Brave Musician

In this episode, Monica sits down with Jazmine Rampas, director of the Terrible Adult Chamber Orchestra - LA, known as TACO. They talk about the goals and mission of TACO, feelings of apprehension and worry that many of the participants have at first, the word "terrible" as a reminder, and how important and wonderful it is to have a community of people coming together to play music and have fun. Jazmine shares how she discovered TACO with her sister, her perspective directing the group and what a typical rehearsal looks like. She shares some of the emotions and fears from members she has witnessed, as well as her own. They discuss letting go of the negative thoughts about how one feels about their playing, imposter syndrome, surviving music school, culture of production, mental health, and embracing mistakes. Monica and Jazmine share their personal conducting experiences, making videos for online, and dealing with the pandemic. They also talk about Jazmine's personal experience as a musician, how she started the violin, and how we created the things that we both needed and wanted in the world

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast.

In this episode, Monica talks with musician, saxophonist, and composer, Armando Salas. They have a conversation about the challenges of playing woodwind instruments with other people during Covid, teaching virtual music lessons, and his transition to opening his own teaching studio. They talk about technology and how this is both an informal and yet extremely vulnerable time. They share candidly about podcasting, the joy of connecting with people, and share being nervous about talking to people sometimes. They discuss goal setting and tracking, labels, and baggage that can come when judging yourself against those labels, burnout, and taking time to reevaluate things in your life. They talk about sharing their own stories and experiences and about having the courage to make waves. Armando shares his advice for someone struggling with motivation and offers different things to try. They talk about practicing, including how they define practice, purposeful practice, and finding the joy in practicing. They reflect on the importance of talking about feelings of isolation and the importance of connecting with people, and the inevitability of change.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast.

In this episode, Monica sits down with Matt Storto - musician, percussionist, composer, and member of the band Harrison Fjord - to talk all about the creative process both in terms of his own composing and how the members of the band compose together. Matt shares how he creates drum parts, self-awareness as a composer and player, how the band's composition process varies depending on the circumstances and who's writing the songs, and how being at home has shifted things. They talk about listening to music, mining for outside influences and stimulus (that used to come from playing with people live), and having unbridled access to content. They discuss a variety of creative activities including lyric writing, adding imagery to music, reworking, digital art, and the importance of play. Matt gives his advice on how to get started from scratch and the value of making home demos. In the second portion, Monica and Matt catch back up with each other and talk about what's happened since the first discussion, including a candid sharing of struggles with social media planning. Matt opens up about how the pandemic affected the band and the exciting release of Harrison Fjord's new single the beginning of Dec.. Matt shares his optimism and reminds us of the resiliency of musicians during the pandemic.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast.

In this episode, Monica shares the processes she used and the stories behind three of her original compositions: "Knom", "I'm Sorry About Your Face", and "Keep it on the DL". She goes over how each one was created, the inspiration for the piece, and a provides a recording to reference. Monica offers 6 lessons that can help anyone start creating and talks about her workshop, Dive Into Composition, which begins on Dec. 1. Visit BraveMusician.com/dive for more info on the workshop.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast.

In this episode, Monica sits down with Kathleen Hollingsworth, a teacher, performer and writer from near Portland, OR. Kathleen shares her journey from choral music roots to a doctorate in jazz, and how that journey positively and negatively affected her as a performer and educator. Together, they discuss the composition process, lyric writing, and the biggest struggles and lessons from the last 8 months. They share how they both found joy in improvising and a very candid and vulnerable conversation about the moment both recently considered quitting music due to exhaustion, feeling stuck, and deep wounds that needed healing. Kathleen shares her story of being a beginner with learning silks, and how that offered perspective that she applied to the rest of her professional life. Monica and Kathleen also talk about their mutual love of nature and how it inspires and heals both of them.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast.

In this episode, Monica sits down with storyteller Paisha Thomas - singer, songwriter, and pottery artist, from Columbus, OH. They share how they first met (on a gig!) and some thoughts they had about each other before and after. They discuss how they find color inspiration from looking around the world, their common thread of Stan Smith and his support, and how there's always something to do next, even when it feels like you're stuck. Paisha discusses some of the important topics that she addresses in her art, including the problem of police use of force against black humans, gentrification, red lining, and economic inequality in Columbus.

They dig into the process of making both art and music, growth and how they are each moved to try new things. They explore the structure of writing a song, Paisha's trick of asking a mentor for a title and a deadline, protest singing, writing stuff that they can't play, working with others and utilizing their strengths. They also talk about Monica's process of chaos and focus, how music is different depending on who you play with, discovering titles, and dealing with emotions in our music. They also talk about success and growth, and moving on from it. (Note: this was recorded on 4/20/20)

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast.

In this episode, Monica talks about the return of the podcast, getting settled in Nashville, life during the pandemic, and how vital music is to the world right now. She offers some ideas on different things to work on, and thoughts that have helped her - including redefining "success" and finding a practice buddy. She also talks a little about Brave Musician's latest program, Sponsor a Musician (SAM) and how you can support.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model, SAM (Support A Musician) and how you can give.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast

In this episode Monica speaks with poet, hip hop artist, advocate and educator, Myrlin Hepworth about the creation process, ego and its potential to sabotage us, expression and being present when you create. Myrlin shares his experience with teaching writing to inmates in prison and how art can help humans connect, as well as a discussion on vulnerability, risk, and daring to be authentic. They talk about the process of writing, revision and the art of crafting, and how to find universal appeal through universal truth. They dig into the difference between the desire to create a product vs being present in the process, an honest conversation about judgement, sharing our work, and need vs desire.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast.

In this episode, Monica talks with trumpeter, educator, and producer, Jeremy Pelt. They discuss his experience as a producer, and the importance of having a clear vision and looking at a project as a whole. They talk in depth about his composition process, and some behind the scenes details about some of his pieces, how he's always listening to music, and what inspires him. He shares some of the "messing around" that he's currently doing with the extra time he has right now, their mutual love for the bass, and how interest, love and curiosity is vital to any artist at any level.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast.

In this episode Monica talks with the educator and musician, Jarritt Sheel, who is a Doctoral Candidate at Teachers College Columbia University, Professor of Music Education at Berklee College of Music, Father, Husband, Musician and DJ. They discuss the creative process from a variety of angles and perspectives, including ones outside of music. They dive into some of the challenges with the human part of being a musician and the fear of being alone and dealing with our thoughts. Jarritt explains how spending 10 minutes a day imagining can help you envision your future, and how crucial imagination, a little alone time, and permission to explore is. They discuss forward thinking in the arts, using the scientific method to create new things and much more.

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To support Brave Musician, including the production of this podcast, please visit BraveMusician.com for information on our Pay-It-Forward model and how you can help.

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See the show notes at BraveMusician.com/podcast.