Episode 248

#248 - Interview with music producer David Mysliwiec

In this episode, I sit down with David Mysliwiec, the founder and CEO of The Upstate Sound. A Grammy-winning label, publisher, and artist collective based in Nashville. From bootstrapping beats in Western Mass to building a full-stack music company. With its own Codex, David shares the raw story behind launching a brand that’s more than a label it’s a mission.

We talked music ownership, turning interns into execs. Seeing why raising your own flag matters more than chasing industry trends. Whether you’re an artist, creative, or entrepreneur. This is a blueprint for building with integrity.

🛠️ Topics include:

• What makes a modern record deal broken

• How to grow without giving up ownership

• Why discomfort is where the growth happens

• The myth of overnight success

Where to Find the Guest?

🌐 Website: https://theupstatesound.com/

📲 Social: Follow David @theupstatesound


And of course, you can find all the links for L.I.T.G, and where to listen at:

👉 www.linktr.ee/lostinthegroove

Transcript

Dave: Yeah.

I know that's the problem. And you know what the sucky part is? Is like, man, like we, we could have a great, awesome conversation, right? Like, talk this shit, and then all of a sudden, like I go in there to edit and then it's all fucked up. It's like it doesn't even, it doesn't even work.

podcasts before where it's just the.

okay.

David: You're dying

Dave: The amount of,

David: I've

Dave: I've had conversation after conversation of trying to explain to even teenagers what it was growing up in the two thousands of dealing with, we had iPods, we had MP three players, we had CD players. You know, just the amount of effort it took to be able to listen to music without like dragging your parents along the ride of like, can I have $5?

Can I have $10? You're like, that was, that was baked and burned in my skin. That's why like a lot of the times when like I listen to music, I like to joke where

David: Mm-hmm.

Dave: [:

You're gonna listen it A to B, both motherfucking sides,

David: just trying to find the track listing sometimes so I could rip it off a lime wire. It's, you know, I just like, I want to hear the project in

Dave: dude.

David: I

remember, uh, later on too, I used to just go to the library and rent out like five CDs at a time and just upload 'em to iTunes.

And I did that for a whole summer and just snagged their entire catalog.

Dave: Yeah, you used to be able to, you used to be able to burn them. I remember there was an older kid, uh, that my dad knew. It was a friend of, a friend of his friend, so they, like his dad and my dad were friends and he used to do this shit all the time, like online wire. He used to go on iTunes, he used to get the CDs from the library and he used to charge, okay, we were in elementary school.

He used to charge us money to fucking do this shit and like

David: The amount

years ago, [:

David: were the shit man. Like we were lucky to even have a computer. My stepdad worked in, like worked on computers. That's like what his career was back then. Well, he still is now. But um, we were able to, I remember playing, you remember like tsunami, you know, when Tom was getting eaten by the blob and shit and they had that fuck off video

Dave: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

David: took

Dave: yeah, yeah, yeah. On the computer. Yeah. Yeah.

David: old,

Dave: Microsoft xv, motherfucker.

David: computers. Um, yeah. Limewire getting viruses and shit like a motherfucker. And I remember even like my stepdad asking like, yo, uh, 'cause I, I was a little old, I think I was, uh, high school or something and, and the Peewees had like their uh, you know, football banquet or something and he's like, yo, can you like rip off Green Day for me real quick or whatever, because we gotta use like the, something like that, you know, for like the banquet fucking uh, you know, montage and stuff. It was

Dave: It is crazy.

David: Piring.

little bit more research and [:

You have somebody like Brian Enu that comes along in the early motherfucking seventies, like 71, 72, and just takes computers and synthesizers and electronic modules and wiring and it just plugs all this shit together and makes digital music. Okay. First off, I don't know how much psychedelic LSD that man was tripping.

He's probably tripping a lot, but dude, who the hell was thinking like that?

David: I dunno.

y coming along now, right? In:

David: That's

Dave: Like that's the kind of shit.

David: there's some band or

Dave: Yeah, it is.

David: artificial [:

Dave: Yeah.

David: is wild. I'm like, damn, dude, I might, I'm

Dave: It is fucking insane

David: what the fuck? But like, I mean, even back then, dude, it must have been. Because it was all analog. Even the synthesizers and all that were analog. So it was just like, you really got to play around with stuff. But like, I, I don't know. I'm not too

Dave: physical input.

David: I know Brian Eno, but I don't, I'm not too familiar with this stuff. One of my friends is like a super fan of his, but like,

Dave: I'm not that crazy. I'm not that crazy.

David: he got with like the wiring and stuff like that.

You know, I don't know if he like tweaked around like that. Um, just discovering sounds and like fucking up guitar ramps and plugging those into prophets and junos, you know, synthesizers and stuff like that. Like even watching that,

Dave: We we,

David: What was it, the Bohemian Rap City movie or whatever, them like,

Dave: yeah.

David: that, that,

Dave: Yeah. Yeah.

David: that was swinging back and forth, just finding weird ways to do shit.

s just because of COVID kept [:

But then there's also the AI thing happening right now where it's just like, there's waves, plugins that you can just say like, I want a, a whale sound blended with some fucking sand or ocean waves, or some shit. And it'll just make it for you and it's wild. The

Dave: You the interesting thing. Okay. The interesting thing which you touched on, which is AI does have a very important tool within music production and can have a very great role in music if there's human input.

David: One

Dave: One thing that

David: think we

Dave: I think we kind of forget is that

David: we,

Dave: we continually continue to focus on the fact that it's gonna take over our lives.

And our minds, [:

David: it's just, uh,

Dave: this hall?

David: well, the other day, like our, our, one of our, uh, producer friend of ours kind of showed us suno, uh, which I, I am, I presume you've heard of that, right. The thing that Timberland's getting bitched at right now, currently over it's, you can like type in the fuck you want and it'll just shit you out a song and it's like decent, so like.

Dave: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It has that weird, weird look. Okay. I know you're talking about, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

ke everyone's got, you know, [:

And if you're able to kind of put that into suno and get some decent demos, then you can kind of peruse through the so thousand songs and really pick the winners and then focus on those, you know what I'm saying? So like, it's similar to like how Skrill does stuff where he'll like, you know, bust out like 10 ideas in the morning or something like that, focus on the two that matter, and then get down to the one.

That's awesome. So I'm like, if you're able to kind of use Suno in that sense of like. You know, like you're not having to pay for demos, you're not having to pay for all this shit. Like, it allows indie artists, indie labels, indie publishers to really pump out even more songs to kind of compete a little bit.

I don't think the majors aren't doing that either. They're, you know, now tripling their fucking speed, but they're also

Dave: Well, there was,

David: with Suno, so it's

Dave: yeah.

David: it's like sampling 2.0. You know,

y rereleased a Beatles song? [:

David: a Beatles song? I remember, I know the, wasn't there a movie that came out with the Beatles?

Dave: Y there was a movie that came out with, it was one of like, those like, I think Kingsman, uh, movies that had,

David: like,

Dave: basically like Paul McCartney and Ringo Star came along and decided to take like an old demo from John Lennon and then basically turn it into a song.

David: So,

Dave: So

David: your

Dave: like, to your point though, it's like really cool what you can do with ai.

Here's the thing though. You listen to the song, obviously you can tell it's a demo, like they've

David: certain,

Dave: done certain things to make it sound a little more cleaner,

David: but it doesn't

Dave: but it doesn't feel like a John Lennon song. There, there's, there's this uncanny valley about AI that people just don't understand. When there's no human input in an ai, I understand that it gets very meticulous.

put and it's fully machined. [:

David: It's kind of interesting. Yeah. I, I, I agree. I

Dave: right?

David: with you. I, I agree with you as well. Like there is, I mean, you can kind of tell, it doesn't mean that in the next five years is not gonna be tweaked. Where it's just gonna be like, holy shit. But I wonder if we'll still have that innate, know, gut feeling of like, oh, this feels weird.

Why does it feel weird? You know, which I, I wonder if that's a like a, you know, human nature, like in us, like you just said, the spiritual of like, oh, this wasn't really Har Harmon harmonious. Or like, the frequencies aren't hit in the right way because it's like AI does it in like, you know, five 50 or something and ours is four 40 or some shit.

Like, who the fuck knows? But um, yeah, that's kind of an interesting, uh, 'cause even with, with pictures and stuff, but I mean, even the visuals and stuff like that now that are popping up on, on, sometimes they get me like, for the most part, you can, you can, you can tell every now and again, it's just like, it's more so like when it's, that's not true.

say it like in the corner or [:

Dave: Dude.

David: yo, this is ai. Don't be fucking falling for it.

Dave: Dude, it, it is crazy. So for me, like I'm currently in school being an automotive technician. I'm in the automotive industry and I'm currently like. Writing a story that has to do with a, with an American manufacturer in the eighties, and I've been using like AI to kind of, you know, I'm dyslexic, so sometimes I need like a little bit of visuals just to kind of get my mind in, bro, the type of cars that this AI generates.

David: I'm just

Dave: I'm just sitting there and I'm like, what the fuck? That looks real visually. Yes. It looks like, because like as a mechanic, like obviously there's things that are off that are like, okay, but just the look and just to design. I'm like, wait a minute. That could actually be a practical car that could drive, like you could make, you know, and it's not just that man, like it could create like houses and places in the middle of nowhere.

It has this, okay.

David: somebody on

Dave: on [:

I'm like, how the hell does it know this? How is it able to,

David: There's

Dave: there's something off about ai. Okay? Like, I don't wanna be one of those freaky people. I feel like I

David: there's people that are like

Dave: It

David: worshiping it now. Like obviously it's very like, small amounts of people, but they're like seeing it as, you know, the mentally unstable or

Dave: a God.

David: and I'm, and it's

Dave: It's a God.

David: like, you know, kill,

Dave: Yeah.

David: the founder, you know, like, shit like, like do wild stuff, you know?

they're all like saying the [:

And if they're all lying about something, then chat GBTs or whatever's just gonna tell you like, oh, this is, this is the truth, you know? So that's gonna be a, a wild thing where it's just like. At what point do we need a truth teller? You know? Or that's why like, people will be still good as curators. I think curation and gatekeeping is probably gonna start slowly coming back because we're just gonna be bombarded with, social media is gonna be nothing but AI shit in the future. You know, it's just gonna be AI, influencers, ai, whatever the fuck. And it's just gonna be like, similar to like cyberpunk, you know, with the, with the, with the buildings that have like the, the, the, you know, the Japanese

Dave: my God.

David: on there doing what you, what

Dave: Yeah. That's like hovering and shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

David: that in the future.

Like minority report and stuff like that. And just, just

Dave: Well, here's a. Here's the interesting thing, right? We're talking about AI and we're talking about the, all these different technologies.

David: Something I,

have right now in cars that [:

David: knows.

Dave: on how they do computations, knows on how they work.

Great example of these, okay?

David: We

Dave: We have what's called onboard logic on a lot of modules today. Short answer, like onboard logic just means for anybody that's listening,

David: um,

Dave: um, we are, it has its own brain, so if something happens in the vehicle or power gets cut off,

David: a

Dave: there's a way of the computer still being able to stay alive and keep certain functions.

We don't know how it works.

David: know. Is

Dave: we know is that it's a certain setup that goes up on the board, certain layout,

David: it.

Dave: that's it.

David: As long as you

Dave: As long as you follow that algorithm, as long as you follow that path,

David: to

Dave: you're good to go.

David: there is a lot

Dave: There is a lot of explanations for it. One is because of how complex and how small and tiny these pieces are on those logic boards and motherboards.

David: but there's also

Dave: But there's also another explanation, which is get a little bit in conspiracy, like the military industrial complex.

David: but [:

Dave: They've been working on technologies for years. They've probably been working on this technology for over 40 years. Maybe a little lower.

David: since the sixties or some crazy shit, so I don't know what the fuck's going on now. See what I'm

Dave: See what I'm saying? So like I'm like sitting here and I'm like, wait a minute. Okay.

David: That

Dave: But that could mean that we have technology or stuff that exists, but yet we can't see it.

David: we, we

Dave: Like AI just came outta nowhere.

David: stuff that the government, uh, has been, uh, keeping from us just because we're not ready for it. don't think we're ready for ai. Like we're, we're already like, we can't even comprehend it.

It's just like we're not evolving fast enough to keep up with the tech and like how, how this, all this information and bombardment and we're getting, it's gonna be like Idiocracy. You ever see that movie where like life is just so simple and easy, you don't even have to do anything. And then, you know, as jobs start getting displaced and people stop finding, you know, meaning in life and, and all that.

But I al I also believe in [:

Because for the most part, if, if, you know, the design is, is created by ai, the engineers just have to test like, does the, does it work with the aerodynamics and like whatever the fuck else. And then you can, you know, downsize a little bit. So it's wild that, uh, everyone thought that AI was gonna take out like blue collar jobs, but it's the white collar ones that are going first.

I kind of, I find that kind of funny. It's

Dave: It is, and what's really wild is, especially in the automotive industry for touching on this, AI is allowing the actual technicians, the actual engineers, mechanical engineers, and the people that actually build cars. I. The ones that work on them

David: the

ll these large corporations, [:

David: example,

Dave: you a good example. Like I'm, for example, going into the German sector.

David: majority

Dave: Majority of these German companies like Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, they're all run primarily by like engineers, designers, like these are some of the most sophisticated, most mechanical, some of the most creative people you'll ever meet in your entire life.

David: The execs, yeah.

Dave: and the board, like, yeah, they exist, they make billions and millions of dollars. But without those other people behind them,

David: There's no,

Dave: there's no, and they're utilizing all the technology you're talking about. Like there's gonna come a point where you'll need less and less of those because they'll be able to do

David: more and

Dave: more and more jobs that their

David: Colleagues are able to.

Dave: are able to do.

David: So

Dave: So in many ways it's like, it's like a, it's like almost like a, a fuck you to the middle, like to, to the man. It's like, we don't need you anymore. We don't, we don't need you anymore. You can go bug yourself.

David: can do admin work and financing and like all this other fucking shit. Bye-bye. CFO

manager when you have chat? [:

David: PT now, like, like I think in the future also a lot of these tech companies are probably gonna be creating their own ai, so it's all in-house and they can trust it, you know, so they're, uh, a

Dave: Yeah.

David: because, you know, if they're, if you're working for GM or something like that, you're, you're working on shit.

You can't have in, in the, you know, ether, you know, where or somebody can fucking snag it or some shit like that. But yeah, it is kind of interesting. everyone will probably start really designing their own tech. A lot of people like such as yourself, could start your own car company. So long as the regulations are like chilled the fuck out, because obviously like, you know, the big three kind of run everyth.

en Elon, it's like since like:

Dave: Yeah.

David: was saying it's like, it's, it's almost damn near impossible to kind of start a car company. But he kinda helped it out too a little bit when he

Dave: They.

David: his, uh, tech, like, I think his tech for Tesla's open source or whatever the fuck.

nk it's Polaris and a couple [:

Dave: Which is Volvo. Mm-hmm.

David: Yeah. So like, I don't know if that

Dave: Yeah,

David: that, but it's, it would make sense if it did, especially if something was open source like that.

Dave: it is. It's okay. Here's the interesting part, like just the same way that we know that big Ag, we know the big pharma, we know that the FDA and all, they're all rigged, they're all corporate, greedy,

David: greedy, swes,

Dave: swines, just trying to make an extra buck.

David: You know, I'm

Dave: You know, I'm one of those. Look,

it's great that we have all these wonderful safety technology and crumple zones and all this stuff on cars.

David: I'm gonna

Dave: I'm gonna break in the little secret that most people don't tell you

David: that

Dave: that technology saves your life.

David: Death,

Dave: And here's the caveat,

David: the chances

Dave: the chances of you getting more severe act injuries that you can survive from in those cars are higher than cars from the past.

David: how do we

Dave: Now, how do we know this? Trucks and certain

David: The.

Dave: [:

So they still can have those giant steel bar railings in the front. You ever notice if you get ever hit by a pickup truck, you're not coming out very clean. And that pickup truck is fine because they don't their regulations for the pi.

David: Yeah. Yeah. It

Dave: because it still has the same regulations from 45 years ago.

David: the

Dave: haven't,

David: Ford where it's just like, oh, they have an aluminum body now. And I'm just like, oh, yeah. 'cause it's been steel. This, they're commercial vehicles. They have to be able to, to

Dave: they still have, they still have steel on them, but they're now, they're mostly aluminum. Um, sub uni, I forgot what they call it. It's like a sub sub. Some unibody subframe combo bullshit. It's Ford. Bill tough. Maybe. Who knows? Breakdown costs you a lot of money. Fucking a, uh,

David: man,

Dave: yeah, man, I mean it's kind of, it's kind of crazy.

I feel like

David: single

Dave: every single time

David: get to

e all this bananas and crazy [:

David: it seems like

Dave: it seems like the people that are actually benefiting, it's actually like in our case, is the indie scene. It's like we benefit more than anybody. 'cause you don't need, you don't need to deal with all that fucking bullshit and crap.

Yeah. You could talk about it and complain about it and it sucks and be able to make awareness. But the truth is, we don't need them.

David: into

Dave: We haven't need them for years.

David: economy now. Like even the, uh, I mean the music industry is always like, kind of at the forefront, it seems like, of like the future. Um, but like even the movie scenes, like from a, I, I follow like a, a bunch of shit on TikTok. I like to know what other industries are up to and developments and cities and shit like that.

And I, I over, somebody was mentioning like the studio, the, the big five are like downsizing now. They're actually opening their studios up to indie, uh, studios and indie pro uh, production companies and stuff

like

Dave: They don't have a choice. They don't have a choice.

David: choice because like, they don't know what's gonna hit.

re. It has to be. Culturally [:

a be up there, but like the, [:

You know what I'm saying? So like your catalog is only worth what you are relevant to the culture. So why, you know, get top dollar now, get the fuck out, invest in real estate or something that's gonna keep appreciating, you know, regardless. All the companies, like the music industry, entertainment industry, that's why they keep making shit for that I grew up with because Gen Z or Gen Fucking Alpha, now we, there was, what is it, 72 million millennials, I think there's 69 million Gen Z and there's 40 mil million Gen Alpha. we don't even understand the impact that's gonna have for the next, you know, 20, 25 years. And the, and Jen Bravo or whatever the fuck they're calling it after that is gonna be even less, most likely than gen, than than 40 million. So like, and there's nobody to take these blue collar jobs because all the boomers are retiring and they wanted their kids to have white collar jobs so they could be easier.

gures and no debt, you know, [:

Dave: But the, but the problem, look, and I'll tell you honestly, like the problem also is like people don't really understand what trade is.

David: like

Dave: You know, like I'm currently in vocational school and I'll tell you right now, like half the dumb asses that I'm in school with, I'm like, get the hell out.

David: You're in,

Dave: You are in the wrong industry because they're in there just to make money.

They're here as dodo brains to stay here in South Florida. I'm like, if you want a career and I'm, this goes up,

David: I'm in, um,

Dave: I'm in, um, Boca

David: cool. I'm in Nashville,

Dave: close enough to my, Hey, close enough. We're still in the south. I mean, I'm not really technically the south. It's kind of gator land around over here, but.

David: New York is is, I'm from upstate New York. We, you know,

Dave: She's,

David: New York would go retire down there and all that stuff. So, sorry to, to derail you, but like, uh, I like Miami.

Dave: no, no, no.

David: That's okay.

Dave: That's okay. Like as a, like as a New Yorker, I need to get the hell outta here. But I,

David: I

Dave: I, [:

You need to be able to keep your head up. You need to understand and be progressive about your learning skills. Meaning that when new things come around, you're ready for it. Something is new and tricky or difficult. Figure it out. There's YouTube videos, there's people you can talk to, new technologies come out.

Go ahead and go ahead and find it. Go to those car shows, find out what those new shit is,

David: Last

Dave: last thing you want to do right, is be that music producer that's still making music for Lenny G.

David: Yes.

Dave: Music. You know, like, no, nothing wrong with that, but it's like, listen man, you're making like $12 a month and you've been doing this for 40 years.

I think it's time that

David: Well, even,

Dave: time for an upgrade.

here, where it is just like, [:

somebody's

Dave: I

David: working with, artists are very loyal. Like whenever they, they kind of find an engineer or something, they, it's like a bank. They don't. They don't think they can leave, you know? Um,

Dave: no.

David: like that's when, whenever they come here, I like, I I I come from more of like a mentorship kind of position where I wanna know who they are, I wanna know what they're trying to do.

I wanna learn these and then teach them about these things. Like, most of 'em aren't signing up with their publishing and stuff like that. I'm like, yeah, you gotta just, royalties just fucking hanging out right now, bro. So, you know, we, we, we, we'll try to, I'm trying to like, get the onboarding and all these other things that just provide immense value, you know, for, for artists that, that end up, uh, coming here.

'cause we, we, we kind of started, um, as we're kind of known as like for hip hoppers to come here. 'cause obviously hip hop's kind of, uh, hip hoppers, rap artists, you know, hip hop. Um, but in Nashville it's kind of, it's, it, it's a, it's a, it's, what do you call it? A misfit, you know, artist, you know, it, it's typically country here, you know.

But we are becoming music city slowly, uh, where a bunch of

Dave: I mean, there's been,

David: There's

e: there's been an, an indie [:

David: I'm,

Dave: And

David: there's, there's a lot

Dave: there's a lot of amazing stuff come that comes out. Like you said, even from your own, from your own work and stuff, like even if it's like hip hop and stuff like that,

David: that is

Dave: that is fucking art.

That is fucking art right there,

David: like everyone kind of moving here from different places. Like Nash, I didn't even realize, like Nashville always pops up in history too.

Like if you ever like look back into history and

Dave: It is.

David: just kind of pops

Dave: It is.

David: I'm like, fuck's Nashville

Dave: Mm-hmm.

David: know? 'cause we only ever think like New York or DC or LA or whatever the fuck. Or

Dave: No,

David: like the ma, the, the bigger ones. But you know, Nashville like

Dave: the big bears, it's

David: Yeah.

Dave: a little bear.

ille, Houston and Dallas are [:

So

Dave: Ah,

David: it's

Dave: I know those motherfuckers.

David: Yeah, man. They're eating up all the

Dave: Oh

David: and

Dave: God.

David: Sons of fucks. I think I just saw that

Dave: Oh my God.

David: the governor just approved for Texas to acquire like billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin and shit like that. I'm like, God dammit, Abbott, know, like, I want it for the people.

Fuck that. You know, by

the

, being able to just get off [:

There's a lot. There's a lot of studios.

David: uh,

Dave: Yeah.

David: here too, where everyone's very helpful. Like everyone's trying to make it together. Uh, you know, even with, with songwriting splits and stuff like that, it's, it's

Dave: That's how it's supposed to be.

David: it, it's traditional to do even splits regardless of like how much, uh, input was given.

So like we, we could have four in here and like, somebody only only contributed maybe one line in a song. It would still be an even split where like in Atlanta, it split lyric and music. So say you got one producer and five writers, that producer gets 50% and then the 50% with the writers is split five ways.

re, uh, songwriter managers, [:

Dave: don't even have that in New York. We don't even have that in New York.

David: a,

Dave: We have like, um, there's like a manager. It's not a. Produ, there's a name for it, but like, they're the manager of like the, the writing and then the,

David: the other

Dave: the other side of the mu, not the lyrical side. They're, I don't forgot the name, but I, something like that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Something like publishing manager something.

David: I don't know, I, there is the writer

Dave: I,

David: and the publisher share, like when it comes to the,

Dave: yeah,

David: and stuff. So typically a publisher, like

Dave: but

David: if they're a big boy, you know, they'll, they'll want like a, a larger share. But that's why there's always fighting over

gh is cra la though is crazy [:

David: Or you're the

Dave: Or you're the rodent. Like there's no, there's, there's no in-between. It's like you're either on top or you're not. And if you're not on top, then you have to abide to whatever's being given to you.

David: that's

Dave: And that's something that can kind of get very much twisted, especially in a community.

Like you said, we're,

David: you're not

Dave: if you're not seeing eye to eye with people,

David: if for

Dave: even if for example, you're more talented than somebody else, like, let's be honest, like you always run into that person that's like, oh, I could play better guitar than you. I'm like, dude, I've played guitar for like 38 years. Relax. Okay.

David: Being

Dave: But being able to see eye to eye on the person, instead of being like, okay, piece of shit.

Like you, you're gonna go in the back, you're gonna get like the scraps 'cause you're, you know, new da da da. That doesn't help anybody. That just makes everybody feel like shit. It's like, are you talented? Can you do this? Okay, great. Let's make this shit, let's go. But that doesn't really work in a lot of cities, especially in this country.

There's a lot of, like you said, there's a lot, a lot, a lot of cutthroat. I.

re. You know, I, I actually, [:

And, uh, just like the, our, our competitive, like, go fuck yourself, like bottom ups, system of governments comes from the way back to when the Scots were fighting back the Romans. You know, like, it, it like, you know, the, the wall that separates England from Scotland and stuff like that. Like the Romans couldn't beat the Scots in the Highland.

Like they would chill in swamps for three days eating bark, waiting for the Romans to come and fucking slaughter them. And what they would do also is have their women and children behind them to keep them from retreating. I'm like, bro, they go. Fucking hard. So like the, the Scots and the, and the Irish and stuff, when they started coming over here, it was very, it was, we're very frontier.

% of people [:

And then they, they would get fucking skinned alive by, by, you know, Indians and shit like that. So they had to learn how to fight back and stuff. And then they learned gorilla warfare from the Indians. And that's how we beat the British during the revolution, because they, weren't familiar with that style of fighting, you know, like Colonel Fitzgerald and all that.

I was like, God. Damn dude, it's so cool to be American. What the fuck? And, and just, and, and just that like, go fuck yourself mindset, you know? And it really does stem from, uh, you, you, you probably saw Braveheart, you know, with, with, uh, William Wallace and stuff like that was the first

Dave: Of course.

David: people want.

That's why they, the Scotts [:

Don't fuck with our values, don't fuck with our shit. Do your damn, do what you're told. You know, like how we, how our, our, our voting system is, is all operated and stuff like that. But like, just kinda learning about like where our. Like, we are so different from the rest of the world, bro. I've talked with so many artists like in Korea and Germany and England and all these places, and it's like, like the tall grass gets cut in their mindset, but over here it's like, no, dude, sky's the limit.

Let's go. You know, like if that, and, and that's why people cross fucking oceans and deserts dying to get here. This is the goddamn promised land. You know, as much as people bitch and complain and all that stuff, I don't care about fucks his face billionaire up there. That's not getting me to where I need to be. I'll, I'll work towards my shit because this is where you can be a homeless dude and become a billionaire if you, you know, something fucking happens. Like, you know, it's the American dream, not the fucking China dream, not the

Dave: [:

David: I

Dave: I, I personally like my most, my American dream and like my American moment. I kid you not, when I was living in LA I went out with, um, a roommate at the time. We went to Orange County on Halloween. We went to see Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live audience. I felt so. Alive. Okay. I was in a room with a bunch of people.

They had

David: actors that were there

Dave: that were there portraying the characters. We were throwing toilet paper.

David: sprinklers.

Dave: got sprinkled with water, which I swear to God, I hope was water. And just like being able to have that,

David: That is

Dave: that is something like I be dead up and honest. Like I've lived in other places outside of the us. I've been to other places.

You don't get that kind of shit. Like there's something about our country where you can have the most

David: crazy shit.

Dave: shit.

David: Mm-hmm.

Dave: Like literally [:

Trans. Trans. It's a mouthful. Yeah, it is. But like that's what we're amazing at. Okay is the fact that we've had so many incredible people that come from this great nation that have been able to make things like that. Those movies, those those songs, like I just, we forget what it is to be American is we don't fucking care.

We do whatever the hell we want. That's what it is to be American.

David: about us, dude. That's why like, I, I'm never really like one for, I remember when I was younger, like, it was cool. My last name's Polish, it's my leic. You know, like, everyone's like, oh, I'm Irish, I'm Polish and all that.

ing, you know, American bro. [:

I've just kind of been thinking about that for like quite a few years now, actually. Like, I'm, I'm always telling people I'm fucking American, dude. If I went to Poland and told them I'm Polish, they're laughing me. You know, like, it's just like some, it's just some way to like, kind of make things tribal and separate us and shit like that.

I'm very much like, nah dude, we're like. What's our Latin fucking thing, say, like of many one, you know, and it's wild that we're this, like, our country's the size of fucking Europe, you know, like we're huge and regionally we are quite,

we,

Dave: It is.

David: our own kind of values and stuff like that, but like, we all have that Bill of Rights, you know, first amendment, second amendment, like mindset pretty much everywhere, you know, except for maybe like, you know, like hardcore cities and stuff like that.

and, and idea of, of what it [:

That it is just very, it's very cool. And I don't know if it could ever be replicated again based on like, because of how we were, were founded, like we, you know, our founding fathers got here, like they were settled, the, the land and all that stuff, and. And, and, and just, you know, fighting back nature essentially.

You were on your own, you know, and, and that's kind of like what it is to be American. Nobody's coming to save you. You're on your own. You know, and I personally like that. I don't like that. Like I, I, you know, I have a, a safety net or like, whatever the fuck it is. I like, I like that nobody's thinking about me everyone's always just like, I like so worried about who's thinking about me or what's like, like, bro, nobody's thinking about you.

s weird. Back on their phone [:

And it's freeing, you know? And you like, oh yeah, nobody does give a shit. That's awesome. I can just focus on what I'm trying to do and, and build my thing up, you know? And then like you were saying, like be progressive, be be consistent, be learning, always growing. It's the pursuit of excellence, you know, it's like, it's not the journey your jour, like when you've arrived, you've, you're dead. You know? It's the consistent like pursuit. So like. You know, that that's, I mean, that's, that's what is uniquely about and unique about us too, in that we're unapologetic too about it. Like, go fuck yourself if you don't wanna, you know, pursue your dreams or something. I'm gonna handle my business. You know?

And then like, if you're, especially if you know who you are and like you are that number one who has the vision and then like you end up becoming a leader worth following. And then like, people kind of see like, yo, I believe in what you're trying to do. I don't have the vision myself, but I have this skill that you need.

ommunity and your own thing, [:

Dave: No, I I do too. I do too. It's weird because even in this country that like you, it's true. It's bigger than Europe. I mean, to be honest, like the US is almost like as big, if not bigger than Australia. We have a lot of cultural differences depending where we live. Like I'll be straight up and honest. Like I've lived in, I lived on the west coast, I live down here in Florida.

David: I do

Dave: I do not understand paradise culture. These people live in d Lulu land. Like I'm like, hello? You ever heard of reality like, and the truth is, is like right, we, we live in such a big country where people literally live in paradise. 365 days a year, sunshine, palm trees. You can hear vanilla ice playing on the radio, all the shit, okay?

[:

Like in those colder environments, like everybody's more huddled up. Smaller communities, everybody kind of knows each other. Everybody's kind of working together. You in a paradise city, you're on your own motherfucker

David: Yeah. It's just, it's,

Dave: and it's gonna be hard.

David: you know, just, I, I would like to travel a little bit more, but I, I've been seeing like tiktoks, like, you know, Europeans saying like, Americans aren't traveled enough. And it's like, they're just like, guys, you don't understand. They go on vacation in their own country, you know, like, you could be from Wisconsin and go to Florida and be in the tropics.

You can go to Nevada, go to

Dave: Yeah.

David: in the desert. You can go to the Rocky Mountains. You

Dave: Yeah.

David: dude, we [:

So, but it's, it's, it's quite

Dave: There's so much. There's so much though that you can explore as an artist and as somebody that's in a way basically making a community in Nashville.

David: it's

Dave: It's like even though you live in the same place and you live there year after year, there's always new experiences and new things that are around the corner.

You know, there's always that one person you haven't met in five years. There's that one spontaneous artist that you hear and you're like,

David: is

Dave: who is that?

David: And then they're like,

Dave: And then they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And they're like, just pull up that Instagram page. And you're like, wait a minute, where do they live? And they finally like, they live like 20 minutes outside of Nash, and you're like, what the fuck?

're limited of being able to [:

David: mean that's always, that's something I was, I was just kind of pondering on when you were mentioning that, but like our. Whenever we say like, oh, the world's changing and shit. It's just like, I mean, your, your world is really like a 30 mile radius, bro. Like, you, you have no idea what's going on in west Tennessee, you like, or, or east Tennessee or whatever the fuck it is.

So it's just

Dave: No.

David: the, uh, I guess sometimes we're ignorant as well, and, and not, not like even exploring, like you were saying, like, you, you have no idea. 20 minutes away could be like, your best, new, best friend or, or like a new opportunity or

Dave: Yeah,

David: that. But like, how are you gonna know that if you

Dave: yeah.

David: house? You know, we, we, we've,

Dave: Yeah.

ing that I need to get for a [:

Which is why like some of the, some, some entrepreneurs is like, yeah, it's just cheaper for me to Uber, you know, Uber Eats or whatever the fuck it's called. You know, because like how much time it would take for me to, you know, make food and do all these other things. Like I, I just lost a, you know, $10,000 fucking million dollar deal or something.

I could have been on a flight, you know, going to going, you know, whatever, two hours away and getting that ball rolling. So it's just, it's interesting like the, the, the, the mindset and, and. It, it really kind of hit me when I understood that like, you have to become the man it takes to achieve these impossible things you want. You know, because like how billionaires think, how multimillionaires think and stuff is clearly different than how we think, you know, or how I think currently anyways. 'cause I'm not even close to where I want to want to be. Um, in terms of like even self-development. 'cause I think your success is determined by your self development.

s not just the skillset that [:

versed

Dave: No.

David: things? Could you, can you hold a

Dave: Yeah.

David: You know, the art of conversation is disappearing. Like the art of curiosity, you know? So, um, you know, that's why it's helpful knowing like anime and like all these other things.

When I'm talking to hip hop artists and shit like that, it's just like, oh, you watched Norto. Fuck yeah. Remember that one thing? Whatever the shit, you know, like, you're just able to kind of bond and, and bro out a little bit. But, and even when I'm talking with something

Dave: I, I had,

David: shit, I'd be like, yo, dude, I'd be hitting up Memphis right now, dude.

Let's go. I had,

Dave: I had, um, I had somebody on the podcast. He, he's, um, he does lectures. He's an author and he wrote the entire book on the history of r and b and hip hop. And you know, like

David: My

Dave: my little amount, you know, like I know Michael Jackson and I like the Jackson five. You know, I like, I love Marvin Gaye. You know, I know like Tina Turner and like Diana Ross and.

that that's where the art of [:

David: have a

Dave: to have a conversation,

David: be

Dave: and then be able to like, have him explain to me more about the history that I'm already excited about.

David: You know,

Dave: You know,

David: a cool

Dave: that's a cool thing too, right?

Even for yourself as like, you run into like the quote unquote hip hop and rap artists,

David: not

always

Dave: but they're not always the same. You run into those who are like, damn, you wrote that? Damn, that's like really good lyrics. Like, damn, that's pretty, like deep. And it blows your mind away because you're sitting there and you're like, I, I, I think I thought about this a little differently because you're so bombarded with like, yeah, it's the same bullshit, it's the same crap, but it's not always that.

You gotta be able to like, walk into those experiences. Like, shoot me,

David: something I

Dave: me something I didn't hear yet.

David: Yeah, it's pretty cool. And just to hear people's inspirations, you know, that's why I always ask artists like, what's your purpose? Like, why are you doing this? 'cause like, you know, just trying to make a living

Dave: Oh shit. Don't ask me that, please.

stuff like that, especially [:

You have to be able to, you know, have that brand and something that, you know, why should I stand beside you? Why should I fly your flag? You know? So like, that's what a lot of artists don't understand. Uh, and they're younger. They're like, you know, 20, 21. I don't expect them to know what their purpose is, you know?

And, and, and I always try to explain that by like, well, it's, it's what do you wanna give back to the world? Like, that's, you, you want to be of service in some capacity. It's not just like, what, what, what I, me, me, me, I, I, I, I actually like, listen for that. If they use that a lot, especially with interns too, when I'm like, interviewing an intern we wanna bring on, or something like that, everyone's just like, oh, I thought this would be a great opportunity for me.

And like all these other things. It's just like, yeah, but how, like, what are you gonna do for us? Like, you want the job? Like, how are you going to contribute? How are you gonna bring value? Like, did you, did you research us? Did you ask like, you know, what are our pain points that you could help with? And like all that other stuff, like everyone's. Like they don't know how to network, where

Dave: They don't.

blisher or something. I just [:

They don't know who the fuck you are. It's the same with like the gatekeepers and shit too. It's just like, I've been doing business with this guy for 10 years and I get results. You're new. Why the fuck should I work with you? You haven't proven yourself yet. And it's just like, people who bitch about gatekeeping just want fast results in, in my opinion.

But, you know, and it's not, not everything, but go ahead. It's,

Dave: No, it's, it's an no, no, no. It is. It is an ideology and a lot of the times it gets very toxic. And the reason is, is because people

David: forget

Dave: forget that it's not, life is not like social media where you just post a bun, bunch of posts and now you're on the way to Monaco.

David: It takes

Dave: It takes a lot of work and effort and energy, and

David: if for

Dave: even if, for example, you're really honed in on your skill, your expertise, you spent a lot, a lot of time, like

David: matter.

Dave: matter.

You are walking into a room. You're new, you're fresh, treat yourself like you are.

David: worked in the

ked in the food industry for [:

David: across

the

Dave: across the line

David: and I remember

Dave: remember every single time I walked into a kitchen, I walked in there. I don't know anything.

You know how to cut with the knife? Nope. No idea.

David: I got a couple,

Dave: I know how to cut with the knife, but I know that when you're in that new environment, you have to. Respect the people that are there. They're gonna be the people you're spending the most time with. They may be be there to be able to educate you and teach you things you didn't know before.

David: That's what I

Dave: That's what I always say. Come in as if you're new and if you have that mindset, I think, I don't think, I don't think I know

David: long,

Dave: you're gonna go a long way.

David: you blow their mind when you, you know, you already know what you're doing. It's like, oh shit, I can rely on you. I can depend on you. And then you get that raise faster,

Dave: Yeah. Come on. Who doesn't like that hunk of change? That means you can trade in that Toyota Corolla and get that BMW 5 28 I You've been dreaming about a

David: dude. [:

Dave: is it

David: blows. It's all right. It's been raining here a lot lately. We just got that heat fucking

Dave: it

David: That was like 90 something degrees. All we weak or whatever, and my cousin just moved down

Dave: people?

David: fucking Detroit. He just is like, can't even fathom it.

It's like, it's like violent out dude. It's like so fucking hot. So I'm just like,

Dave: my God.

David: Woo. It's hilarious. It's

Dave: hilarious. 'cause like whenever, whenever Floridians are complaining about the weather, like I grew up in upstate New York. I grew up in the mountains. I grew up with the snow and all the Rockland County.

David: from Mechanicville, Saratoga.

Dave: Oh, okay. So you're further up from me. So I'm on the other side of the Hudson. I'm like border right next to Jersey.

David: Oh, you're down there.

Okay. I

Dave: Yeah,

David: Yeah,

Dave: yeah.

David: I

just like

them and I'm like, fuck you, [:

David: back in New York, it was like the weather was consistent. Like if it was a rainy day, it was a

Dave: yeah.

David: it's like

Dave: Yeah.

David: three minutes and then it'll snow. And it's like really

Dave: Yeah.

David: here in Tennessee, just 'cause we get fucked by like the tropical and the Canadian cold at the same time.

That's why we're we, you know, we're, we're Nashville just made the cut on tornado alley, so we do get tornadoes through here. It's fucking irritating as shit. But like back when I was younger, uh, uh, Mechanicville was kind like back, I think it was 97, we had some super tornado come through, like our little town. And uh, like ever since then I've been like terrified of fucking tornadoes and shit like that obviously. But, um, you know, down here where it's just like, dude, the storms like it, it might not even be a tornado. It's just windy is all hell monsoon looking out. And then, you know, like luckily, you know, tornadoes don't like to put in effort, you know, so like, they like those flat lands we're on a hill, so for the most part it's not gonna like kind of, you know, walk its way up.

But um, I just kind of find that

interesting.

Dave: No.

fuckers just stand in Kansas [:

Dave: years, I don't think they have this anymore. They had years ago in Universal Studios in Orlando, they had an attraction there. I think it was called Twister. It was based on the movie,

David: shit was terrifying.

Dave: of the best rides. It was one of the best rides they had at Universal Studios, man. It was, oh, and it felt real.

That was the crazy part. Like you sat on the railing and they, I remember this like they told you like, do not let go. Like you have to hold on, like whatever you do, and like shit. You like let go just a little bit and your legs start picking up and you're like, holy shit. Like you're just like, grab on the railing.

David: memory, bro. I have like, that was like 99

Dave: Oh my God.

David: fuck it was when we went down there. Universal

Dave::

David::

Dave: it was. Mm-hmm.

David::

ause like it was just a free [:

ould be like broke as shit in:

David: getting, getting inflated like a motherfucker.

more when you get slapped. A:

David: dollars for a Big Mac now. It's just like, damn, dude, what's going on? And

Dave: What the fuck?

David: used to it,

Dave: I know.

David: us, like we remember our, you know, menu, you know, like shit like that. So it's just like it's, it is wild. Uh, you know, our, our

Taco Bell had a dollar menu, [:

David: Make

Dave: and make it yourself. And it turns out you can make it yourself in the exact amount of time that it now takes Taco Bell to make your food waiting on the drive through.

So it's like,

David: Doesn't any

Dave: it doesn't even make any sense anymore to go to Taco Bell.

David: It's just

Dave: It's like

David: part. That's what you're paying for

Dave: right at that point. Yeah.

David: DoorDash, it's like I gotta stop with the, I'm, I'm addicted to the DoorDash shit. I gotta chill the fuck out. I'm always getting Headie bees. I dunno if you ever had Headie Bees, but head bees, uh, Nashville, hot Chicken, like, it's like the more affordable thing on there.

It's like 14 bucks or something. So I like, I'll always get that, like fried chicken, some fucking grits and

Dave: Oh.

David: And, uh,

Dave: You are so southern man, like,

o my mom would actually come [:

So I

Dave: damn,

David: got a bit of that s.

Dave: you come from royalty.

David: Yeah, I, I mean, I don't really, we don't. It's whatever. Um, but I, I

Dave: It's one of those

David: but, uh, it, it was, it's, you know, I probably got some of that from mom. She always said y'all and shit too. So like it wasn't, uh, you know, she, whenever she came down here, I guess she had the cowboy hat on and like the trench coat and all that stuff.

'cause that's how the eighties rolled in the nineties. Um, but it is interesting. I, I

Dave: I, I literally, like, I am born and raised in New York, but the thing about me is like, it's weird because the amount of people I've been around in all the places that I've moved around, like I've had people tell me that I kind of have a New York. Accent with a southern draw. 'cause I, I do like, tend, like, I have a tendency now where I kind of slow down certain things that I'm saying.

ve somewhere for such a long [:

David: I've

Dave: you know?

David: or, or I'm, I'm curious about this, where, how technology is kind of connecting us all over the world. Like I've heard that, uh, some Fortnite kids, like some British kids have American accents because they're just talking with Americans all the time on Fortnite and shit, you know, and then there's like new slang that's popping up in like, different parts of the world because they're hearing somebody in Jamaica or some shit like that.

And like, it's just like, we're like blending in a, in a, a unique way. And, um, for the next generation, I don't really, I, I don't really, RH is probably just gonna chill the way it is, you know? But, um, here, I mean, to southerners, I, I'm not southern. I might like talk kind of like that or whatever. When I go back home to New York, they're, they sound, they're like, ah, you

Dave: Nah, you're a New Yorker by heart. I'm just fucking with you. You're a New Yorker by heart.

David: I mean, just when I go home they can, they can hear, uh, maybe something I like, appreciate you, bro. Like, something like that is, is Southern sounding

Dave: Yeah.

fuck now. But you know, like [:

Dave: Oh my God.

David: uh, yeah, you're, you're, you're not from around here, are you?

Bridge?

Dave: Mm-hmm.

David: But like, Nashville's unique too. 'cause like I, it's really rare to meet somebody who's actually from here. 'cause it's just another city. Like it's a, a typical accent just like any other city.

Dave: The railroads, it's a railroad city. That, that's, that's where na, if I'm not mistaken, that's where Nashville got its root. When they were building the railroad system, people were traveling and that's how the city was built. And by the way, that's true for a lot of the South, like, you know, people, people, I, I've experienced this too.

David: there are a

Dave: There are a lot of places in Alabama, I didn't know this, like places in Alabama and Mississippi, they have. South American communities,

David: Central.

ng pot of the United States, [:

That's the melting pot of the United States.

David: you ever play metal gear five?

Dave: Bro. You're aging me right now.

David: I mean, it's not, it's not that long ago. When was metal gear five,

Dave: No, no, no, no. Let me see, let me see. Um, was this for PC or was this on PlayStation?

David: something.

Dave: Yeah, it was, it was a, it was PlayStation three. They did have a PlayStation three first. I vaguely remember this because I had a friend of mine that had a PlayStation three back in the day.

David: they changed out. The voice actor, they got like ke for Sutherland in there. 'cause I grew up playing metal gear like. One on like PlayStation one metal gear solid and,

Dave: Okay. Okay.

David: was

Dave: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

David: metal gear three and shit for PS two. But there was, you know how like you, you could read like, you know, codex and stuff like that.

ing pot, it's really a salad [:

'cause like that's kind of like how it is, which is like. necessarily how it should be. I do think, you know, if you're immigrating here, you should be like integrating into the culture because like if we, that gets into another conversation too, of just like the values and principles and stuff that makes this country desirable in the first place. So like, you know, if, if,

Dave: Yeah. But, but

David: just chill with Spanish communities speaking different languages and having different values and

Dave: yeah.

David: do not align with what makes this country, like I said, desirable in the first place, then that disappears over

Dave: Yeah,

David: know, and that's dangerous

Dave: it does.

David: And that's like, I mean, it kind of gets into like political stuff right now, but it's just like people don't understand

Dave: that's fine.

t understand. They can't see [:

So when you have people coming from third worlds and stuff that have 10 kids at a time, and they're all hanging out in their own community speaking, you know, whatever language they're speaking, that's not good. You know,

Dave: It, there's also the, so like we were talking earlier about Miami and the sat like, I'm going to open up the lid right now and it's the Cold Heart of Truth. Miami is a drug built city. Miami specifically was built and designed to allow drug exports and imports. From countries from Central and South America, specifically like the cartel to be able to get stuff into the United States.

o, but it's a drug mink city [:

A lot of independent artists now have moved. I know this 'cause I, I know some of them have ha have, have had to leave.

David: And it's

Dave: And it's just horrible because like you said, it's where it, it's great when it works, but then when you start throwing this bullshit of, okay, alright, so this is really not a real city.

David: not

Dave: This is not really a real community. This is all fake. This is all for show. This is just for some politicians, some

David: being able

Dave: being able to make an extra paycheck, be able to say a sweet night, little speech,

David: the

Dave: get the police department involved, make a few little arrests. The whole, the whole novel, the whole tele novella, like the whole bullshit from start to finish.

David: that shit

Dave: That shit

David: kisses

Dave: pisses me off for the simple fact like, that's not America. That's not how we represent people here.

David: not how you

me here legally and now is a [:

It's disgusting.

David: get it like, I fuck with the Cubans. They, they, they know what's up, man. So it's just like, I,

Dave: It.

David: they're, they're pro-America as fuck. I'm not gonna lie. It was awesome down in Miami, like personally for me anyways, it was a cool experience.

Um, you know, there's American

Dave: it is.

David: so for the most part, I mean, even though it's Spanish as fuck, but like, that's kind of just uniquely that, that territory, and that's not changing anytime soon. But, um, you know, it's, it's interesting. Even like, I remember chatting with some artists down there and it's just like, you know, the studio, like Wynwood is kind of the, the artsy district down there.

That's where like all the, the

Dave: It is. Mm-hmm.

David: big live scene there. It's just very clubby, you know. So it's difficult to get

Dave: It is.

David: performances and stuff down there, and

Dave: Mm-hmm.

David: not in, I. would say if you're not in Latin or like EDM music, I don't know if there's a, a path forward for you in that city.

side of Florida, on the west [:

David: Like Tampa,

Dave: But it's not as large. Yeah. Tampa, um, areas like, uh, for example, Fort Myers, they have a few local independent studios and stuff. Film-wise. There are some places like near Orlando, Ocala area, but

David: very

Dave: it's very spread out.

And like we were saying like about that salad, about like tomatoes and tomatoes and croutons, and croutons.

David: that is

Dave: That is how it is here. It's very like, one community does

David: Specific things

Dave: things

David: it.

Dave: that's it. And then the other community does this specific amount of things and that's it. There's no, I hate saying it, like intermarriage, you know, like there's no like intermix of any

David: But it's just

Dave: Yeah,

David: it's like we like familiarity. Like, why would I want to live

Dave: I know.

David: that I, I'm not familiar with? And I understand that it's just like, if you're gonna immigrate here, then like you need to understand, like, you, you need to speak the language first off.

ike, uh, figure that side of [:

Of course. But like, I mean, in, in case you, I don't know if you were kind of getting more into like communities in terms of like. Skillset or like, you know, what, what they're doing in terms of

Dave: Yeah.

David: But like, because I understand like, you know, some audio people may be chill with audio people, you know, but like, but that's what I was talking about before where like the self-development, like you should be into other stuff.

You might, you might meet somebody who's you, you really get along with. That's how you can bring value to people who are outside your industry too. You know, me and Dylan were chatting, my brother, we were at A BMI on the rooftop and we're just chatting with a real estate lawyer, you know, and we're talking

Dave: Are you serious?

David: and shit like that, you know, and it's just like, it allows you to hold conversations and then all of a sudden you got someone else in your Rolodex that you can kind of pull from.

that? And then they look out [:

Like what are you gonna give them, you know? And then things happen for you. It's like that giving without expectation type of mindset. You know, the Gary V way of doing

Dave: Yeah, I, I, I've said this before, like, this may sound strange, but even somebody that's an accountant, you know, or somebody that's example, a marketing director, just because they don't do something that doesn't sound exciting to you doesn't mean that they're not exciting people.

David: know, they're,

Dave: You know, there,

David: I

Dave: I've, I've met accountants that I've played even board games with,

David: and they're

really

Dave: and they're really fun people.

David: it's.

Dave: it's.

David: that's their

Dave: That's their interest. That's what they love to do. And that's something that, for example, if they're like a part of like, you know, the music scene or in a lot of times like film production, you need a lot of that. You need your marketing team to be able to get stuff out. You can all work together.

So what, they're not so creative. So what your marketing director draws like

David: hangman

[:

Dave: and can't draw for, draw for shit. It doesn't matter. Who cares? Ignorance of

David: of, um,

Dave: ignorance of

David: negative sense. It's just you don't know there's an art to accounting. There's an art to

Dave: Yeah. There is,

David: to design and shit.

Like, you know, like, you know, architecture or

Dave: Architecture.

David: you know what

Dave: yeah,

David: Like, there's,

Dave: yeah. There is.

David: has their own unique kind of way of doing things. So like I, I've, I'm always fascinated by anyone like pursuing be the best, like in their craft, you know what I'm saying? So like, people who like make jewelry and shit like that.

Like they're trying to make the best thing that they're trying to make. And

Dave: those pe I love those people. I love the,

David: it. Like they get into the details.

Dave: so into it.

David: I

Dave: Oh,

David: shit. I'm never gonna do it myself.

Dave: and then they like, they're pulling up the rings and they're putting it up to the light and then they're showing you and how they made the intricate patterns and what stones and metals they, and I've just like, dude, like, I don't know if you're gay, but like if you're single, can we go out sometime?

Like, here's my [:

David: this guy who sells watches. He just, it's called VUCA or something like that. But he's cool as shit and he just,

Dave: He makes them.

David: 'em. He, he, well, he's a, he's, he's a New York City and he kind of is like a freelance, like watch seller. He'll sell, he'll get watches and

Dave: Oh, one of those. Yeah.

David: to fucking, uh, brick and mortars.

Dave: Jewish community.

David: even

Dave: like everybody I know. Yeah.

David: people who make the watch. I'll watch a whole video of them taking something apart and putting it, like cleaning it and putting it back together. And it's the same with fucking cars and, and you know, movies and stuff like that. Like, it's all creative to me. Like, you know, that was something,

Dave: By the way. No, but I wanted to point this out by the way, and I don't know if you're aware of this. One of the biggest problems that exist in the automotive industry is the fact that mechanics and engineers don't see eye to eye, and it's one of the saddest things that could possibly exist. It's where an engineer may not understand mechanical things with a car.

I agree. But you [:

David: drink

a

Dave: you drink a can of cola out of a paper cup, out of a vending machine? Like, come on. Like that doesn't,

David: Know,

Dave: you know, like you need to be able to have that. And it, it just,

David: when it doesn't

Dave: when it doesn't exist, it hurts

David: you

Dave: because you know that like there's no progression.

There's no,

David: Yeah. I wonder who kind of

Dave: yeah.

David: situation, because on the, like the engineer side of things, like they're, the whole thing is like the user experience, the mechanic's not the user, you know? So like, does the mechanic have to tweak in terms of like what they need to learn or what they need to do?

You know, like, especially since everything's becoming like computerized, like that's very different. Um, you know, from a, a mechanic standpoint, I suppose. Like it's probably a pain in the dick working on a Tesla or however that works.

y that's very good at making [:

David: same thing

Dave: The same thing with cars.

And cars comply the same way. If an engineer's trying to design a car that's more low light, trying to allow the driver to have as much control as possible, you just have to stop thinking. So mechanicals like, well, why, why'd they put it over here? Well, why do I have to take off like six bolts to take this on?

And you're just bitching and complaining instead of like. Well, maybe the reason why they put it over there was so that if the passenger gets in, they have more leg room. And you see where I'm going with this. The same idea with the, that audio engineer, like with that raw artist trying to figure out like, Hey, you see this loop over here?

You see,

David: equal

Dave: that equalizer seat? Yeah. That's what you're doing when you're tuning, you're gonna,

David: being

Dave: just being able to like see the eye to eye man and it's just like, I know I'm sound speaking Chinese. It's not, this is just simple shit people should know how to do.

lf, like literally this year [:

It's just like, you know, if I have an intern or an a and r or something and I need them to do something specific, it's just like maybe they're fucking ass at, at that particular task. So like to, to kinda learn a little bit more of, dude psychology is super important. Like in, in like fucking every industry I'm seeing, you know, like the more I,

Dave: I know.

David: and stuff and like, I'm 35 now, so like throughout the twenties is, is is only the only kind of patterns I've been noticing just because most artists are usually in their twenties. Um, but like, it's just kind of, it's fascinating seeing like, yes, we're all kind of uniquely different, but like we're, we're still like. Like, so like 23 is kind of like the, the real world sets in. It's just like, oh, things that I thought were important aren't, you know, I'm starting to like pay taxes. I got all these other fucking things going on and shit like that.

m gonna try something new, I [:

And then 27, I find is the, the giving up age. So like the, the artist is either stagnant, has their shit together or desperate for help. And I did, I noticed that, um. months later, uh, you

Dave: Six months later.

David: Peterson?

Dave: Mm-hmm.

ling to, to do, to, to start [:

Dave: I would,

David: 30 I think is who you're gonna be the rest of your life if you allow it. So, but I'm at 35, so I don't know just yet. Like, I've been growing tremendously. I've been different every single year with like, what I've been learning and, and who I'm becoming and trying to be the leader that is required to kind of build this thing that I'm trying to do. You know? So it's, it's, it's, it's, it, it's interesting, you know, just, just growing.

Yeah.

le rundown for the audience, [:

David: yeah,

Dave: I love new shit.

David: uh, I run the Upstate Sound Music Group. We are a, like artist Services publishing. Uh, we won a Grammy, actually, which is pretty cool. I always forget to mention that. Um, shout out. Shout out. Conscious beats. Uh, we have studio services. We're building out our, our academy too, to be helping out like the next generation.

'cause the whole point of what, what we're trying to build now is, and that's something too, is like, as we've been developing the company and really kind of like, what, what is our North Star? What are we trying to give back? Like, we want to help artists be captains of their own ship. We want them to have more of an entrepreneurial mindset.

'cause like most young ones just, they, you know. People just wanna be told what to do, you know? But if you're an artist, you can't,

Dave: know

David: do that. You have to have your vision, you know, you have to be a leader, uh, worth following and all that

Dave: you have to be independent.

I have to. You know, not be [:

Dave: I know

David: uh, yeah, we're,

Dave: it's really fucked up.

David: Um, in terms of like, I mean a lot of it's internal stuff.

We just signed a, an a and r manager in the Miami area now, so we're gonna be bringing on some Spanish artists and stuff, which is pretty cool. We got our guy TJ, over in the uk who's signed an artist over there. Got Nate in Los Angeles, HQs, Nashville. Um, and we've just been kind of like building a team. We, we just brought on another, uh, sync coordinator.

Her name's Julia with, uh, Ashley. They're gonna be, you know, dominating that sector. Um, working on our own, you know, distribution tech side of things so we don't have to be like partnering with

Dave: That's awesome.

David: and stuff. Um, you know, getting our, what my cousin came down here, so now he's like the studio manager and handling a lot of those things.

% [:

tribution, you get sync, you [:

And then I'm trying to do like biweekly, uh, chats with them. So it's like accountability calls, you know? 'cause for the most part, a lot of artists just kind of make something and release it and then promote it for one day and be done, you know, where it's just like everyone, like Tyler the creator, like back when he guys started, he was promoting the same song for like two years. You know, just getting, getting going on that until something fucking bit. Um, but yeah, we

Dave: You have to stay active.

David: consistency. That's all it is, dude. And like

Dave: Yeah.

David: you gotta consider yourself as a media company. Like the whole game is attention and like even. industries are building out their own studios and their own marketing teams that are, are content creation.

an influencer. You know? So [:

Dave: I know

David: coming, dude there. It's,

Dave: there is, but you know what, I think it's fantastic that there are people such as yourself that are doing the work like this because it's not just giving artisan opportunity, it's giving them something that they, we, they, nobody has been able to have.

David: 15,

Dave: 15, 20 years ago. You know, it's something that we're able to work on now we're able to offer, especially in your case.

And I think that's, I think that's fantastic. I think that's a real way of building future artists, not just in the end of the underground scene. This might be the new way, you know, instead of having that grubby, sleazy middleman that steals your life away. Like, like Stevie Nicks, like, poor fuck I, you know, and the list just goes on.

David: You don't wanna

be

ke, you know, if you have to [:

I think that's the most horrible thing that we've ever done to artists. Not us, but people have done to artists, which I think is. We can only move forward.

David: management

Dave: nothing

David: like the, the horror stories I hear from managers for the most part like that, that come from managers. 'cause like they're supposed to have the best interest of the artist. Like, you know,

Dave: I know. I know, right?

tell artists, you all right? [:

Dave: Yeah. Just weed. Don't worry.

David: Um, that's funny as fuck. I remember just talking with a fucking, we were talking to some videographer or something at BMI on the rooftop. She, and this girl, she's just like, she's got her whole camera thing and we were just chatting with her about like her career and what she's been doing.

It's just like, you guys are cool. We should spoke with Joey sometime. Just walked off. It was funny as fuck. Mm-hmm.

Dave: I love those kind of people. No, but I'm serious, man. Like spending the time, like talking with you. Like I feel like this is the best way. Like not only just conversation wise, but like also like collaborating. Like I learned so much. Just being able to spend time with you, you know, be able to like raise awareness for something that I feel is like the most important thing to happen to the music industry ever.

k the man, we don't need you [:

David: You're, you

Dave: Go back to your ditch.

David: good at bringing it back to the music industry throughout this entire conversation because like,

Dave: Oh

David: going off

Dave: yes.

David: universes and like, you know, like, and you brought it back to the artist mindset and I'm like, damn.

All right, cool. You keep it on tr keep it on track. I like it. Listen

Dave: Listen, man, I've been doing this for a while. Like I, I haven't been doing this as long as Cheech and Chung, but I've been doing this long enough that I

David: to keep

Dave: able to keep alert for conversations.

David: man. It's a, what is it? I forget the word I'm trying to think of. But that's a, that's a tall tale sign of a good host. You know, somebody who can keep the conversation going.

Dave: sure. Hey, listen, Dave, it's been an absolute pleasure, man. Like I

David: anybody

Dave: anybody out there, if you want to check out more of Upstate Sound, I'm gonna leave links and everything below. Uh, obviously there's gonna be a Substack, so there'll be more shit there. And, um, if anybody wants to check out more of the podcast, you can find us at Lost in the Groove Pod.

So with that, we will catch [:

About the Podcast

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Lost in the Groove
Getting lost in every conversation

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About your host

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Dave lennon

Lost in the Groove is my space to explore the real, raw, and unexpected. I started this podcast because I was tired of feeling like nothing ever changes. My therapist once suggested, I write letters to the government to express my frustrations. Then I thought, "Why not create a podcast instead?" Here, I can talk about what I want, with whoever I want, no matter their beliefs. For me, it's about having honest conversations,. Breaking down walls, and getting people to think beyond the surface.

I grew up in a blue-collar family in the suburbs outside New York City, raised as an Orthodox Jew. Leaving the religious community in 2017 was a pivotal moment for me. It allowed me to embrace my identity as an artist, and chart my own path. Who I am today, and what this podcast represents, is deeply tied to my journey. Leaving a community that was a cult; still is. Discovering authenticity, creativity, and independence in myself.

I’m a car enthusiast, an artist, and someone who thrives on creative expression. From old-school rap, and psychedelic rock. To vintage muscle cars and European classics. I’m all about the things that inspire passion.
My co-host, Karissa Andrews, joins me for American Groove. Our segment on stoner culture, and life’s weirder twists. She’s an incredibly talented makeup artist, aesthetician, and candle maker. She brings a spice, pizazz, and realness to every conversation.

This podcast isn’t about chasing fame or conforming to trends, it’s about the experience. I want listener, whether they’re driving home, cooking, or just unwinding. To feel like they’re part of something real. Lost in the Groove is my way of staying true to myself, while connecting with others. learning, and having fun along the way.