Brian: [00:00:00] An artist that is trying to do something innovative, an artist that is trying to present a different experience and is trying to push its sound forward will, will always need to be, will always need to pressure itself, uh, to continue to move forward and, and always give something different. Uh, there is a little bit of pressure, but it's a beautiful pressure. It's a necessary pressure. Of course, anything that gets out of hand, it can become damaging and you can get consumed by your pressure. If you don't know how to manage it. Well, you know, everything in life is about balance. I mean, even if you just, even if you drink a lot of water, it can be bad, right? You can over hydrate or not be hydrated. So everything has this measurement. Right. And. And pressure can be a healthy pressure when you know how to use it. Right. 

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Farah: [00:01:00]  You're listening to the mission makers show a podcast that inspires humans to get into the mindset of success. My name's Farah Angie, and I'm the founder of a business in the motor sports industry that explores leadership lessons from things like formula one. I'm also a DJ and music producer and the underground electronic scene and a public speaker on key topics like resilience, building high-performance teams, overcoming learning difficulties and stimulating creativity, and to tie it all together. I love writing thought provoking content as a journalist for these industries, which is so unique in themselves on their show. I'm sitting down with some of the most inspiring and driven people. I've met around the world to talk about that processes, their failures, the lessons they've learned and how they're truly making an impact for this world.

Today, I'm joined by a Brooklyn-based DJ producer and label owner. Who's taken the underground musical scene by storm. Brian said everyone from Richie Horton, detail of ours have championed his sounds. And I'm proud to say I've been playing his records since day one of my DJ career, a little over 12 years ago. So it's a true honor to welcome Brian to the show today. Our conversation is honestly one of my all time favourites from the podcast because it hits home on so many levels and we go super deep into the topic of mental health. Rising above the pressures of the scene and allowing our energy to flow in balance to our true self. So just before we begin, if you're interested in watching the video version of this podcast, head over to YouTube and type in Brian said, mentioned makers to see the show. And if you're interested in some really cool rewards like virtual DJ lessons, the chance to ask our guests questions and exclusive merchandise head over to patrion.com forward slash mission makers to check out how you can access these exclusive rewards. And thank you to all of you. Who've been writing into us and subscribing to the show. It really makes a difference. So don't forget to hit that subscribe button. If you love the content that we're making here at mission makers and help us take the show to the next level this season. Hey Brian, how you doing? Thanks so much for joining us today.

 

Brian: Thank you for having me. Thank you so much. Thank you for having to taking the time and, uh, the time.

 

Farah: Absolutely. Yeah, you're, you're a legend in the scene and I was so excited that you said yes to coming on mission makers. So, um, what I'd love to kind of start with is really going back to your roots. Uh, I know you're from Dominica Republic and you were sort of raised in New York. Um, so how has 

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Brian: The other way around actually

 

Farah: Oh, was it so you were born in New York, but you're from, from the Dominican republic

 

Brian: I was born in New York and raised in the Dominican Republic. Ah, yeah, both my parents are from Dominican Republic, so, but they were living in New York at the time when they had me and very short after maybe a year after we headed back to [00:04:00] the Dominican Republic and I lived there, uh, throughout my childhood and a half of my, um, um, teens, you know, at 16, I headed back to the US.

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Farah: That's amazing, so how, how was your childhood like growing up there and, and how did you find the transition then? Like moving to like the bright lights of New York? 

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Brian: Wow. Well, actually I ended up moving to Florida at first. Uh, but the growing up in Dominican Republic was, I mean, everything I can remember was very, um, just very happy, very happy place. I have very happy memories being in a hot Caribbean, um, whether it's spicy weather, um, with a lot of music and, um, a lot of energy, very energetic place. [00:05:00] So my very roots, very inside me are filled with energy and passion. And, um, I think that. The place being so embedded in music definitely had a big impact in me and then moving to the United States back, uh, in Florida. Uh, the transition was, um, very interesting because at the time I was in a very, how can I say this in a very interesting and in the middle of discovering myself musically and, and, uh, and exploring a lot of styles. So it just coming here opened up. I mean, imagine if it's almost like if I was reading a book and suddenly five more books were [00:06:00] thrown at me and, and now I had to like, just absorb it all. So, uh, it was, um, a beautiful challenge. That that, uh, really molded my, my interest in music even more.

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Farah: Um, and so, um, when did you kind of discover the rave scene in the state? 

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Brian: That was a bit later actually. Um, my story is a bit, uh, it kind of goes backwards almost. Uh, if you compared with most of the other stories where people usually, um, used to go to raves got inspired from it and then, uh, took interest in, uh, starting to work around it. And mine was the other way around my actually I was not even planning of being a musician at all. You know what I started to deal [00:07:00] with to experience music, uh, at the age of. When I started to play music because I experienced it very young and I had a very special connection with it. Uh, I mean, I look back at it now and I say, I think, wow, I had a spiritual connection with it. I didn't, I didn't know at the time what it was, but it was something that was beyond this world. It would put me in a place every time I would listen to music, it would just put me at a, in a very special, um, place that I didn't know what it was. And growing up with this feeling and getting almost addicted to this feeling because I was just, I just wanted more and more of it got me to want to learn, to play music. And, and, and I convinced my mother to buy me some [00:08:00] drums. She bought me some drums at 13, but I was still. Even thinking about being a musician or exploring music as a career. To me, it wasn't even an option. At this point, I was thinking more about a career in, in computer science. My father was a computer engineer, so I was really into computers at the time, building computers for fun and, uh, and, and coding for fun. And music was just something that I did for fun. And my parents never spoke about it either. It was never a conversation. So that's all I knew really. And none of my friends were really into it either. So I was just doing my thing. Um, when we moved to the U to the United States, back to us, uh, in, um, when I was 16, this is [00:09:00] when I started getting more into exploring the software side of music while I was making some beats now and, uh, learning to record. And this was also for fun. I still didn't think I was going to be a musician. And when I stepped into college and I, um, I'm stepping with the idea that I want to be a, uh, I wa I wanted to be involved enrolled in, in, uh, actually it's funny. I, I thought I would go in the psychology side. So I'm like, you know, I, I like I'm intrigued by the mind and, and I love to speak to people and maybe this is a career that I can explore and six months into it, I was like, no, no, no, no, this is not a. This is not working out. This is not what I [00:10:00] thought it was. Plus I'm spending 10 hours at home making music. Um, there has to be something I can do related to music that doesn't require me to probably start from zero and learn an instrument for 10 years. And none of this, there has to be something I love to do it. And immediately I went to the counselor and he told me, Hey man, you can, you can actually build a career, um, in music by being a producer and engineer. And I said, really, I can actually have a career in this. And he's like, yeah, you can do this actually in this pro this was an FAU by the way, Florida Atlantic university. And he's like, actually we are the first school at the time. Right? We're the first school that, that have a student run label and radio station. And, and it's a new program is a program [00:11:00] called commercial music. You should probably check it out. I said, no, no, I don't need to check that out. Sign me up. You know, and this is when I start I'm now considering being a musician and, and doing it as a, as a professional, um, career. And from there after I finished my studies doing commercial music and international business and engineering, then I moved to New York and in New York, then I stepped into the studio world doing mixing and mastering and running studios. And way later, I mean, I'm talking about, five six years later, after being in the career as an engineer, this is when I start kind of discovering the rave scene and discovering the club [00:12:00] world. And it was really by, it just came to me really. I wasn't looking for it. I was making music. I was just, I decided that I wanted to make dance music after working many years as an engineer and working in that whole scene and feeling accomplished in that whole world. I said to myself, well, I want to do my own thing now. I want to make some music and put it out there. And, and this is when I step into discovering the club scene and kind of going and seeing what's going on. And then getting my records out. And then later on, I decided that I wanted TJ. So the whole story is like backwards, you know, um, DJ actually was the last step of my career. Um, [00:13:00] and I always approached it as a way for me to be able to play my own production because in, in reality, I'm a producer, you know, um, um, I create the music. The DJ inside was really a tool for me to put myself on stage so I can have an opportunity to play the music. And of course I combine it with other things that I like and I pushed the sound of forward, but it's really even still today. Most of the music that I play is usually my own originals and my own creations because, um, that was always the intention behind. Um, so that's a little bit of the, run-through obviously it's a longer story, but, um, that's kind of how, how it, it happened, you know, and, and most of it happened in New York. I moved to New York when I was [00:14:00] 21 and that's where I started my engineering career. And then I discovered the club world. I was lucky enough to be in a great place to see great clubs and be exposed to beautiful different events and parties and vibes. And this molded me very well and being there and the place where everybody wanted to be really helped me because people were coming to us and then I had the opportunity to see them. I didn't have to really go anywhere. Um, and, um, I ordered alternative. That's why New York is, uh, not only the place while I was born. And, but also w what the place that made me into the man that I am, okay.

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Farah: That's an amazing, amazing journey through, through that. Thank you so much for sharing that. And I definitely want to [00:15:00] talk about sort of, you know, um, what kind of, you know, th th the things you've talked about, about how there's, there's an interest in psychology, but you found a way to kind of in a way, channel it through a different medium and, and, you know, affect or impact people's mind in a different way. And, um, I'm fascinated about that. Um, but before we go down that rabbit hole, um, something I'd love to ask you is that, um, the name Brian originally dates back many centuries, um, to the Celtics and it literally means hell, but it's often interpreted as ascend, um, or strong. And I feel like this kind of really resonates with your, your sort of trajectory and your, and your sort of journey in the music industry. I mean, is there anything you feel about that or is there any other similarities you can draw between this sort of meaning of strength, um, and, and, you know, going on a, on an upward sort of trend with, with you and your life?

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Brian: Oh, that's really interesting. I didn't know that my name had, uh, [00:16:00] that a specific. Meaning, however I do understand, and I'm very well aware that nothing really just happens. And, and, uh, we receive every single hair in our body and every single essence of who we are, has a meaning, and it has a, um, a well-intended purpose. And, uh, I can definitely relate to the word strength because strength is something that I've always had to use to survive my environment, you know, moving from the Dominican Republic to Florida in the middle of my teenage years. As a teenager where I haven't, I didn't really have my personality completely developed yet. And, and I was in the middle of discovering myself and then suddenly put into a new environment. I had a lot of, I had to use a lot of strength to survive, um, [00:17:00] then stepping from there to New York where it's such a competitive place and, um, uh, an environment that it was at the time, way over my head, I had to use a lot of strength to also survive and make a name and make my voice heard. And I feel like it's always been a little bit of a battle, a beautiful battle, but it's been a battle throughout my whole career because I've always been fighting the odds and going against the waves. I had no reason to be in New York mingling with. Hip hop artists and pop artists and people at that level. I mean, you know, young kid from the Dominican Republic, which had no nothing to do with this world yet here, I was trying to prove a point and trying to make sure that everybody knew how, [00:18:00] how much I had in me, you know, that required a lot of strengths. So I feel like in my music and what I project and what I always want people to feel is the same thing. Just strength. And I want to empower them. I want them to feel like, yes, you can do it. You have it in you. And whatever it is that is bothering you, whatever you think that has no solution has solutions. Just look a little further and try a bit harder and you you'll get it. You'll find it because I did. And I'm not different than you and I'm not above. We're all the same. We're all made out of the same thing. So it's that message that I'm always pushing for. And if that relates to my name, I'm really happy to hear that.

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Farah: No, I definitely agree. It says it's in the end, it's a human to human connection then where we are all cut from the same cloth. And I definitely agree. [00:19:00] And something you touched upon there about, you know, being immersed in that scene of hip hop. Um, so I do have to ask you, like, what was it like being in the heart of that culture? It's such a different culture to, to the sort of underground how scene and you know, what, what was that like? And I believe Brooklyn is, is a, is a big part of you as well. And, um, yeah, maybe you can touch a little bit on that as well. 

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Brian: Well, I was lucky enough to, um, be able to get into a really, really cool movement that was happening many years ago in New York, uh, Damon dash had started this community. And Tribeca called D 1 72, where it was a big house, open house for any musician and an artists that wanted to come in and collaborate. And at the time I was working with ski beats, who [00:20:00] was one of the old friends of Damon and incredible producer for Daisy and such. And Gibbons had invited me to be part of, uh, this community and to be the engineer for them. So all their collaborations and work would be channeled through me and I would mix and master it. And because of this collaboration, because of this opportunity, I was able to yeah. Be around all of these really cool. And, uh, acts that were happening at the time. I mean, most deaf would show up at any moment just to hang out, you know, tell equally and Wiz Khalifa at the time Steli, uh, currency, all these really cool rappers that were doing re there were considered like the cool kids of the blog, you know, on this time. And [00:21:00] obviously now they're at a higher level, but it really, um, it was really cool to just see how they worked vibe out and learn from how they approach music. And, and they've fed off of my talent as well. And I really had a great relationship with them because I was the one making their, uh, their voice sound as best as possible. And, uh, You know, I've been always a open kind of guy in terms of wanting to just do my best and be cool with everybody, you know, and, and welcome everybody and always allow people to be them. So I think that that really helped me just be in different scenes and not have really much issues trying to feel like I belonged or not. You know, I just got along with everybody and it's mainly because I accept [00:22:00] people as they are and make the best out of it. And, and, um, uh, I was, yeah, it was a really beautiful experience, uh, that really got my career to another level because after working with all, all of them, uh, then I got more interest from other labels and major labels to want to replicate what I did with them, with their artist. And, um, this is you know, my career also as an engineer, uh, really got very solid and, um, and I, and I enjoyed it. It was my dream at the time. It was, it was really something I was looking forward to. And, but then after a point, I said, okay, what else? You know, what is out there? What, you know, I, I did, you know, how many more great artists can I work with? My list is pretty good. And how many more can I put in there? Maybe I should do something for myself at this [00:23:00] point, you know, because I've been dedicating all my talents and my skills to them. Maybe I should do it for myself. And I slowly then stopped working with all of them slowly, you know, and then developing my own thing. And once I was ready, then I stepped into the other world. 

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Farah: And you never looked back. I mean, talking about hip hop, I mean, what do you think of hip hop now? Do you, do you still listen to it? Do you, are you like, what do you think of where it's kind of gone since, since those days, which were the old days, you know?

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Brian: Yeah. Yeah. There's always great hip hop, you know, um, obviously the music, music changes, music evolves, its music is a reflection of the society, how they feel, what kind of problems they're going through, what kind of things they feel as, as people. [00:24:00] So, and especially hip hop, which is the voice of, of, of, of people that don't have voice sometime. So, um, I've always been attracted more to the conscious side of hip hop, more of the lyrical. And that's the one that I enjoy the most. I think that hip hop is really about great hip hop should be about a great lyrics, great wordplay, great voice and great rhythm. And, um, that's what I really respect. Of course, today you get artists that are not necessarily respecting that and they're doing their own thing, but Hey, who am I to judge their art? Um, if that's what they feel and they want to communicate that and they want to express that. I respect that. However, I do [00:25:00] think that if you have a voice, because life gave you a talent and it blessed you with something so beautiful and so powerful, I personally believe that why not use it in the best way? You know, so I'm really against any music that brings people down and that creates problems for people. Um, I will never support that. I will always support music that bring people up that because I feel like that's fun. Music is really meant to do. That's the essence of what music is. So. 

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Farah: Absolutely. Yeah, I definitely agree. Agree with that. And something you, you mentioned, um, just earlier, was that, you know, you, you, you felt like you kind of wanted to show people that you can do this and you wanted the people to believe in you because you had this within you. Um, and so when you kind of had [00:26:00] your, um, I'm not sure if he was your first mentor, but somebody I know that was quite involved in sort of, um, supporting you that was, was Todd Terry. So like how, how important was that moment and what was that journey like to kind of, you know, to be taken under the wings of someone of his caliber and, and finally kind of reached that point of someone huge, like believing in your sound and, and shaping you. 

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Brian: It was a really beautiful story. I mean, I remember going to a winter music conference at the time, too. When I decided that I wanted to launch my own project, I figured, let me go to this conference to see what's going on and, and get myself educated with the scene and, and, and hear the other great artists speak about what's going on. And I remember showing up to this place with like 200 CDs that I had made, um, uh, 200 copies of, of three tracks that I produced. This were my first three tracks. [00:27:00] When I decided I wanted to do this, I, I put this, this little package together. And, um, and here I was walking around this conference with all the cities and I handed it to all these people. I, I could, uh, especially the people in the panels, right. Todd, Terry was one of them. And, um, and short enough, um, about a week and a half later, maybe. I get a phone call. I remember I was in the studio working with a client and pick up the phone and Hey, is this Brian? Yeah, it's Todd. And I'm like, what? He's like, yeah, we love your songs. We want to sign it to in-house records. And are you in New York? I said, yeah. And he's like, yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to swing by. So he came by, uh, and, uh, and to me that was something surreal [00:28:00] because I was not expecting this. And especially from someone at that level, you know, and, um, and, uh, we clicked, he loved what I was doing. I showed him other things that I was working on and he gave me a lot of support and he let me be me, even though he didn't necessarily. Um, agreed with a few things that I wanted to do. Like I wanted to do like a music video for something and this and that, which I ended up doing it anyway. And he's like, maybe you shouldn't do this video for this. Maybe we should wait a little bit. And I'm like, no, this is my, this is my, my, uh, intro card to the world. And I, this is what I want to do. I don't, I don't really care about the music video being popular or not, but I do want to have something that I can show. Um, and, and he let me do it. And, and we did it for the label and he supported a lot and, and I respect that, [00:29:00] and that treatment that he gave me and I give today to my artists as well, I support what they want to do. And, um, I, um, um, Yeah, I feel like it's very important for you to let the artists do what, what they want to do and not have not try to mold them into what you think they should be doing. So it's something that, since he did this with me, I've carried throughout my whole career. Uh, and I also tried to work with labels that allow me to do that as well. You know, so I've very, very selective. I'm very selective with, uh, the labels and make sure that if I am going to work with them, they're not telling me necessarily. Of course I respect their sound and I know what they're about obviously, but I still need to be able to do me and do my interpretation of, [00:30:00] of, um, of what I believe in and, uh, and not have to mold myself to, to their sound because they have. An agenda or something, you know? So I'm very careful with that. And maybe that's what helped me create a sound of my own because it doesn't really matter. The label is always, you can always say, okay, this is Brian's sound because I try, I try to always stay true to it and not change it for it. Doesn't matter how big the label is really. Uh, to me, doesn't really matter at all. You know? So, um, Todd was a very big inspiration. He really, um, supported me in infinite ways and I'm forever grateful and he knows that every time I see him, he knows and he sees me and he smiles when his beautiful smile, he says, I told you, I told you, we're going to get far. So he always has this love and, um, [00:31:00] beautiful moment. 

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Farah: That's awesome. I'm sure he's so proud. And just talking about pressure and high-performance and you know, and, and there's, there's, there's definitely a, you know, a point where people work extremely hard and, and they're relatively, you know, unknown and they, and they do their 10,000 hours, right. And then the switch happens and, and, and, you know, and it starts to make waves and the right people start noticing, and the industry starts paying attention. And for you, I think that was when, um, you, you got the DJ mag, uh, best breakout DJ nomination. And I feel like we live in this kind of attention focused economy where, you know, a lot of the work required to actually attract that recog recognition, like, um, doing the mixes, doing the productions, doing these interviews, um, social media, all of that, it's, it doesn't have a lot of financial gain, but it encourages us to like, like seriously overwork, you know, because each aspect is, is, is a hell of a lot of work. And sometimes, you know, maintaining that [00:32:00] sort of industry attention is, is even harder than, than all the foundation and groundwork that goes into kind of coming up like that iceberg sort of moment. Right. Yeah. Um, so how, how did the pressure of your work change, like after, you know, kind of from back then to like to this evolution of like where you are now, like, has the pressure stayed the same or has it, has it like massively increased for you?

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Brian: I think that an artist that is trying to do something innovative, an artist that is trying to present a different experience and is trying to push it sound forward will, will always need to be. We'll always need to pressure itself, uh, to continue to move forward and always give something different. Uh, there is a little bit of pressure, but it's a beautiful pressure. [00:33:00] It's a necessary pressure. Of course, anything that gets out of hand and can become damaging and you can get consumed by your pressure. If you don't know how to manage it. Well, you know, everything in life is about balance. I mean, even if you just, even if you drink a lot of water, it can be bad, right? You can over hydrate or not be hydrated, soy, everything has this measurement. Right. And, um, and pressure can be a healthy pressure when you know how to use it. Right. Um, I think that I've always been, I've always challenged myself to do something different, uh, from what I did before. I'm not trying to compete with anybody or with any labels or any artists in particular or, or trying to prove anything. I'm only trying to be able to give the listener something different [00:34:00] than what I gave them last time and bring them maybe to the same castle, but to a different room, you know? And I think that this is what keeps me moving forward. Always. I think that some people and some fans, and it's interesting, you know, they expect sometimes. You know, they asked me, Hey, why don't you do another, another track? Just like such an, you know, that you did a couple of years ago, like this one, or why didn't you do more of this kind of tracks? And I say, why you want me to do more of that? If I already did it, if I already did that sound, why should I do more? You know, how about we do something different and it's already done. What's the point of doing more of that, you know, but that's my personal view on it. There's some [00:35:00] other artists that build their career based on one sound and they do the same thing over and over again. And that works perfectly for them, you know, for the listener, it could be good too, because the listener can say, well, every time I want to feel like this, I go to this artist because I know that they always do the same thing perfectly. That's perfectly, perfectly fine. That's beautiful, but that's not what I want the listeners to do with me. I want them to say every time I want to be surprised and taken to a different world and not know where I'm going. I want to go to Brian and see where he's going to take me, you know? And I think that that, because I see it like this, this is what pushes me to always try to do something a bit different and to just, um, keep moving forward. And the pressure is always that, you know, making sure that I can make it better and I can make it bigger and I can go deeper and I can [00:36:00] impact even more. And this is what keeps me moving forward. The nomination was a beautiful thing. Of course, I appreciate the recognition is beautiful to be recognized, but I didn't think any more of it, you know, to me, it was a recognition, which is always nice to get, but it really didn't mean. Anything more than, than a recognition or a nomination. It was, um, um, it didn't pressure me to do anything different. So that's kind of how, how I see it. Yeah. 

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Farah: That's a really good because, yeah, sometimes you can, it can be overwhelming that the pressures, when, when in the beginning it's more internal and yourself, but then all the external sort of factors come, come to play. Um, so I want to talk about, um, your label a little bit, um, endangered. From from, from sort of following it it's and kind [00:37:00] of reading about it online, it's you, you communicate that it's a Sonic representation of how far humankind is going to get to you right before extinction. Um, so talk to me about what you want to transmit through this, and if you know, the pandemic had any impact on this vision, given that, you know, the fragility of life was, was so in question through, through that period, or even whistle in this period.

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Brian: yeah. It's been crazy the past couple of years. Uh, very interesting. Um, and yeah, I like how you related it to the label because the label and danger is really, um, the idea of being at this. Last stage before everything is done. And, and I understand that right before this happened is when we have done every single thing we can and we have become everything we meant we were meant to become, [00:38:00] you know, um, I mean, it's very, you can see it in many different ways, you know, uh, even before we die, this is what happens right at this moment, this, this moments before we die, we have become, and we have done everything we needed to do. You know, even if we don't believe we have, we have, and, and then we pass into the next stage. So, and they injured is being in this, in this, uh, world where things are just they're the best they can ever be. Everything has evolved to be the best it can be. And I believe that. What, uh, what we're trying to do is really to make sure that, uh, the artist are living this reality, that we're presenting to them where they can they're, they're, they're being their [00:39:00] best at this point. And they're pushing themselves to places where they didn't go before. I'm very involved with, um, releases at the point of almost coal producing them, because I go I'll I'll even, even though I don't take any credit for it nor I'm interested to do so, but it's my, my interests to always push them. When they, you know, they would send me music and I say, okay, this is great, but I know you can do better. And I pushed them forward and I let them do their thing and then I grab it and I make it sound as best as possible. And it's that collaboration, um, that makes the label have a special sound and, and, and the experience to be that, and that gets transmitted and people perceive that. And that's what I'm dangerous about. And [00:40:00] yeah, we went through a couple of years of, of, uh, mental and physical hardship and we're still kind of going through it, um, and emotional hardship. And, and at times it did feel like we were living in this endangered situation, but only the ones that were really understanding of what was happening were able to evolve because you get, you got two types of people that, that went through this, you got the ones that kind of felt overwhelmed and, and victimized then, and they weren't able to cope with what the situation was, which is completely understandable, understandable. And then you had the other group of people that took advantage of the situation to evolve and say, Hey, you know, um, okay, here we are, but what can we do with it? And how can we make it better? And how can I learn from this? And how can I do different [00:41:00] things? And, and, uh, I think that these were th that group was more living in the endangered REL, uh, reality. Right? Uh, so I was kind of one of them as well because when the whole thing happened, I knew what was happening. I knew that the world was asking us to take a break that life was telling us to switch it up a little bit, to look the other way. Look at this way that you kind of neglected and ignored for many, for a long time. You know, don't forget about that side and it's stripped us from everything that we thought that was important. And then it put us in a place that has said, you thought that was important. How about this? How about your health? How about your family? How about your home? Don't forget about that. You know, and [00:42:00] I approached it, understanding that these things and I use the time for my advantage, and I know many of you did as well, and I'm happy to see that, but I have also seen unfortunately how it has put other people in a very hard situation and I get it, you know, but, um, You know, to tie both things. Um, that's kinda what endangered is. It's like that, that willingness to be your best and be your, the maximum expression of yourself. 

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Farah: Definitely. And I echo what you say. Um, I also truly believe that there, there were two types of people that, you know, some who didn't know how to kind of navigate this complexity and, and understandably, when you know, it is obviously a hard thing to know. There's no defining time of when this will end how it's going to look all of that stuff, but then there's those who are like, okay, let me take a step back. And there's three key key [00:43:00] pillars. You talk about family health. Um, you know, those things are, are critical and, and sometimes we do, you know, sort of, um, neglect that. But, um, hopefully, I mean, also I think it's a, wake-up call for people, as you say, to sort of, if this is the, if this is, you know, if we're going to leave this world, I mean, it has to be, we have to live it to the fullest and, and, and leave that imprint behind and, and challenge ourselves to get to that point, you know? Um, but also pay attention to the fact that we all know this world is crying out for us to treat it better. And every single one of us has to take that responsibility. Um, not just leave it to, you know, the mayors and all of this stuff. It's, it's on us, you know, it's completely on us exactly. A hundred percent. Um, so as a label owner, are you excited about NFTs? I mean, it's a big topic at the moment. How, how do you sort of believe they will impact or change the future of media?

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Brian: I love the NSF [00:44:00] NFT, um, idea. I actually participated in a few NFT projects. Um, it's obviously something that is still being explored. I feel like artists are still really trying to find, um, what the real usage of NFTs going to be for and, and how it's going to, you know, a lot of people are experiment, experimenting with different things and that's cool. Um, I'm always for technology that protect the artist. And I think the NFTs that is to man to do that, to protect the artists and kind of cut the middleman because for a very long time, the industry and artists have been hit very, very hard ever since the. Birth of MP3 and everything getting [00:45:00] pirated. And, and then streamed is very unfair. It's a very unfair game right now for artists extremely unfair. And now artists can kind of take their power back a little bit. And I'm very happy about that. It needs to be organized a bit better. Obviously there needs to be a little bit of a system we're still figuring things out is very new in that sense. But I like it. I think it's about time and there needs to be a fair system, because as you mentioned earlier, this is a lot of work, you know, to keep up. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of things that we need to do just to keep up to be relevant. You know, um, unfortunately people's attention span. These days are [00:46:00] extremely, very, very short then that requires for you to do extra work and, and you're doing all this work and then you're being compensated, uh, almost nothing. And then others are getting the profit and living off of your effort. And I don't think that this is fair at all. So anything that has to do with this new technology of blockchain, web three NFT, this is the future. And, uh, and I really think that, uh, there will be re very great systems happening in the next couple of years. 

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Farah: Hey you, we hope you're enjoying today's episode. We're on a serious mission here to create one of the world's best podcast series. And we'd be so grateful if you could support us in any way, by becoming a patron of the show. [00:47:00] There's a tear to suit every level from early bird tiers, where you get downloads to all my music with some super cool ninja stickers to our VIP Mission Maker tiers where you get epic rewards like exclusive footage tht never gets aired, the chance to submit questions to our guests with signed copies of books from them, DJ lessons, one-to-one coaching, and a whole load of super cool ninja measure maker merchandise. You can start supporting us for less than what it costs you to fill up your car for a month by simply heading over to ww.patrion.com forward slash missionary. Thanks for listening. And I hope you enjoy the rest of the show. I'd also like to ask you, we ask this to a lot of artists or people come from the music industry. Come on the show, um, that, you know, there's this crazy statistic that only 2% of music producers are female. Um, and I'd love to know what your thoughts are on that matter, because that's also another area which is extremely unbalanced. Um, and, uh, it needs to be sort of the playing field needs to be leveled out a lot more.

Brian: Well, I mean, I [00:48:00] think that obviously, uh, you know, females have, and women have struggled always with trying to it doesn't only happen in this scene. It happens in many different. Aspects in life where they're trying to sometimes prove themselves more than what they should. And I think that this is completely unfair. I believe that women should be given if anything priority, uh, over, um, anybody else because women are the most powerful creatures, right? They're the, the mother of everything. So they should be given that respect. Um, but I also understand that it's skill based. You know, it's not only because you're a woman, you have, uh, an advantage. I think that at the end of the day, it has [00:49:00] to do with how good you are and what you can bring to the table. What kind of experience you can bring. So, um, I do encourage encourage more women to. Get involved in any shape and form. It doesn't necessarily have to only be deejaying. It can be other things as well. Um, it's a tough job, especially when you do it professionally and you're traveling and I can see how, you know, women being, although very strong, but also very sensitive and, and having to, you know, let's put it this way. And this is from experience, you know, how many times, uh, you know, I've got two countries and cities where it's tough to be there. If. [00:50:00] Uh, if you're not strong enough, you know, it's tough to be there because it's a new place and you don't know what to expect and anything can happen. Especially in my case that I allowed myself to sometimes go to a lot of random places, because I feel like it's my responsibility to bring music to these places. And, but sometimes these places are not the safest places around. And, um, definitely is not a place for a woman to be exploring by themselves. You know, there's a lot of things in the industry that happened that, um, that women become victims of. So there's a lot of little things that really don't help. Um, But there are there solutions around that and there's things that could, could be done around that as well. So I think, you know, it's a very complex, um, uh, there's not one thing that I [00:51:00] can tell you that could be the solution for it. I, the only thing I can tell you is really, uh, that, that women are as skillful as men, and there's no question about it and they should be, uh, participating in any shape and form and, and, uh, and be supported whenever they can. And there's things that they can do better. And then there's other things that men can do better because it's, it's the way we're built is it's not a matter of opinion. It's just our natural ways. You know, men are more stronger physically, so they can do. Certain type of things and men and women have other skills that men don't have that they can also do. So I think it's really, for all of us to find our place in, in the industry and shine and be, and be our best. I, you know, there's tons of [00:52:00] beautiful, um, uh, music being done by, by very talented, um, women, you know, I know many and, and, and, and it's great. I love it. And to be honest, I prefer a woman, DJ. I mean, can you imagine beautiful music coming out of a beautiful soul? You know, I mean, you know, it was. That's kind of how, how I see it. Yeah.

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Farah: Yeah. It is obviously a complex, very complex discussion, many facets to it, many, many areas that need to change. Definitely a core part of that is what you say about surroundings and, and safe spaces and, and, and educating from the grass roots. You know, that, that, that we, not just women, but we have to treat each human being with respect. And, and there's a lot of, you know, a lot of stuff you see on the. Concerning. Um, unfortunately, but it's also at this point where it's sort of like, but it's not okay that, you know, only 2% of women are producers. That that is just, it's just shocking. [00:53:00] So, um, I respect the fact a lot that you mentioned earlier that, you know, you like to have this hands-on approach where it's like, um, I, I want to develop and I want to work with, and I want to know deeper and, and invest that time. Um, because we do live in quite a transient, fast moving world. Um, and I think there is a responsibility at the top, um, of people to, to sort of, um, mentor or just like, you know, champion and be behind that, um, behind that, pushing that forward. So, yeah, definitely. And so talking about this career path, um, know. You know, you wanted to talk, um, touch upon the subject of mental health as well. And, um, naturally or unnaturally, you know, this career path is, is, is often a source of immense pleasure. It's obviously like nothing in the world, but it's also, it can be immense pain. Um, you know, you're on the road, 24 7, you don't have your core family or core group of friends. And, you know, you're struggling this lifestyle that's just as can be, um, tempted with a lot of access. Um, and so then, you know, it can become this [00:54:00] perfect smoke screen to hide behind. And, um, and we've seen many sort of fade away or burnout from it. And I kind of want to ask you what your personal experiences has been of this. Um, and ultimately, you know, when you're in this, when you're the captain of this ship and you have all these people around you, all your sailors, you know, your agent, your know, there's that, where do you think ultimately, the responsibility lies, you know, for ensuring that, um, an artist's mental health is not compromised.

 

Brian: That's a beautiful question. And yeah, I agree. It is, uh, it can be very, very tough if you don't know how to manage it right. I think the responsibility really relies on us, the artists at the end of the day, you know, we're responsible for, um, what we do and how we do it. Nobody's pointing a gun on us and making us do anything. So at the end of the day, we have to be a very conscious of that [00:55:00] and we have to stop pointing fingers and St. A's your fault is that none of us not anybody's fault, but us our fault, if we allow that to happen, um, at the end of the day, we're responsible for our actions. Uh, however, um, uh, we, the other side is also how we can also become victims of our own desires and we can, uh, I mean, this happens to all of us, right. And, and when we decide to hire so much and we cannot find a good balance within, within this, we can end up burning ourselves out and we can end up doing more. Again, it's all about the balance. I'm going to keep saying that. So [00:56:00] ideally, yes. You would want your team to look out for you. Ideally. It would be the, in the, in the perfect ideal world, that would be the way what worked, whether your team is looking out for you. And the artist is kind of like letting themselves late, but again, we're, we're, um, dealing with people here and people desires and each one of their desires is different. Each one of their motive is different and their motives change also throughout time, according to what their personal life is. So we can depend on that as artists, we need to be the one saying, Hey, you know, this is what I can do for me to be the most efficient and do my best job. This is how much I can do a bit [00:57:00] more than this. It's starting to hurt me. It's hurting. My family is hurting. My body's hurting my mind, and we need to be able to identify that, that point and get away from this egoistic desire to just be, everybody's trying to be. And B and B and B, you don't need to try to be just be, you don't need to try to impress. You don't need to try to prove anything. And I think that this is the little game that everybody's playing, where they're trying to prove. I prove I can prove that I play more parties than you. I can prove that I can play bigger clubs. I have more releases than you. I have this for what reason? And everybody starts becoming a competition with each other [00:58:00] and, and, um, it becomes an Eagle circus. And because of this, then they start overworking and then they start creating stress to themself. And I think that this is where it comes from from your desires. Uh, so how to go about this would be to realign your purpose, to get out of the idea that you need to prove anything, just do what you love, do it well, take your time. There's enough time for you to do everything you want to do. Take it easy, take care of yourself so you can be good. So you can present what people are trying to experience. Be respectful to the people, because if you're burning yourself out, [00:59:00] you're not respecting the people that have waited weeks and weeks until you come. I mean, how about that? How about you think about that? How about you think about people that have been waiting for you to come for you to come to heal them? And be someone that have an inspiration for them. And then that night that you show up, you don't do your best because you don't feel your best because you're burned out. That's not fair and all because you wanted to impress others all because you wanted to prove others all because you wanted to prove yourself that you can do all these things. When you know you can't because it's too much. So I think it all comes, you know, respect yourself as a person, love yourself [01:00:00] and stop playing these little games because these little games don't lead far at all. People, people don't really care. People don't really care. How many parties you play, how many places you go to all people want us to experience music and to experience a good night. Yes. There are up to date sometimes with some things that you do, but they don't really care. You're, you know, most of the artists out there are just playing a little game with themselves, with the mirror and they're being victims of it. So I think that there needs to be a little more awareness. There needs to be a bit, a little more education out there to educate and tell the artists that this is serious business. And [01:01:00] if you don't handle it right, you will be a big victim of it. I mean, I hate to bring this up, but I mean, a. It's the main example of all of this, you know, the extreme, right? The extreme completely, he should have, this should have not happened, but this was all greed, pure greed from everybody. And enough is enough. Let's really just concentrate on doing what we're supposed to do. What are we supposed to do? We're supposed to do our best and present great music to people because people need it, especially now, especially now that there's so many things going on, people need music to be music and to do what music is meant to do. What is music meant to do to heal? [01:02:00] So give people an opportunity to release. And this can only be done if the provider is on their best shape possible, is it all goes in chain, right? And the provider, which is us, the DJs, the producers, the people creating the music should know this and realize this and be aware of this. And I feel like a lot of us are not, we ha we have this idea that we want to play music and we want to travel the world and we want to make a lot of money and we want fame. And when we want to be popular and we want the attention and, and, uh, you know, and build a career and build a name and yeah, none of it, you have not mentioned the other side, which is to give a service to humanity. How about that? [01:03:00] How about you think about giving to him? What are you giving? Because all you're thinking about is what are you taking? What are you grabbing? You know, what's, what is it what's in for you, but how about what's in for the people that should be always the main purpose of it all. And I've seen so many of my peers throughout the, throughout the years get burned out. And what is it good for if you burn yourself out and then you have to take a year break, what are you really accomplished? You know, oh, I'm taking a six month break because I'm burned out. What is that? That makes no sense. How about if you do it right. And you don't have to take breaks, you can just do it all throughout, you know, and enjoy. So I feel like there's definitely to be a bit more awareness. [01:04:00] Um, taken flights, go into different cities, take a lot of physical work. And if you don't manage yourself right, then you restart to drink and more than you resort to drugs, because you're trying to keep up and what are you doing? What is that? What are you going to end up doing? What's going to end up with, what's going to end up happening to your body and into your everything. It's just not the way. So you can still have fun, but know how to do it. There's a way to do it. And again, I know I said it a few times. There, there needs to be more awareness. There needs to be more education. There needs to be more, I trust. On my end. You know, I I've offered a few master classes in the past [01:05:00] couple of years. And, um, I decided the things that I speak about a lot. I've done a few, a few little online conferences on this as well. Um, because I believe that especially young producers and, and young DJs need to know about this and understand that, Hey, yeah, you want to step into this world, but do you have the right intention? And are you going to be okay? Is your family gonna be okay? Or are you going to go on to this and become crazy and hurt everybody around you and hurt yourself only because you're trying to prove something and get things for yourself. You know, this is a service the days of. Providers, and this is how everything started. This is the nature of it. We're providers of music and [01:06:00] we provide an experience and it's all about the people it's not about us. And now it has become about the DJ has become about, no it's, it's like, you know, the game is being played backwards now. And, um, I hope that, uh, there could be a bit more awareness soon. 

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Farah: Yeah, you said it extremely well. Um, there's so much within that to unpack. And I think, you know, I think the first thing is that like we have to understand the system is, is just against us in every shape form, whether it's financially taking away, you know, um, majority of the, you know, the creation of our work goes to someone else. There's the fact that social media supercharged all of those and created this Uber competitive nature where we're literally being pitted against one another. And if you're not careful, you will fall. As you said, you were saying, people just fall into that trap. Um, and not just [01:07:00] DJs, but obviously human beings at larger are in that trap. And at the same time, you know, There's this sort of like this smoke screen or there's this perception, you know, that like, what is this lifestyle, what it is and, oh, well, if I release on here, then I'm going to become X and it's, it's not about that. And, and I think that's when a lot of these breakdowns happen when this kind of expectation doesn't match the reality in the end, right. Because you put that expectation on yourself and then it doesn't happen. And it's like, um, you know, it's, it's crazy. So yeah. No, thank you so much for sharing, um, your advice. I think it's great. And I think, yeah, it, it does come down ultimately. Um, I, I love what you said about, well, you know, it's, how can you heal people if you're turning up unhealed yourself, because you're on a different wavelength, pretty much that's, that's burnt out and that's destroyed. And, and also people forget, you know, um, you know, like how many lives have been affected by your choice potentially. You know, to, to take [01:08:00] drugs or whatever, and, and, and everyone's on their own path and, and, and no disrespect to anyone who, who does all of those things, but, but people just don't people don't, I think, think enough about, you know, the human trafficking that goes into that. And where does it find itself? It lands up, you know, majority of the time and these had monistic environment and, um, Yeah. And it's because it's not clear. And also the other thing, I think that that is also a part of that, is that like, well, in the end, you know, this career path is, has been very ambiguous as to what it is, how to make it. What are the benchmarks where you know, that you can't, you can't, you can't put, you know, and you can't bet when X, Y, Z is going to happen. It just takes it for however it's meant to come for you. And only in the, you know, the sort of the last, um, two decades with the internet has this, you know, there's knowledge kind of become much more available. People talking out about it, things, unfortunately like if each of which you mentioned act as a catalyst for us to pay attention to this and to in the [01:09:00] end, kind of educate ourselves first and then make the decisions and then, and, and decide. And I think when I was asking you about, you know, who, whose responsibility, yes, it is absolutely our responsibility. In the end. We are all responsible for our own actions, but, but there is also this, this kind of like, I know this feeling. You know, um, the, the, the team around you, we should all be caring about the team. Everyone should care about the team, not just one person, everyone caring about one person, right? You should, everyone should be harmonized in that team. But, but also, um, that, that there is maybe perhaps like, you know, a role that managers also do play to kind of make sure that, you know, they're not kind of filling out the schedule 300 days if it's not feasible for someone, or if the family is getting effected or, you know, all of these things that are super important. And I also think that perhaps, perhaps there's also something within that about, you know, venues and promoters, um, perhaps also playing a role to kind of, to also create a space where you know, that the, the [01:10:00] artists that they're bringing in, that they're treated, that treated with, that, you know, with, for them to thrive and not, not all these kinds of things that sometimes, um, break down. But no, thank you so much. I might have gone on a bit of a rant there.

 

Brian: Yeah, exactly. I agree with you. I ideally would be like that a hundred percent. And I, and hopefully it could be built like this in the future, but, um, just to add to what you're saying and, uh, just want to say that, um, whenever there's money involved, there's big problems. And I think that at the end of the day, that's, that's what the problem is because whatever, where there's money, um, people lose sight of reality and they lose consciousness, compassion, understanding, [01:11:00] blinds, themself, you know, it blinds, it, blinds them and, and they, um, then they tend to do these kind of things, right? Where they just don't really care. Or even if they care, they're not even thinking about it. Sometimes it's not even something evil, it's just lack of consciousness, lack of awareness. And that's what money brings to the table. And, um, yeah, ideally we would all be responsible and yeah, you would have these teams that would look after this kind of things. But, uh, most importantly, we are all responsible and we should learn to say, no, yeah, enough. You know, that's kind of how I handle my thing, [01:12:00] my career, you know, I, if it's, um, you know, just try to be selective with the things that I do, make sure that everything that I do fills the purpose of what I'm doing. This is not a numbers game. I'm not trying to prove anything to anybody. And as long as I'm in tune with my purpose and my intention, then everything is great. But if I'm just taking things, just because I want to take things, even if they're not okay, then you run into these problems and you kind of ruin it for you. You ruined the fun, you take the fun out of it too. 

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Farah: Yeah. It doesn't become fun anymore because you've gone away from your intention.

 

Brian: The worst is seeing a DJ saying, oh, I'm so tired. [01:13:00] I'm burned out. That's the worst. I see that. I'm like, what, what are you doing here, man? You should not say that you should not be. You should not get to the point of saying that. You're in a party party supposed to be fun. You're not supposed to be tired in a party. So if you're tired and you're burned out is because you're not doing things right. 

 

Farah: There will always be another party say, go up and rest and, and miss that one, you know, it's sad. Um, I was going to ask you, it will say, um, so, you know, we, obviously, we talked, talked quite a bit about this now, but like, so what do you, what do you do to kind of, um, you know, get that balanced? I mean, like, you know, are you, how do you kind of create that sort of, um, distance between this music career in this world of that you've created that you have, and then, you know, your sense of self and these things you talk about, you know, which I fully agree as well, purpose intention, [01:14:00] um, being aligned to that, what is ultimately calling you, you know, is, is what will, or what you seek is, is, is what we'll, um, we'll, we'll find you when it's right. You know? Um, but yeah, how do you kind of like, what does your routine look like? Or if you have a routine or, you know, just what, what do you like to do to just take care of yourself, to stay in that balance?

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Brian: I think that there's really no separation between my career and myself. Um, it's actually all connected and it all feeds from each other. So essentially what I'm trying to say here is that my personal life and the way I design my days and, and the things that I do are directly a hundred percent, um, connected to what I want to accomplish musically. Um, I eat a certain way. [01:15:00] I try to keep my body a certain way in my mind a certain way, so I can be able to then sit down and create an express what I want and whenever it's time to perform it, I can perform at the best way possible. I can get from point a to point B in the best shape possible. So then I can do my job the best way I can. And that requires physical strength, mental strength, and emotional strength. So all my days are designed to make sure that I keep myself in the best shape possible through food, through exercise, through mental balance, through emotional balance, keeping myself in a great mood, dealing with my, with any emotional, um, thing that needs to be dealt with because we all deal with [01:16:00] it as humans, making sure it's resolved, keeping my mind clear. So then I can sit down and create, and then the energy can flow because. Otherwise I'm blocking the energy. Yeah. You know, we're creating these blockages. So the whole idea is to just release the blockages, be in the gray. It's almost like, I mean, now that I think about it, as I'm telling you about it, uh, it makes, it reminds me of, you know, what the eight limbs of yoga is. I don't know if you're familiar with it, but the people think that yoga is just the, uh, the exercise aspect, but that's just one of the limbs of yoga. Yoga is actually the lifestyle, right? And all the limbs of yoga are designed for one specific purpose. And the purpose is to make your body so strong and your mind soul clear and [01:17:00] clean all the blockages that you have inside. So you can then, be able to sit in your Lotus position without any pain and then reach enlightenment, reach Nirvana. Right? This is the purpose. So they train you with an on all these aspects only for you to be able to get to that point. And what I'm thinking is that it's kind of similar to, to what I was explaining, where I'm doing all these little things, just so it allows me to reach from point a to point B to the, in my best way, in my, in my best shape, and then be able to deliver the message the best way possible. And that takes daily, uh, work, you know, because it's not just about showing up and playing the music. I can do that. Especially if [01:18:00] I'm playing my own music, I don't really even have to do much of a selection. I know my music by heart, so I can just, uh, uh, play according to the circumstance. But how about getting to the place, providing a great energy to the people that are receiving you, being able to learn about what they're, um, expecting and what they need. Being able to relate to them and connect person to person genuinely a genuine, genuine connection, not a superficial one. Not like I'm going to be pals with you because you're the one hiring me. And I want to know a real connection. Why are you with this person? And then from there, translate this to the party, be able to give. Show a powerful one and then be able to stay and [01:19:00] maybe share with the fans and share with some people that are there, are there that that's also very important and you know, how do you, how do you get to, how do you train yourself to be able to do that? So just to answer your question, um, it's a combination of, uh, again, you know, um, yes, I do have rich rituals that I do every day and habits and things that I, um, I'm very disciplined with because these are the things that allow me to fulfill my purpose and my intention. And, uh, it has to do with being very selective with what to eat when to eat, how to eat it, being selective with, you know, the physical activities that I [01:20:00] do and, and, um, and be able to get to those also metadata moments where I can address my mind, um, as it, as I can and make sure that I'm in the best mental position possible to be able to be, you know, great mental, emotional state.

 

Farah: Yeah and to serve that audience. And, um, and definitely agreed because there's no point. Pitching yourself against the numbers and thinking, oh, if I stay in the studio for 20 hours, you know, but if you're not your best self, if you're not healthy or not balanced, you know, you're not, you're not, it's quality over quantity at that. Well, quantity over quality at that point. Um, so definitely agree. And a subject I'm extremely passionate about actually, and definitely the blockages of energy, something we all have to pay attention to all the time. 

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Brian: A hundred percent its everything actually. 

 

Farah: Yeah, it is definitely. I do a lot of Qigong and I'm not sure if you're familiar with that.

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Brian: Yeah, of course. Yeah. 

 

Farah: Oh, nice. Nice. Yeah. So that's a lot about, you know, that she and that [01:21:00] energy flow that's within us. Yes, exactly. Um, and, uh, you strike me as someone who may, who may read books. Are you, are you, are you a book lover? I mean, do you spend a lot of your time reading?

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