As a Berklee College Of Music Alumnus, a question I get a lot is whether or not I think attending universities like Berklee are worth it and whether or not it’s really necessary to study at an institution like Berklee in order to pursue a career in music.

My short answer to the question is no, I don’t think it’s necessary to study at a school like Berklee or any music school, for that matter, in order to pursue a career in the music business in 2022.  Before I explain why I think that is the case, let me preface this article by saying I had a wonderful experience at Berklee and it no doubt helped shape the musician I became.  With that said, I think there are alternative, much less costly and more efficient ways to arrive at a similar level of musicianship and preparedness for a career in music.

The great thing about going to a school like Berklee is the structure it provides and the wealth of knowledge the instructors possess.  During my time at Berklee I lived and breathed music and it was almost impossible to not improve in that environment.  During my time at Berklee I practiced several hours of guitar a day, spent all day studying things like music theory, ear training, orchestration, songwriting and lyric writing and more.

When you immerse yourself in this sort of all out, intense music education, you can make huge leaps forward in a relatively short period of time if you apply yourself.  And looking back, I feel like my time at Berklee was a period where I progressed a lot over a relatively short period of time.  Perhaps more than any other time before or since.

Here's the thing though. If I’m honest with myself, after having met hundreds of musicians over the years, it’s pretty clear to me that you can achieve similar leaps forward in other non-academic environments, if you really want to. In fact, many of the most accomplished musicians I’ve known over the years didn’t study music formally at all and were completely self-taught.

I have travelled frequently over the years and one of the things that always amazes me is how many great musicians there are all over the world.  I don’t just mean in developed countries, but places that you’d least expect it.  I spent several months in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, a few years back, and I was amazed that there is a thriving jazz scene there with musicians that would rival the best musicians I’ve met and heard in places like New York, New Orleans, etc.

I was in Mexico earlier in the year and I met an absolutely amazing jazz guitarist, as good as many guitarists I knew when I attended Berklee.  I asked him where he learned to play so well, and he said he was completely self-taught.  He learned everything he knew online from Youtube videos and other websites.

In this day and age, there are no secrets when it comes to learning how to play an instrument like guitar or learning something like music theory.  It’s all out there, online, for free.  Here’s the catch though, and this is a big catch, even though the information is out there, the one thing schools like Berklee do is provide a framework and a structure for progressing.  Even though we all have, at our fingertips, a wealth of information in terms of music education, a lot of us simply lack the discipline and will power to put it all together.  And there is something very helpful about having teachers and mentors that we can learn from and bounce ideas off of in real time,  not to mention the networking and socializing opportunities a school like Berklee provides.

In 2022, the average cost of a four-year degree from Berklee is $240,580.00. This is a hefty price tag for a degree in an industry where there is little job security or real guarantees in terms of getting a job when you graduate.  Of course, there are other, more affordable schools you can get a music degree from.  I’m just using Berklee as an example.   But if you’re considering going to music school in general, you should really weigh the price tag against your expected return on investment.

In my mind, in retrospect, it would probably make more sense to spend several years living in a cheap studio apartment or renting a room from someone while immersing yourself in taking lessons, practicing your instrument, writing music and going out networking and playing with local musicians in a place like New Orleans, LA, Nashville, New York, Chicago, Austin, etc, than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a music degree that at the end of the day, doesn’t really even guarantee you a job.

Also, another drawback to getting a formal music education is that you end up spending a lot of time studying subjects that you won’t necessarily end up using in the “real world”.  This is similar to getting a formal high school education where you are forced to learn certain subjects that you don’t end up using in the “real world”. To this day I look back and scratch my head when I think of all the time and energy I exerted learning subjects like Algebra and Calculus that I simply have no practical use for in my day to day life.

I can recall a defining moment I had when I was around 24 years old.  After Berklee, I continued taking private Jazz guitar lessons with a Chicago based jazz guitarist named John Mclean.  One day I went into my lesson and I simply wasn’t prepared.  This was after several consecutive lessons where I showed up ill prepared.  John stopped the lesson, looked at me in a befuddled way and said, “Aaron. What’s Up?  Why are you so un-prepared?”.  I hesitated for a moment and confessed to John, “John”, I said, “I have to be honest. I don’t really like Jazz”.  John sort of laughed and asked me, “Then why are you studying Jazz?”.  I went on to explain to him that I just thought it was a logical progression in terms of things to study. After having studied at Berklee, I simply thought it was what I was “supposed” to do and that it was the inevitable next step as a guitarist.  John simply said, if you’re not into Jazz, you shouldn’t force yourself to like it.  We spent the rest of our time together focusing on ways I could improve as a rock and blues guitarist.

There is a certain degree of flexibility in terms of what classes you can take when you get a formal music education, but you’ll still end up studying things that you’ll likely not continue to draw from when you graduate.  This is just the nature of formal education.  When you’re self-taught you’ll end up gravitating towards things you’re really passionate about.  After all, you’re not going to force yourself to learn about things you don’t care about or are interested in.   Of course, you might end up missing out on a few things that could be beneficial if you’re not careful, but at the very least you’ll spend time learning about things you’re actually interested in and passionate about.
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So, to sum up this article, there are definite advantages to getting a degree in music.  The knowledge of the instructors, the structure and format the institution provides and the networking and socializing opportunities are all very real, tangible benefits.  But if you can’t afford a formal degree in music or if you’re sort of on the fence about whether you should bite the bullet and get a music degree, make no mistake, you don’t need a degree in music to become a great musician and/or succeed in the music business.  

A few months ago, shortly after Russia began their invasion of Ukraine, I woke up one morning and improvised a guitar piece in an effort to express some of the sorrow and sadness I felt over the events that were unfolding in Ukraine. 

When things like this happen, events that are clearly outside of my control, I often feel powerless and to be honest, somewhat apathetic, since there’s really no clear course of action to take,  that I’m aware of at least, that I feel would make any difference. 

I have a similar reaction to the mass shootings that keep occurring in the U.S., I feel a deep sadness and sense of sorrow when these events happen, but since I don’t really know what to do to change the situation, I tend to sort of compartmentalize the emotions I feel and after a day or two of watching news coverage of the events and sharing in the collective sadness that everyone is feeling, I simply carry on living my life the best way I know how.

But, this particular morning I woke up and I decided to at least try and channel some of what I was feeling into music, and so on a whim I improvised a three minute and 25 second instrumental guitar piece.  I recorded the piece in one take, with no edits.  I decided to call it “Song For Ukraine” and over the next few days I proceeded to share the piece on Facebook and I posted it in a handful of Facebook Groups I belong to around the world in places like Mexico, The Dominican Republic, Chicago, Panama, Costa Rica and a few others.  Places I have travelled to and lived over the years.

​You can check that out here:

I received a lot of comments and feedback about the track, perhaps more than any other song I’ve ever posted on social media.  I received hundreds of comments, most were positive, a few were cynical and wondered why I would care about this particular war as opposed to previous wars the the U.S. have been involved in, as if people that don’t know me online somehow know where I stand on other wars.  But one comment in particular really stood out to me, it was from a musician who was and is living in Ukraine, a musician by the name of Evgeniy Lenov.

He informed me that he was living in Kharkov, right in the middle of an active war zone and was in the process of making an album called “Symphony of War In Ukraine”.  I was so intrigued by his story of making music under what I can only imagine to be one of the most intense, surreal and incredibly stressful circumstances possible, that I asked if there was any way I could help to share his story and his music and invited Evgeniy to do an interview so I could share his story on my blog and Youtube Channel.

Through corresponding with Evgeniy, I learned that although he can read and write in English, with the help of Google Translate, he doesn’t speak English as his native languages are both Russian and Ukranian, but he offered to type out his responses in English so that I could share his story on my blog. So, I messaged him back and said this would be perfect and asked him when we could proceed.  Then, a few weeks went by and I never heard back from him. 

I didn’t want to be pressure him to do the interview since obviously his circumstances were not the most ideal, to say the least, and I knew that things could take a turn for the worse at any moment.  A couple months went by and I started to fear the worst until one day I started to see him post on social media again with updates about his music.  I breathed a sigh of relief, but I still had yet to hear back about doing our interview.

Then, a few days ago Evgeniy commented on one of my posts on Facebook.  We got into a back and forth exchange and I asked Evgeniy how his album was coming along.  He said he had finished it and sent me the link to the full album, which you can check out here. 

I asked him if he still wanted to do the interview and he said now would be a better time and that he had recently moved to the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, and that although there are still air raid sirens and occasionally incoming rockets, that in his words, “day to day life had become more or less peaceful”.  I was relieved to hear that and so I sent him a list of questions about his experience of making an album in the middle of a war zone in Ukraine. 

At the end of the interview, I’m going to link to a track from the album called “Part 12: Final” which in Evgeniy’s words "symbolizes the end of the war". I will also link to the full album, so be sure to check that out and support Evgeniy.  

Making music under even the best of circumstances can be daunting in this day and age, but making music in the circumstances that Evgeniy made his album in are hard for me to even fathom really and my interaction with Evgeniy has been a great reminder to be grateful for the circumstances I find myself in, as well as a reminder that unfortunately, many other people that share our planet, as we speak our experiencing situations that to many of us would be unfathomable.

I hope you enjoy my interview with Evgeniy.  I’ll be working on creating both an audio and video version of this story for my podcast and Youtube channel, respectively.
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Here's my interview with Evgeniy Lenov.

Aaron: Hi Evgeniy, Thanks so much for agreeing to do the interview.  Can you start by telling us where you’re from and how long you’ve been making music?

Hello. Thanks for inviting me to do the interview. 
 
I was born in the city of Kharkov. At that time it was the third largest and most important city in the Soviet Union after Moscow and Leningrad. At the age of six, I went to the first grade of a general education school and at the same time I was enrolled in a music school, and studied accordion. Then, at the age of 14, I discovered the guitar and taught myself to play it. At the age of 15, my friends and I formed our first band and recorded our first album. In 1991, my thrash-death band was at the top of the local charts, ahead of even pop groups there, and we played concerts to full houses. That's how it started.
 
Over the years I have left music. But in 2017, I decided to return again. Because in life you have to do what you love. After all, life is too short to spend it on other people's goals and affairs.


Aaron: Where in Ukraine were you when the war broke out and where are you currently? 

At the beginning of the war I was in Kharkov. Early in the morning, it was still dark, we were awakened by a powerful artillery barrage. Glass and walls - shuddered from powerful explosions. And we realized that life suddenly had completely changed. The past life we knew was no more.
 
Now I am in Kyiv. Thanks to a friend who gave me a place to live. But I spent the first three months of the war in close proximity to the front lines of the war. Cannonade was heard constantly.


Aaron: What has your day to day life been like since the War started?  I know that you are in a more peaceful part of Ukraine now, but what were the initial weeks and months like?  Can you please describe your experience? 

I won't go into great detail as it will take a lot of time. Only the main points - the most significant part of what I saw and experienced.
 
On the first day of the war, I saw the explosions of shells with my own eyes – I was very close to the front lines. I saw A black column of smoke that was very quickly blown away by the wind. And the sound of an explosion.
 
On the morning of the second day, near the house where we were, a rocket hit the yard. We heard a powerful explosion, that caused a ringing in our ears. the house shook. The rocket hit the neighboring yard - 50 meters from the house where I was. If the rocket had hit 50 meters to the side, we would not be talking now.
 
Then for a whole week, mostly at night, we listened to how artillery and MLRS were firing at us, from the city center, we listened to the explosions of missiles, the roar of flying aircraft. A curfew was introduced in the city, and we knew cases of people being shot for violating the curfew. In the early days of the war, our house in the center was shot with machine guns - neighbors sent photos of bullet holes in windows and walls and photos of bullets they dug out of their walls.
 
Then, after a week of sitting in a bomb shelter, we decided that it was time to leave at least for the suburbs, and we packed our things at home, a plane flew very low overhead and fired a rocket that exploded not far from our house. We threw ourselves on the floor. It was an unforgettable experience.

Living in the suburbs, we listened to the cannonade from several directions all day long. But it was a little further from the front lines, so the shells did not reach is.

For a week we went to a friend in - and the next day rockets also flew there - three powerful explosions early in the morning. And they began to turn on sirens every morning from 5 to 9 in the morning.
 
Before moving to Kyiv, I returned to live at home in Kharkov in the city center for a week. And every day the cannonade became louder and more intense. In the evenings in the dark from 22 to 24 hours, from the center of Kharkov, I observed flashes and glows on the horizon - it was no further than 8-10 km from me, from the city center.
 
During the curfew, blackout must be observed - it is forbidden to turn on the lights at home. Therefore, the city at night looks like you are in a distant village - bright stars, the city does not illuminate the sky at all.
 
And the last thing that left an unforgettable impression - four cruise missiles, which already in Kyiv flew right over the house in which I live on one of the upper floors. This is a 25-story building. And all four rockets flew right over my head, no further than 30-50 meters from the balcony on which I was standing. I examined their wings. And I saw where they all exploded - just 2 kilometers away from me.
 
This is what war looks like.
 
Aaron: I listened to your new album, Symphony Of War In Ukraine, which I really liked by the way.  What was the process of writing and recording this album?  I can only begin to imagine how surreal this experience must have been for you.  Can you describe your emotions and what you were experiencing while you were making this album? 

In the first days of the war, sitting in the basement of a bomb shelter, I realized that you can’t just sit in depression and kill time by reading the news, but you need to convey your emotions and feelings in music. And the name of the album was born by itself - Symphony of War in Ukraine. I had a Laptop, headphones, Cubase Pro and a small midi keyboard - what else do you need?
 
I just wanted to convey the sensations of what is happening around, the experiences of people, the events taking place in cities, the emotions. And now the listeners tell me that by naming the tracks after the names of the cities, I accurately captured and conveyed the spirit of what was happening and is happening in these cities.
 
When, in the first days and weeks of the war, my musician friends called me and said that they were depressed and could not do anything, I tried by my example to ignite them, stir them up, make them start making music again. I told them: "War is a time in which music has its own important mission, music is very important in this period of history." And gradually everyone came to life, they also began to record songs and even perform at charity concerts.
 
It was during the war the value and significance of music increases many times over. Don't forget that. We each have our own function and our own mission. Including musicians.
 
Aaron: We are now several months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Do you have any sense of how long this invasion will drag on? 

The fact is that we are now forbidden to say "what is". We can only say publicly what propaganda tells us. If you tell any other version- you can be arrested or even shot. Therefore, I cannot tell you my assumptions about the further course of the war.
 
I can only say my assumptions about when the war will end. Perhaps it will end before the onset of winter.
 
By the way, from the first day of the war we were forbidden to leave the country. This is the kind of freedom we have. Only women, children and the elderly over 60 can travel. But women will soon be banned from leaving too, as they began to put all of them on military records. It seems that the population of our country is perceived as cannon fodder. But let's not talk about sad things...
 
Aaron: You said during our correspondence, that you recently relocated to the capital of Ukraine and that although there are still air raid sirens throughout the day and that sometimes rockets fly into the city, that things are much calmer and more peaceful and in your own words, “the city lives an ordinary, peaceful life, as if there is no war”.  That’s amazing to hear, can you describe what your life is like now, living in Kyiv? 

Yes, Kyiv lives an ordinary life. There is also a curfew here, but it is short (from 23:00 to 5:00). There is no need to turn off the lights at night - the whole city glows brightly with street lighting all night. Sirens are sometimes turned on here, but nothing arrives and no one pays attention to the sirens. The city lives a normal peaceful life.
 
But, as I said earlier, a few days ago, four cruise missiles flew here. People sometimes forget that the country is at war. But the war does not let you forget for long.
 
Aaron: How has this experience changed your perception of being a musician and making music?  It can be hard to find the inspiration and motivation to make music at times, even under the best of circumstances, I can’t even begin to fathom the emotions you must have been experiencing making this album.  Has this experience in any way given you more motivation to get your music out there and have it be heard? 

I have a Soviet upbringing. And we were taught from childhood that, in the most difficult times, we should not give up, but on the contrary, we should give our all and make our contribution. We had good teachers. Thanks to them, parents and grandparents, who taught us all this and, prepared us for any turns that life would take. They wanted us to live in peace. But they prepared us for everything.
 
Music is an art that can inspire, give strength for life and struggle and fill people with optimism, etc. Therefore, the significance of music in such periods of history is greatly increased. Everyone should understand this and not forget.
 
Aaron: Thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview.  I’ve been wanting to share your story since we first connected several months ago.  Are there any closing words or thoughts you want to leave us with?  And thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my questions and my thoughts and prayers remain with you. 

Thanks for the invitation. It’s good that we didn’t do the interview two months ago and that we waited – more events have happened during this time, new impressions and emotions have appeared, more information and life experience have appeared.
 
I wish your blog and your podcast and you personally success and prosperity. And I hope war never comes to your land and your country. It is better to read books and watch movies about the war. And it is better to live in peace.

So, that concludes my interview with Evgeniy.  One musician’s first hand account of what it was like living through the ongoing war in Ukraine while simultaneously making music.  I’m not going to lie I was moved to tears at several points during the process of reading and editing Eugene’s responses.  Regardless of what you feel about the politics of the war in Ukraine, or what you feel about Russia or Putin or Zelensky or Biden or any of the international figures involved in this conflict, at the end of the day, war is simply horrific, brutal and incredibly sad. 

Here's Evgeniy’s track from his album, "Part 12 (Final)":
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Listen to the full Album, Symphony Of War In Ukraine, here.

 
I actually welcomed the push back to the post. It’s a reminder that wars and conflicts always have two sides and different perspectives.  Life isn’t some sort of Marvel comic book only comprised of “villains” and “good guys”.  The real word is complex and nuanced with different perspectives and different interpretations of the same events.  The real world is messy and complex.  But to me, at the end of the day, war and innocent civilians losing their lives is simply sad, irrespective of the reasons for going to war in the first place. 

I realize this has nothing to do with music licensing per se, and this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but hey, I’m just an artist following what I’m inspired to do to see where it takes me. 

I’ll be making a few more “pro-peace” videos and improvised guitar pieces over the next few weeks. If you’re interested in checking those out, please be sure to subscribe to my Youtube Channel here. 
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First and foremost, I’m just an artist doing my best to grow as a musician and get my music out there.  I’ll be leaning into that part of my personality more going forward.

I just got back from a long overdue, extended period of time visiting different family members.  I spent close to two weeks visiting my Mom and Step Father, 5 days visiting my Brother and his wife and nine days with my Dad and Step Mother.  This was the first time I've seen my Brother and Father in several years and the first extended visit I've had with my Mom since the pandemic started.

It felt like really great to visit with the Family and it gave me a lot of time to recharge my batteries and think about 2022 and my goals and plans for the year.  As much as I enjoyed my family time, the more I started contemplating the New Year and all the things I want to do this year, the more I started itching to get back into the swing of things and start what very much feels like a new Chapter of Life.

2021 was in many ways a challenging year for me personally.  Without going into too much detail, there were several things I went through in my personal life that made 2021 probably even more challenging than 2020, albeit in different ways.  2021 was very much a transitional year for me as I found myself making some pretty big changes in several areas of my life.  These changes were both difficult and ultimately rewarding.

As I look ahead to the rest of 2022, I find myself feeling excited and enthused more than anything, and eager to dive head first into my plans for the year. Most of the issues I was dealing with last year have been resolved and are firmly in the rear view mirror at this point. Sometimes in life we have to go through difficult situations to grow, expand and ultimately gain more clarity about our lives and how we want to show up in the world.  2021 was one of those years for me.

One of my main take aways from 2021, is that life in many ways is simply what we make of it.  Not exactly profound I know.  Most of my biggest life realizations and insights over the years have been remarkably simple.  Not happy where you're living?  Move.  Not satisfied in your relationship?  Work to make it better or end it.  Not happy where you are in your career?  Work harder.  You don't like your job?  Find a new one.  And so on.  Of course, we have to sometimes work through nuanced details and evaluate the pros and cons of our choices, but in the end, most of life really is this simple.

Most of the time, the answer or solution to what is holding us back in life is quite  straightforward.  It's simply doing what we know we need to do and taking decisive action that is the hard part for many of us.  Humans tend to resist change and it's all to easy to simply take the path of least resistance and coast through life, not terribly satisfied or excited, but also not terribly stressed or worried.  Sometimes we're just going through the motions, stuck in a safe, but not particularly rewarding "comfort zone".  Not a very inspiring way to go through life in my opinion.

I've been reflecting on my own my life and some of the choices I've made over the years. Although I'm proud of so much that I've accomplished and the own growth I've made over the last few years, if I'm honest with myself I know that I still have a lot of unrealized potential.   This isn't a depressing realization per se. In fact, this awareness makes me really excited to start making positive changes. More than anything, it's simply motivation to step up my game in a few different areas.

But because I know myself so well and have such a high degree of self awareness, I know that making real and lasting change in the areas I want to grow in is going to take more than simply writing down a list of New Year's resolutions in a journal.  Like many of us, I'm a creature of habit and as much as I consider myself an ambitious and relatively successful person, I also know that I sometimes have a tendency to procrastinate and become complacent.  

Like most of us, I have a comfort zone I like to stay in. But as Tony Robbins accurately states, "All growth starts at the end of your comfort zone".  My plan for 2022 is to push myself to expand and grow in new areas that are a little outside my comfort zone both in terms of how much I'm effort I'm willing to put in, and in terms of taking new chances and pushing myself to grow in several different areas.

Since I really want to hold myself accountable and make a very tangible step forward, I've decided to go public with my plans and goals for the year, and also to invite you to go on a similar journey with me, if you choose.  I've come up with a list of key areas I'm going to be taking action in this year, and I've decided to be very deliberate about my goals and the actions I plan to take to reach them. It's easy to simply write down a list of goals or "resolutions" going into a New Year.  It's much harder to actually come up with a specific game plan and execute it.

I'm all about planning and strategizing as you work your way towards goals.  It's one of the key things I stress when I'm coaching clients for HTLYM Premium. For example, it's not enough to just decide you want to license your music in 2022.  That's a great starting point.  But what specific actions and steps are you going to take to get there? It's not enough to just decide you're tired of being single and want to find a partner this year, that's great too, but what are you going to do to change your situation and put yourself out there?  It's not enough to want to simply "get in better shape", but what are you going to do change your health and achieve your fitness goals?

I think you get the idea.  For any goal, in any area of your life, there are most likely a list of things you could do each day to get you closer to where you want to be. Don't just set broad, vague, far off in the future goals.  Come up with a specific plan that you can execute as you work towards your goals.  You don't necessarily need to know every detail of how your plan will unfold.  It's impossible to know exactly how the future will unfold.  But you can come up with a list of things you can take action on that will move you closer to your goals.  

To give you an idea, here's a list of things I'll be doing daily, weekly and monthly in 2022, to move forward in areas important to me. These are just a few initial ideas I came up with.  I'll likely be adding to this list and modifying things as I go forward. I encourage you to come up with your own list and own goals that you can work towards this year.

Here's my list so far:

1) Submit my music to 5 Sync Companies Daily 
2) Reach out to five music supervisors each day
3) Make 5 Youtube Videos weekly 
4) Workout 5 times each week
5) Release 5 podcasts per month
6) Attend three social/networking events weekly

For some reason I gravitated to the number five for most of my goals, but you can pick any number and frequency you think you can stick to.  Make sure you don't overdo it with your goals.  Make sure you push yourself to move forward, but at a pace you can maintain.  

It's amazing how much you can accomplish by taking this "numbers game" approach to your goals and life.  For example, if you simply pitch your music to five companies a day, every day for a year, at the end of the year you'll have made 1,825 pitches. Do you think if you pitched your music to that many places you'd have better odds of making something happen as opposed to simply pitching your music here and there?  I estimate this will take me less than an hour a day.  If you attend three networking events each week, at the end of a year, you'll have had 156 opportunities to meet and connect with new, interesting people.  Of course, these numbers don't have to be set in stone, but pick numbers that you think you can commit to for the most part.

I'm creating a forum and newsletter specifically for this project.  it's free to join and I have nothing to sell you. I'll be posting my own progress and updates, as well as a few motivational emails here and there, to hopefully keep you motivated and inspired. I'm also creating a forum where you can post your own goals and your own results as well.

​If you'd like to join me on this journey of growth and progress in 2022, sign up for free here:

​I have two distinct, very different, musical personalities.  Two very different facets of my musical persona that are sometimes slightly at odds with each other.  First and foremost, I consider myself a guitar player.  I started taking guitar lessons when I was twelve, long before I started seriously pursuing the craft of songwriting.  I love playing long, extended improvised guitar solos.  I love playing blues, jazz, fusion, jam rock, etc.  I can spend hours getting lost in long, improvised guitar solos over something as simple as a two-chord progression. 

On the other hand, I have a deep love and passion for songwriting. This was a passion that I developed several years after I began learning to play guitar. I write a fairly diverse range of songs, stylistically.  But if I had to sum up the kind of music I write the most, I guess I would describe it as a combination of “singer/songwriter/folk/rock”.  I tend to write songs that are fairly simple harmonically, with an emphasis on lyrics and story-telling.  Simple, yet, I like to think, catchy songs. 

I tend to alternate back and forth between phases where I focus on songwriting and phases where I focus on developing as a guitar player. If I spend too long only writing songs, I start to get worried that I’m getting rusty as a guitar player and vice versa.  Lately, I’ve been practicing guitar more than writing new material, although I sill have several new songs in progress.

When I’m writing and recording music for something like licensing, playing long, elaborate guitar solos is usually not appropriate or required.  In fact, I’ve turned in songs where I’ve been told by my publisher to “tone down” the guitar solos.  Licensing music is more about writing music that has the most “commercial appeal” and sensibility and as you’ve probably noticed somewhere in the last decade or two, playing guitar really well seemed to fall out of fashion.  Although there’s clearly still a market for great guitar playing in the context of pop music.  John Mayer, for example, does a great job of both writing amazing pop/rock songs but also shredding on guitar when needed.  Check out the studio version of “I Guess I Just Feel Like” for a great example of a great, current pop song with some really tasty guitar playing.
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To satisfy my love for both guitar playing and songwriting, I both play live and spend a lot of time writing and recording for licensing projects, and just for the love of making music.  When I perform live, I’m able to stretch out more on the guitar and really put all my years of practicing and learning to play guitar to work. Conversely, when I’m in the studio recording material for licensing or just recording music in general, I’m able to put my love for the craft of songwriting to work and develop my songwriting and production skills. 

It would be hard to pick which aspect of making music I enjoy more. Fortunately, I don’t have to.  It’s fair to say I enjoy both playing guitar and writing music equally, but for different reasons.  Writing music is more about expressing something I want to express emotionally through music. Whether it’s writing about something I’ve experienced or expressing myself through a story in the form of a song, songwriting to me is akin to therapy in the sense that I’m able to articulate and process things I’ve gone through or am going through, in the context of a song.  Playing guitar on the other hand, especially improvising and “jamming”, is just plain fun!
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Here’s my latest song release on Spotify.  A song called “We’re Only Human” I recorded with Michael James.

Here’s an instrumental guitar piece from my new all instrumental guitar album, called "Radio Floyd".
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​And finally, here's a compilation of a few of my favorite solos from last weekend during my reunion with my friends in the "Bandits Of The Apocalypse".
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In this blog, I thought I’d share the stages my tracks go through, from the initial demo stage, all the way to the fully produced, “radio and sync ready” master stage.  This particular song, “Home Is Where The Heart Is”, I wrote last year when I was vacationing in The Dominican Republic, right before the Covid pandemic started and I ended up effectively trapped there for several months due to the airports being abruptly shut down and my flight cancelled. 

I wrote this particular song, if my memory serves me correctly, in about an hour.  It was one of those songs that sort of just poured out of me.  I was on the balcony of a small studio apartment I was renting at the time and this song came to me in a moment of inspiration early in the morning around 7 am. 

A few days later I recorded the following very simple, rough demo:
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As is often the case, this song sat on the shelf for a good long while.  I tend to have a pretty large back catalog of un-recorded tracks at any given time, that I often circle back to when I go into the studio to record. 

Fast forward to earlier this year and I was with my friend and collaborator MJ and we were going through my demos deciding what songs we would work on and we came across this one.  My friend MJ really resonated with this track and he was one of the main reasons I decided to revisit the track and finish it. 

So, for the next couple weeks or so, MJ and I worked on the track.  MJ came up with some really cool harmony parts, a great piano part and helped write the song’s outro.  One of the things I love about collaborating with MJ is having an extra set of ears that is able to hear things slightly differently than I do and come up with different parts and ideas that really enhance the song.  Ideas that I wouldn’t have come up with on my own.

After a couple weeks, MJ and I then created the following, more fully produced demo:

​I then sent the demo, along with a few other tracks to my publisher to get her feedback.  My publisher is cool with checking out songs in their demo stage, in order to see if it’s something she wants to move forward with or not.  This is extremely helpful as I’m able to get a good sense for which tracks she thinks she’ll be able to successfully pitch before I go through the longer process of creating the actual fully produced and mastered version.

One of the other tracks I sent her was produced by Gary Gray and featured a different vocalist, Joseph De Natale, who has sung several of my tracks.  My publisher loved his voice and requested that I use him on, “Home Is Where The Heart Is”.   Since I aim to please I said sure, I will see what I can do and that I would get back to her.

I reached out to Gary, who is friends with the vocalist to see if he could arrange to have Joseph sing the lead vocal on the track and help me finish the production.  Gary, being the agreeable guy that he is said absolutely!  Over the next few weeks, using the initial tracks that MJ and I laid down, as well as adding their own parts and tweaking the arrangement slightly, Gary and Joseph created the final version of the song, which you can hear below.

I’m really, really pleased with how this track turned out.  I think it’s one of my best sounding tracks overall. Joseph nailed the vocals and both Gary and Joseph nailed the production. 
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​For licensing inquiries of "Home Is Where The Heart Is" contact me here and I'll direct you to the appropriate people.

To work with Gary Gray on your music's production, contact Gary here.

​What do you think of the song?  Let us know in the comments!

What about you?  Did you find your creative output and overall creativity increase during quarantine?  Let me know in the comments!

I’ve had enough.  I’m sick and tired.  I’m sick and tired of watching talented, hard working, passionate musicians being tossed by the way side.  I’m sick and tired of watching musicians invest their blood, sweat and tears into creating beautiful art, only to eek out a meager living, if they’re fortunate enough to even be able to do that.  I’ve had it.  I’m done.

I’ve grown disgusted by how music has become less and less “valuable” in the marketplace with each passing year.  I’m tired of watching super talented, hard working musicians struggle to make a viable life for themselves.

I’ve always taken a half glass full attitude to life and the music industry.  I’ve encouraged artists to hustle and carve out a name for themselves in a marketplace where music has become more and more devalued with each passing year.  In life, you have to focus on the things you can control.  Sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons.  We don’t choose the hands we’re dealt in life, but we choose how we play them.

But with all that said, I’m tired of musicians simply resigning themselves to the idea that this is simply how things are and if they want to compete in the music industry they have to accept giving their music away for next to nothing.  I’m tired of musicians putting up with sub-par work conditions, no health care, little to no safety net, no job security and so on.  I’m tired of musicians lining up to get proverbially screwed.

Have a few musicians figured out how to “succeed” in our modern-day music industry?  Sure, there are examples of musicians who are able to support themselves solely from their art.  To those of you who have figured this out, more power to you.  I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to carve out a decent living primarily from my art and endeavors closely related to it and I’ve invested the last 12 years of my life to helping other musicians figure out ways to make money from their music.  But having a small percentage of unknown artists able to sustain themselves from the music they create and pay their bills isn’t going to fix the music industry or the declining state of contemporary music in general.

In my assessment, and I’ve given it a lot of thought over the last few years, the music industry is deeply broken and fundamentally flawed.   The music industry has become a race to the bottom.  I’ve broken down all the depressing stats for you about the state of the music industry in previous blog posts.   See this blog post as an example.  The problems that ail the music industry are deep seated and widespread.  There are no easy solutions or simple fixes.  However, the first step is correctly diagnosing the problem.  After all, we can’t fix a problem if we don’t know what the problem is.

In my estimation, there are essentially two fundamental problems plaguing the music industry.  Here are the two main issues holding most musicians back in terms of making a real living from their craft:

1. Consumers don’t value recorded music anymore (thanks internet)
2. Musicians don’t value their music anymore (thanks to the platforms who took advantage of the internet)
   
   

We live in a culture where people expect music to be free or next to free.  And because of this, musicians, for the most part, have all jumped on board with platforms who give their music away for fractions of a penny per stream for a chance to gain exposure and hopefully make a few bucks.

In some cases, musicians are able to generate enough streams to make “decent” money.  But in my own experience and according to the research I did for this piece, these musicians are few and far between.  In fact, according to a recent article in Rolling Stone, called “Spotify Dreams Of Artists Making A Living. It Probably Won’t Come True”, the average artist on Spotify makes just twelve dollars a month.  That’s right, that’s not a typo, just twelve dollars a month.  The article is a great read and provides an in depth breakdown of how much money Spotify takes in and how it trickles down to artists using the platform: https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/spotify-million-artists-royalties-1038408/

Even when musicians do manage to generate hundreds of thousands or even millions of streams, the money that is generated, after it’s split with fellow musicians, recording and production costs are deducted and expenses are paid, it’s usually a pretty modest payday at best.  Of course there are a few exceptions.  If you’re reading this and you’re doing well on Spotify, or even if you know someone else who is, I’d love to hear about it.

Let’s take a look at some hard stats.   The title of the blog post takes aim at Spotify, but to be fair, it’s really the entire streaming industry.  All of the platforms pay next to nothing.  Some are closer to nothing than others. 

Here’s a breakdown of what the major streaming platforms pay per stream.

It took me a long time to develop a workflow and work routine that was consistent and that I could commit to on an ongoing basis.  It takes a massive amount of momentum to see any sort of real, sustainable success in the music industry.  For this reason, developing a workflow that fits into your overall life and that you can commit to on an ongoing basis, is one of the most important parts of realizing success in music licensing and the music business.

I used to have a sort of two steps forward, one step back approach to making music.  I would work really hard for a few months and make a little bit of progress and then inevitably start feeling burnt out and take a step back to rest and regroup.   The first few years of my music licensing career I had very sporadic success as a result.  I’d license several songs and then there were often long stretches where not much was happening.  I’d then frantically go back to the drawing board, so to speak, and throw myself into the process of music making again, see some renewed success, slow down and take a break again and repeat the entire cycle over.  This went on for several years as I was also juggling the duties of several internet businesses and different projects.

These days I have a much different and much more consistent approach to making music.  It’s very simple and my workflow and creative process has become much more efficient and dialed in.  I write and record one song a week and release one music video weekly.  It’s still a lot of work, don’t get me wrong.  I can easily spend 30 to 40 hours a week or more, mixing, rehearsing, writing and video editing.  But it’s a schedule that I can commit to regularly without getting burnt out doing.  I still have plenty of time to manage my other duties and I really enjoy the time I spend making music.  And if takes me ten days to finish a track instead of seven, it’s not the end of the world.  I simply aim for averaging a song a week.

A lot of people ask me how many songs they should be aiming to record weekly and monthly, and like a lot of things related to music licensing, there are many variables.  It depends on what kind of music you’re making, how efficient you are at writing and recording, what your goals are, etc.   But really, the most important variable, is you.  By that I mean, it comes down to what you can commit to, how skilled and motivated you are and so forth.  I like the song a week model because, after a lot of trial and error, this is the schedule that feels right to me.  My goal is to consistently make music and put it out into the world, without getting burnt out or stressed about it.  There are enough stressful things in the world right now that the least thing I want music to be is a source of stress or frustration. 

Aim to setup your schedule and life in a way that you’re excited about and brings you more joy than stress.  If making a living from music if your goal, you’re going to be doing it a long time, so make sure you’re creating a workflow that’s sustainable and enjoyable.  If you’re pushing yourself to the point of burn out you’re not going to be able to sustain that. 

What is your workflow like?  Do you have a set amount of songs you record each week or month?  Have you given this issue much thought?  One of the keys to success is consistency.  Just keep showing up and putting in the work.  There’s a lot that’s out of our control in the music business, but the one thing you we do control entirely, is our output.  And like I’ve said before, more songs will generally lead to more licensing opportunities and more money.  In my own experience, I've seen my licensing income go up significantly over the last several years as I've simply been writing and recording a lot more music.  It's sort of a no brainer.  More songs = more licensing opportunities.

I’ve also been ramping up my efforts on Youtube ever since the pandemic started and have been releasing new music videos each week.  Here’s my latest effort, a video for my song “Everything Is Going To Be Alright”, shot in the Caribbean during lockdown with my quarantine project, Bandits Of The Apocalypse.   Check it out and be sure to subscribe to my Youtube Channel here.

As many of you know, I’ve worked with producer Gary Gray a lot over the last few years.  When we collaborate, we have one singular mission in mind for the music we’re working on together, which is to optimize each track for licensing opportunities.  We’ve racked up quite a few syncs the last few years and recently had our biggest ascap payday yet, for several dozen tv placements in 2019. 

We recently completed and signed a publishing deal for a track that I feel is one of the strongest overall tracks we’ve done together. I thought I’d share what the collaboration process was like to give you an idea of how songs can evolve and go through a few different stages, until they are ultimately completed and ready to shop to licensing opportunities.

Our latest track, Lost And Found, took several months to complete, from its inception to the final mix.  We recently signed this one to my primary publisher in LA and I’m confident, as confident as one can be in this industry, that this track will get syncs going forward.  We sent this one to our publisher and she responded right away, enthusiastically, that she would love to sign it.  That’s always a good sign.  As opposed to when you submit tracks and weeks or months go by and you ultimately never hear anything.  Submitting music is sort of like going out on dates with prospective partners, if someone is really interested, they’ll let you know sooner or later.  On the other hand, sometimes people just aren’t that into your tracks.  

I started writing this song last year and made a basic guitar/vocal demo that I sent to my friend and frequent collaborator, MJ.  A few weeks later MJ and I got together in person and we spent about  a week creating a full band demo and fleshing out all the parts.  MJ came up with a great 2nd hook, the line “gonna turn this thing around”.  (See below)

After MJ and I finished our version of the track we sent our mix and the stems to Gary to start his process.  Like I said, when Gary and I collaborate, our main goal is to create tracks that have the best chance of getting placements.  Sometimes this could mean making changes to the track’s arrangement.  Sometimes it could mean changing certain lyrics or re-writing tracks to make them more “universal” in terms of subject matter.  Other times, like in the case of Lost And Found, it could mean doing a completely different version of the track with a different vocalist and even different instrumentation. I give Gary carte blanche to make whatever changes he feels necessary to optimize each track for licensing.

At the time Gary and I finished this particular track, Gary and I received a playlist of the types of songs my publisher is most in need of for a variety of shows she pitches to.  Gary used these tracks as reference material when it came to arranging and mixing my track, “Lost And Found”.   Based on this playlist and the style of production these songs had, Gary ended up completely re-doing Lost and Found using a different vocalist and also re-doing the guitar parts in a different style. 

When I got the track back from Gary, I was a little surprised at first, because I didn’t realize he was making such drastic changes to the song.  But, when I put my ego in check and just objectively listened to the song, I was blown away. Of all the tracks we’ve done together, this might be the one I’m most proud of and excited about.  Gary’s mix and production sound so solid on this one that I would be really surprised if this one doesn’t get some great syncs. 
 
You can check out my demo version below I did with MJ, as well as Gary’s final version below.  I’ll probably do another fully produced version with MJ at some point as there are elements of our version I really like, but I can’t deny how undeniably great Gary’s version is.   Listen for yourself below!

Lost And Found Demo Version

Lost And Found Final Mix By Gary Gray, featuring Joseph De Natale

Of course, putting your head in the sand and ignoring the state of the world isn’t the answer.  My friends and I spent several hours discussing everything that was unfolding.  In the evening, we even wrote a song inspired by the protests and the death of George Floyd.  One of the great things about being a songwriter, is that no matter how crazy the world gets, there’s always something to write about.  In some ways, the crazier things get, the more there is to write about.

Adversity and hardships force you to dig deeper and find strength that in many cases, you didn’t even know you have.  Here’s what one of my favorite authors, Eckhart Tolle, has to say about adversity and what we’re all living through at the moment:

“Adversity forces you to awaken to the deeper dimension of who you are. Why does adversity force you? Because life becomes almost unbearable when you live only on the surface, the surface of sense perceptions, and your conceptual mind.”

The last few months has been, strangely, one of the most productive periods of my life.  Once I realized I was likely going to be stuck here for at least a few months, I got into a really productive rhythm and have since written and recorded dozens of new songs, many of which have been inspired by everything going on in the world.  I have, you could say, dug deeper and discovered a fortitude and strength I didn’t know I had.  I’m working harder than ever to realize my goals in one of the craziest times we’ve ever known.  Something about that feels comforting and right and to be honest, despite everything going on, I wake up excited every day to get to work.  I can’t change the entire state of the world, but I can at least be in control of my little slice of reality. 

If history is any indication, what is happening in the world and everything unfolding will eventually come and go.  Eventually the pandemic will come and go.  Eventually the protests and rioting will stop.  New challenges will arise.  Those will also come and go. The sun will continue to set and rise.

I don’t know how to change the world at large.  I wish I did.  I wish I could wave a magic wand and make all the injustice, inequality, anger, frustration, sickness, political corruption, sadness and rage come to an end.  I wish I could.  There’s so much I would change if I had that kind of power.

All I can do is focus on what I can control.  Things like how to be a better friend to my friends, how to be a better partner to my girlfriend, how to be a better son, how to be a better songwriter and musician, how to be a more compassionate and empathetic citizen of the world.  These are the things that motivate me to keep going every day, in spite of and in many ways, because of all the craziness unfolding.  
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Maybe, just maybe, if we all focused on making our little piece of the world we live in better, we could slowly change the world into a better place, one person and one day at a time.

When all of this Covid stuff first started getting serious, there was a part of me that was fearful.  It was the unknown element in all of this.  I was in the Caribbean.  I still am.  The borders were abruptly closed.  Then all the businesses, except grocery stores and pharmacies were closed.  The little beach town I’m in almost overnight turned into a ghost town.   The streets were mostly empty.  A 5 PM curfew was imposed. There was tension in the air that was palpable. Everything felt strange and surreal.

After a couple weeks or so, once I realized the grocery stores would not run out of food, the internet and power would continue to work and the sun would continue to set and rise, I settled into a new routine. The fear I initially felt gradually shifted to something unexpected... joy.  I found myself surprisingly really enjoying my new routine and the surreal nature of the experience. My mood brightened. 

I started taking long daily walks alone on the beach to contemplate everything happening.  This is something I did frequently before quarantine, but these walks felt different.  Everything felt heightened. In some weird way I’ve felt more alive throughout all this.  Whatever was happening with the pandemic was so intense, it was as if it woke me up from a slumber and now I was really paying attention.

To be clear, I wasn’t enjoying the fact that there was a pandemic or that I was effectively trapped in a developing country.  I was enjoying my reaction to it. It’s sort of hard to put into words, but I just felt strangely more awake and in tune with everything around me.  As if the situation shifted my perspective slightly, just enough to let me see things in a new light.  I realized much of life is completely out of my control and although that’s kind of scary on one hand, in a way it’s also completely liberating and humbling.  If it’s out of my control, why waste my energy worrying about it?

Of course, life has always been largely out of our control, but when something like this comes so unexpectedly, you realize just how little we do control individually and just how quickly it can all change.  I guess you could say quarantine has taught me to surrender.  To let go of worrying about the parts of life outside of my control, which it turns out, is most of life.

But, of course, there are things in my control and even in a crazy situation like this you can find normalcy and joy.  I’ve found having a routine helps, especially during a time like this. 

Here’s what my quarantine schedule the last couple months has looked like:

1)Wake up around 8 am
2)Make coffee and do morning meditation
3) 9 am play guitar and work on songs
4) 10 am – work on business projects, courses, etc
5) 2 pm – break for lunch with girlfriend
6) 3 pm - Work for an hour
7) 4 pm – go to beach for a walk and swim
8) Return by 5 pm curfew
9) 6 PM – jam with new quarantine band, “Bandits Of The Apocalypse”
10) 8 pm – finish jam and edit / render video from nightly jam session
11) 9 pm – answer any unanswered emails, work on music, etc
12) 10 pm – chill with girlfriend, watch Netflix, etc
13) Sleep by 1 AM

I found myself, after a few weeks of this routine, feeling incredibly relaxed about things. I adapted to the situation and I’ve developed a new, quarantine rhythm. I started focusing much more on taking life one day at a time and not trying to figure things out too far in advance. Once the initial fear and uncertainty subsided, I realized that although there were many restrictions placed on me that were new and there was a lot up in the air, I was still free to pursue most of the things I wanted to pursue.  And in fact, in many ways, it has never been a better time to pursue these things.  After all, I have far fewer distractions than I normally do and a lot more forced time inside to get things done.  It turns out most of my big life goals are best pursued indoors; music, songwriting, marketing, business, etc.

I’ve grown much closer to my two band-mates who live in the same building I do and who I’ve seen nightly throughout all of this.  We’ve had so many strange and interesting conversations ranging from our shared concern about the pandemic to expressing our gratitude of being able to share such an interesting, surreal experience together. We’ve also spent countless hours jamming, recording and making Youtube videos. These our experiences that I’m sure when I’m older I’ll remember much more clearly than the months and years that preceded all this. 

I’ve seen so many people step up and go out of their way to help others.  I’ve helped as many as I’ve been able to and people have come forward to help me in unexpected and beautiful ways.  It seems like humans are often at their best in times of crisis.  It shocks us all out of our collective slumber and forces us into action.  I think most humans are good people, we just tend to be so busy during “normal” times that we forget to take a break and check in with each other.

As we move forward, a lot of questions remain.  I sometimes catch myself wondering about things in the future.  When will the airports here re-open (no official date yet but lots of speculation)?  What will the long-term impact on our economy and my business be?  What will the music business look like a year from now? Two years from now and going forward? When will live music resume? What will life be like after all this is over? Will there be a “new normal”?  Will there be a mandatory vaccine?  Will we end up losing more of our freedoms and liberties?  Am I going to be micro-chipped??

There are so many questions I don’t have the answer to and occasionally I catch myself thinking about and pondering these things.  These are the only moments throughout all this when I feel stressed.  Once I realize there is a lot I simply don’t know or have answers to yet, I remind myself to focus on the here and now and the fear and stress subside.

What can I do today?  What do I want to do today?  What inspires me today?  When I focus my energy on these questions I quickly get inspired again.  I realize that I, nor anyone else, knows exactly how all this will unfold and play out and that it makes little sense to use my time worrying about these things. 
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So for now, I focus on what I can control.  This is always where our true power resides. I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes by Viktor Frankl in his book “Man’s Search For Meaning”, in which he chronicled his experience as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War 2.  An experience far more horrifying than being stuck at home watching Netflix on the beach. 

The quote is:

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

Check out my latest original song that takes a lighthearted look at the lockdown, "Bottle Full Of Wine", I recorded with my quarantine band, Bandits Of The Apocalypse.