Ep. 46 - Matt Oestreicher

(upbeat music)

Give yourself that practice of confidence because it will make up the rest of the gap.

This is synchronicity.

This is synchronicity.

This is synchronicity.

This is synchronicity.

This is synchronicity.

This is synchronicity. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

Welcome to synchronicity episode 46. My guest this week is Matt Ostreicher. Matt is super cool, gonna get to Matt in a second, but first, quick little updates, updates, updates. We're gonna go with updates. Generosity experiment is done. We donated to Finn, this was a young boy who went into a coma, just like really fucked up shit happen. And we were able to donate over $600 to Finn and met the goal for the medical expenses. It's gonna be a long route to recovery, but he's doing better, which is really nice. So thank you to everyone who participated in that. If you don't know what I'm talking about, synchpodcast.com/generosity.

There is information on what this was where we kind of collectively raise as a community money for people to get better. And next time we're gonna do this at the beginning of 2017, I think is what it's looking like. And it's gonna be some changes. I think it's gonna be better. I think it's gonna be more participatory. And hopefully we can continue to do this 'cause I think it's cool. Even if we raise just a little bit of money, I think it's cool to do. So thank you seriously to everyone who participated in that. All right, so this week, I don't think, here's the truth. I usually write down a little bit of notes, but I'm kind of jammed up 'cause it was coming back from vacation on Tuesday, which really, you know, makes your week a little wonky in terms of what you gotta do.

And Alexis is getting ready to go to the dentist. And that means I had to take care of EY, which I love doing. He's a sweet little human baby who is really, really just great. But he's teething and he's a handful right now. So excuse me if this is rushed. But I will not rush talking about Matt. Matt is a multi-instrumentalist. He's a musician. He was trained at the New England Conservatory of Music, also has a degree from Tufts. Really just, I bring that up because I think you'll hear in this episode, he blends a very practical and pragmatic approach to life with very creative and mystical and holistic.

It's very cool what he does. He creates a very holistic environment for his consciousness. And I think that is reflective in what he's achieved, not only with his career as a musician, he's played with my hero, Stevie Wonder. So I don't even list it out. I'm not even gonna list it out on this podcast page or on his website, there will be links to this. Go check out who he's worked with. It's embarrassingly awesome. So probably not embarrassingly. It's really, it's just very cool. So Matt is, we talk about a bunch of stuff. Matt's a cool guy. That's all you really need to know. But he brings up a lot of excellent points in this episode about confidence, which you heard at the beginning there.

Those are the little teasers. I'm doing those to pass you episodes, some changes, right? Evolving, evolution, I like those. So he talks about confidence. He talks about also being able to kind of do whatever you wanna do in life. And within the limits of your reality, which maybe is a little more limited than all of us like to think, we kind of get into patterns, we get into habits, and we do things when we maybe constrain ourselves. But outside of physical limitations and things that just really don't jump off a building because you're not gonna be able to fly, outside of those things, you can really, whatever you set your mind to, if you put in the effort and have a plan, in my experience, you can do it, truthfully.

That goes for anything. And the confidence in that, I think, is a huge part of that too, and believing that that it's possible. And even if you fail, the beauty of it is, and I've spoken about this before, is even if you fail, you still learn, probably way more than you ever thought you would learn in the comfortable surroundings of doing what you normally do. So this conversation is far ranging, touches on music, touches on Matt's personal path, and where he's at now. He also has a really awesome foundation called Your Time to Shine. He is extensively involved with the Apollo Theater in New York.

Wonderful theater. We all know the Apollo. Showtime at the Apollo when the guy with the hook, the cane hook, takes people off. Anyway, historically though, amazing performances there. Michael Jackson has come to mind. I will never forget that. Truthfully, one of the really cool plays, but he has partnered with Joe Gray, and they have a foundation called Your Time to Shine, which basically brings arts to communities that really aren't necessarily in a position to benefit that. If you're in a public school, in an area that doesn't have the resources to do with the first thing they cut, are arts and creative programs, because you gotta learn your math and your science and your history.

School is a whole other thing. We'll talk about school. I'll get a school person on here, so we can talk about that, because in a few years, we gotta send Eli to school. Oh my god, what do you do? Like, it's a crazy situation we're in right now, right? Anyway, math is really cool. I am digressing more than I plan to. I'm just gonna get to the episode. Thank you to everyone who is donating. It really means so much, especially at this time, running the podcast, doing other things. It really does. Thank you to everyone who's leaving ratings and reviews, iTunes, Stitcher, Podbean. Don't wanna forget any of these places.

It was pointed out to me, I shouldn't forget the people who listen on other devices. Also, what about this Apple stuff, right? They're taking away the headphone jack. I know you can get an adapter and they get, but come on, come on, come on, come on Apple. I know, like, I'm not a big complainer of technology stuff, but I headphones, come on. They're not gonna be able to fight the whole industry is what I'm saying, it's ridiculous, okay. So, without further ado, here is Matt Ostricker. (upbeat music) Yeah, man, how you doing?

Good.

Good, I've been running around a whole lot. I'm just like, I just got back to my studio here. I haven't been here in like three weeks, just been working in the city a whole lot, so.

Oh man, yeah. I'm good, I'm really happy to be talking to you.

Yeah, man, I'm gonna turn off my video 'cause it's a little, and feel free to turn yours off too. I know it can be weird talking to a disembodied voice and having them see you, so. (laughs)

Totally.

Yeah, better for our bandwidth as well.

That's what I figure. Also, thank you, of course, for coming on. I think this is, and thanks for reaching out, too, because it's been really cool reading up on you and finding out more about you. Also, I saw when we became Facebook friends. Did you just get married? Like pretty recently?

Really did.

Congratulations, man, that's super cool.

Thank you, thank you so much. Yeah, it's been awesome. Yeah, it was a month ago.

Yeah.

So yeah, I'm settling into it, but.

That's so cool, man. Congratulations. Yeah, I saw like, it was like right after, and I like, I wasn't sure. I mean, I saw that it obviously had happened, but it was like, was he like talking to me like right after he got married and didn't mention it? Yeah, it's like, oh, that's so cool. So yeah, that's awesome, man.

Awesome.

Yeah, it was seamless. So I didn't feel like I had to, you know, I had to make too much of a thing of it. It just kind of, you know, it was just another step.

Yeah, I hear you, I hear you, man.

Let me ask you, is the audio okay? 'Cause I realized I'm going right through the laptop instead of the headphones. I could switch the preferences. It's up to you if the quality works for you.

It's actually, you know, try switching it, and let me see if that's a difference just to see if we can get a little bit better.

Okay, so let me see here. So I'm going to audio video. Yep, it's on microphone, Logitech. Speakers, let's do Logitech. Okay, can you hear me any better?

Yeah, that's better.

Good, yeah, it sounds much better here too.

Yeah, you know what I use when I'm from my mobile setup, I just found it and I absolutely love it. I just use a basic shore, you know, handheld vocal mic, nothing fancy, and I use this XLRT USB adapter, and it's so fantastic. If you're ever on the go and need to do like a mobile recording, not on like a handheld, it's just like, it's the easiest thing that I've ever found to be able to use for this. Works great.

Yeah, cool, all right, so let's get started. I, so I've been doing this thing, I've been mentioning it on the past couple of episodes where I'm taking these like super long walks on the beach, like an hour and a half, and I've been listening to podcasts every morning, like two, three of them. And I started listening to yours, which I realized you just changed the name of it to the mindful musician. Which I think is a great name by the way, and so I listened to the most recent episode, which was very timely for me, where you explain kind of the genesis, and the idea, and everything that's going on, you know, with what you're trying to do with it.

And I also listened to our mutual friend, Danny Goldberg, which was a really great interview too. I love Danny, I've had him on twice, and he's just, you know, such a great guy to talk to for all of the reasons you go into a podcast. I'll leave it to the audience, and the listeners to go track that down for themselves. So I wanted to start there with you. There's a ton of other places I wanna cover, just because there's so much overlap between our interests, and also specifically what you've done with your life. But can you talk to me a little bit about your podcast, the mindful musician as it's now known, and kind of what was the impetus for doing it, and starting it, and what's it been like recording now?

I think you have 14 of them.

Yeah, thank you for asking, it's great. So that came out of an idea of, a lot of the same ideas that so many things that I've done was four, was to become more conscious, become aware, and to learn more about myself, and to learn more by taking the risk of asking questions that I was struggling with to other people who might relate to those same questions. So on one hand, it was the fact that I had been doing so much work bouncing around from world to world, like I would be with a pop band one day, and then I'd be with a jazz group, and then I'd be living at Ramdas's house, and then I would be working in China for a while, and I was constantly bouncing around from world to world.

And I realized that it's a beautiful thing to be able to be in someone else's world, or some other environment, and be immersed, and learn, and really absorb that, and give to it at the same time. And then I was looking back and saying, "Wow, I've jumped so many worlds." What's actually being created? What story is being created? If it's not simply enough to be a tourist in life, to learn a little this, learn a little this, what is being built here in a big picture sort of way? And I wanted to become more conscious of what my personal path was leading to, and at the same time, seeing so many other people doing that same thing, and wanting to ask them, "Hey, I see you doing this, then you're doing this, "and you're doing it."

What's your life about? What actually drives you? What's the unifying factor? Is this going somewhere, or is this about the journey? So it was about that, and then the other part was, I realized there's so much illusion of what music is, and what the music business is, that I think we all have to some degree, unless with anything, if we don't investigate it, it's just filled with illusion. So I think of it as like, what is music, even? Like when we touch a note on the piano, so many things are happening, forget piano, like all these digital keyboards now, you're touching this note with your finger, and it's triggering some sample that then is vibrating in the, and then it's bouncing in your ear, like it's an incredibly complicated, amazing process that we take for granted, in so much time.

So what if we actually know how things work, and then how come we know who Duran Duran is? How come we know who Britney Spears is? How did these things get into our consciousness? What made them happen? And how much of it is, what are the different factors that make that, and why is the music that we know and love? Why is that the music we know and love? How did it come to be? What cultural factors created it? What, you know, it's, so just exploring those questions with people in all different sides of the music business, from Danny Goldberg, who's a, you know, powerful yet humble record executive boss, and then friend Bill Carbon who's an ethnomusicologist, and people and all, you know, music lawyers, managers, everybody, and say, hey, what's your take on this?

What is, what are we doing? And what, so it's all about getting more consciousness, and particularly in this field, that I've spent time in, and many of my friends, and close people have spent time in. We want us to say, what are we doing?

Yeah, I love it, man. I love it because two of your big passions are definitely two of mine, which is music. I went to Berkeley, not too far from where you are in Boston, Tufts and the Conservatory, which you know, Berkeley just merged with the Conservatory. It's like this big--

Oh my gosh, I didn't know that.

Yeah, Berkeley is literally just like buying everything in Boston, so I think they just kind of merged, and they realized we're right next to each other. Like, maybe we should actually just form a strategic partnership, but I love that that's one huge component of what has kind of, you've been a huge influence and factor in your life, obviously, and we'll get into that. And then also these deeper questions, whether it's framed in the context of Eastern spirituality, studying and going to work with someone like Rhonda, or Buddhism, or just asking those questions and then applying them to the focus of music.

One of my favorite, I have this email community that people join, and I say, send me a book you like, and then we'll apply it with a book, and I'll tell them a book that I really like. And more often than not, the book I recommend is The Mysticism of Sound and Music by Hazrat Ineot Khan, which is just such a wonderful, not only practical guidebook for these very esoteric and kind of subtle takes on what the world and what all of this stuff is, but also just beautiful metaphor for what life is through the lens of music. 'Cause I think in a lot of ways, and most musicians, I think, tap into this pretty easily, is what is life if not some type of musical composition?

There's textures, there's layers, there's harmonies, there's melodies, and you can interpret them however you want. So I think that is a particularly useful lens, and it's also music is something often described as a universal language because everyone can understand music. Now, of course, there's layers of complexity, and you were alluding to some of those, like how are these vibrating waves actually? How did they get turned into these sounds that we then process as a melody and a harmony, but it's something that even a small child, I play music for my four month old, he gets it. It's crazy, he got it when he was like a month old.

You could see like whatever it was, he was aware that there was something going on, it wasn't just noise to him, and he was kind of a pretty, would laugh and love it. So it's, I love that this is kind of the, you've created this podcast, and it's a really, really awesome. You got a new listener, and me, that's for sure. And I really encourage everyone listening, go check it out. You've had some incredible interviews. One that I didn't even know you had, I just kind of scanned through, but somehow I missed it, is I have a funny story about one of your guests, D.A. Wallach. So I had a long, a long time ago, I had an online music magazine called CRVD, it was Curved Magazine, and I would do interviews with people when I would put these things out.

And he was one of the people with Chester French at the time that I thought was just so incredible. This was to have been five, six, seven years ago, sometime around then. And he had these wonderful big picture viewpoints and outlooks on where the music industry was, right at that time where it was going. So I think it's a funny kind of crossover synchronicity thing that you know him and you had him on the show. So what have you learned in the, you've only been doing what, 13, 14 episodes? What are some takeaways that you've found in interviewing and talking with people who, from a variety of different places in the music industry and asking these kind of deeper questions?

What's like a big takeaway you've found?

You know, I think it relates to the idea, I've heard you talk about often of synchronicity in that I hear things every once in a while, I learn a lot of concrete things, like there'll be like little mind-blowing facts, but those can be endless just like in the podcast with the lawyer, Alan Johnson, who said, you know, he dealt with a client whose podcast had someone, it was some piece of audio interview that they were selling and they had an issue because some computer found it had the code for some song in it that was playing in the background, inaudible to the human. So they could not sell it or release it for about a year to deal with that legal issue, yet no one could hear it except a computer that identified who was playing in the background.

So I learned things like that all the time about people's experience in the business and just things that are, you know, even like another one was like, this song, Bonnie Rade, I can't make you love me, you know, the song. And Danny used to manage Bonnie Rade.

Yes.

And that's such a beautiful song, like it's so heartfelt. And then come to find out that the guy, she didn't write it, it was another guy who wrote it after he watched a court case on TV of a guy who shot his ex-wife's car and the judge asked, what were you thinking? And you know, and something like that and he said, you know, I realized that I can't make her love me if she don't, and that was the answer. So just so many things we might expect to certain are a certain way or not. I mean, even just you ask, you know, like a young person what their favorite music is, it might be Beyonce, it might be Lady Gaga, and then you go and look at the sheet music and you see nine writers on this Beyonce song. - Right.

And none of them are her. And it's just interesting to see the inner workings of what actually makes the music that we like and how much is an individual verse, how much is this massive team around them. So anyway, there's facts like that all day that I learned I think are interesting. But in a bigger way, I see, and again, there's a lot of bigger picture here. I'll give one other bigger picture thing that blew my mind of what I learned. Is I interviewed a guy, Michael Kane, who was a professor of mine at New England Conservatory and brilliant composer, jazz pianist, and has taught at all the big music schools.

And when I was in school and I was studying some jazz, a whole lot of jazz at the time, and there was classical and jazz. This is why I'm so happy to hear that Berkeley and the Conservatory merged because conservatory was so conservative in so many ways. Berkeley is so progressive in so many ways. So there was jazz and classical. Those were the two, quote, respectable musics. So being young, a lot of us and myself, we said, "Hey, this is silly. "Why does this have to be such a formal thing?" The old jazz musicians were, they were going to bars and they were experimenting and it was not this high art thing.

So, of course, the natural tendency is we want to loosen this up. Let's not wear tuxedos and play at Carnegie Hall, but come to find out by getting a bigger perspective from someone who is there. Like Michael Kane, who's worked with a lot of the jazz, dynasty people like Jack D. Jeanette, whose band he was in for eight years. He says, "You know, the whole mission of that group, "that's a whole generation, generations of musicians, "black musicians who had to walk through the kitchen "to play a gig who couldn't even walk in the front door "of playing a gig," and obviously incredible prejudice that they faced in hardships.

And he said, "Their whole mission "was to make this music respectable." Like, that was their mission because there was so much disrespect and so much discrimination. And people looked at Beethoven as like this high art thing you could teach in school, and then they'd look at Louis Armstrong as like, you know, something for, you know, related to drinking and sex and should be banned. So these guys fought so hard to put this in Carnegie Hall. And it's not our place to say get it out of there because they were working for their time. And now we could do other things with it. But just to respect and understand other people had other missions and to be able to see that and fully respect it and build on it.

So things like that.

I love that. I mean, that's a huge thing to learn out of something. I mean, I just personally speaking about from one podcaster to another and it's weird to call myself a podcaster. It hasn't even been a year, but I didn't expect to get so much out of doing this. And truth, all we're doing, at least for the types of podcaster we're doing, is just talking to other people. That's it. And that interplay and alchemy and whatever comes out of it is kind of, you know, what I think is the magic of podcasting, but it is a transformative thing. And it's awesome that you've already started getting. Of course, how can you not?

But you can get so many whys and these nuggets of wisdom out of just these conversations, which I think is amazing. So let's talk, and I have so many other interests. There's so many other cool stuff I wanted to touch on. Actually, no, I was gonna ask you, you know, how did you get started with music and then how to get spiritual stuff, but there's another funny connection that I saw that you have. So you have a TV show, One With Everything, right? And I was going through your entire stuff here. And so the host of that is Jonathan Faust. And so I was like, you know, that's, you know, it's so weird.

I know Jonathan Faust, he's married to one of my clients and friends, Tara Brock. And I look at it, I'm like, oh yeah, that's him. That's him, he's interviewing all these people. And it's like, that's so funny that Matt has produced and done this whole thing. And here's Jonathan, how do you know Jonathan? How'd you get plugged in to him?

Yeah, no, that's so great. And of course, that's another reason why I reached out to you, I saw these connections and I appreciate what you do. And yeah, so, you know, and usually in the podcast, I'd expect some kind of pre-production. We'd maybe send questions, but I knew we wouldn't need it in this case 'cause there's so much fertile ground. So that's just great. I appreciate you looking at all that. So Jonathan, I, after college, I wanted a different kind of education. I did not feel satisfied with my education. I wanted to study basically Eastern philosophy and all the things that spoke to me at a level that, before Eastern philosophy, it was just like, what is the point of everything?

Why are we doing anything that we do and what is like about it? No one had answered that question to me in a satisfying way up to that point. Certainly not any religious experience or any teacher I had. So I wanted those answers more than anything else. So I had set up to move to a monastery in China, 'cause I had been finding all the kung fu teachers in the area and Tai Chi teachers and was just trying to study with them and find some good ones. And one of them that I liked studying with, I was going to move into his monastery and work there and study. And that got super sketchy 'cause then when I was getting ready to leave, they up the prize.

They said I'd be sleeping outside and it would be snowing and they would teach me this kind of breathing so I wouldn't be cold. And I was just like, it sounds great, but not really anymore. So I mean, maybe that was a test, I don't know, but I failed either way. So I moved into this yoga center in Western Massachusetts. You probably know it, it's the biggest one in the country is Cropolo. - Yep.

And there was a program where you could volunteer, you get paid a little bit and you work and you study yoga and Tai Chi and Eastern philosophy, daily classes, two yoga classes a day and a philosophy class, then you work from like, whatever it is, seven to three in the kitchen or whatever. And Jonathan had been there 20 years before me. He lived there, was an integral part of the community and was actually president during the time when I was there. So I just found him incredibly inspiring. I think a big part of podcasting too, I know you do it, I know you're hooked up with a lot of the same people is finding these people who lived out these questions, maybe a generation before or two generations before.

And then you got, you know, Jonathan Faust and Tara and you know Raman Das, Ramu, Krishna Das, all the cats who are just like this guy has got some wisdom. Like you can hang out with those guys for a second, you know, Jack Cornfield, there's so many. And you just know there's something, there's some wisdom there. So just, so I was around him a lot at Cropolo and I loved how funny he was. Well, at the same time being incredibly centered and deep. So when it came time to produce the show, he was my first thought for like, he's such a charismatic speaker, yet he's so true to his word in terms of being a serious practitioner of meditation and of inquiry.

So I said, I want someone funny and charismatic, but someone who is a real practitioner and not someone who dabbles in it, not someone who's interested in it, but is really comedian, I wanted a practitioner who was funny and entertaining. So he was definitely like the guy and it was, yeah, 'cause that's a big part of what I do, is try to take those values and things that I've learned to care about and want to share and find value in and connect them with mainstream kind of ways that like formats, like a talk show or like American Idol or like things like this and do a version of it that comes from a different place.

So that was kind of an attempt to do like late night with David Letterman, but with spiritual teachers and neuroscientists and have some science and have some spiritual dialogue. And we're still in post-production, like after, you know, well over a year after shooting it, but yeah, that's the thing we're really looking to move forward and see if there's any interest from others in collaborating.

Yeah man, it's cool. I mean, I think it's a really good idea too, because I think now, I mean, I've worked somewhat in this landscape for a few years and I've been interested in a lot of these questions and these quests and trying to find meaning and what's going on and what are some maps? What do we look at people who have been studying this stuff long before us? And I think the ground, it is fertile. Like there's a lot of stuff that's going on right now. More people are asking these questions or getting tuned in. I think in no small part to the internet and the accessibility and even the ability to put on something like that as an individual or a collective, whereas, you know, 20, 30 years ago, totally impossible, like forget about it, not just the pipe dream.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's a really cool, awesome thing. And I think it's cool we have Jonathan involved. I first actually found out about Jonathan right after I started working with Tara, obviously I found out they were married, but I was going with some unconscious rage, apparently, that was manifesting as severe kind of arm pain and neck pain and Janet Merrick, amazing. Janet, if you're listening, is Tara Brock's assistant. She is just a force to be wrecked. She's one of the best and coolest people and just so awesome. And she tipped me off to a meditation on pain that Jonathan did. It's on YouTube.

I'm gonna link to it in this episode. And like, I was in agony, like I really couldn't deal. And this is before I even figured out what the source of it was, I was going to the doctor. And this was the one thing that calmed me down for like a significant period of time. I was like, oh yes, this guy actually has something like he's tuned in and exactly what you described you were looking for in a teacher or someone to partner with is who he is. He's a down to earth guy who can communicate very deep and practical wisdom stuff, but through a context that is relatable and not kind of overbearing, which I think is really hard to do, but he can do it kind of effortlessly.

So yeah, I think that's really cool. Okay, so also I wanna ask you how, so how you are an extremely accomplished multi-instrumentalist. So when you reached out to me, you said a whole lot. You said, hey, this is who I am. This is what I do. And I told you like literally all you had to say is I have worked with Stevie Wonder, like anyone, just anyone who's listening, if you've ever were receiving one, that's all you have to say, you're qualified to come on the podcast. So how did you start, how did you grow up, what got you into musician? I know you're classically trained and how have you managed to put together such a cool and it seems like meaningful and fulfilling career in the music business, which I know, especially from your conversation with Danny, it is an often misunderstood business.

There's a lot of elements like any other business, but you've walked the walk, so to speak. So how did this all come about in your life?

I appreciate that. And I love to talk about it 'cause I want that to be available to anyone who wants to do it. 'Cause it is very, not only is it, it's not an easy business, anyone will tell you that. But if you do the right steps, things can happen and I love to share those steps 'cause I just love to see someone else go through getting what they want and having those experiences. So I appreciate that and I like sharing about that. And I know I have to rush through it to get to the Stevie, to get to the Stevie.

Take your time, take your time, take your time.

But I will get there. So getting into music is all, it's all connected for me like when it goes back to the story 'cause I just felt that angst growing up of like there's something missing. I'm missing the point of, I'm born into all this stuff and a lot of assumptions, it feels like what I'm learning at school, why is that this stuff? And there's always a sense of, is this the right stuff? I don't feel like the right things are happening. But for whatever reason, I believe now that was my nature looking for something, but who knows? Yeah, I'm sure many ways to interpret it. So yet I wanted to, I wanted to learn and I wanted to be productive in the context that I was in.

So piano was a common thing in my neighborhood and wherever it was like, people took piano lessons, that was a normal thing. And I was lucky to be able to take piano lessons and my mother played a little piano. And right away I felt like there's something to be learned here, like this is a palette here. There's 88 keys, there's basically infinite possibilities in terms of what you can do with this, in terms of tone and texture. And I just said, I just started getting fascinated with it and playing all the time. So I was just playing for hours a day and just finding it to be a mystery to solve. And every day I could sit back there and learn and that became my first form of meditation and spiritual practice is coming back to the piano bench every day and learning something and learning about myself.

So that's how it started. And I just became obsessed in high school, doing the whole competition thing in all states and those kinds of opportunities were available, thankfully. So that went on and then by, well, I was still in high school, I was able to start to play in clubs and play some jazz and play. So there was actually work. And I was like, okay, this is valued in society. I'm actually able to make a little money. Like it's something I've been sitting alone doing for so long actually has some value to people and that's nice. So it led from there to studying at school, which is a huge blessing at college.

I'm sure you know, like just the people you meet there, the things you're exposed to. You know, that's like an ultimate gift being able to have that experience. So I did that for five years. I did the dual program and got the two degrees. And my first jobs was cruise ship because I was like, I get to travel the world, get paid, play music. What's better than that right now? So I hit the seas and I traveled. And gradually that just kept morphing into getting more skill and having more opportunity. So it started with coming back from the cruise ships and just playing local gigs. And then I would see that, hey, I play pretty well now.

I see other guys playing well and some guys are playing on the world stages making tremendous amounts of money and other guys are playing really well and they're playing at clubs and not making much money and struggling. And without judgment, 'cause I've been both of those guys. Without judgment saying, oh, how are those guys doing it? And that's where some sort of business sense came in of. The guys who are doing those gigs are doing something that I wanna learn how to do. And it's not just being good 'cause everybody's good. I see guys playing at the restaurant down the street who are great. So I started to look into it like that.

And I said, okay, who are the people who are doing some really cool stuff? And one of the guys I interviewed on my podcast, Clifford Carter, he was playing piano for James Taylor but way back in the day, I didn't know him but I was like, I love James Taylor. Wow, this guy plays amazing piano. I will write him an email and ask him, "Hey, what's up? "How do you do that? "Can I learn from you?" And I did that all the time. To anyone who I thought was who I really admired and was doing something cool, I wrote to them. I wrote to the keyboard players on the late night shows. I wrote to the keyboard players who played for the artists I like, all kinds of people.

And many of them responded. And then I began to say, oh, these people are human too. They've made certain decisions that have gotten there and I learned from them. So one thing I am is a perpetual student. I love to learn things and I love to learn how to do better than I'm doing. So basically, one thing led to another, toured with bands, the bands got bigger, the buses got bigger, things with that. You know, I met DA 'cause I was touring with Chester French for a couple of years and DA and I were roommates through that time, which was just such an awesome experience.

That's so cool.

And then it was an amazing time. And those guys were just amazing because then I'm learning a whole other thing because those guys were at Harvard at the time of Mark Zuckerberg. I mean, when people were, when 25 year olds were changing the world and becoming billionaires. And like you said, 20 or 30 years ago, there wasn't the same kind of access in different things. And now these guys were writing code and then they were then a few years later, presidential debate sponsored by Facebook. Like these guys are having such influence. So I got to run with that circle where they were, you know, where people like Sean Parker and Mark Zuckerberg were getting on our bus and they were, you know, DA thought of the band as a startup and we were, you know, meeting all these other people in the tech world and so that was just an incredible education.

And that taught me the confidence of those guys. DA is a very smart, very competent guy. But his confidence is what I learned the most from because he's like, if you want something, just do it, make it and make people believe in it by the force of your belief. I mean, that's not exactly his words, but that's what I learned from it. So that opened up all the possibilities for me where I like, I can do anything. I just need to go for it and convince other people that it's worth it. So at that point it was like, okay, this guy's the limit and a lot of responsibility on me to create what I want. Anyway, so I'm getting up to Stevie here.

So we tour, we do the couple of years with Chester French, we do the Blink-182 tour, the Weezer tour, all kinds of things. We did, you know, and then just one other lesson I learned in there is like, you know, and at the monastery or the ashram, wherever I was in those, over those four years that I was studying spirituality intensively and doing work exchange, you know, I was a serious meditator and it was all about, you know, being present, the buzzword being mindful. But I learned a lot about presence when we played with Chester French because when you're Madonna, you can call Jimmy Kimmel and be like, hey, Jimmy, put me on the show next week and he's like, oh, you got it.

But when you're like the next big thing or not Madonna, he's gonna call you and be like, hey, Madonna canceled. You guys wanna do this? So we got calls like that. So we do the Fallon show and the Jimmy Kimmel show.

I was at the Fallon show. I was at that recording of the Fallon show. So we were in the same place together. I took my friend 'cause we got press passes to go, you know, we got some, I forget how we got press passes for that specific one, but I was actually there while you guys were performing on Fallon. That's really interesting. Were you behind the band? Were you one of the people behind the band?

Yes, yes, we were behind the band. That's exactly right.

So funny, that was such an, see, there's a moment where I learned a lot about presence and you were actually present there. And there was like, it was like, we showed up the next day, basically not prepared, but boom, perform on national TV. And that's so funny.

Right, so yeah, it was just like that. It's as good a test of being present as being able to meditate 10 hours a day and you know, have to be post in the center. So there was a lot of lessons in that time. Anyway, so I get back and I get back at the Chester French tour ends and the record label dropped us essentially because of, you know, a lot of complications. Basically, then I get the call to Rambas needs help in Maui and it was a girl who was living at the yoga center who recommended me who thought I'd be a good fit. So I was like, oh, of course, like there's no way I'm not doing that. So I just said, yes, instantly.

And then boom, I was in Maui living in Rambas's basement. So that's another story. We're bypassing that now 'cause we're getting the Stevie. So after that, I get back home and getting ready to move to LA where I was gonna do continuing music. And I tear my Achilles tendon and I'm stuck at home. I go to stay with my parents for a while while I can't do anything. And as I'm healing, instead of moving to LA, it turns out the Apollo theater, the band that's been there 20 years was going to do American Idol. They were leaving for the first time 20 years and that was gonna be open to audition. And I got the call for that because I play guitar and keyboard and I read music.

So I was, they were interested in me auditioning and they auditioned me for four months and then finally got it. So I've been in that in the Apollo house band for the last six years. And the musical director of that Apollo house band was Alicia Keys music director and was married, got married to Stevie Wonder's daughter. So that begins the Stevie connection. So I worked very closely with him. We did many 15 hour days all over the world in Middle East and Europe writing for Will I Am, writing for Stevie, writing for a lot of people, film scores. You name it like he put me through the ringer just like award shows.

We, you know, we stayed up all night too many times to count and so now I was working with him and after they got married, of course Stevie was just in the circle more. So I actually got to have some personal experiences with him. And I'd say the biggest just to get to the heart of it, experience with him was playing for Muhammad Ali's 70th birthday. And it's especially relevant now at Muhammad Ali past. But that was actually televised. That was on ABC. It was called the power of love gala. And they raised a ton of money for Parkinson's research. And for, what is it, Parkinson's and what's where?

ALS. - Where are you?

Yeah, yeah, ALS. And then I can't believe I'm blank on a memory. Alzheimer's. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So for Alzheimer's Park, yeah, but ALS, yep. So we played for that. And that was just such an intense and emotional day 'cause it was also Whitney Houston's funeral. So Stevie played it Whitney Houston's funeral in the morning and then flew out and played with us with no rehearsal.

Wow.

So I had to like yell to him quickly what we were doing. He's like, what is this? We're like, we're doing this, is this? And then just watch him nail it. And just to say like, you know, he's a God of music. Like I just don't use that term.

No, I know. - You know, like, and what I mean by that is like, when I'm around someone like around us or Jonathan Faust, or in any circumstance, I'm feeling it talking to you in this moment. You just get this feel of, you're really meeting someone. There's a really spontaneous interaction happening through your consciousness being shared. And when Stevie played, I played differently because something comes through his body. So I played Clavinette on Superstition, for example. You know that the-- - Of course, of course.

So me and him playing it together.

Wow. - And I play that all the time, but I never really played it before until that moment because it was totally different. It's like I could feel the space between each note, like when you're looking at something in nature and suddenly you see the universe in a grain of sand, it was like that, with each note just took on life. And I just feel like he's an enlightened God of music. And my experience of being around him is just, you know, he is a spiritual being. He is the real deal and very funny also. So, and then I did some writing for an event with him. Yeah, I mean, it's just great. I mean, what can I say?

It's just, you know, you're born and you see these people out there far away in the world and then suddenly they're right in front of you. And it's like, wow, thank you.

I mean, I get it, I can tell you this. So, I wasn't a huge Stevie. I didn't know really Stevie. I knew, you know, I just called to say I love you until about, I was like 18 or 19. I went to Berkeley and started really getting into Stevie Wonder and it coincided with a very interesting time in my life, which I refer to, I guess is, there's no other better term than like a spiritual awakening of sorts. And Stevie Wonder's music in particular, it was, I considered him like one of my first teachers in a spiritual path. Like there was no, and I love, I've now, you know, spoken to a couple, I spoke to David Nick Turn who got to work with him too.

And both of you have relayed the same exact thing, which is very, like I usually, I also do not put, I don't love to idolize or put people or call someone to God of music, but he is, it's so reassuring and reaffirming to hear everyone who's spent time with him talk about him the way that I imagined him to be because he was such an important person in my personal musical and spiritual life. It's just, it's amazing. So you touched on so many awesome things through that recap and I love that it was all building up to Stevie Wonder. I wouldn't have it any other way. I think one of the most important things you said, which it was coming around the time we were talking about where both the Chester French thing, is this idea of being able to do whatever you set your mind to and achieve what you want to do in life.

And this has been in the same way that you write to people or writing to people, can I learn from you? Can you teach me something about piano? Can you teach me this? I have done the same thing in my life. That's how I got behind Chester French. It occurred to me when I was talking to you. Like I wrote, I said, hey, I wanna interview you guys. I wanna go check out your performance. I wanna write about it and then have a phone interview. And I just wrote to DA and he wrote back. I was like, oh, great, perfect. And I've done, this is how I started working with Love Server Remember. I watched Fierce Grace.

I heard Raghu on Duncan Trussell's podcast. I had never listened to Duncan's podcast before then. I had known about Richard Alpert. I knew more about Timothy Leary and that kind of side of things. But I reached out to Raghu and said, hey, I do digital strategy. I was just getting started. I had like two clients before him. And I was like, here, I'll help you out pro bono for as long as you need it. And we'll see what happens. And that has blossomed into a whole, I mean, I can't even say what that turned into. But that's, I really do believe. And that's one of the reasons I think music is such an important, it is a metaphor in a lot of ways because people, when you see someone, like I taught myself guitar.

I learned saxophone from a teacher, but I taught myself guitar. I taught myself aspects of keyboards. I'm not anything compared to, you're actually a trained musician in that, but I learned how to be competent and use my other skills to do stuff. And I fundamentally believe, the reason I love music so much, it's easy if you don't play it or you don't understand it and you don't technically understand how it works, to look at someone play something and like, that is magic, that's so hard, I could never do that. But truthfully, and I mean this, anyone can learn to play music. It's a skill, it's something that yes, you need a connection to, like anything else, you wanna be a super talented person at, but you can learn to play an instrument.

You can learn to go and play the toblas if you want to. You can, it's something that you can teach and the first prerequisite for it is you need to have an open mind and you need to be open to the possibility that you can do what you wanna do. And that I think is such, I think it's something that is conditioned. I don't wanna blame culture and I don't wanna blame society, I don't wanna blame the media, but I do feel there is some of them so where people feel limited about what they can do in their lives. And if there's any message out of, you had so many awesome things you said there but I really wanna key on on this, that is so incredibly important is you can do it, just do it, learn, reach out to people.

And you did, I don't like the term hacking, but you did do a hack, you did, you basically learned, you're like, I'm a student, I need to learn from the people who are doing things that I think are incredible. And you reached out to them and that's the best way to learn something. You can try to do it on your own. And if you're, you sound like me, like I say this with as little ego as I can, I know I have some inherent talent for music making. I've known that for a while because I've done things without being taught by other people. But when I actually start working with other people, learning from other people, playing with other people, composing, making things, that's really where it starts to happen.

It's, that's the magic. That community spirit and relationship with people, I think is such a critical element for all of this. And so you've, you've combined those, it seems in your life to tremendous effect. And I'm not surprised that the results kind of have worked out or working out the way for you. So I want to also just go into, so, Rambas, what, explain how that came about. You said, well, yeah, my friend called me and recommended me for that. But, you know, like I said, I didn't know who Rambas was until six, seven years ago, really. So you obviously had some idea of who he was and were on that path, you had been to India, if I'm not mistaken, right?

So what, how did that come about? How did that aspect, we touched on the music stuff, but how did this kind of whole other world come about?

Yeah, no, that's so great. And I just want to acknowledge everything you just said, it's just, it's so great. I would love to interview you at some point, 'cause I get to do so much of the talking this time. And you're just right in there, you know, with the same, you know, I just like how you're relating in a fad, a lot of similar brands of your own. It's great.

Cool, man.

And I appreciate that relating. So, yeah, so when I, you know, I, same thing drew me there, those questions of, you know, what is this all about? What's the purpose of my life? How do I live a good life? What is authenticity? Who am I really without culture or conditioning, without any of the stuff that gets put on me and it gets put on, and any of us? Who am I really? And I believed that there was a self inside that was untouched by culture. There was a sense of a true self. So that was just some feeling or intuition. And then that led me to study those things. So when I went off and studied, I went after college, I went to every place that I could to do that.

Every place that would let me go there, or that had some kind of work exchange like opportunity. So I read whatever I could read, and actually one of the first books that I read at that time was "Be Here Now" from us. And it freaked me out a little bit for sure, 'cause my mind wasn't as open at that time, but it also spoke to me. So he was always in the back of my mind as a teacher. And, you know, I just sought out many, many teachers at that time. Anyone I could could study with. I even traveled playing music in the band of spiritual teachers and things like that. And anyway, I could get around them and know what they're like when they're not teaching.

Right.

Did anyone could be enlightened for a class? Like anyone could-- - That's so true.

Be enlightened, yoga. But like, what are they like when, you know, what are they like when they're totally, you know, off camera, whatever. So I wanted to know that. So I just was studying. And I knew my path was basically Chinese for a lack of a better word. Like I wanted to study Kung Fu, I wanted to study Taoism. And, you know, I was fascinated by that stuff. But what was available to me for whatever reason was the yoga. So I studied this yoga center for over three years, maybe four years almost. And, you know, living there, two classes a day, working, and work wasn't just working in the kitchen.

It was working in the kitchen and meditating. Like that was part of our work. It was called bakti yoga, and is there a common yoga where we're doing selfless service, it's called. So we're meditating, we're intentional. So all day, we're in that. So I knew this wonderful woman there, Kelly, who ended up moving back to Hawaii where she lived before and becoming Ramdas's personal chef. Now, I don't know how that happened. I know she's a magical, one of those magical people that you meet who just ends up in magical situations. I know if you hang out in the yoga scene enough, you meet some of the magical people.

And I'm sure you've met plenty. And so she became a chef and he, you know, he had had a stroke and was having some challenges with his body and he needed someone around the house to garden, mow the lawn, cook breakfast, take them to the beach. You know, it's like basically a personal assistant stuff. Do the podcast at the time, which wasn't a podcast, it was a video cast.

Yeah.

So do the technical stuff for that under Raghu's direction. And, you know, so many dialogues with him, you know, just incredibly fortunate. He's the kind of guy you can't give enough to 'cause you'll always receive more. So that's what it's like. Like you'll just always receive more than you give to someone like that. It was my experience. So she recommended me and, of course, I was like, absolutely, I'll be there tomorrow. It wasn't tomorrow, but it was, so after. So I went there, that's a whole thing. Of course, I'm happy to talk about it. I wouldn't so much share about him too specifically because I feel like I was a guest in his home.

For sure.

And I don't feel like it's my, you know, obviously, but I could share my experience there. I certainly have a lot, a lot of good things to say. And then just where that story went is when I was leaving through a series of circumstances, he encouraged me to go to see, it's hard to say who this is. It's City Ma. You could say he's Guru, but really, it's like the living disciple of name Krolli Baba. And as all of us ask in this generation after Ramdas, hey, we didn't know the Guru. What's it? We don't get to have that experience. So we say, what is that? So of course, that was my most persistent question.

You know, how do you get to know name Krolli Baba? I wanted to know it's up. You know, you want to go see the wizard when you're, you know. So he sent me to India, I wouldn't say he sent me, but he did give me the things that I needed to be able to get there in terms of permissions. And to see City Ma. And then I had to go through a bunch of hoops there where I had to do three days of, you know, praying nine hours a day in the temple and then before I could see her. And then I saw her and then I wanted to see her again. So I had to go through those rituals again. And so there's, of course, a ton of stories there and sitting with her was interesting.

But the main thing that I'll relate now is that I knew that wasn't my path from the beginning. Like I knew, but I wanted to continue to learn and I very much appreciated that those opportunities. So it was beautiful to spend time in the ashram and sit with her, but it was also the end of that road, so to speak. Yes. Like I was not going to get a Sanskrit name from her. I was not going to, that was not my lineage. And I knew that although you see all these people, like I was saying before, like Raghuya and Krishnadas and Ramshwar Dharan, you know, so many. And you see all these people obviously got something very deep from this and this is their path.

That's right. And I learned from them and I love to be around that community and around us. But at the same time knowing, you know, I'm lucky that I get to experience this and learn from it, but I know it's not my path. So that was my conclusion at the end. But it was the latter of doing yoga, getting, doing all the trainings, ending up with Ramshas and then going to India to be in the name Krolli Baba Ashram. And then that really sent me home with the desire to be like, who am I and what is my world and let me start creating it now? I've been in everybody else's world and I would like to start creating a world that I resonate with and is home for me.

I feel like I did my internships and apprenticeships. And now it's my responsibility to be an adult in the world and say what world am I creating? I love that man. So to really live that out. I love that for so many reasons. And I think one of the primary ones is having the interfaith and knowledge to know what is or what might not be your particular path at a time. And let's just be very clear. You were in the thick of bakti yoga there. You're going to be city ma, you're in the crew. You're in the satsang. I mean, I know that all of them very well. And it sounds like, I don't know why, but I also am on-- I do consider name Crowley Baba my primary guru just because I've had so many crazy experiences in my life that kind of validate that.

But I also know that it's not my singular path to pursue and go get a Sanskrit name and go to India and get a whole thing. And I would, sure, I would love to go to India and God willing meet a saint like city mob, but it's not something that I feel compelled is my particular thing. And it seems like what's most valuable in this day and age, or at least for me, sounds like you for you too, is, yeah, it would be nice to go be out an ascetic in the world and a cave and the Himalayas meditating. But I know it's not my path. I know the path is into the world, a much more tantric approach. And really just trying to distill all of these things that circle around all of our heads, that we tap into at various times and are able to stay present at various times and for various stretches of times.

I think that's a really, really important thing for people who are listening to, because I get a lot of these questions from people because of my work with, you know, especially with Love Serve, Rambhas's foundation. I've worked with a lot of Buddhist teachers. I've worked with a huge variety and have interests in a lot of these different fields. And I think the ability to recognize that, while it may be a luring sometimes to say, well, this is it, this is it for me. These are my people I'm set here. If you know that, wonderful and awesome, but really finding your true calling is something that I think can be hard for people to do.

And I'm just, it's so refreshing to hear you say that you knew, you knew this wasn't for me. So I want to touch on, first of all, I mean, I will definitely come on your show. You can interview me anytime you want. And I want to purposely kind of cut this episode a little bit short, I have about five more questions for you, not that I've written down. I got a three rapid fire and then my practical tip at the end. But I did want to get into your nonprofit, your time to shine that you do with Joe Gray, because this is, when you're talking about mission, when you're talking about stuff and being an adult as you put it, a spiritual adult in the modern world, you know, this is something that I think is awesome.

This is having an actual impact on kids and community that is underserved, maybe wasn't afforded the same privileges that you and I got growing up. And I love this. This is the SAVA aspect of, you know, that particular path is they would call it. So could you tell me a little bit about what your time to shine is and kind of what the impetus behind that was?

Yeah, I think you did a great job of setting it up and saying what it is in a sense. It's like, I think there's like, there's opportunities that some of us have and they're huge advantages. And I would even just say, it's a bigger discussion, of course, but say it's kind of not fair. I would say it is not fair.

Yeah, it's not.

Some people grub and do not get the exposure or the experiences that allow them to excel in certain things. Now, of course, there's always going to be a kid who's going to excel no matter what, but things don't need to be set up such that you have to be such an outlier to be successful.

Right, it doesn't have to be, it doesn't have to be the rose that grows through the crack and the pavement all the time. You can actually have a garden bed. It's some good soil, yeah.

Exactly. - Exactly. And we see this article gets passed around a lot. I saw it, I think yesterday again, the common denominator of people who have these successful startups is not some talent or innate factor. It's opportunity and disposable extra money to be able to take risks. And that's just, it's just not fair. And I feel very lucky and I see the impact that I and others who have opportunity can make by sharing those opportunities in places where kids are just as talented, just as smart, just as eager and just don't have the same opportunities. So we'll go into a school, we worked in a school that was about to get shut down.

Thankfully, it won't be shut down now, but there's no theater, there's no instruments, there's no personal attention. And then we have also worked in private schools too, 'cause our first year, we offered our service to any school that wanted us. We just wanted to see what the needs were wanted. And then we decided, okay, we know where we need focus, the schools that don't have the private lessons and the theater, I mean, in my experience, there's a whole difference in self-concept of kids from the private school, they're like, you see a kid, you're like, oh, he's already like a lawyer in training this kid versus, and it's great.

And of course, that's a beautiful opportunity to be able to be in a school like that. And then, but then there's these kids in another school where there's barely personal identity form 'cause they rarely ever get personal attention. So our intention, it's your time to shine, incorporate it as the name of the organization, it's a partnership of me and Joe Gray, who's been at the Apollo Theater for 30 years, he's head of stage, he's a beautiful enlightened being in my opinion and experience, who just cares so much about people and was a musician too, who he's toured Lenny Kravitz and was a drummer for Cameo, and now he's head of stage at the Apollo.

So it just came from our mutual desire to reach kids and give them the opportunities that we've had and nurture talent. So we've done showcases, we do workshops, we do all kinds of things, we're growing, we're always looking for help, and we're always looking to have more impact. So that's all that is. It's like, it's like, how do we make a difference? Just episode eight of my podcast is just Joe and I talking about what we did with this and what we're trying to do, and asking ourselves, like children, how do we make an impact, what's the best thing we can do? So that's what it is.

I love it, man.

It's awesome, thank you.

I'm gonna check out that episode, and I would love in any way that I can help out. We'll talk about it after this, that's so cool. Really, really cool. Okay, so I'm gonna do three rapid questions, and then I'm gonna do one question I do at the end of every podcast. So this is a new thing. This is, you're the third person to do this. What is your favorite color?

I'm prepared for this 'cause I look at these questions before, so you know what? I'm gonna have to say blue 'cause it just works with me somehow.

I wear a lot of blue. I just, there's something good to it. I can't explain it, but yeah.

It is my favorite color too, so. What's your favorite number?

I had a hard time with this one, I had a hard time with this one. Yeah, 'cause it's hard 'cause it's already two levels of conceptual numbers as some abstract thing, and now I have to choose a favorite.

Yeah, favorite. So it's tough, right now I'm gonna go with nine.

Love it, love it. And favorite animal.

Oh man, we were talking about, yeah, I was trying to convince my wife to get a monkey, that we can get a monkey, but it's not happening, but that I just, you know, 'cause animals are like human beings without all the extra stuff, without all the self-doubt, without all the self-consciousness, so you get to see nature at play, and monkeys are pretty close to humans, so I like that.

I love it, it's a little Hanuman there too, I'm sure.

Yeah, it's so.

So, okay, what is a practical tip that has helped you in your life that you could share with the listeners, that you think is, you know, that has really helped you and had a positive impact in your life.

So a practical tip.

Yeah.

That's a great question, alright, that one I think about for a second, a practical tip. Well, I'm thinking back to, let me see if there's something better there, to go tip.

Take your time. What I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna overlay the Jeopardy music here, so.

You have that?

I'll get it.

Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. So, yeah, so I'm gonna go, yeah, this is one of these, what do they call it, stairwell or elevator things when you walk away and you actually think of the thing you really wanna say?

Yeah, of course.

Do you like what's coming to me now? I'll just call back to the idea of confidence. And it's confidence is so much of doing anything. And of course, you wanna have the right skills to do what you're doing, but if given that you have those skills, confidence gives you that extra 20% to deliver, whatever you're doing, to really make it convincing and to allow yourself to be fully in it. So I'm gonna say, if you have the skills to do what you're doing and the confidence is lacking, give yourself that practice of confidence because it will make up the rest of the gap. So to anyone growing into something new, trying something new, a new career, anything, asking someone out on a date, whatever, add the confidence to it.

And it just gives you an extra 20%.

It's great. And I will add that this to the confidence thing is something that can help foster confidence is recognize that every single person who you admire and look up to and does something really cool, they had to do that too. They had to start somewhere and develop some, listen, and I'll tell you this, the people who have too much confidence, those are the people you're looking at and you're going, oh my God. So there is a healthy balance between knowing what's going on and believing in yourself and just totally making it up. But I think you're talking about an extremely important thing that is basically a prerequisite for success in any field, life, anything you're trying to achieve.

Matt, this has been so awesome.

I'm really, really happy you reached out to me. I'm thrilled, I found out more about you and just reading about you, talking with you, super awesome dude. I consider a new friendship as born. So thank you again for coming on.

Absolutely. Do you mind if I throw out one intention out there?

No, of course, go for it. 'Cause I, this is another thing that I believe in is like putting something out if you want to make it happen. 'Cause sometimes I'll sit with a desire too long ago. So what I'm looking to do this year is I'm still doing all the freelance stuff and probably share this year and all kinds of fun stuff. But what I'm doing now is putting together an album to be played that I want to play live at yoga centers and spiritual events. And I want to start to merge my music with that world. So I'm hoping to be able to share that album by the new year and to be start playing events and do cool events like that with folks like yourself and share that music and all this good talk.

'Cause I just want to put that out as an intention and it will also hold me to following through with that.

I know.

Make me become.

I love it, dude. I stay in touch with that too, seriously. There's a lot of synergy, I think, and some of the things that are going on with MindPod Network and some of the other people I've been meeting. So definitely stay in touch. I'll hold you to it.

Some what a pleasure. Thank you so much. So I so appreciate what you do and talking to you. Like I said, I knew we didn't need any preamble.

Yeah.

Just so tuned in, so.

Cool, man.

So thank you and I'll be tuning in again.

All right, thanks so much, Madam. We'll talk soon.

Exactly.

Bye bye. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music)

Okay, two things. First, I cannot take credit for that closing music that was done by tipping hand a musician based out of Los Angeles. I heard it somehow, I don't know how exactly, and it was, it was like, oh my God, it's amazing. It's got some Chris Isaac Wicked games, Wicked Game vibes to it. Just like a slowed down ambient version. I really love it. I think it's a great song. So it's called Somfé Vermeer Anesthesia, I think, right? It's a very long name. There's a link to it. You can get it at his band camp. It's a really cool song. The musician again is tipping hand, and he's on Twitter. Twitter.com tipping hand.

That's where I reached him. I'm also on Twitter. I think, I mean, at this point, I hope, hope you know it. @noelampert hit me up. Argue with me on Twitter in 140 characters. I will tell you why the Miami Dolphins are definitely going to the Super Bowl this year for sure. And even I can't believe it at this point. They're not going to see the role. It's going to be a rough year, but it's transition year. Adam Gaze, podcast, a little bit of everything. Fantasy football needs hit me up, whatever. Okay, but seriously, what an episode with Matt. Really cool guy. He has his own podcast called the Mindful Musician.

I didn't mention that at the beginning, but the people who really, I mean, you want to know more about him? Check out the Mindful Musician, a great podcast, and that's about it. I will see you next week.