Latest / The Scene Projects / Wes Luster on Creativity, Podcasting, and the Journey from Biology to Artistic Entrepreneurship
Transcript
- 0:03Today, we're honored to have Wes Luster, a visionary artist, musician, and visionary
- 0:08behind Integrated OKC.
- 0:11Wes blends folk art, portraiture, and music to explore identity and heritage, all while
- 0:17championing BIPOC communities.
- 0:20Get ready for a deep dive into his creative world and powerful storytelling.
- 0:38Musicians, comedians, and artists from across the Midwest.
- 0:43Become part of our community and support local art wherever you are.
- 0:57Welcome in to another exciting episode of the scene.
- 0:59I'm your host Bubba Starts, and with me today is Wes Luster.
- 1:03Wes, welcome to the show, brother.
- 1:05Thanks, Bubba.
- 1:06I appreciate it, man.
- 1:07Thanks for thanks for having me on.
- 1:08Yeah.
- 1:09I feel like this has kinda been a long time coming.
- 1:11Huge fan of what you're doing down there in Oklahoma City and a big fan of your art too.
- 1:16We can see some of that behind you there on the wall.
- 1:20Before we get into all the things that you're up to now, kind of reinvigorating the
- 1:25integrated OKC programming, let's talk a little bit about your backstory and kinda bring us up
- 1:31to date.
- 1:33Well, man, I guess I guess to get started, I was an artist from a very young age.
- 1:38So I kinda always had a pencil in my hand.
- 1:40You know?
- 1:40Doodling while the teacher was talking, definitely was a doodler.
- 1:43You know?
- 1:44Always into, like, anime illustrations, cartoons, stuff like that that kinda inspired
- 1:50me, comics.
- 1:52And so I kinda just made a promise to myself to never not do that.
- 1:56So, I've been doing that ever since that time.
- 2:01I was selling artwork to my teachers in college.
- 2:04I have a degree in biology.
- 2:05So, I went to Rose State, then Oklahoma State University, and, saw that I you know, even
- 2:12though I hadn't had a degree, I was already making money in the artwork.
- 2:15It was something I was passionate about.
- 2:17So I just have kept doing that regardless of anything else.
- 2:24Nice.
- 2:24So even though you have a degree in biology, which most people wouldn't really relate much
- 2:29to the art world, I'm sure that degree kinda helps you when you talk about, you know,
- 2:34drawing the human form or animal forms and things like that.
- 2:38This intimate knowledge of, I'm sure, anatomy as well kind of helps inform your artistic
- 2:43expression too, I would assume.
- 2:45I mean, it definitely helps out in a like, in a mind space way where, yeah, it feels like I'm a
- 2:52little bit more well rounded where, you know, I kinda have that science, and it's like a
- 2:55different part of my brain as opposed to the artwork.
- 2:58So, you know, I think I have ADHD really bad.
- 3:01So being able
- 3:02to switch gears like that really helps me, live.
- 3:07Honestly, what artist doesn't have some form of the attention or or whatever you wanna call it?
- 3:14I call it a superpower, man.
- 3:15My ADHD, I've never been diagnosed, but, I mean, you can look around my office and watch
- 3:21me work as I'm producing the show in the background and doing all, like, I've I've
- 3:25finally found something that works with me and that I can wield that kind of different brain
- 3:31chemistry that I have as a true weapon and as a superpower rather than a detriment.
- 3:37Right.
- 3:38Exactly.
- 3:40I mean, even playing guitar and singing.
- 3:42Right?
- 3:42Like, all your everything's moving at the same time and the brain is firing.
- 3:46I'm like, I almost need that in my daily life.
- 3:49Can you kinda speak to that in the art world by working in the same way?
- 3:53Oh, yeah.
- 3:54Absolutely.
- 3:56I mean, if you think about it, if you're an artist and this is kind of the the source of my
- 4:00podcast integrated OKC as well is that I talk to artists, musicians, and entrepreneurs.
- 4:05Because if you're an artist, you're also an entrepreneur.
- 4:08You kinda can't get around having to be able to run a business and do the art unless it's just
- 4:14a hobby.
- 4:14But, you know, for me, it's not just a hobby.
- 4:16It's a passion as well as a business.
- 4:19And so at times, I have to look at it that way, and, you know, that requires you to jump from
- 4:24being a CEO to producer and also the r and d, your own research and development.
- 4:30You have to be your own marketer as well as your own salesperson and your own social media
- 4:34person as well as your own editor.
- 4:36And so you're wearing all these different hats and, like but it's fun.
- 4:41Yeah.
- 4:42Not only are we, like, wearing them, but we're exchanging them rapidly.
- 4:46Right?
- 4:46And we're wearing sometimes six of them stacked on top of each other, and, I I I feel you.
- 4:53Right.
- 4:54I mean, it it also helps a lot, like, when I'm thinking about how I can be more productive or
- 4:59how I can work with what I have because of, like, the science brain has kind of taught me
- 5:04to understand some words and some ideas that probably would trip up a lot of people who
- 5:10just, like, you know, haven't dealt with it.
- 5:13And so, say, for example, not knowing that people don't really multitask, they they just
- 5:18switch.
- 5:19Like you said, we switch the hats over and over in different ways and but you're only work
- 5:23you're working on one at a time.
- 5:25So that really helps me is, with my ADHD that I'm gonna work with one thing at a time until I
- 5:31kinda get as close as I can.
- 5:33And then, you know, I'm switching to another thing to focus on because when we try to do too
- 5:38much at once, your brain kinda just gets frazzled, and you don't get anything done,
- 5:43really.
- 5:44Right.
- 5:44You well, you never complete anything.
- 5:46You get a lot of work done, but nothing gets completed, so it looks like nothing's actually
- 5:50gotten done.
- 5:51And that's really for myself is seeing things through.
- 5:56Right?
- 5:56I can do five things at once, and we're always and in this world now, you're taking in so much
- 6:02information.
- 6:02I mean, I had eight tabs on this browser open right now.
- 6:06And and any one of them can go off and distract you and take you down something.
- 6:10But you have to be able to prioritize those things and to go, hey.
- 6:14That thing can wait.
- 6:15Put the phone on DND.
- 6:17Right?
- 6:17And let it alone and kind of put at least one of the distractions down and focus on what
- 6:22you're doing.
- 6:23For me, podcasting has really made that possible to to just sit down and to have
- 6:29conversations instead of being distracted.
- 6:32Right?
- 6:32I I I kinda turn everything else off when we're recording, and it's just me and you having a
- 6:36conversation or whoever I am, you know, three, four times a day that I'm sitting down to do
- 6:41interviews, it seems like lately.
- 6:43And, I can just really dial in on that conversation for the moment.
- 6:46Even though I may be, you know, producing the show in the background, it's not necessarily
- 6:51distracting me and taking my focus away from what's right in front of me.
- 6:56Right.
- 6:56And and you probably have your workflow too.
- 6:58You know?
- 6:59You've been doing this for a fair amount.
- 7:00I don't know how many episodes you have yet, but, you know, you you have your way of setting
- 7:04things up and knowing where things are.
- 7:06So, like, you know, it's like every episode, you get to spend more time having the
- 7:10conversation and less time puddling with all the rest of the crap that
- 7:14you have around.
- 7:15Man, StreamYard's been a game changer for us.
- 7:18We just moved over here.
- 7:19I got in the program a while back, but I never used it.
- 7:23I never really had the the reason to.
- 7:26I was doing most of my podcast episodes audio only and just kinda getting on the phone with
- 7:31my friends, and that's really how our first 100 episodes last year started.
- 7:35We just started in March, April 2024.
- 7:40So timeline wise, we haven't necessarily been at this for a long time, but I've spent most of
- 7:46my life now on stage doing everything in a live capacity.
- 7:50Right?
- 7:50Playing live performances and and setting up, producing the shows, managing the band on
- 7:55stage, guiding everyone through the song.
- 7:57So I already had a lot of experience in the the multitasking of production.
- 8:02And as we've moved through the last, oh, nine nine months or so that we've moved into the
- 8:07YouTube space, started recording on mostly Zoom where it was really simple and, just really
- 8:14unlocked, StreamYard the last two weeks where now I can fully produce the show because I hate
- 8:19editing, Wes.
- 8:20That's really what it comes down to is that, I don't wanna sit behind the scenes after the
- 8:25show is done and watch it three times and then do all that.
- 8:27Like, no, man.
- 8:27It's already over and done with.
- 8:29Let's just run it out there and get it scheduled, and that's how we've been able to,
- 8:33you know, get over 250 episodes out in a year and a half.
- 8:37And when I was at podcast movement, we were talking about that down in Dallas last month
- 8:43that it people were blown away.
- 8:46They're like, oh my god.
- 8:47How can you do that?
- 8:48And it's like, well, when you sit down and this is all that I do.
- 8:51I mean, it's not all that I do, but it's the podcast and our network and growing this
- 8:55business because I've always thought of it that way.
- 8:57It was never some kind of pet project.
- 8:59Oh, I'll do this podcast as a lead generator for my other business.
- 9:03It was like, no.
- 9:04We're building a podcast that is itself a network of of its own plus every other show
- 9:11that we want to and every other avenue that we want to go in can be a a show and a network of
- 9:17their own.
- 9:18So I had a very, like, 10,000 foot view of it early on, and it was just a matter of
- 9:24establishing the different properties.
- 9:26Sometimes it was just putting a name and grabbing the YouTube space and letting it sit.
- 9:31Right?
- 9:32And then others have completely, you know, kinda taken over and run it, the scene
- 9:36projects, obviously, because of my position in the art world and in the music spaces.
- 9:41Right?
- 9:42I had a lot of people to go to already.
- 9:44But now, you know, with the advent of our Patriot Broadcasting Network last November, I
- 9:50kinda built it early knowing that I wanted to talk about some political things and to share
- 9:55some of those stories that didn't necessarily fit in the scene projects box.
- 9:59Right?
- 10:00Right.
- 10:00But when I have because I've established this and we've been running a Facebook page for a
- 10:05while, now I've interviewed several state representatives.
- 10:08I've interviewed a US congressional candidate here in South Dakota, and people are coming to
- 10:13us with their stories that don't necessarily fit the TSP model, but they're they're perfect
- 10:19for this other kind of news and and supporting the little man.
- 10:23Right?
- 10:23Like, that's what I'm all about is personal property rights and and just stories about how
- 10:28how the government has kind of oppressed us as people and bringing that to the forefront.
- 10:34And lately, it's really picking up some traction, and I and I shoot at least one of
- 10:38those episodes now a week where I maybe went six months without doing any.
- 10:43Right?
- 10:44So it's having the properties that I can slowly fill up with things.
- 10:48And right now, scene projects episodes are scheduled out three to six months.
- 10:52That's awesome, dude.
- 10:53Okay.
- 10:54Trying to get there right now.
- 10:55I'm the only one working on my podcast because, you know, it's interesting how, like, you know,
- 10:59you came from a 10 foot thousand or 10,000 foot, view.
- 11:03And I just was like, okay.
- 11:05I have this idea.
- 11:06I'm into music, and I'm into art.
- 11:08So we're gonna start there.
- 11:09And I have this vast network of artists and musicians.
- 11:12So to me, it kinda felt like a Wellspring type of content, you know, Evergreen because, like,
- 11:19it's it's all about stories.
- 11:21It's all about experience.
- 11:22It's, you know, the business that people end up going through and hearing how they navigate
- 11:27those things.
- 11:28And so then that can be something that's helpful to other artists and helpful to other
- 11:32musicians or other creative entrepreneurs who are out here, you know, trying to do and live
- 11:37their dream out.
- 11:38And there's not always, like, a guidepost for how to do that.
- 11:43No.
- 11:44And because it's such a new media, I know podcasting has been around for a long time, but
- 11:48people didn't know what it was, right, until maybe the last twelve to twenty four months,
- 11:55right, and maybe a little bit longer than that.
- 11:57But, anyone who's on YouTube with a show, that's a podcast.
- 12:00Right?
- 12:00So you have all of these things.
- 12:02And when Elon Musk came out last October and was like, we are the media now.
- 12:06I was like, oh, he's talking to me.
- 12:09He's talking about me and what I'm doing and that eventually, you know, I don't know that
- 12:14we'll ever get to millions of followers, but people already come to us for their
- 12:19information.
- 12:19Right?
- 12:20We are trusted in our field to deliver this information.
- 12:24And the longer you go about doing these things, the more people are going to trust you.
- 12:28Now we don't have any advantages working for us.
- 12:31I'm not friends with Joe Rogan.
- 12:32I I am not covering, and I don't have access to high profile individuals that are coming on the
- 12:37show and then are able to to roll those things.
- 12:40Where I try to to work in is is to shine a light in the dark corners of it.
- 12:45Right?
- 12:46We're out here in the Midwest.
- 12:47We're all about Midwestern artists and musicians.
- 12:50And that's what really drew me to your show in the first place was seeing someone that was
- 12:55doing essentially the same thing that I am.
- 12:57Even though you had your own career, you were willing to turn that camera around and to turn
- 13:02that spotlight onto your guests who were also working in the same field as you and realizing
- 13:07that it's not competition.
- 13:09It's all about collaboration.
- 13:12Exactly.
- 13:12A thousand percent.
- 13:13And, I guess I never really thought about that where it's like, oh, you're glazing your ops.
- 13:17Like, no.
- 13:18That's not even how I see it.
- 13:19You know, I'm not, it's it's totally a collaborative operation because when you try to
- 13:27compare multiple artists to each other, you kind of can't because we all come from
- 13:32different backgrounds.
- 13:33We all come from different perspectives, different inspirations, and guideposts as
- 13:39artists ourselves.
- 13:40So we're all coming from completely different universes.
- 13:43All that is completely up to the market as to how subjective the art they're gonna connect
- 13:49with is.
- 13:51And so to me, it can even be a competition.
- 13:54Like, maybe between me and, like, their portrait artist.
- 13:58That, like, would be, like, the closest competition because we're, like, so deep in the
- 14:02same niche.
- 14:03But, you know, even if you look at this is one of my pieces called Oshun.
- 14:07It's one of my friends.
- 14:08I personally know him, Javier Navarret.
- 14:10He is a dope Afro Cuban drummer in Oakland.
- 14:15And I I he's like, you know, I cancel out a music camp in California called Jam Camp West.
- 14:23So this will kinda pick some energy just from the camp and every during the week.
- 14:30And it's not exactly the same thing like it's very impressionistic, very expressive.
- 14:40And so, like, I'm in my own niche even with the portraits.
- 14:44So it's something that I think can be shared.
- 14:48And like I said, the podcast is a Wellspring type idea.
- 14:52There's so many artists that we could talk to, and there's so many talents.
- 14:55It's been very inspiring for me personally to see what everybody is, like, doing the stories
- 15:01and the places that they've been.
- 15:03You know, it's kinda crazy.
- 15:07No.
- 15:08I I feel you, man.
- 15:09A 100%.
- 15:10And having done, you know, close to 300 interviews at this point and not
- 15:16Which is insane, by the way.
- 15:17Congratulations.
- 15:19That's crazy.
- 15:20Well, I just I love having conversations and meeting new people.
- 15:24Right?
- 15:24So thank god that I finally found podcasting as, somewhere to play around in.
- 15:30And, finding out how that makes money, not just for myself, but for other podcasters on our
- 15:36network now, we have, several now other hosts that, you know, collaborate with us on some
- 15:42shows, but they have their own shows that are featured on the network.
- 15:45And instead of everyone being out there trying to grow their own YouTube channels, which we
- 15:50are independently as well, that we're kinda putting it out all under the one umbrella, at
- 15:55least the long form episodes and some of the shorts, because we're using some really
- 15:59powerful AI software to edit and and to release our stuff.
- 16:03Shout out to podcast.ai for everything that they've done for our business to where we were
- 16:09able to rapidly accelerate our views.
- 16:12I mean, we went from a few thousand views in March to over 230,000 views now on our YouTube
- 16:17channel, which just began in January.
- 16:20And some people have been, you know, kinda toiling at the YouTube game for ten years not
- 16:26knowing what to do.
- 16:27And what I say that we our mission is is to shorten that learning curve.
- 16:32Come be a part of the network.
- 16:33Let us teach you what we know and using things like our Midwest original music organization,
- 16:39Facebook group, and the Midwest podcasting network and organization groups on Facebook to
- 16:44grow that community.
- 16:45And then as people are ready to kinda get off the sideline and into the game, that we're able
- 16:51to accelerate their timeline faster than they could ever figure it out for themselves.
- 16:56And even, you know, the the most, the smartest, you know, YouTube searcher to to find what you
- 17:02need to do, to be able to find all the information and implement it at the same time,
- 17:07and find the right programs and to find the the different communities to be inside of, they
- 17:12it's time consuming.
- 17:13So we're trying to shorten that time gap, bring people up to speed as fast as we can, and
- 17:18really be able to launch, you know, what I say is a million podcasters in my life, because I
- 17:23believe that podcasts are how the world is changing.
- 17:26I believe that's how God is changing the world or the universe or whatever you wanna call it.
- 17:31I believe that these conversations are how we get there.
- 17:33Right?
- 17:34So we're we're building the road map for for how we get better.
- 17:38It's definitely a a great way to kinda break into, spaces where people are already working
- 17:44or just, like, thinking about things.
- 17:46You know, it's a great way to bring in thoughts and ideas that aren't being spoken about most
- 17:53of the time.
- 17:54So like I said, it just depends on what your focus is.
- 18:00You know?
- 18:00It sounds like you guys are doing a great thing over there.
- 18:03I hope to expand my podcast out to different states as well.
- 18:08I mean, I have people who are already down, like, some people who are within the Burning
- 18:12Man community to do insanely large cultures, like, of the artists, people I know that are
- 18:18connected to that.
- 18:20So, you know, there's a lot of very interesting people in the world doing very, very different
- 18:26art, and I feel that affecting me as well as the people who you know, they message me after
- 18:33episode comes out and say, like, if that really helped me think about something with my
- 18:37business as it relates to art.
- 18:40So that feels really good.
- 18:41And even though it's just me doing all the editing and trying to figure it all out, I'm
- 18:47lucky that I have a background in a lot of it.
- 18:51Right.
- 18:51And that's definitely where I because I didn't come from that editing and having a lot of
- 18:57technical ability background, like, the editing process took me forever to the point where I
- 19:02was just like, I'm done.
- 19:03Everything's going out raw at this point.
- 19:05I don't even care.
- 19:06And like I said, very thankful for a program like StreamYard, which we we pay for.
- 19:10Right?
- 19:11Like, we pay for it in the network to have it.
- 19:13But then I'm able to produce everything and get a much higher production value without having
- 19:18to go in the background and to do a lot of stuff that I just don't like spending time.
- 19:22I much rather spend time having conversations, and that's why I do, you know, 12 to 16
- 19:27interviews a week.
- 19:30Right.
- 19:30I mean, that's insane, dude.
- 19:31I it'd be cool if I could do that.
- 19:33You know?
- 19:33I just I had a different idea.
- 19:35Like, I I I'm an artist.
- 19:37Right?
- 19:37So when I have an idea for something, it's gonna be huge.
- 19:39Like, I came up with this idea for the podcast, like, right before, like, our lockdown.
- 19:45You know?
- 19:45And I was still living in California at the time.
- 19:48And, I, you know, I had this idea for kinda, like I said, a talk show that's kind of a mix
- 19:53of a tiny desk because I'm talking to musicians.
- 19:55And, you know, if they wanted to, they could do a performance after the interview.
- 19:59So, my first episode that came out was Olivia Comachie.
- 20:04She's a amazing native American musician, multi instrumentalist.
- 20:08You know, she did a great show at the very end of it.
- 20:11And, like, you can actually see me in the mirror in the house, like, it's the Airbnb that
- 20:14I'm recording in, and I'm just jamming in the background, like, listen to the audio because,
- 20:19you know, I play guitar too.
- 20:20And, you know, so I'm I'm into the audio video.
- 20:23You know, I can do the editing of both.
- 20:25So I'm over there looking at the audacity because it's an open source free program and
- 20:31jamming and, like, it was so cool to be able to actually that was three years later.
- 20:36I didn't do it.
- 20:37You know, I was saving up and buying equipment, like a little GoPro, you know, the s m seven b,
- 20:44just whatever equipment I had and pulled it together and, you know, it's been crazy to see
- 20:51it come together.
- 20:53But I actually had a good break.
- 20:55Yeah.
- 20:55Well and and that's what we can kinda get to because I I, you know, I I think I've been
- 21:00following or at least I saw your show at least over a year ago kinda through different
- 21:04networks and looking around.
- 21:06But even that episode was a few years old at that point, but I loved the concept.
- 21:10And it wasn't just the production value.
- 21:12Like, the space was awesome.
- 21:13The Airbnb was super cool.
- 21:15The content of the interview was awesome and having her perform and, like, about the concept
- 21:20was great.
- 21:21But, yeah, moving and and other things.
- 21:25Right?
- 21:25Being in the lockdown, like, it kind of puts you on a hiatus.
- 21:28And now you're just really getting back into releasing episodes and recording episodes.
- 21:33Tell us a little bit about, maybe some recent guests that you just had or any kind of new
- 21:38things that you're bringing to the table now, with the reboot here.
- 21:42Well, nowadays, I I know that I'm bringing a whole lot more of my network.
- 21:47Like, just I'm a whole lot more confident now than I was even then, and, my foresight a
- 21:55little bit for who to bring on, when, and how is, I feel like, more strategic.
- 22:02So the building that I'm recording in right now, it sits right across the street from the
- 22:08Oklahoma City Bong Memorial Building, like the, the Memorial Building.
- 22:13And so you can actually see it in in my new shots that if you look on there, you see the
- 22:18new space.
- 22:19And I have a family member who's actually a firefighter on the day of.
- 22:24And so this year, I decided to bring on key people as well as art musicians and
- 22:32entrepreneurs.
- 22:33And, you know, in effect, maybe we could integrate OKC even more where artists now
- 22:39directly, you know, seeing and tied to these other people as well.
- 22:44And so but maybe that's a good example of utilizing my network in a different way where I
- 22:51see an opportunity.
- 22:53Like, that's kind of a I feel like that's a huge thing.
- 22:57You know?
- 22:58And he said he would do it just because, you know, of his relationship with me.
- 23:02So it feels like a very special thing to have a conversation about, you know, maybe what was
- 23:07that like for him as somebody who supported a lot of people on a very, very horrible day in
- 23:15Oklahoma history, like, you know, United States history.
- 23:18So it's great.
- 23:20Yeah.
- 23:21I mean, the moment in city's history.
- 23:24Right?
- 23:24I I mean, it's hard for anyone not to think of that.
- 23:27And what a great thing to have as as the backdrop to a a show named Integrated OKC.
- 23:35Right?
- 23:36And a show that's looking to rebuild the legacy of the city, and honoring those, honoring those
- 23:44people who who were killed that day.
- 23:46And and, you know, a a big shout out to your family member for for their work, and I'm sure
- 23:51what they've endured.
- 23:52I love that you're willing to have, some of these people on and to talk about that and to
- 23:57to stretch outside of the art community.
- 24:00There there's a lot of great stories out there, just of I don't wanna say regular people.
- 24:06Right?
- 24:06But people that are outside of the the artistic side that have a story to tell.
- 24:11And it's, it's important.
- 24:14Like, everyone's story is important.
- 24:16It's lovely that we can get on and we can support our artists and give them a chance to
- 24:20promote their their art and and, you know, their music.
- 24:24But to get other stories out there and to be able that maybe nobody's heard.
- 24:30Right?
- 24:30And and even if nobody's watching, now there's at least an archive of this.
- 24:35And maybe it will be their children or their children's children, hopefully, that will be
- 24:40able to return to this and hear something maybe that they would never be comfortable telling
- 24:45their their grandchildren about.
- 24:47Right?
- 24:47And sharing these stories and and getting to know the people, you know, that they love.
- 24:52I talk about it all the time that, like, this is my legacy for my children as well.
- 24:57They're gonna get to know me, much more through the show than being their dad because I'm not
- 25:03dad when I'm here talking to you.
- 25:05Right?
- 25:06It's a different Bubba that's that's stepping up to the plate here.
- 25:09So, yeah, I love what you're doing, man, and love the look of the how high up are you?
- 25:15I'm sitting on the ground right now, actually.
- 25:17What do mean?
- 25:17No.
- 25:18No.
- 25:18No.
- 25:18Yeah.
- 25:18No.
- 25:19I meant, when you're filming.
- 25:21What what floor are you on?
- 25:24Sixth Sixth Floor of the building.
- 25:26It's it's a really cool view, man, and that's the first thing that caught my eye as you
- 25:30rebooted and put the episode.
- 25:32I was like, oh, new studio space and really love the aerial view, and you can see
- 25:37everything out there too.
- 25:38It's not necessarily just getting washed out.
- 25:41Or you could have closed the blinds and say, hey.
- 25:42We're not gonna show that.
- 25:44Right?
- 25:44But you decided not to, and you made a creative decision to showcase that memorial, and I think
- 25:50that's just so cool.
- 25:52Thanks, man.
- 25:53I mean, because it's like you have a unique opportunity to do that.
- 25:55And, again, it's like, what's your focus or how do you execute what it is that you're trying to
- 26:00do?
- 26:00And so I kind of always try to, execute with a fair amount of intention, you know, so that,
- 26:08like, you know, I feel like the effect effect can be or the impact can be maximized.
- 26:14And just really utilizing the position that I have, and the position that I'm creating
- 26:20because it's definitely still a building podcast.
- 26:23You know?
- 26:23I haven't even monetized it yet.
- 26:25I'm, like, at a 167 subscribers, you know, and and counting with every episode, especially now
- 26:32that I'm rolling them out more, more effectively.
- 26:36But it's it's really awesome to see.
- 26:38I have another four episodes that are about to come out or three three.
- 26:43So and I'm I'm actually about to go to go to open and interview a couple of people as well
- 26:49at the end of the month.
- 26:50So it's gonna be it's it's really cool to to do this stuff even though it's a lot of work.
- 26:57Right.
- 26:57Hey.
- 26:58I feel you on the work.
- 26:59Last weekend, last weekend, I got to cover a PGA tour event, here in Sioux Falls, South
- 27:05Dakota close to where I'm from.
- 27:06I was in a press conference with, you know, NFL hall of famers, Ronde Barber and Chris Carter.
- 27:13Also, you know, World Golf Hall of Famer and six time major champion, Sir Nick Faldo.
- 27:19He got a shot in on me for referring to The Open as one of the other major championships.
- 27:25Good.
- 27:25Oh, that was by far my wife's favorite moment of being there.
- 27:29Like, oh, they're making fun of you.
- 27:30I was like, well, he's a knight.
- 27:31So I'm not gonna take any offense to it whatsoever.
- 27:35Right.
- 27:36Because if we're gonna roll with it and it's content, everything is content.
- 27:40Yeah.
- 27:40Well and I just got to release that episode and just it was a joy.
- 27:45But most of the time that I spent at the event was interviewing the nonprofit and the
- 27:48charities that are there raising money and and raising awareness about what they're doing.
- 27:54So, I mean, that's what I'm really about.
- 27:55When I say shining a light in the dark corners, it's all of those corners.
- 27:59I'm shining a light on the people who are worthy, not just the people who are the stars
- 28:03of the show.
- 28:04Right?
- 28:04And it doesn't take, you know, if you're out there serving a community, then you're more
- 28:09than worthy of the attention that I'm willing to give you and the attention of our fan base.
- 28:14Man, I appreciate that for sure.
- 28:16I absolutely appreciate that because, you know, we all have to work together, to to, like,
- 28:22build up and build relationships.
- 28:24And I learned life is definitely about people.
- 28:26You know, it's not very much about things.
- 28:28Things are kind of like the peripheral surrounding the people.
- 28:33So if you focus on that, you're gonna miss out a lot of what the world has to offer.
- 28:40And so, you know, I think I've seen a lot of awards just from the stories that I've been
- 28:46able to listen to and then share with the great community.
- 28:51And so it's Wellspring.
- 28:55Again, Wellspring concept.
- 28:56And to me, that's definitely just a Wellspring concept.
- 28:59Well
- 29:00and it's just it's a Wellspring of energy, of fresh energy for yourself to be inspired and to
- 29:06keep going.
- 29:07And, you know, I interview so many musicians that I'm just like, man, compared to you, like,
- 29:11I don't even play music.
- 29:13And I've been I've been doing it for twenty five years.
- 29:15I play a lot better than, like, most people who don't perform for a living.
- 29:18Right?
- 29:19But I watch some of these bands, and I'm just like, man, I'm so jealous of that, right, of
- 29:24your band or that song that you wrote.
- 29:26And not jealous in, like, the concept of, like, I wish I had wrote it, but just like, man,
- 29:31you're you're so talented.
- 29:33You're so talented, and and and nobody nobody knows who you are.
- 29:37So I really set out with the mission at the scene projects to change that and to do
- 29:41whatever small thing that we could to to bring that attention where where it's needed and
- 29:46where it's deserving.
- 29:48And one of those places is right with you, Wes.
- 29:50I think you're a brilliant artist.
- 29:52I love what you're doing with the podcast.
- 29:54Where can everybody find you so we can help you get that subscriber model that subscriber count
- 29:59up and, get you monetized, brother.
- 30:01Yeah, man.
- 30:02You guys can find me on YouTube at, integrated OKC, so spelled normally.
- 30:08And you can also find me on Spotify, Apple Podcasts.
- 30:12You know?
- 30:13Get 10 downloads a month on Spotify.
- 30:15That'd be amazing as you know, help me boost up the signal of me and but really these other
- 30:21artists because, like, I really wanna see that come together.
- 30:24Also, you can find my art at wesleyluster.art on Instagram and all social media platforms.
- 30:32You'll be able to see all these beautiful paintings.
- 30:34Yeah.
- 30:34Well, I highly encourage everybody go and follow your IG page.
- 30:38I've been thrilled to, be in your circle here for a while.
- 30:42I'm really happy that we got a chance to to lock this in finally.
- 30:46And, Wes, you know, thank you so much for coming on the show today, and thanks for being
- 30:50part of the scene.
- 30:51Absolutely, dude.
- 30:53I'm here, brother.
- 30:53So thank you all for the talk, dude.
- 30:56I'll catch you guys later.