As Thanksgiving passed here in the US last week, I realize I have a lot to be thankful for. One thing I’ve realized is that I have a myriad of talented people in my network of friends and acquaintences throughout the world. I’ve been arranging and recording interviews with many of them.

I just wanted to let you know that these MustardCasts are recorded and in “post production” right now:

• Charlotte Otter - Talented writer over at Charlotte’s Web
• Brit Rice - Music producer, songwriter and drummer with the band, Polydream

Both of these interviews are filled with great insights that I think you will really enjoy. I just wanted to taunt you all with a little “it’s coming!”

I have a long list of other talented people on the schedule as well. . .

So, keep visiting!

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In the US, it was a Thanksgiving this last Thursday. I was talking with my brother-in-law as we participated in a “Turkey Trot” (a 5-mile run in the early a.m. designed to make you feel better about overeating/drinking the rest of the day). In between my huffs and puffs (I run casually, but my bro-in-law just completed the Chicago marathon), we talked about a variety of things, but the topic of appreciation is what I particularly remember.

I was generalizing about how I sometimes feel our spouses are so concerned and focused on how much THEY do (in our family workloads) that they don’t really appreciate how much WE do.

And then my brother-in-law said,

Often, I think it’s that we don’t appreciate all that they do.

Whoa! He hit it on the head. (btw, I hate it when he’s right.)

I don’t know if you see this or not, but I think this is a core problem in most of our marriages.

What was I doing in the above? Focusing on how much I do – the very thing I was accusing our spouses of doing!

We all do it – both sides.

As long as we think we are doing more than the other, we’re going to have a hard time really loving and caring for the other. We become resentful, bitter, and generally cranky.

I think my brother-in-law has it right – when we focus on all the great things our spouses do for us, we can better appreciate them. And this is going to lead to a stronger relationship.

I was sitting this morning, thinking of this phrase for a song or poem:

“When she adores me
I love her the most.”

It may be time for me to apply the golden rule of “doing onto others as you would have them do unto you.”

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When I was in high school I worked at a place called Donutland – yes, that’s right – Donutland. I’ll just let that sink in for a moment.

I don’t really want or need to go into detail about that. Let’s leave it at this - it was a short stint.

[sidebar – For you non-Americans, I’m not sure you all even know what a doughnut is. I’m hoping this wikipedia entry on donuts can help.]

I was visiting my inlaws one weekend and my mother-in-law had some donuts available for our breakfast. It turns out, those donuts were made by my old bosses (Bob and Bonnie) who have since left the retail donut business and gone wholesale.

In retail, you produce what you think the market will purchase. In Donutland’s case, they filled their donut cases as full as they thought they needed to be to sell a day’s worth of donuts – but they never knew exactly how many they would sell each day.

In their new wholesale business model, Bob and Bonnie only produce after they have received orders. So there is no wasted production. The sale is made before they even have a finished product. Granted, they have proven themselves to the market prior to orders.

Applying Retail vs. Wholesale Mentalities to the Pursuit of Dreams
When it comes to pursing our passions (and especially for creative people) some believe the wholesale route is the way to make it. That is, you create a sample (demo tape or maybe a few chapters) and hope to find a market (publishers or record companies) to buy before actually creating it all. In the retail model, you would simply create and hope to find someone to buy it after it’s created.

In business, I like the wholesale model because it mitigates risk. It’s safe, you know how much to produce and you already have the orders before you invest in the production.

In Life and Pursing Passions, I like The Retail Model
In life and pursuing passions, I’m leaning the other direction. Sometimes I think we let the market dictate whether we do what we are good and passionate about.

That would be the position of the so-called realist.

I’m a bit of a realist, but a realist who dreams and has faith in the purpose behind your gifts and passions.

I don’t believe you should let the existing market (or the markets you are aware of) be the sole dictator of whether you pursue your passions. Sometimes markets open up that were never possible in the past. You could not have known or predicted them. I believe the Internet has afforded many of us creative folks that opportunity.

Five years ago, maybe seven, I told one of my good musician friends that “the Internet is going to open possibilities for independent musicians like never before.” He disagreed and pointed to the entrenched music distribution model, record labels, etc. I believe he even said, “That will never change.”

iTunes blew that theory out of the water and continues to. Brilliant. (See the link under my blogroll for a catalog of online music distributors.)

Furthermore, just the other week, in the Wall Street Journal, Peter Buck from REM (I think it was Peter) commented on how broken the traditional system of music distribution is. Interestingly enough, that article was on how artists are leveraging the Internet to create hits without the corporatized, sanitized, and sterilized format of traditional radio (I should point out that, obviously, the lyrics of most popular music aren’t exactly “sanitized”).

Beyond iTunes, the music genome project (www.pandora.com) is another great example of how the music market is evolving.

Keep Creating, Keep Your Eyes Open and Be Ready

I’m going to explore and expand on some of this more in the future, but for now let me simply encourage you who are creative to do your best to keep creating – work out your craft, your niche in whatever art form you excel at and enjoy.

And keep your eyes open. Markets move.

When a market specific to your craft and your unique approach hits, will you be ready?

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I was at the library with my kids. After they had excitedly filled their arms with books, they asked me if I wanted to get anything. “Good question,” I thought. “Maybe I do.”

We wandered over to the audio book section (not much of interest today) and then to the CD section. In the “International” section, I discovered an Italian pop singer, Laura Pausini.

It’s well-crafted pop. And I’ve really enjoyed it. I may try to learn a bit more about her.

But one part of a song startlingly disappointed me. She switches over to English. And, when she does that, it suddenly becomes somewhat average to me. Maybe it’s the fact that the English words were so simple. Maybe it was just the song.

I’ve had the same problem with Brazilian pop singer Ivan Lins. I absolutely love some of his native tongue work, but have no desire to replay his English work - (well, at least what I’ve heard of it).

There is something about the sound of a foreign tongue that is so attractive.
Maybe it is the beauty of the language itself. . .

I think the attraction I experience may have something to do with the simple fact that it is “foreign” and therefore captures my attention as something new. Maybe Pausini’s Italian fans love it when she changes up for that reason?

I think there is a lesson or two in there somewhere – maybe one lesson is trying to find ways to incorporate something “fresh” into our work? Maybe another lesson is to stick to what comes most naturally?

What do you think?

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My boss, Mark Morse, and I were hanging out at an American Marketing Association event in Minneapolis this last Thursday. As the event wore down, we found ourselves sharing a beer with Art Fry (he may have been drinking wine, but I digress).

Art Fry is the guy that invented the wildly successful Post-It Notes for 3M. If you’re interested, this link will give you more about Fry and the history of the Post-It Note.

We had a really interesting chat with Art about his long tenure with 3M, the history of 3M, and also about some of the leaders that influenced him while at 3M.

As we were all preparing to leave, he said something that I think we all need to hear. This is my rough paraphrase:

“None of us were really geniuses. We were just normal people who were willing to give something new a try.”

Have you been avoiding giving something new a try? It seems like Art’s attempt(s) turned out pretty well. Maybe yours would too?

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Ben Delzer is a singer/songwriter/guitarist and leader of the indie band (with which I also play), standing mavis. I took a couple minutes to ask the following questions of him. Give this first MustardCast (aka Podcast) a listen. I hope his striving to make more of his passions will encourage you to make more of yours.

Length of the MustardCast:
13 min 41 sec

If you have iTunes, you can play the MustardCast now.

Otherwise, you can Download MustardCast #1 Featuring Ben Delzer of standing mavis (7.8 mb)

Features:
Some clips from standing mavis as well as interesting discussion around the following topics:

• Ultimately, do you feel this is your calling?
• What is the purpose of music to you?
• How do you balance that with responsibilities of family?
• What do you need from your spouse to help you stay motivated to create?
• How are you most often misunderstood?
• Discuss your approach to songwriting (i.e., music first, lyrics first, etc.)

I’m in the process of mixing down one of the songs highlighted in this MustardCast. I’ll post a link when that is ready for download.

You can learn a bit more about standing mavis and listen to a few studio and live tracks at their MySpace site: www.myspace.com/standingmavis.

BTW, please tell me what you think of these. I have a nice line up of interviews set up and I really want to make these as beneficial as possible to you.

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What does enterprise planning
have to do with
tuning drums?

Nothing.

But while I prepare to write
about enterprise planning

my mind drifts
to drum tuning.

I like that.

–
30 June 2004
1st comment below explains what I was thinking (if you are interested).

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Time: late afternoon
Setting: my home office

Noah, age 6, enters. . .

Noah: Is it ok if I go over to [a neighbor friend’s] house to play?

Dad (flatly): Yeah, that would be fine.

Noah (stops, concerned): Are you sad? You sound kinda sad.

Dad: Not about you playing. It’s just my work today wasn’t very fun.

Noah (matter-of-factly): Sometimes school isn’t fun either. (Heads for the door)

Noah (shouting as he leaves): Love ya! Bye!

–
I could write about how cool it was that Noah was concerned. I could write about how he tried to relate to my problems. I could write about how his tone about school was so perfect – as if he were saying, “yup, some days are better than others.” Or I could just leave it all alone and let the dialogue speak for itself without comment. That’s what I think I’ll do.

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What goes on in a drummer’s head when he’s waiting for his daughter to finish dessert? Beats go on. That’s what.

You’ve probably seen the incontrollable drummer twitch that turns into tapping, hitting, or banging whatever is close by, right?

I’m not actually too bad at that, but the other night I did find myself finger tapping out a beat on an empty glass while Alissa finished her dessert. The glass sounded pretty cool.

So, as soon as I could get the kids to bed, I rushed down to my drum kit and quickly laid down a scratch version the groove. (“Scratch” meaning it’s not necessarily perfect. And, yes, my kids can sleep while I drum – amazing!)

Here’s one “open high-hat” version and a “ride cymbal” version that also have some congas and a shaker mixed in – I think that adds a little something to it. (It also shows me I have to work up my conga chops a bit more!)

• Alissa’s Dessert Groove (high-hat version)
• Alissa’s Dessert Groove (ride cymbal version)

For you non-drummers – can you tell the difference in the sounds of the groove? Which do you like better?

Where to Start a Song
As someone who writes / records songs at times by myself, I often have to decide where to start a song. Does it start with the lyrics? A guitar riff? A beat?

Really, it could be any of those. But I often start with lyrics. I think, though, that it can spur creativity by changing it up. I don’t know what this groove might turn into yet.

What does it make you think of? How does it make you feel? What else do you hear fitting well with this groove? Do you hear anything else in your head while listening to these grooves? If so, what?

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