there, you know, we'll watch games during the season and she keeps up on the news and like shares she's probably more like kept up on NFL than me. You know, she's like, she's like, babe, did you hear? Like, you know, I'm
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah.
Dre DiMura: I'm trying to look great, you know? but you know, it's it's important to have your own identity, but then to be able to come together and and play together and and keep that whimsy that, you know, in the relationship. And then but then also, you know, know when, you know, each other needs some space or there's something like, you know, she's she's into that might might not be my thing, but you know, to still show interest in that. She shows a ton of interest in the things that I like that I know she doesn't give a damn about. So makes me feel
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right, yeah.
Dre DiMura: very very seen when I'm like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: I watched this this documentary on Discovery Channel last night. Let me tell you about
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Ha ha ha
Dre DiMura: like, you know, the different materials they tried to make light bulbs out of before they discovered, you know, tungsten and like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: Yeah, so that's that's a big part of it. actually I'll I'll tell you a story about God, it just sounds so New Jersey there, like my gr my aunts and uncles. Let me tell you a story.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I love it, go for it.
Dre DiMura: I'll tell you a story about kind of like it like kind of brings everything together. So when I had when the content thing like initially had like really taken off for me,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm.
Dre DiMura: to the point where like there was actually like real real money coming in that could at the time for the time being could like replace or supplement other work. I had this tour, this this offer for a tour that I I was unsure about. It was like a C Market arena run. I felt like obligated to take it because the 14 year old Dre would never say no to that. You know?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: And I remember Maria Adamantly telling me not to do it. Being like, this, do not take this run. It's not a good run. Like the money's not great. It's like you are you are blossoming with this the video thing. You're developing this whole new thing. People, you know, trust you. You're you're, you know, this is, it's not, it's not beneath you, but it's not like it's not aligned with what you're doing now. and it it's like not a good fit. And I like. went to my therapist and I like talking to my therapist about it and I remember being like pissed, right? I was like,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah.
Dre DiMura: God, like I I I feel controlled, maybe. Like I mean, this is what she wants. It's not what I want. Like she doesn't want me to go on the tour because, you know, we, you know, it's I'll be gone for five weeks and it's like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, now I underestimated her in that, selfishly,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: thinking that like she would want anything but the best for me. If that was an awesome tour, Maria would have been like, you go. Like go
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: do the thing. Right. and I remember like talking to my therapist about it, and like it was one of those moments, to be honest, kind of that I was ref referencing earlier when I was like embracing doubt and like not not having certainty and not knowing. Like I still did not know if it was the right decision not to take it. And I turned it down. I turned it down, and I, you know, trusted Maria that. You know, maybe this was not the right opportunity for me at that time, and that my time would be better spent nurturing the thing that I was growing, that I had the opportunity to do with the content,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm.
Dre DiMura: and trust that other opportunities would come. This wasn't the last thing I would ever be offered to do, and it wasn't going to be the end of the world
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: if I turned something down. Because sometimes a no is a yes, right? So this was like I
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Oof.
Dre DiMura: was saying no to this, but I'm saying yes to this. And I am so glad I listened to her. I'm
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: so glad that I, you know, trusted her and like dis and and and and went down that path because it ultimately was the best decision. you know, but that's that's the nuance of navigating your relationship, but also in the in the in the business space where it's like you know, s having to trust sometimes and have faith. Even when you have doubts and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: you know knowing how to na you know, intuitively this is part of like emotional maturity, but like, you know, intuitively learning how to navigate through that nuance and that subtlety and like understand because the lesson I learned there was that like this person loves you. They want you to succeed, and they, you know, they want what's best for you. I'm free to make my own decision at the end of the day. I can't resent
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: Maria for being like, don't take that that run. Maybe it's not the right thing. I made the choice, but you know,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre DiMura: being able to navigate that and understand that like this comes from a place of love, care, and support. I trust this person. I'm gonna take their feedback to heart and and and and know that that's genuine. And if that's not the case. I don't know, you know. To
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: me that that wouldn't be a viable relationship if that wasn't the case. You know, so
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Like why is she here then?
Dre DiMura: yeah. So that's kind of pro you know, proof is in the pudding. Like that's
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I love that.
Dre DiMura: that's a good example of sometimes what it takes to, you know, trust and let someone help you to surprise yourself. The theme of the the theme of the show.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: The whole theme, right? Dude, thank you for sharing that. And and I hope people, musicians and and people in the entertainment industry start navigating that similarly. And it doesn't have to be the exact because no one's story is the same. But taking into consideration some people that may love you. That may be able to look at things a little more objectively than you because you do have that 14-year-old self that is still there in your brain saying, You're never gonna get another call, you know, but it that's not true. You know, if you if you stay true to, and I'm not saying stay true to yourself on the the selfish standpoint that we oftentimes hear now, but stay true to what you actually want to do, you know, and and and allow yourself to surprise yourself, allow yourself to To pivot in a way that you may not be familiar with, but it at the end of the day, it it worked out for you. And it's continuously working out for you, so much so that you have two places to live. You have a gorgeous fiance. You're living a life that allows you to sit behind your instrument and make a living. And there's not many of us out here that can say that. So well done.
Dre DiMura: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You know, well done. And I hope people start understanding more of that and and not just, you know, the relationship aspect, but every part of the journey that you went through of say or being stripped away from opportunities, you know, going down to that depressive, like, okay, this isn't good. I'm not okay. Like, I need help. You've mentioned your therapist multiple times, knowing that therapy is okay. You know, a lot of things you said there, man, I I hope people internalize and and Take a fragment of it. It doesn't have to be Dre's story. You know, but if you could take one little gem that he said, even his all right, I'm gonna start batching my content because I'm struggling. Great, you won. You know, so dude, thank you so much for just taking the time today, man. It it this is why I wanted to talk to you.
Dre DiMura: course. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah. I'm ha happy to share. And I you had great questions and I mean you're you're such a killer player, man, and love what you're doing as well.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: My guy. Well, thank you so much, man. What's next for you and and where can people find you if they wanna tap into your content or if they wanna just be involved with you at all? Like where where are some places they can find you?
Dre DiMura: Yeah, obviously on all the social channels, it's just at Dray Amira. And then I'll have some digital courses that are gonna be coming soon. I don't know when this'll this'll come out, but I'm actually doing pre-pro this week and then shooting next week a new tone matching course that's gonna like teach my
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Let's go.
Dre DiMura: process and you know help people to to start matching tones on their own and kind of break everything down at like a beginner level to intermediate and then some other stuff in the pipeline also. and yeah, you can connect with me on on socials or on my website too. You can sign up for my email list and you'll get like a free pedal guide that'll like break down how to use like thirteen common guitar pedals and then you know, get offers and stuff for future courses and other community activations, et cetera.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I'm excited for your course. That's so dope.
Dre DiMura: See, it's never too late to start, Jarvis. This could be this could be your end to the guitar.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna send it to all my guitarists that I hate their tone. Go watch this now. No.
Dre DiMura: Not Zach. Not Zach. Zach Zach is immune.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: He is perfect. But
Dre DiMura: His tone is immaculate.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I don't I don't get it. Like how good he is at just tone. It's
Dre DiMura: It it's it's because he's a big Eric Johnson fan, I'm telling you. I
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Ha ha ha
Dre DiMura: I figured it out when like so Maria is like So I posted like this video or no no sorry. Maria saw this video of like Zach playing for Tate. Or no, when we went to see you guys. She was like,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Dre DiMura: Why does his tone sound like that? And I was like, Like what? She's like, you know, good. And I'm like, wait, what And she's like, I don't know, you know, sometimes like when you do your playthroughs, it's like, you it's got like this thing or whatever. And I'm like, and I'm like, excuse me. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, is what you what?
Dre DiMura: like all hype on like Zach's tone. And was like, then like looking at clips one night at like midnight before we went to bed. I'm like getting into bed to go to sleep. And she's like just playing these clips and she's like, You see like that sound. It's that sound. And I was pissed. I was like,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Ha ha.
Dre DiMura: Wait, what do you mean? Like, like you you you like Zach's tone over mine? Like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, what do you mean, huh?
Dre DiMura: It's a great tone, right? But I'm like, I think mine tone's okay too. And you know, but then like I end up sleeping on it. I wake up and I'm like, shit. I think I have some room for improvement, you know? I
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep. Yep.
Dre DiMura: think Maria's right, because she has great taste, and I know that like, you know, she's like a no bullshit person, she has
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep.
Dre DiMura: great taste. Maybe I need to go back to the drawing board. And I literally had my neighbor, Brandon, he's a he's a torn guitar player, and I had him over. I was like, bro, I was like, come over. I got this new ant. I was like, we're gonna dial in this sound. I gotta like I gotta get this this tone. And he came over and we spent like an hour and a half like trying to match Zach's tone. And I I finally got it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: and then I w I was like, Maria, like come, come listen to this. And sh she comes and she's like, All right, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's pretty good. It's pretty good.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: yeah, that's cool.
Dre DiMura: I was like, Okay, pretty good for Maria's like, we got it. You know, like that's how I
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dre DiMura: knew it was good. And And it's so funny, and then I I went out, I w I was in LA hanging out with Zach, and he was just playing Eric Johnson the entire time.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: And I realized I was like, wait, it's just the Eric Johnson tone. And then I like went back and looked at the sound we dialed in and I was like, this is the EJ tone. Like that's like his whole blueprint for
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: like his lead guitar sound, where you have like that really nice, like blooming mid-range and like it's like really like not too much high-end. and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: It's perfect.
Dre DiMura: it just sounds very vocal and like very syrupy and like warm and and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm.
Dre DiMura: and digestible, which is why I realized I was like, you know, Maria's not a guitar player. She doesn't care about like how the tone is made or what, you know, you know, the Klon does, or like why there's this, you know, bright cap on my 50s wiring Les Paul that puts a little more sizzle
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Ha ha ha.
Dre DiMura: on like the the the the the four to five K range. Like she just, if it sounds good, it is good. So she's saying, hey,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: All right. Right.
Dre DiMura: like this sounds good. And I realize that like That matters. Like we were saying before, it's like the audience decides, right? It's like she's saying, like, hey, like this sounds really good to me as someone who's not a guitar player. You
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes.
Dre DiMura: know what I mean? Like this is the this is palatable to me. I enjoy the way this sounds.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep.
Dre DiMura: And I was very I was very grateful for that, although the first night I was not very happy to hear it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Lost lost a couple hours of sleep over that, huh?
Dre DiMura: Lost a few hours of sleep, but it was well worth it. And and I I have to give kudos to Zach for the inspo because he's got such a good lead tone.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, he's just
Dre DiMura: Advance.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: perfect. And I I yeah, he just gets it, man. that's the only way I can describe that guy. He just gets it. There's nothing
Dre DiMura: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: that we've thrown at him and he that he hasn't been able to do. Like, I mean nothing. And bro, we we threw some stuff at him recently and and Zach, you're probably gonna watch this, so we're gonna big you. Exactly. Or
Dre DiMura: He's gonna get a Google alert when this gets posted because he's mentioned
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: we're gonna big him up some more, but we just didn't finish the project and I literally watched the MD say, all right, cool, this is what we're doing. He navigated the band. And then Zach, you know what do. And he just took off like full solo,
Dre DiMura: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: perfect tone, right note choices. So much so, I watched the entire room stop what they were doing in production rehearsals and watch this happen. He's different. It's
Dre DiMura: Yeah. He's different. And and you know what? He it's the attention to detail. And and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes.
Dre DiMura: that's what it is with with any any any craft, but it's like having that attention to detail. I realized when I had him over, we did some videos together after the the show. And
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: I asked him to break down like what is like the go to like your like go to arena pop lick for like your solo spot. Like what's like the lick that you bust out? And he played like the lick that he he played in like the you know, each night with Tate.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre DiMura: And and I don't think he's like I don't think he like otherwise would care to share these things until he's prompted. But like the minute I asked him, he like knew intentionally like why he made this choice and why this was effective. And he could explain it so eloquently. Again, he's not very
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes.
Dre DiMura: loud about it, like he doesn't talk about it normally. Like I never heard him just bring it up. But like the
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: No.
Dre DiMura: minute I prompted him, you could tell how much thought he had put in. To, you know, in an arena context, the notes can get lost a little bit. So you have to make sure that if you play something fast, you have to play it twice so that it's repeatable and that people would recognize it and like latch onto it. So like that's the reason like I I put this lick at that point in the solo for this venue.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Of course.
Dre DiMura: And I was like, that is so good. Like, that's what masters think about. Little
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: He's
Dre DiMura: details, little details.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Zach, we love you, bro. Like cheers to my boy Zach, man, cause he's
Dre DiMura: I'm I'm I'm hyping him up for his his episode coming up. You know, you'll have you'll have some follow
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: One hundred percent.
Dre DiMura: up questions now for for Zach's episode.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Hell yeah, man. But it's just all just a a way to get to the end result. And you have also a way. And you you you're putting it in an educational way that's also entertaining. You know, it because it it allows me to look at it. And bro, I've I've watched some of your videos and I've been able to talk to other guitarists that I might be, you know, MB in with or I'm sitting with and I need to do certain things with. Not Zach. And be like, yo, can you do this thing? You know, and because of your videos, I can say, the delay should be this point. Or okay, that distortion is too much of this. Try it this way.
Dre DiMura: Wow. That's that's awesome, man. That's crazy.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: But it's it's just well done. So once I can digest it, I can at least articulate it, you know, and and that's always my goal. I I want the people that I might be leading or be in bandmates with that I can speak their language. And I also want them to speak my language, you know. If it's a fill,
Dre DiMura: yeah, yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: you know, like, hey man, I want it more of a a Phil Collins fill, you know, or I need more of a an Aaron Spears kind of vibe, or take more of a Dave Weckle fusion kind of approach. If you can say that. And you know that I've done my homework and to your point attention and detail, it matters. So you breaking that stuff down, it's it's not just helpful for guitarists, it's helpful for anyone who
Dre DiMura: That's a that's amazing to hear, man. Thank you. Yeah, that is hugely important. Speaking speaking the language
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: It's phenomenal, man. So it's amazing.
Dre DiMura: of your collaborators is like whether you're on a film set or in the studio or on a gig, like, you know, the more the better you can communicate with your collaborators, the better for you. Like the more the more wealth of experience and knowledge you have. because not only does it help you communicate your ideas and and what you need, but it shows respect. You know, you're showing respect to your collaborators
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre DiMura: that like I am clued into what you're doing. I've taken the time to understand your job or your role, and I'm able to communicate with you in a way that you'll understand that'll be effective. Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. And you don't have to be the expert at it, but just be able to communicate the ideas well enough that they can the expert can then take it and be I get cool. We know move this way with it.
Dre DiMura: Yeah. And at the end of the day we all know that it just comes down to like, hey, like at the end of bar four I need you to do a fill that's like you know, like it's that's that's the language at the end of the day.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's it. It It's so true, man. Well, Drake, thank you again for being here, man. It's refreshing to see your face, refreshing
Dre DiMura: Thank you.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: to talk to you again, and truly thank you for being on the show, man. Thank you so much.
Dre DiMura: Likewise, man. Always good to connect with you. Excited to
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: My boy.
Dre DiMura: see you around soon. Best of luck on the road.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Thank you, man. Appreciate you, brother. Thanks everybody.