Where Are All My Friends | Discovering Creative Careers with Inspiring Entrepreneurs

Simon Crahan is the drummer of the band Vended. This episode was recorded at a monumental part of his career, where he was about to leave for the band's first ever proper tour! In addition to that, we talk about where Vended draws inspiration and what the evolution of the band's sound has been, new music to come, and so much more.

I'm genuinely stoked to see his career grow and it was an honor to do his first podcast with him. If you liked this one, do us a massive favor and share the episode with a friend!

Timestamps:

3:17 - Who is Simon Crahan

4:08 - His band Vended 

7:26 - When He Started Playing Drums

17:45 - What Inspired The Vended Sound

27:05 - Touring

34:16 - New Music

36:00 - How COVID Affected the Band

54:00 - Being Confident in Your Craft

Simon Crahan: @simon_crahan

Vended: @vended_official

Andrew Cramb: @andrew_ftw

Produced & Edited by - Deanna Elise: @deannaelxse

Bonus Patreon Content: https://www.patreon.com/whereareallmyfriends

Joe DiSanto joins this week to talk "Personal Finance 101". In this episode we cover how to start tracking your own personal finances and how to level up and get a basic understanding of the entire subject. His website www.playlouder.com is all about investing, personal finance, and retirement that does a great job explaining all sorts of technical details on all of these topics.

If you like the podcast and want to learn more, definitely go check out his site. There's a ton of useful free knowledge there. And if you want to do us a massive favor, share this episode with a friend who would also like it!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

3:00 - A quick rundown of personal finance

5:00 - Starting a production company in LA (Therapy Studios)

10:00 - Learning to manage business finances from the foundation of personal finance

12:45 - The basics of finance

13:30 - When should you start tracking your finances?

16:45 - Losing money every year by not investing

18:00 - Tracking, Saving, Investing, and ultimately achieving financial independence

23:40 - What platform should you use to track your finance?

26:30 - The “Three Pillars to Financial Independence”

32:30 - Tips on paying off debt / Good debt vs. bad debt

35:00 - What percentage should you target to save?

36:30 - Where should someone start to build a solid foundation to understanding personal finance?

42:15 - Where can everyone find you and additional resources?

43:30 - Plan out your life. Set your goals.

Joe DiSanto:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PlayLouder

Website: https://www.playlouder.com

Andrew Cramb: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew_ftw

Produced & Edited by - Deanna Elise: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deannaelxse

Where Are All My Friends Podcast:

Bonus Patreon Content: https://www.patreon.com/whereareallmyfriends

Kevin Romar is a professional skateboarder and a DJ. He tours with Hopsin and produces his own music as well. We talk about the parallels of going on tour as a professional skateboarder and as an artist, along with how important it is to be unique and have a personal brand. He also shares an inside look on his upcoming new brand World Premiere.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

3:20 - Who is Kevin Romar

4:34 - Touring

5:09 - Discovering What He Wanted to DJ

7:56 - Becoming a Resident DJ

9:21 - Good DJ vs Bad DJ

10:33 - Blackbar & Meeting Hopsin

12:26 - Going on Tour With Hopsin

16:20 - Difference Between DJing & Pro-Skating

18:09 - Skate Tour vs Music Tour

22:46 - Becoming a Pro-Skateboarders Is Not Easy

27:44 - Going Pro

32:25 - How Romar Brands Himself

38:00 - Romar’s Artist Project

41:04 - You Have to Full Send Life

42:49 - World Premiere

47:50 - Romar’s Positive Mindset

54:49 - Romar’s Advice

Kevin Romar: @kevinromar

World Premiere: @WorldPremiereBrand

Andrew Cramb: @andrew_ftw

Produced & Edited by - Deanna Elise: @deannaelxse

Bonus Patreon Content: https://www.patreon.com/whereareallmyfriends

Nathan James is a photographer / rockstar which is a combo that you don’t hear all too often. He’s had an extremely successful career as a photographer. Having worked with artists like Lil Wayne, Justin Bieber, shooting Machine Gun Kelly's album cover and so much more.

He’s now working on his own artist project and it’s GOOD! And that’s exactly what we talked about on this podcast episode. He shares how he grew to be such a successful photographer, then how he took everything he learned to set himself up for success with his artist project.

I specifically loved this episode because I think a lot of creatives out there want to do more than just one thing or have multiple talents, but finding a way to do both isn’t always easy. Nathan shares great advice on exactly that. Enjoy!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

2:23 - When He Decided to Pursue Music & Photography

6:20 - Getting into Photography

12:26 - His First Paid Shoot for Mac Miller

18:00 - Shooting for Brands

19:13 - Developing His Sound

20:43 - A Tidal Wave of New Rock Coming

22:45 - You Don’t Need to Rely on a Band Anymore

27:08 -  Full Send to California

31:47 - Working with Lil Wayne, Gucci, Justin Bieber

33:56 - Having a Career as an Artist is Tough

35:20 - Focusing on His Artistic Style

36:29 - Nathan James “Photographer Rockstar”

39:46 - Photography Giving Him a Leg Up In the Industry

42:30 - His Process Creating Music

45:30 - Know Your Strengths & Let Others Play Their Role

47:51 - Independent vs Team

Nathan James:

IG: @thatsnathanjames

Spotify: Here

Andrew Cramb:

IG: @andrew_ftw

Produced & Edited by - Deanna Elise:

IG: @deannaelxse

Where Are All My Friends Podcast:

Bonus Patreon Content: Here

Subscribe: Here

Alexa Villareal is a Social Media Specialist at Spotify, however her story is even cooler than her job title. She got her start as a teen running a fan account, and quickly learned how to leverage her love of music and understanding of communities into very valuable skills in the music industry that she shares on this podcast.

If you liked this episode do me the biggest favor and share it with a friend!

Alexa Villareal: @alexavilla

Andrew Cramb: @andrew_ftw

Produced & Edited By - Deanna Elise: @deannaelxse

Where Are All My Friends Podcast: Bonus Patreon Content: https://www.patreon.com/whereareallmyfriends

Ed Walker is the VP of Original Content & Production at Vevo. He joins the podcast this week to teach you how to get better music video engagement no matter what budget you're working with and so much more!

If this episode helped you out, please do me the biggest favor and share it with someone else who would enjoy it as well!

Timestamps:

2:30 - Ed’s Early Days

4:40 - Freelancing to Event Production

8:00 - Adapting the Path & Stumbling Upon Vevo

11:00 - What Ed Does at Vevo Now

14:50 - Working Closely with Mega Stars (Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, The Weekend)

18:00 - Artist Should Be “Maximizing Every Opportunity”

21:45 - The Future of Live Performance

31:45 - Vevo Taking Visuals to the Next Level

35:40 - Evolution & Importance of Vevo

39:50 - How to Make Your Visual Content Better

46:10 - Making the Most With What You Have

Ed Walker: @ed__walker

Vevo: https://www.youtube.com/vevo

Andrew Cramb: @andrew_ftw

Produced & Edited By - Deanna Elise: @deannaelxse

Where Are All My Friends Podcast: Bonus Patreon Content: https://www.patreon.com/whereareallmyfriends

Gordy comes from the world of music and touring in bands, then went all in as an artist and creative director and has an incredibly successful career since doing so. In addition, he's an all around rad dude with a super inspiring story!

My favorite part of his story is his genuine love of creating and non-stop pursuit to push himself to do exactly that on the biggest level possible.

I hope this podcast inspires you to do that as well!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro to Gordyland

4:25 - Roots and Community in Music

9:40 - Early Days in Music

12:50 - Starting a band with ModSun

17:18 - Designing Merch for His Band and Others

20:46 - Quitting the Band for Art School

22:11 - Don’t Compromise Your Dreams

27:00 - Using Your Time to Be Better

32:28 - Don’t Give Into Fears & Money

35:46 - Did Art School Help?

41:30 - Working at a Corporate Agency

43:28 - Reconnecting with ModSun

50:00 - ModSun, Bear, MGK Friendship

59:16 - Girl Skateboards

1:03:52 - Always Aim High for the Dream Job

1:06:45 - Conquering Self Doubt

1:10:05 - Gordy’s Next Big Dream

Gordyland: @gordyland

Andrew Cramb: @andrew_ftw

Produced & Edited By - Deanna Elise: @deannaelxse

Where Are All My Friends Podcast:

Bonus Patreon Content: https://www.patreon.com/whereareallmyfriends

Subscribe: Here

Will Tenney is the head of Streaming Strategy and Promotion at Crush Music, he was the co-founder of Sun Pop Records out of NYC and currently plays in the alternative band EXIT.  In this episode we take a deep dive into the current state of music streaming and promotion in 2021 and what the best practices artists and industry can use to stand out amongst so much noise.  Will also shares his come up story of playing in bands at a very early age, to co-founding a record label and so much more. I really loved this one. Will is a great friend of mine and shared so much knowledge in this one! If you like it, do us a massive favor and share it online or with anyone you know that would like it!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

4:34 - Who is Will Tenney

9:20 - Finding His Passion for Music

18:30 - Starting His First Band

26:50 - After College & Escaping His Bank Job

33:04 - How to Start A Record Label

41:50 - Becoming A Part of Crush Music

50:21 - Algorithmic Returns Over Playlisting

59:00 - The Power of Building a Community

1:03:32 - What the Industry Is Looking For In An Artist

1:07:09 - An Email Will Would Respond To

1:12:58 - Will’s Advice

Will Tenney: @callme_will

EXIT: @weare_exit

Andrew Cramb: @andrew_ftw

Produced & Edited by - Deanna Elise: @deannaelxse

Where Are All My Friends Podcast:

Bonus Patreon Content: https://www.patreon.com/whereareallmyfriends

Website: https://www.whereareallmyfriends.com

Shane Told is the singer of Silverstein and the host of the Lead Singer Syndrome podcast.

He joins this week to talk about the early days of Silverstein and the specific moments he remembers of the band having success and “making it”.

Then we talk about Lead Singer Syndrome and what it actually takes to keep a podcast going for 6+ years!

If you listened all the way to the end of the podcast, you know we made a joke about how much we hate writing these damn descriptions. If you’re actually reading this right now, DM me and I will legit mail you WAAMF stickers for free as a thank you haha!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

1:45 - Loving what you do

5:15 - Early influences in music & podcasting

10:00 - How Silverstein stays ahead of the curve

14:50 - Be authentic

21:30 - The evolution of Silverstein’s writing process

23:00 - Did you have a specific “Wow, we made it!” Moment with the band?

30:00 - The golden era of a music scene

36:40 - How did you get started with podcasting and Lead Singer Syndrome?

43:45 - What Lead Singer Syndrome looks like 6 years into doing it

47:25 - What lessons have you learned after interviewing so many artists?

54:45 - What intangible benefits has the podcast brought you?

1:01:00 - What it actually takes to keep a podcast going

1:10:15 - Where can everyone find you?

Shane Told: @shanetold

Silverstein: @Silverstein

Lead Singer Syndrome: @LeadSingerSyndrome

Andrew Cramb: @andrew_ftw

Produced & Edited by - Deanna Elise: @deannaelxse

Where Are All My Friends:

Bonus Patreon Content: https://www.patreon.com/whereareallmyfriends

Kenji shares the steps he's taken to successfully promote himself as an artist in 2021. We break it down and talk a ton of specifics like how to target and reach your ideal fanbase, then how to build real meaningful connections and how important that is. He also breaks down in detail the steps he took to get signed to help anyone else out there do the same.

If this episode helps you, do me a massive favor and share it with someone else you know that will like it!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

2:35 - Who is Okay! Kenji 

3:04 - OG Fan of the Podcast 

8:00 - The Artist Journey

15:25 - Getting Signed is Easy

16:42 - Overvaluing Connections

22:30 - Facebook Ads Are a Game Changer

26:10 - Less is More for Social Media

28:37 - Targeting Your Fans and Audience

33:50 - Using Discord to Engage With Fans

40:00 - Easy Doesn’t Mean Not Hard Work

41:15 - Staying Focused on Three Things

43:18 - What Inspired the Discord

46:20 - Community Over Traffic

52:00 - What’s Next

OKAY! Kenji: @okaykenji

Andrew Cramb: @andrew_ftw

Produced & Edited by - Deanna Elise: @deannaelxse

Where Are All My Friends:

Bonus Patreon Content: https://www.patreon.com/whereareallmyfriends

Website: https://www.whereareallmyfriends.com

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