Creative Innovators with Gigi Johnson

Question: How do you connect independent artists and music business in India as a young woman?

Ritnika Nayan shares stories about her passion: helping indie artists succeed and make money through various avenues that they might have been neglecting. She does that in her main role: Managing Director for Downtown India. That passion also connects her early love of Broadway musicals to working on college concerts at Hofstra, music festivals in India, building her own company, wellness work, ukulele covers, and writing a book and teaching future music industry leaders in India.  

Guest: Ritnika Nayan, Managing Director, Downtown India; Owner: Music Gets Me High

Ritnika Nayan is the Managing Director for Downtown India representing CD Baby, Fuga, Songtrust, Downtown Music Services, Found.ee, and Adrev in the country. She is also the owner of the company Music Gets Me High and the author of Indie 101 – The Ultimate Guide to the Independent Music Industry in India. 

Throughout her 21 years of experience in the music industry, she has worked with artists like Maroon 5, Nickelback, Guns & Roses, Manu Chao, Nucleya, Advaita, Jalebee Cartel and also consulted on festivals like Sula Fest, Ziro festival of Music, Wonderflip fest and more. Ritnika has also set up India’s first stand-alone Music Business Certification course at SACAC, Delhi, and conducts workshops on various aspects of the Industry under MGMH Academy. She is an avid speaker at conferences globally including TEDx and has won various awards including the contribution to the creative industry award by the University of Westminster, UK and the Young Music Entrepreneur runner-up award by the British council and more.

Mentioned Links:

• https://ritnika.com/about-me/
• https://ritnika.com/ 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritnika/
• https://twitter.com/ritnika
• https://www.facebook.com/ritnikan
• MGMH YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mgmhindia
• SAC Certificate in Music Business Management: https://www.sac.ac.in/certificate-course-music-business-management/ 
• Indie 101: The Ultimate Guide to the Independent Music Industry in India: https://www.amazon.com/Indie-101-Ultimate-Independent-Industry-ebook/dp/B074279X8M

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Question: How can you build campfires, mixing music and social activism?

Guest: Arturo O'Farrill, Founder, Artistic Director, Afro Latin Jazz Alliance; Professor, Global Jazz Studies, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Arturo O'Farrill builds campfires and connects music, activism, and community to build momentum to change his areas of passion in the world -- especially in New York.  He shares with us the many projects he is working on, his Grammy-award winning music melding and digging beyond jazz and Latin music roots, his strong beliefs about Cuba and US foreign policy, and his new projects in housing and music in Spanish Harlem. He talks about the impacts on artists with the Virtual Birdland project, which garnered a Grammy nomination, and his work with Dr. Cornel West with Four Questions. He recalls his desires to conduct back at age 6 and breaking into his father's record collection and finding Seven Steps to Heaven, locking in his passion for music. He states with bold examples how "Happiness is marrying your conviction with your art," which frames most of his adult work. He speaks the vigor about the results of unbridled capitalism -- and does not mince words. 

ARTURO O’FARRILL, pianist, composer, and educator, was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. Arturo’s professional career began with the Carla Bley Band and continued as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Belafonte.

In 2007, he founded the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the performance, education, and preservation of Afro Latin music.

An avid supporter of all the Arts, Arturo has performed with Ballet Hispanico, Ron Brown’s EVIDENCE Dance company, and the Malpaso Dance Company, for whom he has written several ballets.

Arturo’s well-reviewed and highly praised “Afro-Latin Jazz Suite” from the album CUBA: The Conversation Continues (Motéma) took the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition as well as the 2016 Latin Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Recording. In addition, his composition “Three Revolutions” from the album Familia-Tribute to Chico and Bebo also received the Best Instrumental Composition Grammy in 2018. Arturo’s 2020 album, “Four Questions” won yet another Grammy award in 2021.

Arturo has been a Steinway Artist for many years and is now a Blue Note Records Recording Artist.

Mentioned Links

• https://arturoofarrill.com/
• http://www.afrolatinjazz.org
• X: https://twitter.com/afrolatinjazz
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arturo_O'Farrill
• UCLA: https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/people/arturo-ofarrill/
• New Complex in Spanish Harlem: https://latinjazznet.com/news/new-home-for-the-afro-latin-jazz-alliance/
• Fandango at the Wall (2020): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11278140/
• Cuba meets Khaleeji, the Middle Eastern roots of Afro Cuban jazz: https://www.nyuad-artscenter.org/en_US/events/2019/cuban-khaleeji-project-arturo-ofarrill-afro-latin-jazz-orchestra-and-guests/
• Virtual Birdland: https://latinjazznet.com/news/new-releases/arturo-o-farrill-aljo-to-release-virtual-birdland/
• Dr. Cornel West and Four Questions: https://latinjazznet.com/news/new-releases/arturo-ofarrill-the-afro-latin-jazz-orchestra-release-new-album-four-questions/

Timecodes

• 00:03 Introduction and current work
• 01:24 Hiring a new bass player with recordings - changing the system he was handed
• 02:29 ALJA and Building Campfires
• 04:18 Affordable Housing in Spanish Harlem
• 07:42 2022 Grammy-nominated songs and their importance to him
• 08:02 Virtual Birdland with 18 extraordinary artists
• 09:29 Malpaso and his second Grammy nomination for 2022
• 09:46 Cuba's ongoing struggles
• 10:30 Grammys as fuel for Foundation support
• 11:01 Four Questions with Dr. Cornel West
• 13:15 Getting Started - pretending to conduct an orchestra at age 6
• 14:51 How his parents met and his early life
• 16:32 Breaking into his father's record collection and Seven Steps to Heaven
• 17:24 Happiness is marrying your conviction with your art
• 18:20 When Arturo started taking heartstances in the world
• 18:50 The Drum and the Noise -- drums as symbols of gentrification
• 19:52 Ramarley Graham, Keith LaMar, and music in mass incarceration
• 21:48 Getting in trouble: music reflecting back on the world - trouble and liberation
• 22:13 "You don't have a right to say this"
• 26:34 More on Cuba
• 30:08 Hard decisions and being an administrator
• 31:31 You need to learn to say no
• 32:16 His songs - extraordinary musicians -- and Accepting Chaos
• 34:33 Succession and the next voice of leadership
• 36:05 How to reach out
• 37:29 Loving Los Angeles and Culver City's funkitude

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Question: What can you do with focus on drive in both toys and STEM? And what can a persistent Shirin Salemnia do? 

Shirin shares a passionate tale of drive, success with extreme persistence, and then designing new businesses to give back. She talks about her journey through college, Mattel, MGA/Bratz, and building her two current businesses. She didn't take no for an answer -- and said no many times to missions that pulled on her coattails. She is one of our more driven guests, not taking no from guidance counselors, security guards, and many other people in her life. The movie Big set her on her mission and voices as distinctive as Deepak Chopra and Simon Sinek inspired her to her current paths of giving back. 

Guest: Shirin Laor-Raz Salemnia, Founder and CEO, WhizGirls Academy and PlayWerks

Shirin Laor-Raz Salemnia is the Founder and CEO of PlayWerks and the founder of WhizGirls Academy. PlayWerks is an interactive media company that creates high quality multi-platform immersive games and experiences that engage children and adults. WhizGirls Academy is where students engage in project based learning and gamification that help them with tech and digital literacy while acquiring coding skills, entrepreneurship tools, and building confidence and growing as members of their communities with a healthy balanced lifestyle slant.

In 2013, she hosted the first Hackathon for Women and Girls with The White House Council of Women and Girls. In May 2014, she hosted the Kids Hack for LA in collaboration with Mayor Eric Garcetti, the White House, and will.i.am's i.am.angel Foundation. Also in 2014, Shirin gave her Ted Talk "Are You a Gamer or a Gardener?" at the TedxYouth conference in Los Angeles, CA.

She is currently teaching Tech for Social Impact/Entrepreneurship at USC School of Engineering/(ITP)Viterbi. In December 2014, Shirin joined President Obama, the First Lady, and Vice President Joe Biden along with hundreds of college presidents and other higher education leaders at the "Reach Higher Summit" at the White House to announce the commitment to serve 25,000 inner city children and adults nationwide.

The first WhizGirls Academy Mobile Tech Tour event with Mayor Garcetti in South Central Los Angeles in December 2014, was attended by 1500 people. More recently, in March of 2015 Shirin was honored by LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin as 2015 LA City Pioneer Woman of the Year. Check out his write up and her appearance at the Getty House with Mayor Garcetti (Check out the 12th pic). In October 2015, She was honored as a Tribeca Disruptor Innovation Fellow.

In March 2016 she was honored as IJWO Woman of the Year.

Mentioned Links

• Twitter @ShirinSalemnia
• Facebook @ShirinLaorRazSalemnia
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/shirin-laor-raz-salemnia-a95381
• WhizGirls Academy: http://whizgirlsacademy.com/
• TEDxYouth Talk: Are You a Gamer or a Gardener? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJvOSG9A6O4
• Mattel: https://corporate.mattel.com/en-us
• MGA & Bratz: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratz
• Jetsetter by Shag: https://www.artcollectorz.com/artworks/artwork-detail?artwork_id=2544&edition_id=3375
• Jordan Mechner: https://www.jordanmechner.com/
• Oviatt Library at Cal State Northridge: https://library.csun.edu/
• Jack Dangermon at ESRI: https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/author/jdangermond/
• The Movie Big: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_(film)

Timecode

• 00:06 Introduction
• 03:17 PlayWerks, Tom Hanks, and College Choices
• 05:13 WhizGirls Academy and hackathons
• 06:25 Arc-GIS and Esri
• 12:15 Career Centers and Conflict
• 12:59 Persian Parents
• 15:09 Nutrition?
• 16:02 Finding Toy People
• 18:06 Walking Into Mattel
• 19:23 Super Persistent
• 21:18 Interviewing at Mattel
• 23:44 Deepak Chopra and Crisis
• 25:49 Choosing Options and Saying Yes
• 28:51 General Assembly and Persistence
• 31:10 Success? Self-Metrics
• 33:09 When Do You Close Doors
• 35:24 Everyone Has a Mission

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Question: How can life make better sense backwards? How can we weave together arts, spatial sound, architecture, and organizational change?

Jeremy Yuille, with Meld Studios in Melbourne, Australia, works with organizations to transform how they work in the face of changing futures. His own past weaves through architecture, art, music, and spatial information architecture. He shares how systems thinking and sound impact organizations and change . . . and shares a weaving graphic on how all the puzzle pieces of his life have come together, making even greater sense backwards.

Jeremy Yuille is a Principal with Meld Studios in Melbourne, Australia. He had been a Sr. Lecturer in Melbourne at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), as well as their Program Manager at the Australasian Cooperative Research Centre for Interaction Design (ACID). His PhD in Communication Design and Masters in Spatial Information Architecture both are from RMIT.

Career Illustrations:

Upper: https://maremel.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Drawing-Part-1-Yuille.jpg

Lower: https://maremel.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Drawing-Part-2-Yuille.jpg

Links on Jeremy

• https://overlobe.medium.com/grokking-the-swamp-130738034dbc is about his PhD - from the perspective of the practice leap it required. 
• https://medium.com/design-futures/principles-for-the-studio-dea2256fec7a are some principles designed for an online Masters he stood up as his academic swansong.
• overlobe.com will redirect to the archive, sometime back in the 90’s
• https://linktr.ee/overlobe is a place to find all this stuff (and more)
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/overlobe/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/overlobe https://twitter.com/wearemeld 
• Medium: https://overlobe.medium.com/ 
• Meld Studios: http://meldstudios.com.au/ 
• Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems, 2008: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/1603580557

• 00:07 Introduction
• 06:20 Circuitous Routes
• 09:30 Spatial Information Architecture
• 14:40 Music . . . Bush Duffs
• 16:48 Jam with Algorithms
• 17:31 Systems Thinking
• 20:02 Observing Power in Organizations
• 21:48 Working in the Weeds
• 20:28 Multiuser Environments in 2000
• 24:16 Net.art in late 1990
• 25:09 Higher Ed - Superpower?
• 28:50 Ways of Thinking About What is Next
• 32:07 The People Business
• 35:15 Getting our Collective Stuff Together
• 37:35 Who Do We Work with Now?
• 40:00 Creating to Refill the Tank
• 42:33 Making Less Time for Thinking
• 42:57 Walking Backwards Into the Future

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Question: How can we use Augmented Reality to enhance the practice of collaborative biology? 

Ippolito Caradonna mixes his love for biology with his background in film and passion for assisted research. He is co-founding Aug Lab, an AR software interface for laboratory production that helps scientists traverse the complex topography of a lab. He shares with us how he first fell in love with molecular biology through gene regulation. His journey has not been a straight line. After starting in film at Loyola Marymount, he became a social worker for 6 years in Santa Clara County, near where he grew up in Gilroy, CA. He has had, what we call postcard moments in this show, where he dropped out of film school. He went back to school, fascinated by "junk DNA," the extra DNA not being used. He melded theater, music, and other areas of art in parallel with lab studies. He shares how he bugged his now-parter, Christian Lafayette, to work with him on an augmented reality solution. He shares his plans for Aug Lab in designing with other lab professionals how do we augment the lab experience vs changing it or distracting from their work. He ends with his own values of making lab work understandable and accessible for young professionals exploring STEM careers and hopes that Aug Lab will make training easier to explore.

Guest: Ippolito Caradonna, Co-Founder/CEO, Aug Lab; Director, HoloPractice

Ippolito Caradonna is a passionate molecular biologist with over 10 years of experience in academic and industry labs. He co-founded Aug Lab, an AR software prototype that spatially projects a projected environment for lab and collaborative work. He has over two years in the Medical XR (mixed reality) arena as a mentor via the Black Technology Mentorship Program. He is also the director of a HoloPractice - a private incubator of technologists and health & wellness professionals building experiential platforms.

Giving back to his community is one of his most important values and his commitment to authentic personal relationships is the cornerstone of his professional foundation. He is passionate about shifting the paradigm in the laboratory from the 2D protocol-driven lab operation to a human-centered technology transfer that uses a digitally projected shared interactive environment.

Mentioned Links

• theAugLab.com
• HoloPractice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ippolito-caradonna/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/theauglab

Timecode

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:03 HoloPractice - What is it?
• 02:03 Molecular Biology
• 02:47 Aug Lab - What is it?
• 05:09 Falling in Love with the Lab and Biology
• 06:12 Leaving Film for Social Work
• 12:39 Liquid handling robot as a gateway to AR
• 14:23 Pursuing his co-founder
• 26:22 Envisioning science careers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our first guest of Season 2 shares his tales of two loves: music and technology. His journey to Merlin includes early fandom in the Orange County punk rock scene, learning brand design in New York City while launching a mini fashion brand, and a road through technology law, Warner Music, and Facebook. He shares his adventures "leaning out over his skis" and growing outside of his comfort zone. He talks about relationships and "finding enough space that luck finds you." Jeremy shares his learnings and beliefs in managing organizations and teams, as well as his challenges in managing as a new CEO into the heart of the Pandemic.

Jeremy Sirota is CEO of Merlin, the Independents’ digital music licensing partner that strikes premium deals for its members with services like Apple, Facebook, Spotify, TikTok, and YouTube. Sirota has been recognized four times by Billboard, including Indie Power Player, International Power Player, and the 2022 Power List. Last year, Merlin added 32 independent labels and distributors from 17 countries to its membership and represents over 15% of the global market share. Prior to Merlin, he was an executive on the Facebook Music team, where he helped shape its music strategy as well as licensed rights from independents worldwide. Sirota previously held a number of senior positions at Warner Music Group, culminating as Head of Business & Legal Affairs for WEA and ADA. Early in his career, he was a technology lawyer at Morrison & Forster. For more, visit https://merlinnetwork.org/

• Merlin Network
• Warner Music ADA
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Twitter

Timecode

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:03 Merlin
• 03:51 Growing Up: Punk Rock & CIA?
• 06:42 College in Rhetoric?
• 08:33 New York in Design
• 14:03 Luck Finds You
• 19:28 Managing in Large and Small Companies
• 22:03 Merlin in 2020-22
• 28:12 North Stars and Team Goals
• 31:34 Big Ahas
• 36:14 Personal Side
• 39:19 Encouraging as a Parent
• 41:05 Intersecting Music and Tech

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Season 2 of Creative Innovators. We're going to have intriguing guests this season.

Our question to you: Who inspires you? Who would you like to see on the show?

We have great folks recording now as guests, and we'd like to include creative innovators who inspire our community.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Question: How do you decide what adventures to take in your nonlinear career? What are intentional plans vs. accidents?

Photo: Kara Hammond and NARAS

Martin Atkins talked with our host, Gigi Johnson, from his studio that also acts as a museum of all of the adventurous projects around his career. Martin shared how he began drumming at age 9 and persistently getting into Public Image Ltd, waiting through 5 drummers. He talked about believing early on that he had a job -- "it's being me." He diversified by accident and kept adding roles as blockages came his way, including launching bands and labels. Each time, he picked the best option that arose and looked for both safety nets and for solutions IN the problem itself. 

Guest: Martin Atkins, Music Industries Coordinator, Millikin University; producer, drummer, documentary filmmaker, DJ, and teacher

Martin Atkins is the definition of entrepreneurial activity in cultural arts endeavors, his 35+ years in the music business spans across genres, borders, and industries.

He was a member of Public Image Ltd and Killing Joke. He founded industrial supergroup Pigface, The Damage Manual, and Murder Inc., and has contributed to Nine Inch Nails (for which he has a Grammy) and Ministry. He is the owner of Invisible Records and Mattress Factory Recording Studios (est. 1988). He is the author of "Tour:Smart, Welcome To The Music Business….You’re F*cked!” and "Band:Smart." He is the Music Industries Coordinator at Millikin University in Decatur Illinois. Martin is a producer, drummer, documentary filmmaker, DJ, and father of four.

Whatever the future of entrepreneurial music business education is, you can pretty much bet that he’ll be in the middle of it.

Mentioned Links:

• Twitter @marteeeen (with 4 e's)
• martinatkins.com, with free download of Band:Smart

Your Host: Gigi Johnson, EdD

I run transformative programs, speak/moderate, invest, advise, and produce multimedia on creativity and technology. I taught for 22 years at UCLA, where I ran the Center for Music Innovation and the podcast "Innovating Music," built four industry-connecting programs, and taught undergraduates, MBAs, and executives about disruption in creative industries. Before UCLA, I financed media M&A at Bank of America for ten years.

Connect with Us

• Our Website
• How to submit a Creative Innovator Guest: Information Page
• Subscribe to our newsletter here.
• Join our Patreon community here.

Sponsored and Produced by the Maremel Institute

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This was fun. Your host, Gigi Johnson, has been speaking for college classes this past week and kept being asked to tell her/my story of the pivot points and non-linear decisions over 9 careers.

So in this Tuesday Tidbit segment, I share the story of how I changed into a film major at USC based on postcard from my teaching assistant for a single class. That changed my life and direction and those changes echo through my choices to this day.

What postcards have you gotten in your life -- or elements that nudged you to turn left or right? Do you see them? Do you send them?  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Question: What if you could build a company around your passions?

In this episode, David Hernandez shares how he is unlearning and relearning what he knows to create competition for his company . . . in his own company! He runs Colonize Media, a multiplatform network music aggregator. He has worked to create “a very human culture” with his team of 30+ people and now works to “break artists from nothing.”

Guest: David Hernandez, CEO, Colonize Media

David Hernandez is the CEO and co-founder of Colonize Media, a digital content distribution service created in 2015. Originally from Jalisco, Mexico, David Hernandez grew up in a family of performers and entertainers. David Hernandez has applied his love and passion for the music and entertainment industry to Colonize Media, which was first founded to help increase traction for Latin artists and their content. Colonize Media now serves over 10,000 independent artists and record labels across all genres with 600,000 tracks and videos and 3,000,000,000 monthly streams.

Colonize Media’s goal is to aid in maximizing creators’ content, through marketing, advertising, and promotions. Colonize Media also helps artists to develop content strategies by analyzing digital data to better understand the music community as a whole, including listener demographics and listening trends. By helping clients reach a larger audience and generate more revenue, Colonize Media helps artists keep creating content they love. 

Links:

• David Hernandez - [email protected]
• Colonize Media - https://colonizemedia.com/
• The Book Gigi Mentioned: “Overcoming Underearning” by Barbara Stanny

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.