Latest / Adventist Podcast Network / Adventist Music - "Adding Live Music to an Upper Class Experience" — Jonathan Ginn

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Adventist Music - "Adding Live Music to an Upper Class Experience" — Jonathan Ginn · Adventist Podcast Network

0:00
Living as a musician can have its challenges.
0:02
One of them is being self -sustainable. If music
0:04
is relevant though, I feel like it can be self
0:07
-sustainable or should be self -sustainable,
0:09
just like anything. If you use it in your everyday
0:10
life, you will ultimately be willing to pay a
0:13
price for it. I got Jonathan Ginn onto the show.
0:16
He's a musician from the Gold Coast. He plays
0:19
violin, goes to events, weddings as well. He
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has a really interesting meme right now where
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he goes to a petrol station and he adds live
0:26
music to an upper -class experience. I found
0:28
it quite... funny and we had a good chat about
0:30
it on today's podcast so make sure to stick around
0:32
for that. At the end we talked about how music
0:35
ministry can be self -sustainable and he gives
0:37
us some really good insights on how he goes about
0:40
his music ministry. Thanks for watching and now
0:43
on for today's episode of the Adventist Music
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Podcast. Welcome to the Adventist music podcast.
0:55
Thank you guys so much for joining me today.
0:57
I am your host, Khan Elmers. On this podcast,
1:00
we explore the song stories of Adventist musicians,
1:02
one story at a time. And on today's episode,
1:06
we have Jonathan Ginn all the way from Australia
1:09
down under me. How's it going? Good. Thanks for
1:11
having me on. Going very well. Nice, good to
1:15
get you on the show today. And let's just jump
1:18
right into it. Why don't you take us back to
1:21
a time where you felt inspired to be a musician,
1:24
like a moment that inspired you to play music.
1:28
When I was about six years old, my parents took
1:30
me to Avondale College, which is now Avondale
1:33
University. And it was to go watch this guy by
1:37
the name of Jamie George play the violin. I just
1:40
went along, I was pretty young at the time, only
1:43
six years old. And I just remember being absolutely
1:45
gobsmacked by how incredible he played. And really
1:49
from there, I always wanted to learn the violin.
1:52
And yeah, so basically about a year later, when
1:56
I started grade one. I started learning the violin,
1:59
and yeah, the rest is kind of history. Six years
2:02
old, man. That's so young. Wow. Actually, I would
2:06
love to get Jamie on the show. I have reached
2:08
out to him. Would you have any questions for
2:11
him if he were to come on the show? I think I
2:13
sometimes do it with a little bit too much of
2:15
a celebrity than probably what I should, but.
2:18
Yeah, I'd just be curious to know, guess how
2:20
he just goes about learning new songs. I think
2:23
he's very good at making covers of Christian
2:25
songs that are very thoughtful, but also really
2:29
show off the violin. So I'd just be curious,
2:31
probably in his process of how he actually goes
2:33
about revitalizing hymns and songs like that.
2:36
So just going back to your story about when you
2:38
were when you were there six years old and stuff,
2:40
take us back to the time when you were like practicing
2:42
your violin there. Like how take us through that
2:46
process. Well, it depends which angle you want
2:49
to ask it from. Cause if you ask my cousin, he's
2:52
like, I remember coming and visiting your house
2:54
and at six o 'clock in the morning, it'd just
2:55
be like a screeching cat that I have to wake
2:57
up to. So for my parents and my family that had
3:02
to put up with it, especially for the first few
3:03
years, I'm sure it wasn't particularly pleasant,
3:06
but yeah, really it just started by getting lessons
3:09
at school and then. my parents were definitely
3:14
a big encouragement along the whole journey but
3:16
it was basically just try and practice for 10,
3:19
15, 20 minutes a day and just kind of slowly
3:21
up the practice time when you're starting out
3:23
and yeah I was classically trained so it was
3:26
just learning songs out of a Suzuki method and
3:30
I just kind of started that way and yeah it just
3:34
kind of went from there where I just basically
3:36
like classical most of kind of primary school
3:38
and high school before I kind of went into playing
3:41
more covers of pop songs and love songs for I
3:44
guess the avenue that I've decided to go with.
3:47
I noticed that you've been playing in quite a
3:49
lot of like, like groups right now. Do you have,
3:53
when did you start playing with ensembles and
3:55
stuff like that? Well, I think you're referring
3:58
more recently to some Instagram videos I've been
4:00
doing, but basically in the last couple of months,
4:05
I've just made a bit of a meme of how high the
4:07
petrol prices are and, or fuel prices. So I've
4:11
been going around to different petrol stations
4:13
and adding live music to what is the upper class
4:16
experience of feeling. up with fuel. So that's
4:19
been a bit more of a on the fly, just make group
4:23
chats and see who is actually interested in coming
4:25
and playing at petrol stations with me. But I
4:29
wouldn't say I play with many of the people in
4:31
those videos for gigs or whatnot. I do offer
4:34
violin, piano, violin, cello, violin, cello,
4:37
piano for weddings and events, but the groups
4:41
of like 10 or more people have come together
4:43
has either been a lot actually just Adventist
4:46
friends. I think a lot of Adventists grew up
4:48
playing the violin. So that's a that's definitely
4:50
a wind or a string instrument. And then other
4:52
times it's just been other people that are in
4:55
the wedding industry or wedding musicians or
4:58
just others who came to come along for a fun
5:01
time at a petrol station. Yeah, actually, I really
5:05
want to like dive into that a bit more and to
5:08
know more about what you're trying to do there.
5:11
It sounds like you're just trying to take the
5:12
mickey, but I know that you probably have a purpose
5:13
and a message that you're trying to share through
5:15
that too. Going back to what you're talking about
5:18
with your music there, if anyone did want to
5:22
hire you to be a musician at the wedding, how
5:25
would they go about that? What's the process?
5:27
Well, I have a website which just has a bunch
5:30
of songs, videos of me playing with a bunch of
5:33
information of what I do. the packages I offer
5:36
for weddings and events. So typically people
5:38
either find me through Instagram, maybe YouTube
5:41
or often Google, and they will then just inquire
5:45
with me through our website. Or sometimes I'll
5:46
just reach out, email, call or whatnot. And then
5:50
we'll just negotiate, I guess, pricing structure
5:52
or how much it's going to cost and then kind
5:55
of go from there. So typically most of my work
5:58
is playing for weddings. And I also play for
6:01
some corporate events, proposals. parties, it
6:04
just kind of depends. It's it's just whatever
6:08
people want. But the niche that I've kind of
6:11
gone into is playing covers of pop songs and
6:14
love songs. So kind of giving a Bridgerton style
6:16
feel to weddings and events. So do you do you
6:21
also have any music like available if you want
6:23
to listen to music? On my website and YouTube,
6:26
I do. I don't have any high quality. recordings
6:29
released on Spotify, unfortunately, just because
6:31
it is quite expensive to make covers and whatnot.
6:34
But I do have quite a few songs on my website.
6:37
So, yeah, make sure you guys check that out.
6:38
If you have any inquiries for him, I'm sure he'd
6:40
love to come and play for your weddings. Actually,
6:43
but before I continue, though, I would like to
6:46
ask your Christian regarding like the relevancy
6:49
of doing music as a ministry in twenty twenty
6:53
six, because I think. What's predicated upon
6:57
music ministry being self -sustainable in 2026
7:00
is the idea that music ministry is relevant in
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2026. Because if it's relevant, then we'll find
7:06
the money for it, right? So it's like, so why
7:09
is music ministry relevant? 2026 yeah good question
7:15
well it kind of depends what aspects of music
7:17
ministry you're looking for so i guess i've still
7:20
got more my business side where i'm i guess trying
7:22
to make money playing at weddings and events
7:24
and whatnot and i play at a variety of christian
7:26
weddings and non -christian weddings And I try
7:29
to be a bit involved with music at church and
7:32
organizing other things. So I think there's definitely
7:34
a place for music, a way for people to, I guess,
7:37
create new music and be able to create new songs
7:40
of praise and whatnot. I feel like I'm less of
7:42
a creator like other musicians and more of a
7:46
just make covers and try and, I guess, take songs
7:49
that people already know and just make it sound
7:51
a bit different on a violin, whether it's a Christian
7:54
song or a non -Christian song. And I think there's
7:57
probably a place for both. But, yeah, I guess
8:00
in where I feel like I can kind of have my niche,
8:03
I'm less in the create new songs or whatnot,
8:06
but just try and, I guess, bring songs that are,
8:10
say, familiar in a new way. So when it comes
8:14
to the whole sustainability thing, yeah, I'm
8:18
probably not the best person to talk about trying
8:20
to make new music and how you kind of fund that,
8:22
because I've seen others, whether it's like,
8:25
I don't know if you follow the the end to enjoy
8:28
that just tried to release a bunch of music or
8:30
and beans another one that they will try and
8:33
crowd fun to I guess make music and sometimes
8:37
I look at it goes it's very bold because it's
8:39
not shape to produce music. It looks like you
8:41
have a very unique niche that you're trying to
8:43
get into which is like the more the performance
8:46
side of of the music. I think that that definitely
8:50
has a place and I quite like what you're doing
8:53
there being with. You know the. the weddings
8:57
and doing the events type of thing. From what
9:00
I understand, you're trying to say like that,
9:02
that that that side of things you've found that
9:05
to be relevant and using pop songs. I quite I
9:08
find that quite interesting that you're doing
9:11
that because that that's something that people
9:13
find relevant today. And so are you trying to
9:17
like connect with people through those songs
9:19
as well? Like, yeah, is it? What is your purpose
9:22
behind that? Yeah, well, I mean. I'm trying to
9:25
make songs that people connect with so when it's
9:28
in a wedding scene it's kind of your classic
9:30
songs like kind of falling in love a thousand
9:32
years songs that people are very familiar with
9:35
that they really like the sound of it on the
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violin so i'm trying to just i guess create covers
9:40
of songs that people really like there's other
9:42
christian songs that are quite popular for wedding
9:46
entrances like goodness of god i just learned
9:48
one called nothing new i do by brendan lake which
9:50
is also really nice So when it comes to how I,
9:56
I guess, go about making music or whatnot, it's
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very much geared towards what would a couple
10:01
want or what would an event want from a musician.
10:05
And so I guess when it comes to me trying to
10:07
make money, it's more a matter of trying to just
10:09
make a product that people would want. And then
10:12
through that, then hopefully, yeah, I can get
10:15
more gigs. Because it seems like in order to
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be relevant, you need to access people's lives
10:19
and to understand how people think. Yeah, absolutely.
10:22
And the thing that often stands out to me is
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you can take a really, I guess, common or popular
10:28
pop song or love song that people are probably
10:31
actually sick of just hearing. The original song,
10:34
but if they hear it on a violin, because it's
10:37
just a bit different than sometimes I can really
10:39
appreciate it. So I actually don't find it, have
10:42
to go that niche with finding songs or whatnot.
10:45
It's a matter of just kind of reinventing the
10:48
world for lack of a better phrase. That's awesome.
10:54
I would love to explore some more about. that
10:57
part of your ministry and the later part of it,
11:00
especially how you go about financing that as
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well and what that looks like. Maybe you can
11:05
give some tips for audience. So if you guys want
11:06
to stick around, then we'll be talking about
11:08
some advice for self -sustainability of ministries
11:12
as well. So next, I'd like to chat with you some
11:15
more about the pump. I like to call it the pump,
11:18
right? So what's going on in the pump, man? Yeah,
11:22
well, I mean. Everyone knows that it's more expensive
11:25
to fill up at the petrol station or when you
11:27
fill up at the pump however you like to say it
11:29
ever since I guess the whole war in Iran started
11:33
about three months ago and yeah about two months
11:37
ago I was just trying to think of Well, I'm always
11:41
trying to think of new ideas for my Instagram
11:42
page, because that's where I get a lot of my
11:44
bookings for. I try to make a lot of content
11:46
to, I guess, promote my business through there.
11:49
And I was just thinking of different ways of
11:51
promoting my business or whatnot. And I just
11:53
had this video idea come to me. I'm thinking
11:54
I've got to combine something with the violin
11:57
and how expensive it is to fill up at the petrol
12:01
station. And it was actually on it was a Sunday
12:04
afternoon and. my wife was just in the kitchen
12:07
and I said oh when are we both free at the same
12:10
time I've got this video idea and it wasn't for
12:13
a few days that we were both free so anyway it
12:16
comes to the day we're both free and we go to
12:18
this petrol station and I basically just take
12:20
a video of me playing my violin out the front
12:22
of a petrol station and I captioned the video
12:26
adding live music to an upper -class experience
12:29
you can see the clear petrol prices behind me
12:31
with people filling up in the background and
12:34
I posted to my social media it was just going
12:37
to be a once -off video when I first posted it
12:40
and yeah for the first kind of few hours it was
12:43
going pretty good might have had three or four
12:45
thousand views but it was like it wasn't doing
12:49
anything particularly amazing and then that night
12:51
when I was going to sleep I thought oh maybe
12:53
I could make a bit of a series out of this and
12:56
So I thought maybe tomorrow I'm driving past
12:58
a fuel station. I'll just take another video
13:00
and I'll just caption it day two of playing my
13:03
violin in front of a servo or service station
13:06
until I get a free tank of fuel. And when I actually
13:09
opened my phone at about 11 o 'clock the next
13:11
morning, the first video was starting to blow
13:13
up. It already had about 200 ,000 views and people
13:16
were really, I guess, resonating with it. And
13:19
yeah, so that first video is really what kicked
13:21
this whole thing off. That video has got over
13:23
17 million views now. I think it was a combination
13:31
of lots of people making Titanic memes about
13:33
how when the Titanic was sinking there was live
13:35
music to distract people or calm people down
13:38
from what was going on. A lot of Americans getting
13:41
confused at the gas prices so that blew the comments
13:44
up as well and there's still people engaging
13:46
with that video. over two months on which is
13:49
pretty crazy for an Instagram video because usually
13:51
they're only picked up for a week or two maybe
13:55
four to six weeks if you're really lucky. So
13:58
then yeah it just kind of kicked on this series
14:00
where I then was just going to different service
14:01
stations every day and just playing until I got
14:05
a free tank of fuel and I actually wanted a service
14:07
station to give me a free tank of fuel not just
14:09
a regular Aussie. And then, yeah, on day nine
14:12
of the challenge, I had a bunch of media that
14:14
picked the whole story up. And then this radio
14:17
station coordinated for an independent service
14:19
station on the Gold Coast to give me a free tank
14:21
of fuel. So then I went there and then took a
14:23
video. And yeah, it was it was really fun. Man,
14:30
so you're like making friends along the way as
14:31
well. Oh, absolutely. People people really would
14:34
just love it because it's just you never say
14:38
live music. petrol stations so people were just
14:42
quite comical really yeah people were just really
14:44
engaging with that and yeah then you'd often
14:47
get people that obviously asking what you're
14:49
doing so you just send them to your social media
14:51
and they kind of get a better idea of what's
14:53
going on and yeah i think what just stood out
14:56
to me about the whole thing the videos that i
14:58
were posting were not the highest quality videos
15:00
that were the most aesthetically pleasing i think
15:02
it was just because it was very organic quite
15:05
an original idea. And yeah, people just seemed
15:07
to engage with that. Even the first video that
15:10
took off like crazy. It's not the best video,
15:13
but it just really, yeah, really got people laughing
15:17
and sharing, which is I guess what you want.
15:24
Yeah. It's definitely a unique idea. That one.
15:26
Oh my. So do you have any funny stories of like
15:31
things that you've had that have taken place
15:33
during that journey? Oh, absolutely, because
15:36
yeah, it's been pretty wild. So I'd say I was
15:40
actually thinking this morning, I should tally
15:42
up how many fuel stations I've actually been
15:43
to. But I would guess I've probably been to around
15:46
30 at this stage, because after I got my free
15:49
tank of fuel, I then tried to start changing
15:53
tact. So now I'm actually trying to give away
15:55
free tanks of fuel to just random Aussies. I'm
15:59
trying to get just other businesses or people
16:02
to pay forward a tank of fuel so that I can then
16:04
just go up to a random person and give away the
16:06
free tank of fuel. So I guess in the first series
16:09
where I was just going into different service
16:11
stations and whatnot, you get lots of people
16:12
honking their horn and having a laugh when you
16:14
drive past. I've had three service stations actually
16:18
kick me out. Uh, even had a BP that was announcing
16:20
over the loud speaker. You can't video eight
16:23
meters near the bowser. Please go away essentially.
16:25
And then we went out the front and then they
16:27
were still announcing us to go away. And then
16:30
I've had some services. She's not particularly
16:32
impressed. And I understand it's a liability
16:35
thing. I've been kicked off. Westfield as well,
16:39
because the security there was saying I needed
16:41
to get permission and whatnot. So yeah, there's
16:44
been a few run ins that have been a bit comical,
16:46
but for the most part, everyone's kind of really
16:50
loved it and whatnot. But I think where I'm getting
16:52
the funniest, most raw interactions is where
16:55
I now go up to people, often with someone else
16:58
who's going to be donating $100, $150 to a tank
17:01
of fuel. And I'll just say, hey, can I play you
17:03
a song while you fill up? It's purely off script.
17:07
So I don't really make any this is just all as
17:10
it happens and then I'll often play for a bit
17:12
and then the other person or I might then give
17:15
them the hundred dollars and they often I'll
17:18
often say things like oh is this a scam or what
17:20
do I have to do? Yeah Is this real it's it's
17:26
you get quite a funny range of just responses
17:29
when You just try to give money to people for
17:31
free, because I think we're just so trained to
17:33
be aware of scams. And so when you're giving
17:35
away free money, people are just, what's the
17:37
catch? What's the catch? Yeah. What do I have
17:41
to do? Pretty much. Yeah. I think it's interesting
17:48
when they're like, and I see some of your videos,
17:50
you're playing there. And then, I mean, it seems
17:52
like you give them the money, you ask them, I
17:57
mean, you're offering the money. If we could
17:59
play you a song, you give them money. It's like,
18:01
it seems a bit suspicious. Like, what do these
18:03
guys want from me? Yeah, it does. But the thing
18:09
that is interesting is I think most people these
18:12
days are actually more than happy to have videos
18:14
posted on social media. So for the most part,
18:17
at the end, I'll just say, are you OK if I post
18:19
that on my social media? And they're more than
18:21
OK with it. And then once they kind of understand
18:23
what we're doing, then it makes sense to them.
18:26
You know, you said to me that you're not really
18:27
a creator. very much like in terms of music production,
18:31
but it seems that you're really trying to you're
18:34
jumped on something here that is a bit more relevant
18:38
if ideas say. Yeah. In a sense, it seems like
18:42
a lot more people have found what you're doing
18:44
relevant than your traditional music ministry.
18:47
Would you say that's fair? Yeah, there's probably
18:49
definitely some truth to it. And I guess it's
18:52
more it's probably a byproduct of the Instagram
18:57
algorithm. almost forces you to try and make
18:59
content that is engaging and keeps people engaged.
19:02
So when I'm going to say, I know when I first
19:05
went to go make the video at the petrol station,
19:07
it was it wasn't I wasn't going there necessarily
19:09
for the people at the petrol station. I was going
19:11
there to make a funny Instagram video. But from
19:15
that, I guess it's kind of enabled me to be able
19:18
to actually meet people and just have funny conversations
19:23
for a couple of minutes and. It's just been a
19:27
really cool way to cheer people up because music
19:30
does have a really good way of just cheering
19:32
people up. And when they're just saying, yeah,
19:34
just this musician is just randomly they're dressed
19:37
in a suit playing covers of songs that they generally
19:40
know, then it is a really, I guess, easy way
19:43
to talk to people. And, yeah, I've had to even
19:46
go back to your last question. I've had lots
19:48
of, I guess, cool conversations come out of it.
19:51
A standout one was I was playing in Brisbane
19:55
and I'd organized this 11 part ensemble to go
19:57
play out the front of this amp hole and we were
20:01
just playing kind of on the path, you know, the
20:04
front of the fuel station sign and it was quite
20:07
a busy area and so people were just stopping
20:09
to video, they were loving it, they were asking
20:11
others what the go was and they were kind of
20:14
just saying what I was doing and how I was just
20:16
going around cheering people up and trying to
20:18
give away free tanks of fuel. And then I wasn't
20:21
even talking to him. One of my other friends
20:22
who was playing violin as well was talking to
20:25
this guy. And then he just came up to me and
20:27
then he just asked me, oh, what are you doing?
20:29
And then I was just explaining what I've just
20:33
been telling you. And then he just handed me
20:36
$300 and said, love what you're doing. And barely
20:39
wanted to talk anymore and just left. And the
20:41
$300 was just purely so that I could pay forward.
20:45
or pay forward fuel so that others could benefit.
20:48
So yeah, I've had some pretty cool people that
20:51
have just kind of jumped on board with what I'm
20:53
doing. And I think what's amazing is once you
20:55
have a vision of what you're trying to do, then
20:58
there's plenty of people who are actually willing
20:59
to cheer you on to help out. So I'm trying to
21:03
give away 20 free tanks of fuel to literally
21:05
just random Aussies. And I've done 13 already,
21:08
which is awesome. A range of wedding businesses
21:11
I've even had. Toronto Adventist School jump
21:14
on board with it. I've had a whole different
21:17
range of people. And so I'm trying to get to
21:19
20. And for tank number 20, I'm actually trying
21:22
to crowdfund $1 ,000 to go give to a small business
21:26
that uses a truck. And I've already raised, I
21:28
think we're up to $820. So I'm hoping that we
21:31
can get the whole way. And yeah, that'll be kind
21:34
of the finale that we finish it off at, hopefully.
21:38
Nice. So an upper class. experience, adding live
21:43
music to an upper class experience. What is the
21:46
message that you would like people to get from
21:48
that? I mean, it's, it's really just a name.
21:51
Let's be real. Uh, I think, I think people often
21:55
associate string instruments as being, I guess
21:58
more upper class thing, or it's expensive to
22:00
hire say a trio or quartet for. for an event
22:04
or whatnot. So I guess we're just making music
22:07
a bit more accessible by going to a petrol station
22:09
and playing. But yeah, it's purely just for a
22:12
joke, really. I can't elaborate too much more
22:15
than that. I think our listeners understand what
22:20
you're trying to get with that. It's almost like
22:24
you have to go to the pump and you're like, you
22:27
have to be like an upper middle class just to
22:29
fill up your tank. Well, yeah, it's really just,
22:31
it's expensive to fill up with fuel. So let's
22:34
compensate you with some live music to, I guess,
22:37
cheer up the experience and make it a worthy
22:40
experience. Yeah, I'm sure many people are very
22:44
sad when they go to the pump and they have to
22:45
fill up double the amount that they normally
22:47
have to. Yes, very true. So your ministry is
22:53
really fulfilling a need there. I hope so. It's
22:59
definitely cheered up a lot of people. And yeah,
23:01
I hope that even though I might indirectly be,
23:04
say, going out and witnessing and sharing my
23:07
faith necessarily that hopefully they'll engage
23:09
with my story and see some other things on my
23:11
social media. or whatnot where I am pretty open
23:14
with the fact that I am a Christian and yeah,
23:17
I love sharing Jesus with others. It's probably
23:20
just a bit more of a... a couple of steps to
23:24
get there. But I do think with just our Instagram
23:26
algorithms, I guess, designed or social media
23:30
is people consume stuff that they like to consume.
23:32
So I think if you were just explicitly posting
23:35
only Christian stuff, you're probably typically
23:37
just only going to get Christians engaging with
23:39
your content. Whereas I find for me, if I just
23:42
run my business and then every now and again,
23:43
I might just have a story about how I might be,
23:45
say, preaching at church or. We've organized
23:48
an item playing The Blessing with 10 other string
23:50
musicians. If anyone wants to come along and
23:52
listen to it, we're doing this Friday Night Youth
23:55
program. And I find that's an easier way to kind
23:58
of, I guess, bring up the fact that I'm a Christian.
24:01
And then often I find it's then when I'm, say,
24:03
at weddings or whatnot, chatting with other wedding
24:05
suppliers or vendors that they might ask questions
24:07
about. How on earth do you survive as a... wedding
24:11
vendor when you don't take Saturday weddings
24:13
or stuff like that will come up. So yeah, it's,
24:17
it's probably a bit different to maybe how others
24:19
go about it. And I think it's definitely a place
24:21
for people that explicitly write Christian music.
24:24
And I definitely engage with that myself. Um,
24:27
but for trying to guess rich people that aren't
24:28
Christian, I guess my approach is a bit different.
24:33
Not more than ever. I think it's, it's more and
24:36
more getting more and more difficult for musicians
24:38
to become self -sufficient. What approaches have
24:41
you found to be helpful or successful in making
24:46
your music ministry to be self -sufficient? Well,
24:52
I wouldn't say I'm fully self -sufficient. As
24:54
you can see, I'm actually at my other job, which
24:56
is an osteopath, and I would do that three days
24:58
a week. So it's not like I work full -time as
25:02
a wedding violinist, but I think for me to have
25:06
some sort of steady income, which is from being
25:09
an osteo is a really good I guess backstop for
25:15
making income regardless of what the music side
25:17
of things is doing so I'm probably unique in
25:20
that case although I do feel like a lot of musicians
25:22
have another job that they work maybe it reduced
25:26
hours so that they've got more time to do music
25:28
but they've still got some sort of steady income
25:30
so that when the music I guess is a bit seasonal
25:34
or it isn't consistent, then they can rely on
25:37
the other job. So for me, I guess I started out
25:40
trying to make money playing violin by busking.
25:43
So I used to go to shopping centers from about
25:46
17 years old and would busk. And that was actually
25:51
a really good way when I was studying at university
25:53
to make money because the hourly rate was actually
25:56
quite good. And it was back before COVID when
25:59
people were actually carrying cash and you could
26:01
make quite a good amount better than me going
26:04
working at Coles or whatever else I could do
26:05
as a uni student. But then as COVID kind of happened,
26:09
we went a bit more cashless and whatnot. Busking
26:12
was just becoming less and less worth it because
26:16
people weren't carrying cash. Shopping centers
26:18
weren't loving having me as much just because
26:20
of all the COVID restrictions and whatnot. So
26:23
then in 2021, 2022, I started exploring other
26:27
options because from busking i did have a couple
26:29
of people request me to play for their wedding
26:31
but i never really considered doing it i guess
26:33
as an actual job so it's only really been the
26:35
last i'd say three years i've tried to seriously
26:38
uh become a wedding and event musician and i've
26:44
always had other incomes to i guess support it
26:47
which has been of benefit while i've been trying
26:49
to build up the wedding clients and whatnot because
26:51
it's not like people uh just book you a week
26:54
in advance couples are playing their weddings
26:56
six to 18 months even sometimes 24 months in
26:59
advance because of just how peak dates work.
27:03
So for me trying to make my business self -sustainable,
27:06
I try to just charge industry standard or I try
27:11
to charge regular amounts. I'm not really giving
27:14
in the business of say giving discounts or anything
27:16
at this stage. Sometimes for Adventists or friends,
27:20
I might give discounts or whatnot, but for the
27:22
most part, it's a business. I charge fairly competitive
27:27
rates and my goal is really to get to playing
27:32
for around 60 to 70 weddings a year and then
27:35
if I've got events sprinkled around that then
27:37
that would be that would earn me probably more
27:41
than what I would get from working as an osteo.
27:44
two or three days a week. So that's when you
27:46
start to get to the maths of what do you start
27:49
to prioritize more if I can make more money off
27:51
music possibly. But it's one of those ones where
27:55
I think especially in the first couple of years
27:57
of trying to become a musician or make money
27:59
off music from performing, you've got to have
28:02
something else to, I guess, fall back on because
28:04
the music work comes and goes in ways where some
28:07
weeks it's amazing you get a few weddings booked
28:10
in things feel great and then you can have three
28:12
or four weeks but not much gets booked in or
28:14
you don't get many invoices paid and it's nice
28:17
to have kind of other income so I would say it's
28:20
been more balancing multiple jobs which I know
28:23
some people don't love but I actually think that
28:26
it probably makes me better as an osteo and better
28:29
as a musician to not do both full -time just
28:31
because it I guess puts me in different places
28:33
or different Uh, it gets me thinking differently,
28:36
which I think is really cool. Yeah. I, uh, I'm
28:39
not a full time English teacher, but I do also
28:41
do podcast production too. So that's kind of
28:43
like how I, how I do it. So I, I make podcasts
28:46
for Adventist businesses, Adventist ministries,
28:48
or any business that has a mission, uh, that's
28:51
mission driven. And I also teach English because
28:54
I live in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Uh, so I
28:57
work remotely and then, um, In person i'm teaching
29:01
english so for me it's a good balance like i
29:04
can i can work with i can do my ministry like
29:08
doing the audio engine doing the podcast production
29:10
which is mainly like like you see like here i'm
29:12
at my home right now i'm doing this at home but
29:15
when i'm doing my english teaching i'm actually
29:16
going out and and dealing with people one -on
29:19
-one. And I think that one -on -one aspect of
29:22
working with people is also very rewarding. And
29:24
it looks like you kind of get into that with
29:26
your osteopath work. Do you find that it helps
29:28
you to balance your life as well, having that,
29:31
breaking that up? Yeah, definitely. I do like
29:34
that as a musician, I can kind of just kind of
29:40
have my music job. I've always got songs to practice
29:42
and... I enjoy that, but I think if I was actually
29:46
doing that full time, not that I necessarily
29:49
get sick of it, but I probably just wouldn't
29:50
enjoy the weddings as much when I say I only
29:52
have one or two weddings a week. Whereas if you
29:55
were trying to get four or five gigs a week,
29:57
then I could see how it could become pretty tiring
29:59
even just on your body as well. So I do like
30:03
that. I like to say that as an osteo, it's my
30:06
extroverted job where I'm talking to people a
30:08
lot. Whereas as a musician, it's my introverted
30:10
job where I actually don't talk to people that
30:12
much in person. A lot of my work is more admin
30:14
work, talking with brides over email, text, whatnot.
30:18
And then I'll just rock up to their wedding for
30:21
the few hours that they booked me for. And then
30:23
as an osteo, I'm talking with every patient.
30:26
And it's I find a lot more probably energy intensive
30:31
in the fact that it's very hands on, but then
30:33
also can be Emotionally draining if you've just
30:36
had long days with complicated patients Yeah,
30:39
I think it's a good balance because you get you
30:41
get to have you get to develop certain parts
30:43
of who you are your character and things What
30:46
is one piece of advice that you would say to
30:49
someone who was thinking of becoming a musician?
30:52
I'm gonna be biased in this. I know musicians
30:54
really sometimes don't like putting themselves
30:57
out there because they think they've got to be
30:58
completely perfect or whatnot to be able to produce
31:02
music or to make content. But we live in a digital
31:05
age where I think you've got to have some degree
31:07
of social media presence, whether it's on YouTube,
31:11
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, you name it for
31:14
people to be able to actually see what you do
31:17
so that then they can actually engage with. who
31:20
you are, your content, your story. And then I
31:22
think that's going to be one of the easiest ways
31:25
to, I guess, be reaching new people that might
31:28
be able to book you in. So I very much lean towards
31:33
you've got to be on social media just because,
31:37
I mean, in my own experience, that's how I do
31:39
get a lot of work through my Instagram. And it
31:42
just seems very difficult to, I guess, get your
31:45
brand out there if you don't have some degree
31:47
of... Online presence. Is there any strategies
31:50
that you have used that have found to be quite
31:52
successful or to be successful in reaching people?
31:56
Yeah, there's there's probably been some I don't
31:58
think I've had. I can say any particularly amazing
32:01
stories but there's been a couple of times where
32:03
I've just posted a video with me maybe in front
32:07
of a church building or not even like that where
32:09
it just says this one reason means I say no to
32:12
60 % of work or 60 % of weddings and then in
32:16
the caption I might just have a description which
32:18
just has my testimony about the fact that I'm
32:21
Seventh Day Adventist I believe that and talk
32:25
a bit about the Sabbath and how I don't take
32:28
work in those Sabbath hours and how I feel God
32:31
has still blessed me with work throughout the
32:33
week. And that is crazy to people in the wedding
32:36
industry because, yeah, it's around 55 to 60
32:39
% of weddings are on a Saturday. And I'm typically
32:43
playing for the ceremony in the canapes, which
32:44
is Saturday afternoon. So I basically say no
32:46
to basically every Saturday wedding unless it's
32:49
at the reception, which is kind of rare. And
32:52
every time, and I've done this at least a couple
32:54
of times now that I've posted a video like this,
32:56
I've actually had somebody that I've never met
32:59
before who is an Adventist that is trying to
33:02
get into the wedding industry that's actually
33:03
reached out and been very encouraged to hear
33:05
my testimony and to hear that somebody else is
33:08
actually trying to, I guess, make a business
33:10
out of the wedding industry. And it's just. I
33:12
guess very discouraging for Adventists trying
33:14
to get into the wedding industry just because
33:16
there is just so much Saturday work. I've met
33:18
a few people now that are Adventists in the wedding
33:21
industry and we all kind of have the same just
33:25
kind of like sigh when it comes to Saturday work
33:28
because there's just so many weddings on Saturday
33:30
and often they're the bigger budget weddings
33:31
as well. So that's one side of it. And then on
33:35
the other side, I think some people that say
33:38
I'm Christian or whatnot that see my content
33:40
and see that I say I'm involved a bit with or
33:44
involved with church or that I might have posted
33:47
videos like I was just explaining before then
33:49
might have questions about what I am. So I just
33:52
try to wear it kind of like I try to wear my
33:55
Christianity. where I can. I don't be obnoxious
33:58
with it and try and just, I guess, force Christianity
34:00
down people's throats. I guess it's just if it
34:03
comes up in conversation, it does. If it doesn't,
34:06
then hopefully I can at least make a new friend.
34:09
Well, that's interesting. I tend to think the
34:11
same way as well. I mean, at least that's how
34:13
I deal with my family, because my family, not
34:15
Christians as well. I love them. God bless you
34:17
guys. If you're out there, thanks for listening
34:18
to this. But yeah, it's much more it puts the
34:23
guard down when you when you're not like trying
34:25
to push people and like, like, yeah, trying to
34:28
jam the Bible down their throat or something
34:30
like that. But yeah, through your life, through
34:32
your principle, you're sharing the love of Jesus
34:34
through your life. I hope so. I definitely struggle
34:38
at times, but yeah, I just pray that God can
34:41
use whatever, uh, yeah, talents he's blessed
34:44
me with to be able to, I guess, reach others
34:45
and be awesome. Yeah. And what's next for you,
34:49
Jonathan? Um, With the petrol stations, I'm trying
34:53
to get an orchestra to come to a petrol station
34:55
and kind of have a bit of a grand finale with
34:58
that, just to, I guess, lead into the series
35:01
with that. But then with work, just trying to
35:05
get more violin bookings for this year and next
35:08
year. And yeah, we'll see how it goes. That is
35:11
awesome, my friend. Hey, well, thank you so much
35:13
for coming onto the show. No worries. Thank you
35:15
very much for having me. It was nice to meet
35:16
you and nice to chat. Yeah, likewise. It's been
35:19
really fun. And I'm so amazed to see how things
35:23
have turned out for you. And I pray that you
35:24
will continue to be successful in that area.
35:29
Moral of the story is memes are dangerous. Don't
35:33
mess with the memes, guys. could blow you up
35:39
literally. Just don't bring a lighter to it,
35:42
to a gas station. Yeah. Funny. Yeah. Oh, well
35:48
thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Yeah.
35:51
Yeah. No worries. I have to do it again sometime.
35:53
All right. Well, um, that brings it to a close
35:55
of this episode. Thank you guys for joining us
35:57
on this, this podcast. Um, it was produced by
36:00
me, Khan Almas and Just thank you so much for
36:02
coming on the show, Jonathan. If you like this
36:04
podcast, make sure to stay in touch with us on
36:07
social media, share it with a friend and like
36:10
us on Spotify and YouTube, wherever you listen
36:14
to your podcasts. Until next time, I'll see you
36:17
again on the next episode of Happiness Music.