I’ll make the first post of 2008 a great one!

I had a chance to sit down with Peter Mathews and ask him a ton of questions about his project, Far From Haggersville.

We cover everything from the themes of the story as well as the various ways that Peter is giving you to interact with this creative project. We also discuss dreams, the challenges of being an independent musician and film maker, and his recommendations for overcoming those challenges.

You can download the complete interview with Peter Mathews here.

You can open the interview with Peter Mathews in iTunes here.

The complete conversation is just under 20 minutes, including music clips and some sound clips from the short films that are a part of the project. A full download of the MustardCast is about 18mb.

You can learn more about Peter Mathews and Far From Haggersville at www.haggersville.com.

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I really enjoyed listening to this interview as I edited it. I know you will enjoy it and learn from it as well. This is not just for musicians, but for anyone seeking to make their passions a bigger part of their life. I’ve broken the interview into two MustardCasts and used a less “high fidelity” setting to make the file sizes a bit more manageable. I hope you audiophiles will be ok with that.

Part I (MustardCast 3a)
Length: 16:27

Play or Download MustardCast 3a
Play MustardCast #3a, interview with Brit Rice, in iTunes

Download the .mp3 file of MustardCast 3a, interview with Brit Rice (5.6mb)

• Intro / How did you get into the music business?
• 3:30 How did you crack into the studio scene?
• 5:20 What’s your favorite part? Playing, producing, songwriting? What’s the role of the producer?
• 7:55 Do you feel that the concept of album/cd is a lost art? Is there still an audience for the album?
• 10:35 What do you feel is essential for great music?
• 13:00 What do you feel structure does to the ability to deliver emotion in a song?

Brit’s recommended listening:

• The New Congress
• Chris Coza

Part II of the MustardCast (3b)
Length: Approx. 19 Minutes

Play or Download MustardCast 3b
Play MustardCast #3b, interview with Brit Rice, in iTunes

Download the .mp3 file of MustardCast 3b, interview with Brit Rice (6.6mb)

• 16:45 Talk about some of the sacrifices you’ve had to make to do the things you love.
• 21:10 What do you struggle with as someone trying to work your passion?
• 22:20 Would you share your mom’s philosophy of drumming?
• 23:10 How important is it to you to have your parents support what you are going after?
• 27:27 What do you fear the most as a musician?
• 30:08 What encouragement could you give to people who want to move towards doing something they are passionate about?

Learn More About Polydream
Listen to samples and buy Polydream music at iTunes
Polydream’s MySpace site
Polydream’s Website

3 Comments »

I promised an MP3 of a song many moons ago in my MustardCast with Ben Delzer of the band, standing mavis.

It has taken me too long to get this out to you, and I apologize for the imperfections of it. It was played live and mixed down by me, a non-engineer. (This is what you get when you let a drummer behind the board!)

I promised my wife I’d do the dishes tonight before midnight, and then I went into final mixdown of this and. . .whoops. . .looks like another late night. (I will do the dishes, though.)

This month has been crazy, but I am so excited by the music I’ve been able to be a part of.

As I finished this track up, I thought about Ben and Matt, who make up the other 2/3rds of standing mavis. I would do anything for these guys. They are so great.

Jim Collins in his business research (visit his link in my blogroll) often talks about “getting the right people on the bus” in your company. (Read Good to Great to understand this.) It’s a lost art in terms of bands.

I cannot think of two people I’d rather be on the bus with than Ben Delzer and Matt Rodgers. Two fantastic musicians. Two fantastic people.

Here’s the song, Steel. (4.3mb .mp3)

I’ll also upload it at http://www.myspace.com/standingmavis.

MustardCast Number 3 with Brit Rice is next on the list…before Christmas? Oh man, I don’t know. . .

Thanks for visiting!

PS If you didn’t catch the interview with Ben, you might want to. Learn more here.

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I’m happy to say that I’ve finally got this ready for you and I hope you enjoy it.

Play or Download MustardCast #2
Play MustardCast #2, interview with Charlotte Otter, in iTunes

Download the .mp3 file of MustardCast #2, interview with Charlotte Otter (16.4mb)

This is a 18-minute discussion with Charlotte Otter, a wonderful writer you can visit at Charlotte’s Web.

Here are the questions we discussed:

• What would be your dream writing gig?
• Are you going after that?
• Do you have a plan to make that happen?
• You’re a mom of 3 and wife of a busy husband – how do you do it?
• Is blogging helpful to writers or should they stick to their “serious” writing?
• What do you need as a creative person from your spouse to help you go after your dreams?
• What discourages you the most?
• You’ve done corporate, done journalism – how have you handled the adjustment to staying home with the kids? Discuss that decision and any struggles.

Charlotte also shared some tips and a short story:

• Recommended Books by Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way, and The Right to Write.
• How to Exit Gracefully from a Hammock by Charlotte Otter. (112 Kb PDF)

Update: Added link to Charlotte’s short story.

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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!

1 Comment »

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.

3 Comments »