LISTEN TO THE PODCAST NOW

WHO?

Alex Gibson is a Artist, Producer, Mixer, Engineer and Brand Developer. He has worked with some of the biggest names in music,  including Ringo Starr, Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Sting, and Bon Jovi, as well as other talents such as Stuart Davis and Echo Echo.  The production teams he has been a part of have been responsible for sales of over 25 million albums worldwide. He has worked with brands like Nike, Volvo, Apple and HBO in various capacities.

Alex began his journey in Florida and made his way to Los Angeles via Boston where he studied at Berklee College of Music. He started off in LA as a staff engineer at A&M Studios and stayed with the facility as it made the transition to Henson Recording Studios, where he eventually became the Chief Engineer.

We were connected by drummer Blair Sinta, who saw that we were both in a similar place in life and might have some things in common. In this interview we talk about his path to making records and what it takes to get something productive out of an artist. We also talk about the transition he is making from the music industry to points unknown.

The week I spoke to him, he was in the middle of producing local artists, mixing a band from Russia, building a website for a venture capitalist, scoring a short film, and helping someone build a social media app.

I am really excited to have Alex on the podcast for two reasons:

1. He has a deep passion for music and helping artists craft their vision to create the most authentic expression possible.
2. He has been at the heart of a seismic shift in the musical economy and having seen both sides, is trying to imagine what come next.

 

IN THIS EPISODE:

• What it was like to get to work with his heroes
• Why he was blown away by Stuart Davis
• How the d.school at Stanford has inspired him
• The triggers and signs that are leading him to make a shift
• How learning about psychology helped him in the studio

DISCOVERY QUOTE:

“If you’re going to get something productive out that artist, that’s useful to other people, there needs to be a relationship ”

CONNECT WITH ALEX:

ALEXGIBSON.NAME |  TWITTER 

DISCOVER MORE:

Listen on Soundcloud

BOOKS AND RESOURCES

Berklee College of Music

Henson Recording Studios

Gabe Dixon Band

Stuart Davis

Pedestrian

d.school of Design

Wikipedia

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW:

Discover The Road can be delivered to your device of choice whenever a new episode is released.

   

 

And if you are enjoying the show please do me a huge favor and leave an honest review on iTunes. Reviews help the show grow and allow the stories to reach more people. Leave A Review Here.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST NOW

WHO?

Chris Schwab is an independent filmmaker who grew up in North Carolina and started making his own films in high school. He has since moved to Los Angeles and made two feature films, Look Closer and Neither Day Nor Night, as well as a number of shorts.

His early exposure to Martin Scorsese’s Goodfella’s left a deep impression on him and he has been learning and growing as a filmmaker ever since.

His latest film Look Closer has just won Best Narrative Feature at the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival and was also an official selection at the Cape Fear Independent Film Festival.

When I was looking for someone to create the trailers for my book he was the first person I called.  I have also had the pleasure of working with Chris to help him craft the sound mix for both of these features.
I asked Chris to be on the Podcast for two reasons.

1. Because he is able to imagine something he wants to create and regardless of the obstacles before him, money, time,  or resources, he seems to have a way of making it happen.
2. He is one of the kindest, most down to earth people I have ever met.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• How realizing his comic book skills were not what he had hoped they would be lead him to discover his passion for making films
• Why he studies great filmmakers like Scorsese and Orson Wells
• How he was able to steal shots at the Hunger Games premiere
• What it was like to survive a storm on a boat while crossing Cape Fear

DISCOVERY QUOTE:

“One thing that  I like about filmmaking is that it can take you to these places that maybe you wouldn’t have gone to before “.

CONNECT WITH CHRIS:

LOOK CLOSER MOVIE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | YOU LUCKY DOG

DISCOVER MORE:

Listen on Soundcloud

BOOKS AND RESOURCES

Scorsese on Scorsese
This is Orson Wells
GoodFellas
Die Hard
Video CoPilot
Andrew Kramer on Twitter

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW:

Discover The Road can be delivered to your device of choice whenever a new episode is released.

   

 

And if you are enjoying the show please do me a huge favor and leave an honest review on iTunes. Reviews help the show grow and allow the stories to reach more people. Leave A Review Here.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST NOW

 

WHO?

Michelle Carmen Gomez is an artist who combines her passion for art, photography, and fashion into a unique brand called aboutMichelle. Tommy Landau, founder of the Museum of Contemporary Art, described her work  “…like Warhol,without the cynicism…”.

Michelle began her journey in a small town in Texas and eventually moved to Los Angeles to work in the film industry,  but it was her work as a tutor that eventually led her to pursue life as an artist. Seeing those she worked with change in an instant made her realize that we all have the same capacity and since that time she has continued to explore and re-invent herself.

Her brand aboutMichelle also has a non-profit component where a group goes into targeted cities and takes shots that will later be printed on clothing items and sold worldwide to benefit a charity in the area where the photos were taken.

Michelle has pitched a show to the Oprah Network, run a magazine, and each new idea seems to flow from the last and unfold organically for her. This organic feeling extends to the variety of media she chooses to work with – wood, canvas, tin, clothing and more.

I asked Michelle to be on the Podcast for two reasons.

1. The use of color in her paintings. Stark black and white images. And the use of symbolism in all of these have made me a huge fan of her work.
2. She is a vivid and dynamic example of what it takes to continually be open to what the universe has in store.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Walking onto the Paramount lot and  getting a job that day
• What her students have meant to her
• How she stays open
• What she does before she opens her eyes in the morning
• Why art should be fun
• How she creates timeless images

DISCOVERY QUOTE:

“It’s this crazy dance, you know, you have to kind of decide, what you can control, what to let go of, what to hold on to and what to meditate on”.

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE:

ABOUTMICHELLE.COM | TWITTER |PINTEREST

DISCOVER MORE:

Listen on Soundcloud

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW:

Discover The Road can be delivered to your device of choice whenever a new episode is released.

   

 

And if you are enjoying the show please do me a huge favor and leave an honest review on iTunes. Reviews help the show grow and allow the stories to reach more people. Leave A Review Here.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST NOW

 

WHO?

Luke Adams is a composer, producer, drummer, and history buff. He has a new band called Luke and Laura  and is also the founder of a music production house called Handsome Music. As a drummer Luke has toured with artists like Pete Yorn and Lenka and as a composer he has crafted music for major clients such as Applebees, NASCAR, and Pizza Hut.

When he is not in musicmaking mode he is avid student of military history. In this interview we talk about his early days in New Jersey, going to music school,  setting up shop in Los Angeles and more.

I asked Luke to be on the Podcast for two reasons.

1. He has been able to carve out a life for himself on his own terms and is constantly learning and experimenting.
2. Luke is one of the most real and upfront people I know. He is willing to speak his mind and is not afraid to have an opinion.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Growing up in New Jersey
• How having a  father who never wanted him to be a musician drove him to succeed
• Why music school may not be for everyone
• What small victories can lead to
• Why he doesn’t read fiction but can slog through Winston Churchill’s six volume account of WWII

DISCOVERY QUOTE:

“It’s really incredible what you can accomplish if you just get out of your own way.”  – click to tweet!

CONNECT WITH LUKE:

TWITTER | HANDSOME MUSIC | LUKE AND LAURA

DISCOVER MORE:

 LISTEN ON SOUNDCLOUD

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW:

Discover The Road can be delivered to your device of choice whenever a new episode is released.

   

 

And if you are enjoying the show please do me a huge favor and leave an honest review on iTunes. Reviews help the show grow and allow the stories to reach more people. Leave A Review Here.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST NOW

 

WHO?

Rob Benedict is an accomplished actor with a long list of television and film credits. You may recognize him from his work on shows like Felicity, Supernatural and Alias. He has guest starred on The Mentalist, NCIS: Los Angeles, CSI, House and many more.  His film credits include Waiting, A Little Help, State of Play and Not Another Teen Movie.

At the 2013 Comic-Con in San Diego he debuted a short film that he wrote, produced and starred in called The Sidekick. The film has an amazing cast that includes Ron Livingston, Jordan Peele, Lizzy Caplan, Martin Starr and more. The story centers around the life of an out of work sidekick as he contemplates what to do next.

Rob is also the frontman for the band Louden Swain, whose first few records I had the pleasure of working on. (They will always have a soft spot in my heart because I had just come back from tracking bass with them the night my first son was born!!). Their 5th full length album Sky Alive has just been released.

Last year at a Supernatural convention in Toronto Rob had a stroke caused by a tear in his carotid artery and in this interview he talks candidly about what it was like to recover.

I asked Rob to be on the Podcast for two reasons.

1. Rob and I have know each other for 15 years and his recent stroke and my own brain tumor reconnected us.
2. Rob has always been such a genuine spirit and I was curious to talk to him about how the recent bump in his road has impacted his journey as an actor and familyman.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Growing up in the Midwest
• His first wall on the path to becoming an actor
• The role as a half plant/half person that never panned out
• Re-Leaning how to say words
• What is meant to him to find the love of his life early in his journey

DISCOVERY QUOTE:

“Stay in the now and be okay with yourself, be okay that no matter where you are, that’s where it’s at.”  – click to tweet!

CONNECT WITH ROB:

TWITTER | SIDEKICK MOVIE | LOUDEN SWAIN

DISCOVER MORE:

Northwestern University

IMDB

Listen on Soundcloud

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW:

Discover The Road can be delivered to your device of choice whenever a new episode is released.

   

 

And if you are enjoying the show please do me a huge favor and leave an honest review on iTunes. Reviews help the show grow and allow the stories to reach more people. Leave A Review Here.