Daydream Believers Podcast

For July’s episode of the podcast I was super excited to chat with Keith Profeta.

Forever a music lover, Keith has held many positions throughout the music industry. The music business is as much a passion as the music itself.

Jumping in and out of bands starting at age 16, Keith never really found his true calling in front of the microphone. At that point he started managing a friend’s band, handling all the behind the scenes work in making the band a success.

Never being satisfied, Keith started a fanzine to find more great music and reviewed 100’s of band’s demos, offering them straightforward tips on how to get to the next level in their careers. A few bands really struck and he was signed on to be a promoter for them eventually turning it into a full-time booking agency in New York City.

To expand his knowledge Keith then attended the Berklee College of Music and earned a degree in Music Business. This led to a position at a music marketing firm in Manhattan to continue learning about the business side of music.

Today the dream continues at Indie Band Guru, staying busy in music and helping guide musicians to the promised land of a successful career in music.

Keith has found that the part that has most dreamers stuck is having an actual plan. We all try to do a million things at once and in the end do not do any one of them well. Taking the time to develop a plan and an order of work will produce much greater results in a much quicker time frame.

We focussed on discussing how to really build those all-important, door-opening relationships – and how to create a solid plan to keep motivated and focussed.

Keith is totally open to chatting with you further if you have any questions. Reach out to him at [email protected], putting Daydream Believers in the subject line 💜

Here are the questions we addressed:

Ron: I always find it difficult to build a relationship with people like Keith. What can I do to keep in contact with, and learn to be useful to him?

Patrick: I tried hard at networking in IT but fail to make long term networking relationship. Any tips on harvesting meaningful networking relationships?

Matthew: What is Keith’s approach to planning for a goal? We have focussed on the 12 Week Year approach quite a bit in the group providing small milestones to keep motivated for larger goals. How would he keep his eyes on the prize to guarantee success?

If funds are low for employing a PR firm what steps can we take to help engage with new fans? Are we limiting our success with the go it alone approach? And when is the right time to engage with a professional PR Team?

Do you need an audience (other than licensing firms and music supervisors) if you are writing for sync?

Xabiso: I have just started promoting my own night club event. I would like to know if you have any advice when it comes to the business side of things. Simply put: how would I run it like a business? I know this could be very broad – a few pointers would be really helpful.

This will actually be the last episode of the Daydream Believers podcast. Moving forward, I’ll be teaming up with Xabiso and Matthew to create a brand new music podcast called Music Of The Spheres.

We’ll be showcasing electronic music artists and labels: interviewing guests, featuring guest mixes and also presenting you with our own tune selections from the artists and labels that are making our ears tingle.

We’re aiming to launch later this year – updates will be coming soon so stay tuned!

Thanks so much for listening!

The amazing people who are members of my community on Patreon enable me to continue creating. If you’d like to join us,

For June’s episode of the podcast, I was excited to welcome as our guest, another Dreamer: James Willis. He was so nervous, bless him! This was his first ever interview.

James has always had a passion for music and first started recording over 20 years ago. He grew up in the East Midlands, in the UK, then moved to Cornwall in his early 20s. He took a bit of a hiatus from music between 2005-2012 to take on a job on the railways travelling the UK – and during this time, his son was born.

He may not have been making music over this period, but he listened to music religiously whilst driving up and down the country from job to job. Around 2012, his relationship started breaking down and as a result, he threw himself into music production again. In 2017 he released his first album through the distribution company, Amuse. He has now released…wait for it…no less than six albums and two singles – and he has no intention on stopping anytime soon!

Here are some of the questions we covered by members of my private members’ community on Patreon and Daydream Believers coaching community:

Q1. With such a high output rate, what criteria do you set yourself for an album release? Is it the next best set of songs or do you work to a theme/concept?

Q2. Are your albums solo efforts or do you find collaborators/contributing artists? If the later, how do you find other musicians?

Q3. What are your preferred distribution channels? Have you encountered any pros or cons with those you have tried?

Q4. How are you promoting your work – and what have been the most effective approaches?

Q5. From a techie point of view, what set up does James have for his recording? What are his main instruments? Does he mix and master all his work himself?

Q6. What are James’ main musical influences? Has he set out to write in certain genres as a result or just gone with the flow?

If you’d like to give James’ music a listen, you can find it on Spotify, iTunes and Amazon – and if you’d like to connect with him, here’s his Facebook.

The podcast will be changing format soon to be more music-focused. We’re also going to be rebranding it – and I’m going to have a couple of co-hosts! More info on that coming soon! 🙂

Thanks so much for listening!

The amazing people who are members of my community on Patreon enable me to continue making these podcasts. If you’d like to join us, head to: https://www.patreon.com/lizcirelli

For May’s episode of the Daydream Believers podcast, Liz was super excited to welcome as one of our guests a Dreamer himself – Ryan Smith.

Ryan is a prolific creative. He is also autistic and that makes a lot of things hard or impractical for him. But he hasn’t let that stop him.

One thing he’s learned in life is that some people were dealt good cards…others were given more challenging ones. That said, he believes everyone has one mighty trump card that only they have or can play. The cards Ryan was dealt are not easy to play – but he’s come to realise that his power card is his imagination – his creativity – and he has learned to harness that.

During this episode, our aim was to encourage people who have a big idea or a dream, and who know they’re on a very different path, especially if the dream is difficult to do. People who come from very difficult backgrounds or have handicaps, like Ryan.

We discussed how we can play to our strengths and use them to outplay our shortcomings – how we can use our unique insights to get to where we want to be in life – and of course, we answered the questions submitted by members of Liz’s Patreon and Daydream Believers coaching community.

Andreas:

* How to do a hands-on approach to overcome external or self-inflicted hurdles on the way to self-fulfilment. I mean, you got a goal but you stumble on the way. Would be nice with some practical advice, wouldn’t it? I know it sounds a little silly but I saw people struggle with simple things like not getting free from work to participate at an event, didn’t get the funds together to buy proper tools (gear) or have no clue where to find essential pieces of information needed. Guess we all had that at one time in our life, but we overcame that, right?

* Where should you plant your goal? Far, far away so it takes a long time to reach or just close enough, so you get there in a blink of an eye. Goals can be changed and set at any time in life. Should you have a few or many?

* If you’re going through an inspirational drought, all creativity fell off and you feel empty, how to gain momentum again and fill yourself with energy? Can you guys talk about that too?

Gary:

* Has Ryan experienced any extra “gifts” in his life in terms of talents or abilities that sometimes accompany autism?

* What is Ryan’s philosophy of life?

* How does Ryan view the typical goals and targets of today’s world culture – specifically the popular “goals” and “targets” that are often pushed and taught such as “how to become (singularly) successful,” “how to rise above the competition,” “how to acquire more money and attention,” — without reference to helping others or being of service to your environment and the people in it?

* What advice does Ryan have for people who struggle with down days, frustration and overwhelm?

Xabiso:

* How did Ryan get into his passion for art and animation?

* What has he learned along the way as a creative?

* What drives and motivates him?

* What does he do for fun?

Matthew:

* What have been the most effective fundraising platforms for creative projects that he has used and what approach has Ryan found that works best for him engaging with his supporters and potential audience?

If you’d like to delve a little deeper into Ryan’s world, here are some of the ways you can connect with him:

The Patreon page of Uniques United which has information about the cartoon: https://www.patreon.

For this month’s episode of the Daydream Believers podcast, I was super excited to explore emotional empowerment, self-healing and self-connection with life coach and wellbeing specialist, Veronica Amarelle from Healed Soles.

Veronica focuses on helping people deeply connect to their own inner wisdom and ability to self-heal. It is through nurturing this deep connection to the self that we can feel a deep sense of emotional stability and empowerment in our day to day lives. This then increases our ability to design and live life in a way that’s inspiring, uplifting and in alignment with our best possible realities.

She has spent 12 years studying energy healing, life coaching and numerous different healing modalities and has created an incredible course tying together some of the best techniques to teach people how to master their own emotions and how to feel more stable and deeply connected to life.

During this episode, we spoke at length about how you can tap into your own inner-wisdom to bring all that you dream into your reality.

Would you like to learn how to connect to your own inner wisdom and learn how to self-heal? Would you like to know how to maintain a deep sense of emotional stability and empowerment so you can design your life in a way that’s in alignment with your best possible realities? We hope this podcast episode will do its part in helping you get there.

Here are the questions we covered that were submitted by members of  my coaching community, Daydream Believers:

Tim: How do we heal from deep shame? What about if we don’t like ourselves and struggle to love ourselves?

Munir: Hi Liz. I think it was you who made the statement “Find your tribe” and it really resonated with me ever since. I don’t know if that fits in with Veronica’s scope for the podcast (hello!) but would appreciate hearing more about finding one’s tribe.

Reid: well we all know how hard it is to make your dreams a reality, how do I successfully prioritize self-time against all the work? I always seem to leave taking care of myself to the end, and it often doesn’t happen. Any guidance?

Ryan: I have a question. How can I stay steady inside against anything that happens, no matter how serious it may be? I suffer from agoraphobia, anxiety disorders, and PTSD, and a fear of dentistry and surgery. I also have autism which makes a lot of things tough or impractical for me.

How can I find peace within myself in a world where something like a health scare or any sudden urgent event, in general, could knock me off my rocker?

Xabiso: I am very in touch with my emotions. Sometimes this can really get in the way of me being logical and calculated. I can sometimes be stoic too. How do I find a good balance between the two?

Matthew: I find I take on board other people’s emotions very easily. Have you any strategies for keeping centred when dealing with an emotional situation or person?

General strategies for maintaining positive focus and energy day to day would also be very helpful.

Huge love and gratitude to all the amazing people inside my Patreon community – it’s their generosity that enables me to continue making this podcast. If you’d like to join us and connect with me on a deeper level, just head to https://www.patreon.com/lizcirelli where you can sign up quickly and easily. As a patron, you’ll get access to some really lovely rewards.

This is the second half of the two-part podcast episode, during which I chatted with The Master himself: my dear friend and mentor, Gary Gray.

Gary is an award-winning composer/songwriter/producer/engineer and author of the “The Home Studio Bible.” He is considered one of the top mentors in the entertainment industry and his list of clients include 20th Century Fox, The Disney Music Group, Hollywood Records, and of course yours truly!

He was extremely fortunate to acquire mentors such as Phil Collins, Phil Ramone, Quincy Jones, Chick Corea and other legendary greats and takes great joy in passing the knowledge and wisdom he learned from these greats to those ready to listen.

One of the reasons Gary is regarded so highly in the industry is that he approaches each person as a whole, and does not just “teach.” In fact, as you’ll discover during this episode, Gary will reveal why he considers it extremely damaging to “teach” an artist how to do their art.

Whether you’re in the music industry or not, this is a Podcast you WON’T want to miss. Trust me!

This half of the episode focuses mostly on answering the questions that were submitted by my patrons and the members of my online coaching community, Daydream Believers.

We delve deeper into the one activity that, in Gary’s opinion, defines true success, and will absolutely lead to deep and meaningful happiness that no one can take away from you: HELPING. Helping other people, helping your family, helping the community. Being responsible first to yourself, yes, but for the purpose of helping others as a primary activity in your life.

Gary believes that action is the best therapy, that productive successful accomplishment is the best meditation that exists, that watching someone else do better in life from your efforts is the best medicine ever invented, and that discipline and hard work are the best cure for the soul, the mind and the body.

During this episode, you will hear Gary’s advice on how to deal with what he refers to the Myth-makers and Brainwashers that exist, albeit most of them unwittingly, in the entertainment industry. In particular, we focussed on whether or not you have to be a performing musician in order to be ‘successful’.

We also touch on how to ask the right questions in order to get the results you are seeking – a stumbling block most of us don’t even realise is tripping us up. We discuss the ever-important topic of how to build truly solid relationships and we chatted in depth about what truth actually is.

Gary also shared his insight on how you can take ownership of your past successes to create more success – and he shared his opinions on health and what it means to truly look after yourself.

We also reveal how a typo – a seemingly simple, innocent little thing – could potentially destroy your career…

Here are the questions we cover during this episode:

Do you feel the power of record labels has diminished with the focus on streaming media platforms like YouTube and Spotify? Does this ease of access for musicians improve the opportunity for success and what are the key skill sets needed for success within these new structures?

Do musicians need to be performers to be successful? With YouTube being such a focus for music consumption how important is it to have good visual creative skills to engage with that audience?

If writing for the TV and Film markets with the music library and music supervisor as a targeted audience is it still necessary to engage in social media campaigns and promote your self in the same way as a performing artist?

How do you identify the best music library service for your music? Do they specialise in genres or industry focus?

I’m so excited to share this two-part podcast episode with you, during which I chatted with The Master himself: my dear friend and mentor, Gary Gray.

Gary is an award-winning composer/songwriter/producer/engineer – and helped me mix/master my album, Awakening.

Besides being an accomplished musician, Gary is the author of the “The Home Studio Bible,” and is considered one of the top mentors in the entertainment industry. It’s an honour and a privilege to be his student.

His clients include 20th Century Fox, The Disney Music Group, Hollywood Records, and of course yours truly!

One of the reasons Gary is regarded so highly in the industry is that he approaches each person as a whole, and does not just “teach.”

Whether you’re in the music industry or not, this is a Podcast you WON’T want to miss. Trust me!

Gary refers to life as being “brutiful” – a combination of brutal and beautiful. He has learned that humans tend to put up with a lot of the brutal side of life for small glimpses and short moments of the beautiful side of existence. How can we help each other tip the scale so that more and more of our day-to-day lives are less brutal – and more beautiful?

And on the painfully practical side of life – how do we determine when we are being fed myths and brainwashed in the entertainment industry? How can we know when we are being led down a path of truth in our own crafts and our own careers?

Gary developed a lifetime of wisdom by surviving through what he calls, “Years of Trial & Terror.” His goal is to help others avert the mistakes he made along the way by sharing his experience, wisdom and education. He made it a point to seek out the best mentors he could find in order to figure out the mystery of success and what it really means. He was extremely fortunate to acquire mentors such as Phil Collins, Phil Ramone, Quincy Jones, Chick Corea and other legendary greats.

Gary considers seeking happiness and self-success to be an unfortunate and ill-conceived target, brought about by the blind-leading-the-blind mentality in today’s “me me me” culture. The way Gary explains it, “I strive for myself, and for my students, to focus on one activity that, in my opinion, defines true success, and will absolutely lead to a deep and meaningful happiness that no one can take away from you: and that one activity is very simple: HELPING. Helping other people, helping your family, helping the community. Being responsible first to yourself, yes, but for the purpose of helping others as a primary activity in your life.”

How do you navigate your day-to-day life, full of stress, financial worries, non-stop texts, emails, social media posts and IMs, in such a way where you can and do help others and achieve true and meaningful success that many never experience? A secret that may surprise you – Gary believes that action is the best therapy, that productive successful accomplishment is the best meditation that exists, that watching someone else do better in life from your efforts is the best medicine ever invented, and that discipline and hard work are the best cure for the soul, the mind and the body.

As you can see, this is a podcast packed with gold. The way Gary puts it, “Every time I help someone, I find that that person ends up helping me just as much, if not more – and that I learn something new. The one thing I learn over and over again is that I always need to learn more!”

Tune in – and learn from one of the most inspiring people I know. Part 2 will be coming next month…stay tuned!

These podcasts exist to provide you with the knowledge, inspiration and motivation needed to pursue your dreams.

If you’d like to join the Daydream Believers online coachin...

I’m so excited to be welcoming back the awesome D Grant Smith to the podcast. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this extraordinary human being, D is a growth farmer (aka a coach who empowers people to be their best, love who they are and create strong connections).

The core principle he operates his life around is this: “Your heart and your mind is a garden. What you plant inside yourself with your thoughts, beliefs and patterns produce fruit in your actions, attitudes, and behaviours.”

Relationship building is a huge part of our success journey as creatives. You’ve probably heard D Grant talk about how to effectively build relationships with industry professionals, other musicians, and influencers to grow your career and create new pathways for success.

But what about the interpersonal relationships we have? What happens when the relationship with your someone special, partner or spouse goes in the wrong direction? Or what happens if it comes to an end? What do you do?

How do you balance your creative life with the internal struggle and emotional upheaval that the end of your closest relationship can create?

These questions are certainly worth exploring – heartbreak and loss are a part of the human experience. From his own period of going through deep personal loss, dealing with the blows of heartbreak and all the negativity that comes with it, D Grant will give you some powerful tools and ways to pick yourself up, put your best foot forward, and do the heart-work of healing so that your best is made manifest.

Here are the questions we addressed during the podcast that were submitted by members of the Daydream Believers community:

1. Xabiso: As a creative, I have chosen to put everything into mastering my craft especially because I got a bit of a late start. I am willing to sacrifice marriage and getting into a serious relationship because of this. Am I looking at things in the wrong way because I truly feel that this is right for me?

2. Matthew: Have you any advice on maintaining a realistic focus when things are going well. Advice on keeping a level head and remaining focussed and positive would be appreciated. When I realise things are wrong I find it easier to identify how to address things and get nervous when there isn’t an obvious issue to tackle!

If any of you would like to take D up on his very generous offer of a chat (I highly recommend you do!) Hid email address is: [email protected] Mention that you’re getting in touch as a result of hearing the Daydream Believers podcast and he’ll know what to do!

These podcasts exist to provide you with the knowledge, inspiration and motivation needed to pursue your dreams.

If you’d like to join the Daydream Believers online coaching community, have your say on what topics get covered during our podcasts – and have your questions answered by our expert guests, simply become a patron. You can sign up quickly and easily via the Patreon website here, or via their handy Patreon mobile app. You’ll also get access to the full range of my coaching packages and music production lessons. Plus you’ll get exclusive early access to all my musical output – and lots of lovely treats in between!

Thanks so much for visiting – really looking forward to welcoming you to the family!

For December’s episode of the Daydream Believers Podcast, I interviewed Daniel Levin, author of the insightful, wise and deeply beautiful book, The Mosaic.

We chatted about the four practices of connection, how we as creatives can connect to the work we are doing – and how the archetypes of The Mosaic can help one in the creative process. We also discussed what the silos of thought are that trap the creative mind flow, what the destination practice is and how it applies to the creative process – and who is creating who…

It was a deep, thoughtful and extremely insightful episode – it’ll provide you with some beautiful new ways of thinking to approach your new year – and will most definitely enrich your life!

Questions submitted by my coaching community that we addressed:

*

I would like to know more about how to connect with myself a bit more. Not in a narcissistic way, but how to be more in sync with my subconscious mind and my soul.

*

How do the archetypes of The Mosaic help one in the creative process?

The “Be Kind To You” wristbands and the book are available at: https://themosaiconline.com/

The book is also available on Amazon globally: The Mosaic by Daniel Bruce Levin

If these ideas resonate with you but you’re finding it a struggle to implement them, contact Daniel directly at: [email protected]

These podcasts exist to provide you with the knowledge, inspiration and motivation needed to pursue your dreams.

If you’d like to join the Daydream Believers online coaching community, have your say on what topics get covered during our podcasts – and have your questions answered by our expert guests, simply become a patron. You can sign up quickly and easily via the Patreon website here, or via their handy Patreon mobile app. You’ll also get access to the full range of my coaching packages and music production lessons. Plus you’ll get exclusive early access to all my musical output – and lots of lovely treats in between!

Thanks so much for visiting – really looking forward to welcoming you to the family!

For this month’s episode, I sat down with the awesome and inspirational Bree Noble. As well as being a music marketing and business coach extraordinaire, Bree is also a music artist and host of the award-winning podcast, Women Of Substance Radio.

Bree and I covered the juicy topics of mindset and how to smash through overwhelm, fear and limiting beliefs. We also touched on her 5 stages of music career growth, relating the marketing element of these stages to a career in any creative field, not just music.

We chatted through her inspirational life-story and some enormous leaps of faith that she took in order to transform her life. She is living proof that anything is possible when we are truly committed.

We also touched on how vulnerability connects people and how, by far, the best way to sell your music, is to share your story with your audience. It’s all about connection!

5 Stages Of Career Growth:

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Foundation level: Build email list to 100 and get good performance experience

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Promotion level: get yourself out there, live streams, getting press, moving to house concerts and smaller gigs, build email list to 500

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Expansion level: Bigger gigs, more ways to build fan base, get help!

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Automation level: Get things automated: email funnels that introduce people to more of your music when they join your email list

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Professional level: time to do some big crowdfunding campaigns and look for a manager/label if that’s what you want.

Here are the questions that were submitted by members of my coaching community, Daydream Believers:

Xabiso: How does the business world in music compare to the business world in general (retail, investment, entrepreneurship)? Also when marketing an album for release, what are the most effective marketing strategies and implementation methods that you recommend?

Ryan: How do you overcome inertia, even on the days where you really felt like doing nothing? And how do you tell the difference between being lazy and actually needing a day off due to burnout, exhaustion, a particularly painful event and things like that?

Matthew: How can we overcome the fear of failure and channel negative energy to positive ends?

Matthew: I’m very interested to know what the 5 stages of musical career growth are. I am not currently a performing artist, and I wonder if this is something I should be doing. Some insight into career growth targets would be useful!

And one from me: In the ever-increasing rapidity of the world, it seems that, in order to be a successful creative, one needs to have multiple fingers on multiple pulses/platforms. But this often leads us to feel overwhelmed and start wheel-spinning. Do we really need to be everywhere, all the time – or is it better to focus on one or two platforms and build a really strong following on those? What are some strategies you recommend for effective multitasking?

Asana is the productivity tool Bree mentioned.

Masterclass on The Five Stages: http://musiciansprofitpath.com/

Find Bree at https://femusician.com/

These podcasts exist to provide you with the knowledge, inspiration and motivation needed to pursue your dreams.

If you’d like to join the Daydream Believers online coaching community, have your say on what topics get covered during our podcasts – and have your questions answered by our expert guests, simply become a patron. You can sign up quickly and easily via the Patreon website here, or via their handy Patreon mobile app. You’ll also get access to the full range of my coaching packages and music production lessons. Plus you’ll get exclusive early access to all my musical output ̵...

My darlings!

I almost can’t believe it…the album…it’s ready! To celebrate, I made this month’s episode of the podcast a music edition – and created an album showcase.

During this hour-long episode, I play you some of the tracks from the album and talk you through them, going into a bit of detail about the meaning of each song and how they were made.

I named this album Awakening because the journey of its creation has been one of tremendous growth and realisation for me. Throughout the process of its creation, I have learned to let go and push past a lot of fear. I’ve had to overcome a lot of obstacles – and I’ve had to find the faith to be able to let go and surrender to the journey.

I want this album to be an example to everyone of what is possible when you’re truly committed to something. When you awaken and answer the call of your soul. When you put the fear and excuses to one side and put everything you have into achieving your purpose.

Because what we’re capable of is way, way more than what we think we’re capable of.

Please comment below with your thoughts – I’m really looking forward to hearing what you think!

Thank you so, so much for listening. Thank you so much for being here.

All my love

Liz x

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The album was mastered by Gary Gray – my mentor and dear friend. I could not have gotten the album to sound as beautiful as it does without his skill and expertise.