In the ever-evolving landscape of today's music industry, Nashville-based independent artist Ron Pope has plotted his own course. Uncompromising and relentless, Pope has evolved into one of the top grossing independent acts in the business while garnering a legion of devoted fans the world over.
Taking the industry-road-less-traveled and holding fiercely to his independence has proven fruitful for Pope; to date, he has sold out shows on three continents and in more than 20 countries, sold over 2 million digital tracks, had over 290 million streams on Spotify, 700 million plays on Pandora, 150 million views on Youtube, and has more generally crushed every metric used to measure what is possible for independent artists.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/bestof13
-His creative origins and how he got to the point he is today as a songwriter and musician.
-His involvement at the inception of “The District.”
-How he writes such a large quantity of songs because he knows that not all of them will be good enough to make a record.
-The belief that if you want to be a songwriter, you just have to sit down, shut up, and write songs.
-How he doesn’t really believe in writer’s block. It is just accepting that some of the stuff you write will be garbage.
-The importance of working harder than everyone else if you want to excel to the highest level of your creative field.
-One of the times that he was having a very difficult time writing a song, and then all of the sudden he was struck with the song in its entirety.
-How doing the hard work every day and getting used to what the work feels like puts you in a better position to capture inspiration and put it into its “physical” form, even in just one take.
-The role that music played in his life when he was younger to make him feel more connected and less alone.
-The profound connection that comes when people play his music during special events.
-How his song “I Do Not Love You” played a special role in Youngman Brown’s life as his first dance at his wedding.
-How art is subjective and it doesn’t matter what the artist thinks about it once the viewer or listener has given it his or her own meaning.
-How hard it is to comprehend large numbers of listenership, and the power that comes from one-on-one connections.
-What he has been up to creating and touring his new album Ron Pope & the Nighthawks.
“That songwriting circle was really the difference for me. If I hadn’t joined that group, I don’t know if I would have been able to become a professional songwriter.”
“I just feel like I’m not good enough to sit down and write ten songs and have all ten of those songs be bangers and have that be the record.”
“For my last album, Ron Pope and the Nighthawks I wrote 150 songs. We recorded 40 of them or so to get to the 11 that we have on the record.”
“Really almost everything is like this. If you want to do it, and you want to do it at a high level, you’re going to have to work harder than everybody else.”
“It was like I got hit by lightning. It was into my brain immediately. The song in my bones just existed. The whole thing. The melody, the lyrics, the chords, the whole thing.”
“You put yourself in a much better position to have chance favor you if you do the right kind of work.”
“It made me excited when I stumbled upon music that made me feel something. It made me feel much less alone.”
“I very rarely share the stories behind my songs because I want you to take them home and make them your stories.”
“It’s still a really powerful feeling to know that whatever you’re creating is a part of people’s lives.”
“For me it’s the singular achievement of my life as an artist.”
“You’re going to have to work hard on something eventually whether it’s something you choose or something that people make you do, so if you have to pick, you might as well work hard at something that you love.”
“It’s worth it to work hard on things that you love.”
Website / iTunes / Spotify / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube
John Wentz : Website / Instagram
Johnny Anomaly is a spoken word poet, author and public speaker who has been entertaining audiences with the emotionally charged storytelling of his life for the past six years.
He is also the creator and host of The Creative Coping Podcast, where he and his guests discuss the trauma that has acted as a catalyst for their creativity.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/329
-How he turned to writing and spoken word poetry after the loss of his son.
-How your greatest ministry will most likely come out of your greatest hurt.
-The way in which his motive changed from wanting to be a rock star to wanting to help other people realize that they are not alone in their difficult situations.
-Getting past the denial phase.
-The importance of producing finished work with the tools that you have.
-Dealing with procrastination.
-His process of creating a spoken word poem.
-How he used ten song titles as the basis for his first album, Inspired by Tragedy.
-The art of sublimation.
-Personifying pain.
-Why he started the Creative Coping Podcast.
-Having an alias.
-The experience of interviewing his wife and daughter.
-How easy Anchor makes it to podcast.
“There’s a lot of healing involved with being able to say what I want to say.”
“I was saying things that probably shouldn’t be said in front of an audience, but I felt that was the way I had to grieve and get things out.”
“You have to personify that pain. Give that pain a face.”
“I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t able to express myself in my writing or in my performance poetry. Oh my gosh. I’d probably kill someone, man.”
“As insignificant or insecure as you may feel, just remember that you have a voice and you are worth being heard.”
Dare To Be Different with Nevaeh LeBoeuf
Marriage & Mental Health with Jammie LaBoeuf
YCP Ep. 325 w/ Alisa Kennedy Jones
Creative Coping Podcast / iTunes / Spotify / Soundcloud / Instagram
John Wentz : Website / Instagram
Andrew Tischler is an artist from New Zealand who has been a professional artist for the last fifteen years. He was born in the United States and moved to Australia when he was 10 years old, where he studied his craft for more than twenty years.
In 2019, he and his wife Rachel will be opening their gallary, Tischler & Co Studio Gallery.
-How his father encouraged him to pursue art when he was young.
-Growing up in the United States, New Zealand and Australia.
-How there is beauty everywhere and it is just about having the eyes to see it.
-Dealing with introversion.
-How his father had time for only his art and his family.
-How his wife has allowed him to accept himself and to also flourish into who he needs to be.
-The way in which we distract ourselves from the things we are supposed to focused on.
-How we are all here for a purpose or a calling.
-The way in which we are being raised to be cogs in a machine (and why people feel like they don’t fit into that system).
-The incredible power of the internet and social media for artists or anyone who wants to share a creative message.
-The importance of writing down goals in all aspects of your life and referring to them every day.
-His issues with anger in the past and how he has conquered it as of late.
-The ways in which you can distract yourself with goals that aren’t aligned with the things you actually need.
-Taking the life philosophies of the thought leaders you admire and plugging them into your own life where they fit.
-How he flags certain aspects of life (like the news and negativity) as distractions that are trying to keep him off of his mission.
“People have more power than they give themselves credit for.”
“Get on with it. Do it now. Don’t wait. Stop the excuses. You can do something small, now.”
“We’re slowly being prepared to be these cogs in a machine, and I feel like that’s why people feel like they don’t fit with the current paradigm. They’re punching in and punching out.”
“I was already a professional artist for twelve years before I started my YouTube channel, and I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner.”
“I think it’s time that we dispel that myth that we need to suffer.”
Why Beauty Matters? - Roger Scruton
Painting Outdoors in Paradixe - EPIC EN PLEIN AIR
The Creative Endeavor - Ep. 3 - Dr. Demartini
Website / Shop / YouTube / Facebook / Instagram
Johnny Anomaly : Podcast / Facebook / Instagram
Vanessa Vakharia is the Founder and CEO of The Math Guru, a boutique math and science tutoring studio in Toronto with a unique approach that works - like actually!
She is also the co-founder of Goodnight, Sunrise, an indie-rock-and-roll-superfun-party band based in Toronto, Canada.
Vanessa is also the author of Math Hacks, which is designed for kids (and their parents) struggling with math anxiety and looking for a new approach to homework, studying, tests and marks.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/327
-How her life started when she failed math twice.
-The way in which we define ourselves as “good” or “bad” at something and then live that narrative.
-How her tutoring organically grew into The Math Guru.
-How the focus should be in doing something new, creative and enjoyable as opposed to profitable.
-The power in outsourcing.
-Her realization that taking the time to get to one of her pursuits must come from one of her other endeavors.
-Taking a Time Inventory.
-Her lifelong dream of becoming a singer and the stumbling blocks along the way.
-How one man called her “the worst singer he had ever heard,” and how she took it as a positive.
-Growing immune to rejection and how that allows her to try for crazier opportunities.
-How anything is possible, but getting small examples of that for yourself as proof.
-Her take on the experience of opening for Bon Jovi and all of the synchronicities involved.
-The story behind her book, Math Hacks.
“Where I am today started with this grand failure.”
“It takes a lot for someone who is ambitious to realize that part of what needs to happen is slowing down a little, but also being creative and outsourcing.”
“I’ve always liked being underestimated because it gives me the opportunity to surprise them later.”
“It’s all about mindset. Cultivate a mind that is a hotbed for creative magic because it’s so full of possibility.”
“None of the things associated with failure are as bad and scary as never trying to achieve your dreams. That’s the scariest thing.”
“The hustle is in your control. The luck isn’t. You’re trying to get to that perfect pinnacle where the two meet and you’ve done everything you can to take advantage of the lucky moment.”
Math Hacks: Cool Tips + Less Stress = Better Marks by Vanessa Vakharia
The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight
Jia Jiang: What I learned from 100 days of rejection | TED Talk
The Math Guru / Instagram / Spotify / iTunes
Andrew Tischler : Website / YouTube / Instagram