Latest / 52 Cues - A Production Music and Sync Podcast / Are You Too Old to Start a Music Career?

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Are You Too Old to Start a Music Career? · 52 Cues - A Production Music and Sync Podcast

• 0:29
  Dave Kropf: You can't teach an old dog new tricks?
• 0:29
  Dave Kropf: I mean, that's how the saying goes. But if that's true, then I guess anyone over the age of 30 should just pack it in because you're stuck in whatever career you got. Well, the truth is, the industry is full of people who have gone after this career much later in life because it's really never too late. And you are never too old to chase your dream of becoming a production music composer. So on today's show, I sit down and chat with a longtime 52 Cues member and now recent Full Sail graduate Greg Fellman, who did just that, and we chat about his decision to pursue a degree in music and a career in music. After a successful career in social work. Plus, we listened to three of his cues which were each recently selected to be featured during the Full Sail Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. On this week's episode of the 52 cues podcast.
• 1:33
  Dave Kropf: What is happening everybody, this is Dave Kropf.
• 1:33
  Dave Kropf: And welcome back to another episode of the 52 cues podcast, a weekly podcast dedicated to all things production and library music, where we talk about industry topics and take deep dives into the different aspects of being a working production music composer. Plus, we feature a cue written by a member of the 52 cues community and this week, we're going to be taking a listen to three cues written by my guest, Greg Fellman, which were all selected to be featured during Full Sail's recent Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, so you definitely want to stick around for that. If this is, this is your first time here, welcome. I'm so glad you found me. You know, however you found me, I know you have a lot of options out there. We have podcasts and YouTube. So I really thank you sincerely for spending part of your day with me. I also want to give a special word of thanks to the family, friends and patrons of 52 cues, who helped keep the podcast the channel and everything you see here going. We are 100% community supported.
• 2:28
  Dave Kropf: So if you like what I do here, don't thank me.
• 2:28
  Dave Kropf: thank them. And if you want to learn more about how you can help support 52 cues and unlock extra perks like live streams, workshop and workshops, interactive feedback, and a ton more than be sure to click on the links in the description or you know...stick around. Because we're going to be talking more about that a little bit later in today's episode. So I was really excited to sit down and chat with with a friend, a longtime student, longtime student of mine, a longtime member of 52 cues, I think he was in the first couple of months back in the Facebook days. And recently graduated, had three of his cues selected for amongst others, other submissions, selected for full sales recent Hall of Fame ceremony. So that's a really, really big honor. But I wanted to talk to him about pursuing a career later in life as an adult student, and kind of what you go through when when you realize, hey, the thing that I that I've been doing for the last, you know, 20 years isn't working out. And is it too late to pursue a career and your dream in music for media.
• 3:36
  Dave Kropf: So without further ado, here's my recent conversation with Greg Fellman. I am so excited to welcome to the podcast. Can I call a friend a friend? Hey, we've shared pizza together. You're definitely definitely a friend. One of my students, former students at Full Sail and a long term member of the 52 cues community. I want to welcome Greg Fellman to the show. Hey, Greg, what is happening my man?
• 4:09
  Greg Fellman: Not much how you doing Dave?
• 4:11
  Dave Kropf: I'm doing really, really well. It's so good to see you. And and I miss you, man. I it was so good having you in town. You know, like I said, we went to a Lazy Moon in Orlando. And we split what could only be described as comically large slices of pizza.
• 4:28
  Greg Fellman: Ridiculous. They were pretty ridiculous. Yes. Delicious.
• 4:32
  Dave Kropf: And I wanted to start with what in the world were you doing in Orlando to begin with?
• 4:39
  Dave Kropf: Because you're not you're not from Florida? Where are you hailing from?
• 4:43
  Greg Fellman: From Colorado,
• 4:44
  Dave Kropf: Denver, Colorado. You came all the way from Denver, to Central Florida specifically to Winter Park, Florida. And can you share share? Why why you were in town?
• 4:56
  Greg Fellman: I mean, well, it was a free trip. So I couldn't say no. I had actually, I'm still in school at Full Sail University and the music production program. And they were having their Hall of Fame ceremony and Hall of Fame week, which you know all about. And they offered online students a contest where we could submit cues to be used in the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
• 5:23
  Greg Fellman: And we were able to submit up to six, which was the number of inductees that year. And I submitted five and they actually chose three of my tracks to be used in the ceremony.
• 5:36
  Dave Kropf: That is super, super exciting. And one of the one of the big reasons I wanted to bring you here is just just to honor you because that's, that's no small feat, you know, Full Sail has, you know, hundreds and hundreds of students just in the music program, 1000s of students across all of their programs and for you to submit for cues and get three of them selected. And in case in case you don't know, folks, Hall of Fame is kinda like, N.A.M. meets ComiCon you know, meets like Blizzcon you know, it definitely has kind of that that"con" vibe, you know, where there are speakers, and every year Hall of...uh, Full Sail inducts, graduates and alumni alumni who have really really had a big impact on on the industry are all have gone on to have really successful careers, whether it's like Pixar, or universal, or or EA games, or are many, many different types of types of really successful folks out in the industry. And so Full Sail every year kind of puts on this, this convention, Comic Con kind of vibe, where we have the speakers and we have special guests and we have, there's like food trucks and all this other all these other they they shut the school down for like a week. And it's just open to to anybody who wants to come online or on campus students. And so for you to come come down and and be honored. And have your music selected. I just want to say just in front of like, everybody. Congratulations, Greg. That's no small feat, my man.
• 7:14
  Greg Fellman: Thank you very much. Thank you. I'm very proud of it. Really, really excited.
• 7:17
  Dave Kropf: And we're going to listen to we're going to listen to some of these. So actually, we're gonna listen to all three of them here in just a little bit. As matter of fact, that's going to be what we're going to be the cue of the week is going to be I think we're going to listen to"Lollygagging Around." I think that's, that's, that's the one that you're most proud of.
• 7:36
  Dave Kropf: Lollygagging Around, but beyond just honoring you, for that accomplishment of being selected, I wanted to talk about higher education, Full Sail, you are you are an adult student, right. So you're not like fresh out of college, you know, dewy eyed with dreams and you know, and and a smile, you've returned back to school and you went to Full Sail.
• 7:57
  Dave Kropf: And full disclosure, I teach at Full Sail I don't ever like make, I don't mince words about that.
• 8:02
  Dave Kropf: But this isn't a Full Sail commercial. This isn't sponsored by full sail. I just I worked there.
• 8:08
  Dave Kropf: I've been there for 10 years. I think it's a really good idea. And we've talked about higher education before on the show. In fact, I'll have I'll have a link to that, that episode, where we talk about do you need to go to college, and you can hear my thoughts on all of that. But Greg, I just wanted to kind of hear your story, hear your story about about what motivated you to say after a career in other things that you were doing and saying, okay, all right, I want to go back to school. So I want to hear that story. Maybe talk about why Full Sail because you know, full sail's, not necessarily cheap, you know, probably could have gotten out, you know, or cheaper out of state school or something like that. But let's start first with your story and how you got to the decision to return back to school as an adult student.
• 9:02
  Greg Fellman: Wow. Yeah, I had been a social worker for over two decades. And I hit kind of, you know, burnout, midlife crisis burnout or something like that. And it wasn't necessarily that much of a burnout but it was it just wasn't bringing me the joy that it once had. And so I left my job and was trying to decide what to do and and then COVID hit and shut everything down.
• 9:33
  Greg Fellman: And I knew that in my life, music has always been the core passion. A number of years ago, my sister gave me a t shirt that just says music is my life and it's a good motto. So so I knew I wanted to get into that somehow, but I wasn't exactly sure how so I started exploring, heard about Full Sail University read about it, specifically the music production program and felt that it was a good fit. Also that they had been doing the online program for a while it wasn't just a pandemic induced program. So you know, they had it dialed in and and it felt like a right fit for me. So, and I kind of figured, you know, just knowing that these days, there's so much media out there.
• 10:25
  Greg Fellman: There's so much need for music because in the past that had always been like well You know, there's so many composers out there, and I just figured there probably wasn't room for me. It's like, who says there isn't? You know, there's plenty people getting into it every day. So I just felt like I needed the tools and the knowledge, especially after 20 plus years of being away from school. And so it was the right fit for me and the right path for me.
• 10:52
  Dave Kropf: Yeah, and what about your family? You know, and and your loved ones? Were they gung ho on board? Or was there a little bit of convincing or anything you had to do? your significant others or whatever,
• 11:05
  Greg Fellman: I don't, I don't think so. My wife has been fully supportive from the get go and is very excited. She's my biggest fan, every cue, I play her she loves and, and, you know, the rest of my family, it kind of made sense to them, just because they've known me all along, they've known what a passion music has been in my life. So it just made sense.
• 11:30
  Dave Kropf: And so what early on so I'm assuming that you know, music was a it was a part of your life early on, before you went into social work.
• 11:36
  Dave Kropf: So what part was it of you that went, you know, I'm just gonna let's social work, you know, what was there at the like, a moment in band or something like that, where you just kind of took the, the well trodden path, you know, of, of day job with, you know, secure benefits and all of that.
• 11:58
  Greg Fellman: Right, right. You know, I was, I was raised playing piano, but then bass guitar really became my primary instrument and, and played that and bands in high school and jazz band in high school and college and everything. And yeah, my dream was to be a rock and roll star. And when I knew that, that wasn't going to happen, I kind of figured there really wasn't much else for me in music. And, and so it just turned my focus to something else. And at that time, psychology and philosophy were the interest for me, and that led into social work and that career. But, you know, it's always been a part of my life and now I'm making it the main focus my life.
• 12:43
  Dave Kropf: Yeah, I imagine you could probably take like, this psychology studies and everything that you've worked through and, and kind of leverage that into, you know, understanding a little bit of the human psyche and crawling into the heads of the emotion that that music needs to communicate, has that come in handy? Have you have you drawn on those experiences as a composer?
• 13:04
  Greg Fellman: I'd like to think so. Yeah, I think I think it does give me a hopefully an advantage and just understanding Yes, the variety of emotions we all experience and, and therefore trying to get that into my music and try to help people feel those emotions in my music, whether it's scoring for a picture or doing some production music. Yeah, I think it is an advantage.
• 13:32
  Dave Kropf: You know, it's interesting. You mentioned COVID, earlier, full sail, you know, I've came to Full Sail almost, yeah, actually, just a couple of weeks ago, I celebrated my 10, 10 year anniversary with full sail. And what brought both Shannon and I down here was their online music program. Because when we got here, it was only an online music program. And so from the ground up Full Sail was built with online delivery in mind. So when COVID and all of that happened, it there were it was super easy, you know, barely an inconvenience it was so it was just a lateral move for us. I mean, my I teach online and on campus, and it's literally the same curriculum for me. Same project, same assignments, the education that you got online, was absolutely no different than the on campus. But I imagine that there are some schools well, I know, I know, there are schools, that it was a complete fire drill, trying to work all of that and so many schools, especially my poor public school teaching friends, they just basically said, here's the zoom, login, work it out, you know, and just kind of backed out. But for the campus, folks, it was just kind of rolling them into the already robust online program. And speaking of online, as an online students, you know, the challenges of working in an online environment while you know, having a day job or having life, you know, and all of the commitments and responsibilities that go along with that. Can you speak to some of those challenges? And is there anything that you would specifically say to someone out there listening who maybe think that hey, online is easier or it's it's the smoother path? Spoiler, I don't think it is. But I would love I would love your thoughts on that. Any advice you would give for someone looking for an online delivered course or study?
• 15:35
  Greg Fellman: Yeah, I mean, one is that it's just so unstructured. So I think people need to create structure in their lives in order to succeed well in an online program, so carving out specific times to focus on one schooling ones, the lectures, completing the assignments, is vital to do I mean, every week, you know, Monday morning, first thing I was doing my assignments as quickly as I could, just to try to get it done, which is very different from my college experience 25 years ago, when I waited until the last minute for just about everything. So yes, starting out, creating some structure. Because that lack of structure can be very difficult for a lot of people I know. And for myself, 25 years ago, 30 years ago, that might have been a major challenge for me. And, and then the other challenge is trying to make connections.
• 16:34
  Greg Fellman: I mean, luckily, I made a great connection with you. And when I found out that you had the Facebook 52 cues group right after class with you, I'm like, Oh, I'm signing up for that. And that just helped me broaden my world and make some great connections. But also within school with the online program, it is a challenge to connect with one's professors or ones other students. And so it can be a very secluding experience. So you really have to work at making those connections, developing those relationships. And, and, and trying to work those things out. I mean, I feel like a lot of professors probably are so bored when with the online lectures, because hardly anybody shows up, and I would show up as much as I could, just to have that connection with the professor and ask them questions as much as I could.
• 17:36
  Dave Kropf: Yeah, I mean, it's a real challenge, it can be a challenge, trying to teach a teacher an energetic kind of lecture to, you know, an empty chat room, or just, or just a zoom room full of names, because, you know, we don't make make students turn on the cameras and that kind of thing. Right. But it's also, you know, it's interesting that you touched on on structure, and, and organization and discipline, I tell the campus students that the online students really have somewhat of an advantage, because they're already learning how to work the gig amongst all of the other responsibilities in their life, right, you know, when you're fresh out of college, you're 18, 19 years old, you know, and you get, and you're made to sit in a classroom, full sail, because our courses are just our one month, four week classes.
• 18:25
  Dave Kropf: And you might have a two hour lecture and a four hour lab. And you might have two classes at once, instead of like six or seven. But to be able to sit in or be forced, if you will, to sit in a room for six hours, and your only responsibility for those six uninterrupted hours is just to do the work. You know, man, that's a that's a stinking luxury. And I wish I could go back and like smack, you know, 18 and 19 year old Dave him upside the head and say, Dude, do you realize how much of a huge advantage you have right now. Because when you graduate man, when you get out of college, when you start adulting, you really, you really understand how rare that that will be later, right. And so I tell my, I tell my online folks all the time that you are getting really a really good taste of what this gig actually feels like.
• 19:21
  Dave Kropf: Because until you get to the point where you're able to do it full time, you will be doing it alongside all of the other things you have to do to keep keep the lights on, you know, to keep life happening. So I'm really glad you brought that up.
• 19:32
  Dave Kropf: Because I think it's a real, it's a it's a real touch touch point for folks who want to teach online. And we live I mean, we're in a golden age of online delivering delivery. And if anything, man COVID Really, really kind of pushed that to the forefront because I don't know about you, but zoom was just kind of limping along. And then zoom became the de facto delivery for education, like at least nationally, if not worldwide. And so you were you were there you were there when it happened.
• 20:06
  Greg Fellman: Right. Nobody knew was zoom two and a half years ago.
• 20:09
  Dave Kropf: I know it was just it was the it was the not-Skype. That's all I knew about zoom. It was like zoom, this kind of stupid app, or whatever. So what was it specifically about Full Sail because I'm sure you had options. I mean, there are other online programs. I mean, there's new Berkeley, which is fantastic. Very have friends that teach up at Berkeley have friends who live in Boston? You know, and there are plenty of other, you know, state schools and those types of things. But what was it about full sail that attracted you beyond beyond these others, especially knowing, especially knowing that that full sail is one of the one of the pricier ones and so...
• 20:48
  Greg Fellman: I think you get what you pay for.
• 20:48
  Greg Fellman: And, you know, they definitely have quality classes and quality educational system, I mean, just looking into it, you know, it it. And researching other programs, it definitely is at the is the cream of the crop, if you will, up there with Berkeley, I would say. And, and again, because the they had the online program for years, they had that dialed in. So I figured, knowing that I wanted to do an online online program. That was the one for me. And then also, one other person that I knew had gone to Full Sail had done the audio production program and highly recommended it. And so you know, when you've, you know, somebody who has a personal recommendation, that speaks a lot. So, yeah, that was enough for me.
• 21:45
  Dave Kropf: As as we're as we're publishing this, I mean, we're recording a little a little earlier, but as this is published, you will graduate. Tada.
• 21:49
  Dave Kropf: Yeah. And how many times do I have to mention how expensive but tell me about that. Because it I can imagine it's simultaneously super exciting, but also completely terrifying. So tell me about kind of how you're feeling right now. You know, knowing that tomorrow you're going to be sitting in a, I guess I'm assuming a virtual commencement ceremony. And I'll be there waving, you know, you'll see me. But tell me about how you're feeling right now. And any any advice you would give to someone else who may be, you know, a year or two before, you know, further earlier on the path than you are?
• 22:40
  Greg Fellman: I am very eager for it. I I'm dealing with a little bit of senioritis right now, I think. And yeah, I'm just eager to be kind of set free out into the world, but it is very scary.
• 22:53
  Greg Fellman: Because, okay, now that you got this degree, what are you going to do with it? Here's where the rubber meets the road. And so it's, it's daunting, it's terrifying. And I'm excited just because I guess, you know, one thing I know I want to do is Production Music, which is why I follow 52 cues.
• 23:15
  Greg Fellman: So during the week when I want to be composing, and then I've got this class work to do, it's like, oh, man, I want I just want to focus on production music. So I'm looking forward to being able to put school behind me so I can focus on exactly what I want to do and and start that journey, and really start to make some inroads in this field. So it's certainly a mixture of terror, and excitement, and, and relief too.
• 23:46
  Dave Kropf: Because I mean, unlike like, if you went to Full Sail to be a computer animator, you know, you could go get a job at Pixar, or Lucasfilm or any of those other you know, all of the 1000s of names you see, fly by at the end of every Marvel movie, those are all like, Guys and girls, just like you went to school, learned about some learned about some stuff that they can do on a computer, and then go get a job. But unlike those jobs, I mean, there's not like discovery channel isn't hiring, necessarily, production music composers. And even when you work for libraries, it's all kind of, you know, freelance and on spec, and there has to be a level of entrepreneurialship to this, because unlike those other degrees, there's not a big company waiting to absorb you into their fold, so that you could get, you know, benefits and a 401k and all of that stuff. So what are you doing in that kind of entrepreneurial mind to, to start making inroads into the industry?
• 24:50
  Greg Fellman: Well, I've already sent out cues to libraries, I've already become a member of taxi, I'm starting my business, incorporating all that stuff, kind of although the business steps and I and I've actually had a couple of businesses in the past so I have some experience with this. And and so just taking all those steps to start the business, start a proper website, and then just composing as much as I possibly can. And trying to make as many connections as I possibly can. And I know networking is part of it. It's one of the most challenging parts of intrep- entrepreneurship one of the most challenging aspects that I find.
• 25:35
  Greg Fellman: But towards that end, I plan to go out to the Production Music Conference in LA in September.
• 25:41
  Greg Fellman: And I actually did that last year, and made some connections then hoped to make some more of this year.
• 25:49
  Dave Kropf: Yeah, because at the end of the day, whether it's digital, whether, yeah, whether it's remote, digital online, or whatever, it's still about relationships, I mean, that businesses still, that's still the currency of this business.
• 25:58
  Dave Kropf: Now one of the things at Full Sail that they really focus on, whether it's the film program, the computer depth program, or the music program, is giving you a very broad education. So like, like in the film program, if you if you want to go to full sail to learn how to direct, you're also going to learn how to run a camera and you're going to learn how to paint sets, you're going to learn how to write a script, you know, you're going to learn how to, to, to hang lights, and all of those kinds of things. So so the music program, embraces that exact same mentality of which my course is one of them, you know, my course teaches students how to write Production Music, another course teaches students how to do game music, or film music, or mixing and mastering and engineering and the songwriting and lyrics and everything. And so I think that's a real big advantage and allows you to kind of graduate with a lot of different skills. As that having been said, what are some of those other skills you've learned in those other courses that have started to find their way into your production music side of things?
• 27:11
  Greg Fellman: I guess first come to mind is what I'm currently in. I'm in game composition right now, which includes a lot of sound design. And that was also in our last class as well. And so that is definitely playing a part in my experience right now is trying to create the sounds just because in the past, I definitely did not feel creative in that realm. So you know, if it's not in a sampled library, I'm probably not creating it. So just getting more comfortable with that, trying to create sounds, as well as just recording other instruments, trying to create impacts, reverses, whooshes, all those types of things.
• 27:50
  Greg Fellman: Because I know, as you've said, before, it's like you, you should try to create something real in your track for every track. So it doesn't sound fake or sampled completely sampled. So I'm trying to do certainly more of that. Other skills. The just audio editing has been pretty fascinating.
• 28:12
  Greg Fellman: And, and, and if if I want to get into another career, I might go back to film school for just audio editing. It's fascinating stuff, how they create all the sounds and layer them specifically in films and TV, but But that's another life.
• 28:38
  Greg Fellman: That's a composer. Yeah. And then, you know, in when I've had time, I'm just trying to learn as much as possible. And one nice thing about full sail is they give you an account to LinkedIn learning. So I've been watching as many videos as I possibly can just to learn more compositional skills, learn more progress...
• 28:59
  Dave Kropf: Yeah, that's the old, the old Linda stuff, right. Exactly. LinkedIn. Yeah. And so there's a by the way, if you haven't found it, there is a deep and I mean, deep exploration of Omnisphere over in LinkedIn learning.
• 29:12
  Greg Fellman: I started that and it was like, it was over my head pretty quickly, since
• 29:15
  Dave Kropf: it's like, like a doctoral level type of Omnisphere. Class. Right. But yeah, I took it because, you know, we have to take continuing education credits, right. So we have to have like 15, 12 or 15 hours of continuing education every year. And so one year it was, I sat there for it's like, eight hours long. It's really long, right?
• 29:32
  Dave Kropf: And I took that entire Omnisphere and it felt like my brains were gonna fall out by the end of it.
• 29:38
  Dave Kropf: But that's pretty dense. Of all to learn, you know, Premiere, I've learned how to work premiere, I've learned about like lighting. I've also taken like some script writing kind of things. And y eah, so...
• 29:51
  Greg Fellman: I'm learning about Squarespace right now as I start my website.
• 29:55
  Dave Kropf: Yep. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So So you're doing Squarespace?
• 29:59
  Greg Fellman: That's what I'm gonna give a try to, yeah/
• 30:01
  Dave Kropf: Excellent. Yeah, that's what you know.
• 30:01
  Dave Kropf: 52 Cues is on Squarespace. And just a shout out to Shannon. If you have any questions. Mrs., Mrs.
• 30:05
  Dave Kropf: Kropf can absolutely help because he's one of those Squarespace Circle members and stuff. So don't hesitate to reach out if you have any Squarespace questions. I'm sure I will. Don't mind us both me and Greg are just going to have a little short conversation. So, so that's really exciting. Now let's talk about you said incorporating and starting your business, did you choose like an LLC? Or are you doing like a sole proprietor or so long that process and did Full Sail? And because I know isn't there, there's a business class that goes along with it, did that, uh, did that help as well?
• 30:44
  Greg Fellman: Yeah, definitely. In helping me decide kind of what type of business to choose.
• 30:52
  Greg Fellman: And, and then I've got a good friend actually who's a lawyer in the music business program, or the music business world. So I just kind of went to him and said, Hey, I want to incorporate Can you help me out? And so he's helping me through that process now.
• 31:07
  Dave Kropf: Yeah, that's, that's really cool.
• 31:07
  Dave Kropf: Because tell you why you can get absolutely crushed with taxes and everything, if you don't take care of all that business. And especially as, as royalties and all of that start, start piling up, that can that can really, really bite you.
• 31:21
  Dave Kropf: Because it's it completely destroyed me one time to the point of like, a five figure tax bill, that Ouch, that was the largest check I've ever written. And on one hand, I'm feeling really blessed. And like, okay, all right, the universe is smiling upon me the fact that I have to write that but on the other hand, man, that is, that's painful.
• 31:41
  Greg Fellman: That's a tough lesson to learn.
• 31:43
  Dave Kropf: So you mentioned that Production Music is kind of your, your, your primary focus, are there other other aspects that you're wanting to get into and other things you want that you want to branch out? With?
• 31:56
  Greg Fellman: Yeah, possibly, I would certainly like to get into scoring. And I've got a couple of friends who are kind of into the Denver film scene. So they're trying to help connect me to some local filmmakers here. And actually one of them for one of her classes when she was in film school last fall, I scored her documentary for that, which actually has been featured in a couple of film festivals just recently. Yeah, it's been a fascinating process. So I really enjoy the process of composing, or scoring specifically to picture and would like to try to do that a little bit more. So that's kind of my goal is to do a two pronged approach with Production Music, and scoring.
• 32:43
  Dave Kropf: Right on, that's very, very cool.
• 32:43
  Dave Kropf: Well, is that is that that film? Is that available anywhere? Like on the YouTube or anything like that? Do we know?
• 32:50
  Greg Fellman: I don't believe it is actually.
• 32:54
  Dave Kropf: That, yeah, yeah, maybe check on that.
• 32:54
  Dave Kropf: At that time. Maybe, by the time this airs are publishes, maybe it'll be out there, if you can look that up. But we'd absolutely love to put a link in the show notes for you. And then everybody can, can can check that out. Because I'd love to hear it. I want to hear and wonderful.
• 33:11
  Greg Fellman: Thanks.
• 33:13
  Dave Kropf: So we're about out of time here. But before, before I let you go, I want to kind of ask you any any advice you would give someone out there maybe fresh out of college, or maybe they're doing they've had two decades as a social worker or something like that. And we know, we've talked, like I said in the previous episode, you don't have to go to college, you know, you don't have to do this, especially in the day of YouTube, and Coursera. And all of these these lessons, you know, and I mean, folks watching my, you know, my channel right now, or taking lessons or doing mastermind groups, or any of those other kinds of things, there are so many educational opportunities out there beyond beyond the traditional college or something like full sail, which is kind of the non traditional route. But But Greg, for those of you, or what would you say to those folks out there, let's let's say in in your position, who might be looking at a social worker job, you know, and maybe feeling unfulfilled? Do you have any, any advice, encouragement, or pearls and words of wisdom that you could give Them!
• 34:27
  Greg Fellman: You know, it goes back to that basic of follow your dream. You know, find the thing that sparks that joy, and follow it and make something out of it. And these days, there are paths to, to success in whatever path you want to find, actually, when I said whatever sparks joy just reminded me of a question we often used in palliative care. In social work. We would ask people, you know, what, what brings you joy? And you know, because we could ask the questions, oh, what do you do for work? How many people do you have in your family? And they would give you the dry answers. But then as soon as you said, it's like, what sparks joy in your life, like, oh, I had this guy just light up and talk about his classic cars that he had, and stuff. And so it's that ideas like what is it that sparks joy and how can you make a career path out of it? And for me, Full Sail was a good avenue to pursue that to fall. Oh my joy and and, and make something out of it. So I encourage everybody to give it a try.
• 35:37
  Dave Kropf: Yeah, Never Too Late either. Yeah, and it's never been easier. It's never there's so much just available and are in recognize that people are living their lives, but learning how to do all of these other things, whether it's Production Music, whether it's being a singer, songwriter, I don't know, maybe maybe it's being a novel writer, or maybe you just want to get into watercolors, or just finding something that that is fulfilling to you that you can work on alongside, while while you're bettering yourself and moving towards that thing. So, Greg...
• 36:14
  Greg Fellman: Yeah. Can I add one other things that, I would say, too, it's like, you don't have to be the absolute best in that either. You know, you and I have talked about this that I like your
• 36:25
  Dave Kropf: Yeah, go win Oscars if you could do that. Go right. Sure. Win Emmys. Go for it. Go model of in production music, that you are an artisan, not an artist, because I know I am not a fill up your Grammy table. The rest of us. I mean, somebody's got to write the music for like the John Williams, I am not, you know, any of these amazing composers or musicians. But, you know, I bachelor. Right? Somebody's got to write the music for Dr. Pimple Popper. Right? They're not going to can write Production Music, and I can, you know, do it really well and well enough to make a career at it. So you don't have to be the best in your field. If you are, great! But yeah, you can be get John Williams ain't ever going to score an episode of Dr. Pimple Popper, however, why not?
• 36:53
  Dave Kropf: good at it and still be successful.
• 36:54
  Dave Kropf: Us? Why not? Exactly. There's, there's good money to be had. And, and so I don't know, you've never I've never too good, or, you know, too much of an artiste to have my music on an episode of, you know, black ink crew or, or Louisiana law or or getaway driver or any, any of those types of shows because somebody has to write it. Yep. And so, I love that, that that's resonated with you, because any listener to this podcast, or this channel knows that that is the through line, right? That is that is the the Colorado river running through the Grand Canyon of my psyche, that just continues on and, and I my entire work ethic revolves around that. And so it was, obviously it was really good to get to know you through full sail and even better to get to know you on the other side of Full Sail. And once again, congratulations on on those three cues that got picked up and got selected, in Full Sail flies you out, you know, put you up in a hotel, and we got to meet face to face. And I know we'll get to meet face to face again in September when we're at the PMA conference. That but man, you're, you're you're doing it right, Greg, you're doing all of the things and, and, and seeing a student just like you come through the program, whether it's through full sail or through, you know, private lessons that I've had, you know, with other students and everything, and just like really wring the sponge out of every possible assignment. I think that's that's the real key. Just go soberly look at the real opportunity that you have before you in an age where it's never been more accessible. And and really just grab it. And you've you've done that the fact that we're talking today, nearly two years later. Right. Right. Right. And and you're still very much a part of my of my world, you know, and and I appreciate you once again, congratulations. And can I just say I'm really proud of you, man. Thank you. Oh, my former students. I'm super proud of you. And when I when I saw that you got you got selected for Hall of Fame. And it's like, one of my former students from Full Sail and a 52 que family member and all of that. I absolutely had to have you on to the podcast, and just just just dote on you a little bit.
• 39:50
  Greg Fellman: That's well, thank you for having me. And of course, as always a big thanks to you, Dave, for all you have done to develop this community and and inspire me and many others. So thank you.
• 40:02
  Dave Kropf: Well, it goes both way because together we really truly are better indeed.
• 40:06
  Dave Kropf: Speaking of better, we're going to take a really quick break and then when we come back I want to listen to lollygagging around, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Kind of where your thought process on that. And so we're gonna listen to that, but really quick, we're gonna take a quick break.
• 40:26
  Shannon Kropf: Hey, y'all, I'm Shannon Kropf And I want to tell you that the 52 cues podcast is made
• 40:30
  possible by viewers and listeners just like you: composers and producers who are looking for a better way to connect and collaborate. You see, 52 Cues isn't just another website selling static pre-recorded videos to a mass audience. It's a fun, vibrant and positive community that comes together online for sharing cues, getting feedback and discussing what's up in the production music industry. You'll find both personalized feedback and live interaction which are the best and fastest ways to grow your skills and earn more placements. The best part is that the 52 Cues community is absolutely free. And when you're ready to take your career to the next level, we offer Friends and Family subscriptions which unlock weekly live streams, live interactive group feedback sessions, monthly interactive workshops and more. Head over to 52cues.com and sign up today. And while you're there, check out our personalized feedback videos, private lessons, and of course merch! I can't wait to see you at 52 cues.com.
• 43:35
  Dave Kropf: So that was Lollygaggin Lollygagging around first of all, Mad props for using the term"lollygagging" and it's like sounds like my grandpa lollygagging around, so So why don't you tell us a little bit about the queue, the inspiration behind the queue, and maybe some of the production techniques you used for that?
• 43:55
  Greg Fellman: You know, honestly, the inspiration for the queue was messing around with Omnisphere just trying out different sounds and Omnisphere came across one which is that leads since sound kind of a low fi sound. And just it inspired me to start playing and led to that track. I hadn't done Lo Fi track before. But it was fun to explore that. And this goes back to actually one video you had asking kind of you know, where do you get an inspiration from and I remember I commented on it saying sometimes just playing a sound inspires me.
• 44:33
  Greg Fellman: And you get the right sound and you just start making something out of it. And it's like, oh, this could be a great Lo Fi track. This could be a great dramedy track, whatever. That's how that developed. And then you and I did a private lesson on it. And and that really helped shape it as well and get it even more Lo Fi. And it was a lot of fun to make.
• 44:59
  Dave Kropf: Yeah, I tell you, I think yeah, I think play gets overlooked, especially in our artists in brain time. The time to make the donuts. We're just sitting here making cookies, the fact that what we do is so it's like at the intersection of creativity and commercial, you know, and industry. And so it can be really easy just to kind of on just cranking out cues just cranking out cues. But you hit on a really good point there's there's something to be said about just Playing now sometimes that's a luxury you don't have whether it's a deadline and you know from being in my class, it's like you got to queue due in three days. So you don't have time to explore the space for two days. But no, I think allow allowing a sound to inspire you to, to, to unlock creativity. I think that's like the best of both worlds. Because if you could do that, and then leverage it into another cue. Yeah, that's a that's a win, you know, Hulk meme. You know, that's. So yeah. Now let's talk about Go ahead.
• 46:05
  Greg Fellman: I was just gonna say because yes, sometimes you sit down and it's like, Okay, today I'm going to make a dramat EQ. But then sometimes you just have to create whatever is coming out of you and makes make it work into a production track somehow.
• 46:19
  Dave Kropf: Very cool. Well, you know, what I actually I want to go ahead and listen to these other two cues. This first one is called a skirmish of wit, anything anything we need to know about a skirmish of wit before we listen to it.
• 46:33
  Greg Fellman: Oh one of my early attempts at AI hip hop production music track
• 46:38
  Dave Kropf: well it was selected so that is that and so let's let's take a quick listen to a skirmish of wit again another Hall of Fame selection for full sail. Why?
• 48:01
  Dave Kropf: Right so that was a skirmish of what I liked that title, a skirmish. And then finally we're going to take a listen to the funk detective get the third cue that was selected for the Hall of Fame ceremony this past year at Full Sail. So tell us a little bit about funk detective.
• 49:03
  Greg Fellman: Ah, man, it's been about a year since I wrote that. I think that was another one that was inspired by just playing around coming across a fun, heavy synth sound that just led into this weird little melody and then and then trying to I think make a funky track out of it. Yeah, I'll just let it speak for itself but it was a fun little exploration.
• 51:36
  Dave Kropf: Well, Greg, once again, I want to thank you so much for joining me for today's episode of the 52 Cues podcast and congratulations, not just on the Hall of Fame stuff, which we've talked plenty about, but on graduating again with another degree because it really is, it really is no small task to graduate with a college degree. And let alone how many is this your second 1/3
• 52:05
  Greg Fellman: including a master's, I guess third.
• 52:09
  Dave Kropf: Just add it to the pile, just add Yeah. But it's no small feat. And so I just want to recognize you. And I want to recognize all of those listeners out here out there. You know, I know we're into into July, but I know some of you probably have just graduated, some of you might be thinking about school right now. And whether it's full sail, whether it's Berkeley, whether it's it's the community college down the street, I mean, I'm a big believer in college, I don't believe you have to go. But if you really want to kind of supercharge a career, I think going and getting an education from from a school like full sail or your state college or whatever can can position you in a way that that may be just kind of studying on your own through YouTube videos, and all of that maybe will take a little bit longer. And I think you know, somebody like Greg, who, you know, understands the value of education and did it you didn't necessarily need in your life to go back to go back to school. But, but Greg, congratulations, my man, thank you for your success.
• 53:15
  Greg Fellman: I appreciate it.
• 53:16
  Dave Kropf: And I'm looking, I'm really looking forward to what's next for you.
• 53:20
  Greg Fellman: Me too. It's gonna be a journey.
• 53:24
  Dave Kropf: Once again, a huge shout out. And thanks to Greg Fellman, not just for joining me on today's episode, but for also just your long, longtime support of the channel and 52 Cues and everything we do here. Thank you, thank you so much. It really is. It really is folks like you who make this not only possible, but super super rewarding. And, and seeing you graduate, I know you're off to really, really great things. So thank you, thank you very much. Um, you know, I do offer coaching services, I do one on one sessions, we have mastermind groups, and I also do video feedback. So if you're looking for constructive feedback and critiques on your cues, whether it's mixing and mastering, whether it's form and structure, or even titles, or or music theory side of things, all of those things, if that's something that you're interested in, on top of lessons and on top of other masterminds and stuff, then head over to 52cues.com/coaching. You can book your session today or you can send me your cue and I can get you a high quality full stereo 15 minute video right back to you usually within just a matter of a couple of days. But that's going to do it for me this week, you don't want to miss next week where I thought it would be a really good idea to unpack the various ways that I make money in the music industry, everything from from royalties to maybe getting into some arrange me and some sheet music publication, my teaching career among other things, so I thought it'd be really interesting to unpack how I personally make a living, making music. That's but that's going to do it for me. Thank you once again for spending your time with me. Thank you to the family, friends and patrons to who helped make all of this possible, but I hope that you've had an amazing week. 30 and I know and I know the universe has amazing things for you in store for week 31 Until next time, peace. The 52 cues podcast is copyright 2022 Dave Kropf All rights reserved to music played on The podcast is copyright of their respective owners and is used for educational purposes only for more information including joining the 52 cues community and submitting your cue for consideration on the podcast head over to 52Cues.com