Blind Melon’s Guitarist Christopher Thorn | He Who Hustles the Most Gets to the Top

Audio Transcription

Where were you in the year? 1993 when the hit band, blind melon released their hit song No rain. Well, I remember it like it was a Tuesday, but it was on a Thursday and I could sense of fog on the Arkansas river yet I was inside and I was taking a shower and then the salt was played on my shower radio

and as I was cleaning my body, I realized that this song called no rain was being heard for the first time while in a shower, and then I was abducted by an alien named Mike Johnson and tickets to the planet of all drawn to meet their leader. The blind melon.

Well, thankfully today’s guest remembers the release of his song very differently. You see, Christopher thorn was actually a guitarist in the group. Blind melon’s Christopher Thorn. Yes. Today’s guest is a guitarist blind melon’s christopher Thorn, and he is in the group blind melon. He continues to thrive and survive as a producer, a songwriter, and I am honored to have him on today’s show.

yes, yes, yes. And yes. Thrive nation. On today’s show, we are joined with none other than blind melon’ Christopher thorn. Welcome onto the thrive time show. How are you sir?

I’ll do them. Great. Thank you very much.

Hey, I have to ask you, I know our listeners want to know, tell us the story behind the name. Blind Melon.

Oh boy, that’s an old one. Well, you know, we were getting a record deal and we had a bunch of terrible names and it came down to just the last kind of minute. It was like we’re sending the contract over and we needed name. So, um, at the last second, um, Brad was like, Oh, my dad used to call his friends blind melons and it was such a last minute thing. We’re like, okay, great. Yeah, sure. That’ll be the name. And it was, it was, it was a, it was kind of that simple. Honestly.

Now you have been in this group, how many years now have you been in the, in, in the group? How long have you guys been doing the blind melon thing?

Well, I guess we got a record deal 91 but I met Shannon and probably 89 I would say maybe 89. Nine yeah. Yeah, I probably met him 89 90 and then we got a deal in 91.

So how long were you guys jamming and garages and gigging around before you felt like you were starting to get some traction?

I tell you what, man, it happened really fast for us. And um, you know, I felt guilty for saying it, but we had never, we didn’t even play one live show. We did. I think we had a three song demo tape, uh, just a four track demo tape that we did in rehearsal space and then got into the hands of this attorney named Dennis rider. And from that point, it just immediately we had like a ton of record companies that wanted to sign us. And then like maybe a few months later, Shannon coincidentally sings on all the guns and roses, you know, on the guns and roses record and then, uh, goes on until like, you know, performed with them. He’s in the video for dope cry. And then we just, I mean it was just like every record company in town wanted to sign us. So we wound up going with Capitol. So honestly we, we hadn’t played one live show and it happened really fast for us, you know.

So you um, when did you realize like, Hey, this is going to be something I want to pursue as a career and we have so many entrepreneurs who listen to this show. A lot of musicians recently we’ve had a lot of guests from the song land, a hit TV show on the show. Talk to me about, yeah,

favorite TV show by the way,

isn’t real. I went to college with Ryan Tedder and he performed@ourweddingandhefilledinforalastminutehellgigwithoneofmydjcompaniesihadbackinthedaycalleddjconnection.com so Ryan was right across the hall.

That is incredible because I’m like the biggest ride fan as a songwriter. I’m like, I study that guy. That guy’s a genius man. I love that guy.

Yeah. When he said that he was going, I remember he used to call the back of CDs, you know they have that customer service help line. He used to call the customer service line on the back of CDs and kind of go in through the complaint line and somehow work his way through the labyrinth and get on the phone with people about an internship.

That’s amazing.

And he actually landed an internship in Nashville and he worked at the a pottery barn while he was interning for free with, for Timberland, for Timberland, all that kind of stuff. And then at one point I remember he told me, he said, I’m going to be singing the hook on the song. She tried a featuring Bubba Sparxxx I’m going to be on there. And I remember a lot of guys on college are like going, who’s Bubba sparks? What’s happening? And he was working with like Jackie Velasquez and all these kind of, you know, kind of obscure or artists maybe used to be big or that were on the verge of being big and they went too late to apologize. Came out, man. Has his whole life a change? Do you have a certain, do you have a favorite? Uh, did you like one Republic’s music or do you like just the songs he writes or I’d love to tap into your, where your interest lies.

I would say all the above, but you know, you know, I mean, I think one more public is incredible. I mean, you know, their songs are just, you know, amazing. But I just love all the work he’s done with all the other people. The fact that he can jump around and you see him on the show and he’s just, you know, he’s just the most wicked on the show. It’s amazing. I mean, he just, I felt like he just dominates all the time. He just, it’s amazing to see him fix. And I mean, it’s what I do every day. So it’s fun to watch me. It’s fun for me to watch somebody else do it at such an incredible level like he does. So, um,

let’s, let’s go there. Let’s go there. I want to go there for a second. Can you explain what you do on a daily basis? Could, you just said he’s kind of doing what you do on a daily basis and for folks who maybe haven’t seen the show or haven’t, you know, got into your world before, what is it that you do on a daily basis now?

You know, I mean, I’ve been producing for, you know, the last 30 years, so, you know, you know, that’s a lot of my day is, you know, you’re working with somebody and you’re, you know, you’re working on a song and you’re always just trying to, you know, you’re looking under every rock, you’re just trying to make the song the best. So it’s, it’s just, and it’s, there’s a bit of magic and a bit of mystery involved too. It’s not just, you know, it’s not Lego’s. You don’t just put them together and there you go. There’s a hit song, there’s a little bit of magic involved. So I just love the, you know, I love trying to find that, you know, trying to find that moment that just makes the song come to life and that’s what the show kind of shows a little bit of in a cool way. And I’ve never seen that before in TV, so it’s, um, it’s just, it’s great to watch, like all of those songwriters are doing it at such a high level. They know immediately what’s wrong with the song and they could fix it. That’s what I do every day, you know what I mean?

Okay. Who are some of the artists that you have had the opportunity to work with throughout your career at this point?

Well, um, you know, AWOL nation has the big hit sale that I, you know, produced and played guitar on and cool. Um, there was a girl named Anna and now like with a big song called breathe. Yeah, that was a big hit a few years ago. And, um, um, or you know, I’ve played in the band live for a little bit. I mean, I’ve jumped all around, you know what I mean? Um, but, uh, you know, there’s, there’s just a bunch of people, I just, you know, that’s what I do. I’m always kind of working with an artist. So where else I develop artists a lot and get them record deals. I’ve done that quite a bit as well.

Well, let’s, can we, I’d like to, if a kid, a lot of our listeners, I’m a big fan of music, but some of our listeners maybe, um, let’s assume that our, there, our average listener likes to listen to music but doesn’t understand how it comes together. Why are most songs on the radio three and a half minutes long, three minutes long, that kind of thing?

Yeah, yeah. I don’t, I don’t know why, why it came down to that, that amount, you know, that amount. But, uh, you know, that that is sort of sort of a standard. But I tell you what a great song is a great song. And there are plenty of, you know, four and a half minutes songs on the radio cause they’re just fantastic. You know. Um, but I don’t know why that originally started, but uh, it does help you be conscious of it if you’re going for the record. I mean there’s two ways of making records. If you’re going for the radio, that’s one thing. If you’re not, then you can do whatever you want and, and you know, you’re a little more free, but the radio does have, uh, you know, it has some limitations in the sense that, you know, you have to work within some of those guidelines. Certain things just don’t work at radio. And you have to know that if you want to go to radio, you kind of have to know that, well that’s just not going to work at radio. You know. I mean now pop radio, I mean, when’s the last time you heard a real drummer pop radio? I don’t even know. It’s been a long time, you know?

Yeah. Tell me, tell me this

different things. So certainly

tell me this [inaudible]

we have a lot of listeners out there that, uh, like to produce music or are aspiring musicians. Okay. And let’s just say that you had, you had a listener out there that has $10,000, right? 10,000 bucks and they want to record something. They have a good voice, let’s say. Okay, let’s go off the assumption they have a good voice, right? Maybe they can play keys, some piano, and they’ve got 10 grand. What’s the best Mike? They should start. If we give me 10 grand for the total budget, what’s the Mike that you’d say, this is a good Mike. A solid Mike that everybody should have is a foundational Mike, if you’re getting into the music production game, well, I tell you this man for $10,000 like you don’t have to spend that much on a mic. I mean, they make so many amazing mikes these days. There’s a thing called an SM seven. It’s a $300 Mike, and you see that used all over the place. It’s wild. It’s, it’s, I see it in every studio and I see people singing through it all the time. And many times there may be a $15,000 Mike sitting in the room, but many times that SM seven, it’s a Shure SM seven, $300 microphone many times, many times. That’s the one that just speaks through the mix the best. And uh, lots of singers use that one. So,

so $400, 400. So we’ve spent 400 right now we’ve got 9,600 left. What should we be producing our music on? Are you recommending, um, should we use like a Adobe products? Would you say? No, no, we got to go pro tools. What would you use?

No, if you have, if you have, you know, that much money you could get yourself. Uh, you know, there’s a great thing called the Apollo. The universal audio makes an amazing, uh, portable unit. I have two systems. I have my main rig, which is in my main studio, which is like a big protal system. But I also travel with a laptop in this thing called the Apollo that I’m talking about. And it’s amazing. I made, you know, half of the new Greg Dooley record, uh, from the Afghan wigs. I worked on his record and we did half of it in his house just with my laptop on my little system. So that’s an amazing system that you can get in for, you know, a couple of grand, you gotta go buy a computer and, um, you know, between those two things, within that box that I’m telling you, has so many, um, tools that you would need to, to make a record.

So the Apollo’s on that laptop to the Apollo, is that like a $2,000 thing or what does that, what does that thing cost?

Yeah, the, you know what the Apollo is like 1600 bucks. And then I think it comes with pro tools. You know, he comes with the license for pro tools. So you got that, you get a computer for another thousand bucks and um, you know, and a couple of microphones, you know, you’re good to go.

What’s the difference between like annoyment Mike, you know, in, in like an SM seven B or you know, for the listeners out there that aren’t familiar, I just want to tell you, you know, this stuff,

I mean, there are, I mean, they’re both great, but here’s, here’s the thing. Norman was sort of the, you know, the standard came out of Germany and they made some of the most amazing microphones that are still in studios today. And some of them have been around since, you know, the late, um, that’s him. Seven is a newer company. But I tell you what, the other microphone that I would suggest for somebody if they had one, you know, if they wanted to buy one, grab my twos. There’s annoyment one Oh five is the other microphone and it’s a handheld microphone. And, um, but that’s about six, 700 bucks. But that’s, that’s another great microphone that you, uh, that you, that you see around a bunch as well.

So let’s say now that I’ve, I’ve got the equipment, okay, let’s, let’s, let’s, let’s assume that I actually have talent. That’s a big assumption. Let’s say I do, and let’s say I’m writing a song, verse, chorus, verse, chorus. Do I have to have a bridge? Do I have to have an amplified chorus? What’s kind of the most common formula for pop music?

I judge all songwriters by their bridge. You do? So yes, you do have better bridge. I mean, you know, that’s, you know, when people aren’t writing great bridges, it means they just haven’t gotten to the next level of summer because it’s hard. You write a song, you come up with a verse, you come up with a chorus, you have to come up with another verse again, you know, you keep the chorus the same. And many times you know, people cop out for the bridge, you know, but you go back and listen to those Beatles records and you know, great, great songwriters have exceptional bridges. So I judge all songwriters on, on what sort of bridge they are. They are, they’re writing. That’s my little secret judgment that I do.

No, I’m not going to put you on blast to make you name the best bridge in the world right now. But if you think about one Republic or I know you’ve played for a while there with live or, or blind melon or you’re a fan of music, you liked the Beatles, there’s a lot of groups you like there. Um, do you have a specific, um, you know, a specific bridge you might point to or a few songs where you go that right there is a beautiful bridge.

Oh boy. That’s a tough one, right Ray in the mind. But I’ll tell you one of my favorites is the stone song. Um, and of course I won’t be able to think of the title, but Oh God, the bridge is so good. It’s on, it’s an next on main street. Uh, um, spill the beans til Don. He says something about stoicism. You know what I’m saying? Oh, loving cup loving cup has just such an amazing bridge. It’s just so, it’s just great. But the guy, there’s millions. I could, you know that I could if I had a minute to think about,

no, sure. Yeah, it does. It was like picking your brain

good about it. Next time you’re listening to a song. See if they cop out, are they just going to like, Oh we’re just going to play the verse again and someone’s going to do a guitar solo or are they going to add to the story? That’s why it’s the sign of a great songwriter. Because you know, that bridge is there for you to sort of help, you know, carve out your, your book that you’re making. You know what I mean? Your storyline, your movie that you’re writing, you know, so, and it’s a different take at it. That’s what’s so great about a bridge as it could be a different perspective and things like that. So, um, yeah, check it out the next time, you know, check out, check out great bridges and you’ll, you’ll go, Oh yeah, there it is. Yeah.

So if I listened to a song and it has a great verses and great chorus and great bridge, I wrote the song, I’m feeling good about my song cause I’ve got every quarter this for 10 grand or less and I’m recording this song for you know, 10 grand or on under with the technology. You, you remember. And I remember, cause I started, my first company was DJ connection.com before I sold it. I remember when you needed like 50 GS to build a decent studio. I mean the costs are, it’s no longer a cost prohibitive thing. You got the gear.

Yeah, if not more

it minimum 50 GS for like minimum stuff. I mean we’re talking people used to, you had a studio, we’re talking hundreds of thousands if you know it. It’s just crazy. So now you’ve got the song, you put it together. How do you get paid? How does a guy like you as a songwriter, if I’m a young guy in a dorm room right now, I’m a young guy, young lady, I, I, maybe I haven’t been on song land yet, but I want to be, how do I get my song into the music machine, into the industrial music machine and get paid?

I mean, it goes back to kind of what you’re talking about with Ryan. It’s like you gotta be a hustler in this business, man. You know what I mean? If you ain’t a hustler, you’re not surviving in this business. So it’s about making phone calls, getting your foot in the door, trying to get your foot, you know, trying to get your foot into a, you know, maybe a publishing company that then hooks you up with other songwriters. And then maybe you get a cut on somebody’s record and then it takes one song that could change your life. And then suddenly you’re the new guy in town and everyone’s calling you for that song. But you gotta really hustle. You’ve got to get out there, you’ve got to be in Nashville, Los Angeles, New York. You have to be somewhere, you know, where the industry is that you can run into people.

I tell people, you got come to LA, you want to do music, you’ve got to come to LA. I mean, that’s where the business is. That’s why I went to LA and everybody’s there. I can go out for coffee and run into three other songwriter producers just from my neighborhood, just from getting a coffee, you know? So when you’re in a city like that, connections happen organically, you know? And that’s how my career got started. I came to LA and I just, you know, hustled. I just, you know, I mean at that point we didn’t have the internet. I was placing ads in what’s called the music connection, looking for musicians and things like that. So it’s kinda like he hustles the most, kind of gets to the top.

He who hustles the most, you said he who hustles the most gets to the top.

That’s it. You know, that’s really it. You got to have your hustle, man. I know so many talented people. I met so many talented people that could, you know, play circles around me, write circles or whatever you want to say. But if you don’t have, you know, if you don’t have the hustle and you don’t know about, you know, networking and getting your foot in the door and all those sort of things, you could have the greatest song of all time. You might’ve just written the new yesterday, you know, Paul McCartney’s yesterday. Maybe you got, but if you’re not out there and you can get the word out, no one’s ever going to know.

Let’s say,

you know, at the top of the list,

let’s say that I’m signed now to a label. Okay, I’m on a label, I’m on a Columbia, I’m on it. Atlantic, I’m on a, you know, some record label of note, right? Interscope scope, something, you know what I mean? But I haven’t had a hit in a while and I have an ANR guy, you know, I have a, an artist and repertoire guy who’s, you know, supposed to kind of help me team up with other writers and stuff. But you know how the industry is sometimes there’s great A&R guys and sometimes there’s an our guys that maybe aren’t doing a lot for you.

I would say mostly not Antarctica. I think that, I think the ANR guy from the 60s doesn’t exist anymore. The real A&R guy who really knows music and knows, knows how to shape an artist and all that. I haven’t seen those guys in a long time, honestly. And our guys take on a different role now they’re out finding the talent, but I don’t know that they help.

So let’s say I’m a talented person, let’s say

statement, by the way. So I’m not saying all of them, I just haven’t seen, I haven’t seen a true A&R guy like the guys from back in the day who could come in and really make a decision that could change an artist’s career and trajectory.

Well, let’s say, let’s say this, let’s say Chris, that I have an NR guy. Okay? And I’m on a decent label right now. Big league. We don’t label. People know, and I feel like my A&R guys not getting to me writes with big writers, it isn’t really doing anything to move my career forward. Is it allowed for the artists to individually reach out to other songwriters or is that frowned upon or what? How, what could somebody do?

No, I would say it’s encouraged. I think record companies expect you to be as independent as possible these days, more so than when I got signed 30 years ago. Record companies expect you to have your, you know, your social media in play, everything. They want, everything in play. You know, they want to see that you’re doing it before they’re going to jump in. It goes back to the hustle. Who’s hustling the most? Oh wow. That guy has, you know, has an incredible Instagram following and Facebook and this and he has all these followers and he’s out there doing stuff and he’s interacting with the fans and you know, that’s what they want to see. They want to see you doing all the work. So I would say don’t rely on a record company to do, to do that sort of stuff. That’s the sort of stuff you have to do.

Where they come in handy is if you do deliver a hit and there is a little bit of heat on it with a real major label, they can, they can kind of put the finger on it, so to speak. You can kind of, they can make it get to the next level. They can push it. It takes lots of money to go to radio. So, um, you know, that’s why you kind of need a major label to kinda, you know, put some money behind it to get you to, uh, get an even on more radio stations. All that stuff is very expensive.

Do you remember, do you remember when dinosaurs roamed the earth and people bought CDs? Do you remember that blockbuster video? People buying sceneries Oh my. Oh gosh. Well, you know, we will, but we use, people used to buy CDs and people would go out there and buy like a blind male and CD. You know, I’d go out there and everybody’s, you know, listening to blind melon and we’re buying the CD cause I want to listen to it because, so we have to buy it because there’s no other way to do it. You get, you can try to high-speed dub. There wasn’t the CD duplicators yet. There wasn’t a Napster yet, you know, and, and there wasn’t this bot to listen to no rain. You had to go buy it. Gosh, I remember that time now. Now how do you get paid? How do you, how do you survive it? Do you have to sell a kidney? Are you out? Do you have to be kind of like a great musician who’s kind of professionally homeless to get paid now? What do you do? How do you yourself?

Well I mean I’ve been lucky we never sold our publishing with blind melon. So we’ve met, we’ve held onto our publishing, our holds our career, which has made a, it was probably the single best decision I made as a 20 year old and we only made that decision because quite honestly we were offered millions of dollars for our publishing when we had a hit and we didn’t take it and it was hard to not take it cause we’re broke ass at the time but we still didn’t take it cause Axel who was good friends with, you know, the band and Shannon, he was like don’t sell your publishing that, that, that is something that pays a dividend for a 75 years passed. You know, holding a copyright is very valuable. Especially, you know, something, a hit song copyright will go on and pay a dividend for, it’s a very long time.

It’s like 70 years past my, like I think my, like my kids, so to speak, it’s like as if it’s a long time. So, um, so that’s one way I’ve been lucky that we never sold our publishing. So putting on asleep by Mellon has paid the bills for 30 years. And I’ve also been a record producer and worked on other records. So I get mailbox money as we say. Meaning if you get a point on a couple of points on a record throughout the life of the record, you’re always making money. So you’d go to your mailbox and the check shows up for, and Nana Nana and analogy record I made in 2004. I still, you know, I would still get a check from that. So,

and for the listeners out there who aren’t familiar, cause you and I are a little bit older, uh, you know, in the game of life and we’re more seasoned for those, there’s out there that are not familiar with who axle is, who’s axle

Axel Rose from guns and roses.

Oh, beautiful. Beautiful. That axle V Axel is that his real name? Is that his real name? Axle.

Yeah. Okay.

Now, so you are now doing a lot of things with your career. You’re writing with people, you’re producing stuff. You’re, you’re very actively, um, engaged in the music industry today. Um, talk to us about what your projects you’re working on now. Do you know, so our listeners can check you out in, in, uh, you know, see what you’re up to.

Absolutely. Well, first thing on, on the, on the block is we’ve been working on making a new blind melon records. So that’s been going on in the past year and the guys are coming back out here. I live in Joshua tree of a place out here in Joshua tree and they’re coming back out here to Joshua tree to, uh, do a couple of weeks in November over Thanksgiving. And then everyone’s coming out with their families and we’re going to have a little recording session, so that will get us a, I think that will get us pretty close to finishing up the blind melon record. And then right now, today or the past two weeks, I’ve been working with, uh, an artist named Joe Koonin who I met at a festival actually a year ago. I’m getting ready to go play see here now, which is like my favorite festival and Asbury park.

And last year I went just as a fan to hang out, Danny clinch, uh, it’s his festival along with a couple of other guys, the photographer Dennett clinch. It’s been a long time friend. So I went just to hang out and support him. Last year, had the best time, met so many people jammed with, you know, preservation hall and you Danny and [inaudible], you can play the blues band, like all these amazing people. And um, while I was there, I just met this guy named Joe Coonan and I was like, Hey man, you know, if you’re ever in LA, like I’d love to, you know, come on by, let’s, let’s work on some songs. And once again, because he had a hustle. He called me a week later and said, I’m going to be in LA in a week. You know? And that’s always a test for me too. When I find somebody that has talent, I go, Hey man, you ever now like give me you call. That’s all I say. And it’s up to them. I’m not going to chase you. You chase me. I gave you an opportunity.

How do you spell his name?

Jason. What’s that?

How do you spell his name? Just cause I know some of our listeners want to look him up right now.

Uh, yeah, J O E and then Kunin is C. O. O. N. a. N. and um, so anyway, he comes out to LA, he plays something. We, you know, start working on some songs immediately I go, Oh my God, this kid’s 20 years old. He has the most incredible talent. I’ve never seen somebody be so natural in the studio. I put them on new instruments he’s never played before and he completely dominates them in an hour.

Yeah.

Hey, put it on, put on it, get on the piano. I never played. Got it. Okay. We’ll get on it. I’ve never played this. Well, get on the base, you know, like totally dominated. Um, and then so we worked all last year kind of in and out. Like you would come in for a couple of weeks at a time and we were writing songs and uh, so he hears he’s here now and we’re just finishing up some songs now and then I’m going to go out and uh, you know, try to see who’s interested in him and try to get him a record deal. That’s what, uh, that’s just next for him.

That is so exciting man. I appreciate you letting us into the world of songwriting and producing and I know you help somebody out there with who was about ready to drop 10 grand on a mic and you just showed them how they can get an entire rig, an entire system for 10 grand. Man, I, I appreciate that. I got two final questions for you. With our 10 grand budget we’re working on here, what headphones does a guy need to get? Does he need to drop five grand on headphones or what kind of headphones?

Yeah, I, I love the, um, I share they right here. I have a bunch of them. Um, I think I use the, since the Atari 50s. Oh, I forget. Oh shoot, that’s such a technical question. I’m not in my studio. Um, God, is it the, uh, Oh no. Audio Technica there we go. And 50s are fantastic. I’ve probably, without exaggeration, bought 30 of them in my studio. It’s the one thing when you have a commercial studio, people put them on the floor and then they step on a max and now you wind up replacing headphones quite a bit in the studio. And I’ve bought more than any other headphone and they sound incredible. Um, but yeah, the audio Technica and 50s are just fantastic. They’re like 160, 170 bucks, but they’re great.

Dude. You’re talking about a whole studio. We’re not even up to seven grand.

10 grand. Yeah. Some of that 10 grand. I would, um, you know, if you’re making a song or you’re starting a band, you gotta use some of that money to promote yourself. So I think some of that money’s gotta be held back in the kitty for, you know, maybe a higher social media person for three months to get your social media up going and things like that. You know, all that stuff is important too.

Do you, would you recommend any type of preamps or any type of outboard additional gear for the, I, I’ve just, I’ve talked to so many people, literally dozens of songwriters who listen to this show. Is there any, you know, you say, Hey, you should get this, maybe this is a pop filter, a pop screen you should buy anything else? Do they need to kind of get just to, you know, just to sound good enough to get into a big studio?

Well, yeah, I’ll tell you what Mike pre wise, the beauty about the Apollo is they have these plugins and they’ve modeled all of the classic preamps. So I have, I have a real Neve preamp from the 60s and I have my Apollo plugin, Neve, and it’s fantastic. I mean just fantastic. So all of this is in a little box, the size of a, you know what I mean? Maybe it’s a whatever, six inches by five inches. It’s a tiny little box and it’s all in there and you buy those preamps individually and maybe that’ll cost you another 300 bucks to get some amps for your rig, but you’re all set and you’re with a laptop in that one little unit, you literally can make a record anywhere.

Yeah, and I saw one Republic, I saw a lot of stuff Ryan was posting of them, may recording a lot of their stuff in hotel rooms and it’s just so inspiring and encouraging and shows song land is in is incredible a gift for all the listeners out there who are wanting to get into the music game and I encourage our listeners, just do your research, check out what Blind melon’s Christopher thorn is up to, and Christopher again, just thank you for lending us your time. I know, I know that’s the most valuable asset you have and I can’t thank you enough man. I really appreciate you letting us go deep dive for the listeners out there.

You know what, let me, let me remind the listeners one more thing too. If you want more information about, uh, my studio, I had a studio in silver Lake and there a, there’s a thing called produced like a pro. Um, his name’s Warren, I forgot his last name. Shoot. Uh, but anyway, produce like if you go to YouTube and type in produce like a pro, there’s an amazing series on in there and you can learn. I’ve learned so much and a lot of people are my friends, but I’ll still watch their interviews and go, Oh wow, I didn’t know you were mad or that’s your vocal chain or whatever it is. I’ve learned a great deal from that produce like a P a pro, check it out.

Produce like a pro on YouTube. I’m putting a link to it on the show notes right now. That way the listeners can, can check this out. Like their leisure.

Yeah, you can type in my name and produce like a pro and mine comes up and there’s just tons and tons of great record producers talking about their process, what they use the gear. They use a lot of our questions today like, like you’ll, you’ll love it man. You’ll love it. If you’re into it, you’ll, you’ll totally love the show

man. You are a wealth of knowledge and I just, I, I’m seeing you right here. You’re out looking right on YouTube right now. I see like, Oh, you’re, you’re looking good. Are you drinking on a fish oil or something? You’re looking good.

You know what? I, uh, I stay up really late and uh, I sleep in and that’s why I try to stay out of the sun. I spend a lot of time in the studio. Unbelievable way. You take care of my friend. I do what I love. There’s your answer. I do what I love. That’s, that’s why, that’s why you know, you feel and you look good when you do what you love. And I do what I love every day and I’m really lucky and grateful so well. I loved interviewing you, man. I thank you. Thank you so much. You bet. And now, without any further ed.

So my name is John Kelly. I’m from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Uh, so I heard about the thrive time workshop through clay stairs at leadership initiative. So I’m a general contractor. We do commercial, residential work and I’m just looking to refine my business and, uh, learn some of the steps to do that to Clay’s office. And the team is awesome. They really know their stuff. They have great culture, awesome place, place, presentation style is super cool. Uh, he makes it a lot of fun, but, but at the same time you can tell he really knows his stuff. He really does his homework. I think the biggest takeaway that I have from the conferences, just, it’s really important to be disciplined and disciplined in a lot of areas. You gotta be disciplined with your time, you gotta be disciplined in the way you manage. Uh, and that’s super important. So I think for people not attaining the conference, they really missing a great opportunity to learn a whole lot about business. And they’re missing, they’re missing the experience. I’ve learned in a fun way. Everyone needs attend the conference because you get opportunity to see that it’s real. You talked to the coaches and you talk to the leadership, you know, from week to week, but you actually get to see companies that have been through it and just, it makes the whole experience real.

My name is Austin Farr and I am from Owensboro, Kentucky. I heard about the workshop from pastor Brian Gibson. Uh, clay actually came to church and spoke and that was kind of where we were introduced to him and listened to him six days out of the week on the podcast. I own a carpet cleaning company. Uh, and I was looking forward to actually listening to John speak cause he’s in that same industry, uh, and just taken away the different ways to reach customers. Um, and the purple cow and also the, uh, the no brainer was a big thing for me. Uh, the atmosphere here when I walked in, I had seen pictures of it and I was really anticipating getting to come here. But it’s like super positive, uh, inspiration and it’s like a great place just to hang out, place delivery. And his style is very like, I know what I’m talking about.

Like he’s really good at and it really is like attention grabbing and I like it cause when he’s on something he’s really fixated and he like doesn’t get off of it until he’s finished. Uh, one of the most valuable things I’ve learned I think is just in general putting systems to work and actually put them in a place and making them happen. Uh, people do not attend this. I think they’re actually losing out on ways to get information, uh, given you an action step just to make your business work. So everybody needs to attend at least one thrive time show workshop because it will change your life. Attend the world’s best business workshop led by America’s number one business coach for free by subscribing on iTunes and leaving us an objective review. Claim your tickets by emailing us proof that you did it and your contact information to info at thrive time, show.com

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