Nu Deco Unfiltered

It is only fitting that one of our final podcasts of the first season gets incredibly deep! Rebecca and Megan Lovell, two of the most talented and creative artists behind Larkin Poe, are supremely wonderful humans to engage, perform, and work with. From being an “accidental band” to online sensations, while also writing and singing about some of the toughest themes, such as mental illness and sharing openly their personal and family struggles with the world, Larkin Poe is connected to legions of fervent fans who support and engage with them in powerful and dynamic ways.

This vulnerable conversation covers so much ground and gets at the heart of the intense emotions we ALL feel as humans. We cover the origins of Larkin Poe, the reality checks they faced creating a new band from scratch, and their creative and personal journeys. We speak to the pressures and resilience they forged being female artists today, and that by creating “live” art, one has to be fully present. We also playfully discuss their musical origins which came from their foundations of classical music, and specifically the violin!

PLUS, we tease some music from our upcoming collaborative album which will be released September 17!

This conversation personally inspired me. It is a reminder that grit, positivity, gratefulness, and authenticity can lead to success on the levels that one wishes for themselves, not what others' limiting definitions are.

You won't want to miss this episode of Nu Deco Unfiltered that brings incredible insight into Larkin Poe. We are so excited to share it with you and some of the magical music we made together!

From Leading the Boston Pops since the late 80’s to raising funds to support artists who lost all their work during the pandemic, Dennis Alves is an elevated leader in our field whose integrity, empathy, and desire to give his audiences amazing experiences,  transcends music and permeates everything he does at Symphony Hall in Boston. His compassion for artists, musicians, conductors and his community at home, inspires him to “just do the job” of bringing the highest levels of orchestral art, collaborations and genre-bending music to his New England community. 

This conversation is absolutely amazing! If you like orchestra lore,  behind the scenes stories, and insights to the history of this incredible institution as much as I do, then you re going love this podcast! 

His words are incredible insightful, super fun, and full of wisdom. For those who lead organizations and wish to learn from one of the industries absolute best, this podcast will certainly give you much food for thought. Dennis breaks apart his humble beginnings, guides us through his journey from trumpet player and substitute member of the Boston Symphony and Pops, to ultimately taking the reins of the Boston symphony and guiding its transition from John Williams to Keith Lockhart. Stories about Gershwin, Arthur Fielder and lessons on how being and staying relevant to your audiences fills this  insightful dialogue. Plus, I’m just honored to have had this chance to speak Dennis, have Nu Deco receive his full encouragement and support, and finally share his beautiful words with you. 

So excited to pull back the curtain on such an inspiring and super talented human! He is one of today's true musical jack of all trades: Hollywood composer, pianist, arranger, great friend and collaborator to Nu Deco, and now a science teacher, Joachim Horsley. There is so much life wisdom he shares with us today, such as learning that greeting fire always translated into amazing life changing events that brought new creative opportunities. He describes his lifelong  search for the connective fabric of music and life, a fusion of styles that bring us all a little closer together. After one particularly difficult event, being fired from a successful show, he created a life-changing project called “Beethoven in Havana,” which catapulted him to new musical horizons, albums, tours, and collaborations from the National Symphony to Nu Deco, including a viral video that garnered over 2M views. This set his musical life and personal journey into new and richer pathways. 

He expresses that you don’t need to create the "one masterpiece" to be successful. Just get up, do the work day by day, and watch the magic unfold over time. As a composer, being yourself is inescapable, and being scared of the path is most likely a good thing. So, just lean into it! He expresses how he maneuvers and handles the pressures of Hollywood, and that you can never duplicate someone else’s road, as your journey is all yours. Take ALL advice with a grain of salt, and ultimately you must be the CEO of your own career. 

This wide-ranging conversation is incredibly inspiring to all on any artistic endeavor and we can learn so much from his experiences and thoughts on being yourself while keeping perspective in this world. PLUS, we listen to some incredible, never-before-heard music that we performed with him here in Miami. This conversation will surely inspire and take you on a journey that connects the European art traditions with the Afro-Caribbean-inspired music from Cuba. Hope you enjoy! 

We are excited to present today’s inspiring conversation with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Pops CEO and President, Jonathan Martin! We also share some highlights with you today from a soon-to-be-released musical suite based of the music of the Beach Boys and co-written by Sam Hyken, Jason Matthews, Aaron Lebos, and Armando Lopez.  Be sure to check out the snippets at the beginning, and stick around for exclusive preview at the end!

This wide-ranging conversation covers arts leadership in a whole new world, how staying curious and constant learning are essential, and that through digital concerts and relevantly-curated programs we can create unique intimacy through digital presentations that can take us places we have never been before. 

While never losing sight of how the first and main mission of an orchestra is to serve its community, Jonathan expresses how making music should never, in any way, be disconnected from the pulse of its hometown, or provided solely for the elite. There is a cohesive quality to music, and through its universality we can create magic, inclusion, and inspiration, both in the concert hall and in our communities. Finally, as the title suggests, Jonathan emphasizes that now, more than ever, we must DARE TO FAIL, and that finding new pathways forward for orchestral institutions will cause some growing pains along the way.  

We are honored to share Jonathan’s wisdom, love of music and artists, and vast experience in our field, as well as his pathway to personal truth and success and the important lessons he has learned along the way.

From being the opening musical act for artist Moby as a DJ to creating his Grammy-winning opera about one of the pivotal figures of the century, Steve Jobs, Mason Bates is an outlier who uses 21st-century sounds, technology, and an endless creative well to tell visionary stories and usher in sonic landscapes, the likes of which have never been done before in classical music. A true innovator and pioneer in the world of technology-infused orchestral-based compositions, this Juilliard graduate-turned-DJ/producer/orchestral composer has changed the perceptions and expectations of what a classical music performance can be in our modern times. I feel lucky to call him an old friend from those days at Juilliard, and fortunate to conduct his music worldwide. However, our performance of Mothership at Nu Deco was a true musical highlight. We will hear how adventure, surprise, and a dash of techno mixed with psychedelic rock have inspired him on his very unique journey, leading to numerous commissions and residencies with nearly all of America's great orchestras and opera companies. We discuss how creativity needs to first be born in order to get better, and that sometimes you simply need to “make your own weather” to get a seed of an idea to come to life. Like Gershwin before him, who brought jazz seamlessly into the classical music halls, Mason has brought techno and electronica to the classical music stages, and has found enormous success becoming the second most performed living composer in modern history.  Using new sounds to tell fresh stories, I think any fan of new music, the orchestra, and Nu Deco’s mission of supporting living composers will be as inspired as I was talking to this incredibly relevant and deep artist.

Welcome to our fourth podcast episode, with none other than Mr. Kishi Bashi! Kishi was one of the first collaborators at Nu Deco who saw us for WHO we really were. He helped us unlock our potential, guided us, and elevated the orchestra with his world-class musicianship. He is also a producer on our debut studio album and taught us how to embrace our most authentic musical selves.

From performing for two people in Toledo to touring the world with the Regina Spektor, while finding his own unique voice along the way, Kishi Bashi shows us that if you are prepared, while 100% dedicated to your craft, you can seize opportunities when they arrive for you. Staying consistent with your output, and simply not giving up, are his recipes to create your personal success.

In this episode, we discuss how idleness allows for creativity and that when you deprive your brain of stimulus it seeks to play and invent. We also talk about Kishi's Japanese American roots, as well as his astonishingly beautiful and haunting work Executive Order 9066, which was inspired by the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. We also talk about his parents as mentors, and how he learned the ropes of being successful artist AND business entity. And, finally, you are going to hear some amazing, never-before-played music. This is a deep dive into all things Kishi Bashi, a self-described avant-garde orchestral pop artist. He is also a great personal friend and someone I admire tremendously, and is forever a part of Nu Deco's DNA. We hope you enjoy listening to this conversation and learning more about Kishi and his creative and fascinating world. 

Today we speak with genius composer and pianist Aaron Parks, whose music is rich, sophisticated, profound, and wide ranging. A incredible philosophical and thoughtful human who drops so much wisdom, musings on life, and guidance on how we can maneuver through this chaotic world, his rich and learned background draws musical inspiration from Greek Mythology all the way to Thelonious Monk. We dive deep (even getting a little musically nerdy!) into our past collaboration and our upcoming EP release that was taken from our live performances in May of 2019. We will share previews of these yet-to-be-released tracks from the EP right here on the podcast, which present Aaron's music in ‘full technicolor’! We talk about how he is always looking for something, but also trying to simply see what is right there. We also discuss how limitations and confines are ways to spur creativity, and that imperfect symmetry can lead to new ideas or bring new life to original ideas. 

Today we sit down with Afro-Cuban funk artist Cimafunk and there is simply no way not to be delighted and inspired from his infectious energy, joy for life, and love of family. From listening and making music based off the sounds of Coke cans bouncing down the street in his rural hometown, to traveling to Havana and working as a gardener and mechanic just so he could listen to live music at night, Cimafunk has exploded onto the world's musical scene as a new voice in the continued tradition of genius artists from the amazingly musical and fertile island of Cuba. From burning out his uncle's car battery secretly listening to Michael Jackson tapes, a short stint in medical school, and ultimately joining backup choruses of top Cuban artists just so he could learn how to be a band leader, Cimafunk has defied all expectations.  In 2019 he became a bonafide international rising star (Billboard's Top 10 Latin Artists to watch in 2019), who is often referred to as the James Brown of Cuba. However, as you will hear, he is so much more! Coming from a loving, proud, and intellectually stimulating family environment and knowing his roots, he understands musical traditions of bygone eras and creates, through his voice, body, and uniquely infectious personality, a fresh new sound. Cimafunk is someone that I hope will inspire you as much as he inspired us all here in Miami! We hope you enjoy the effervescent and loving human that is also one of the greatest showmen and entertainers I personally have had the pleasure to collaborate with. The one and only, Cimafunk. 

Welcome to our very first Episode of Nu Deco Unfiltered, and we are so excited to bring you these in-depth conversations! Our first podcast is with the one and only Sam Hyken. Defined  throughout his life by curiosity, creativity, and a little attitude, Sam Hyken has become a musical force, collaborating with the world's biggest artists on some of the world’s grandest stages. Not only is he CEO of Nu Deco Ensemble, he is also Artistic Director, Co-founder, and the main composer, arranger, and producer of Nu Deco’s diverse musical and media content. He also happens to be my best friend and musical partner on this incredible journey we share.  Today we peel back the curtain on his busy and  prolific output, discover how he transformed from world-class, Juilliard graduate trumpeter, working with orchestras and legendary maestros around the world, to collaborating and writing for contemporary artists such as  Pit Bull, Jacob Collier, and Bad Bunny, to name just a few. We explore his incredible  journey from musician to CEO, the HOW and WHY Nu Deco came to be, the relationship we developed that started 17 years ago, and do a deep musical dive to go behind the arrangement on our latest EP, “Humans vs. Robots,” a symphonic  tribute to Daft Punk.  We hope you enjoy this new endeavor! We are excited to finally share the origin story of Nu Deco, and be inspired by Sam Hyken's unrelenting devotion to creating an orchestra for the future that is relevant and speaks to society today.