Latest / The Scene Projects / AJ Waller on Music Journeys, Industry Changes, and Collaborative Futures

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AJ Waller on Music Journeys, Industry Changes, and Collaborative Futures · The Scene Projects

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  This program is part of the Scene Projects podcast network.
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  Scene Project features interviews with independent musicians, comedians, and artists
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  from across the Midwest.
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  Become part of our community and support local art wherever you are.
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  Welcome in to another exciting episode of the scene.
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  I'm your host, Bubba Starts.
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  And with me today is singer songwriter and founder of Phoenix Rise music mentorship, AJ
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  Waller.
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  AJ, welcome to the show.
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  Hey, Bubba.
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  How are doing, mister?
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  I'm doing well.
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  I forgot to mention now good friend.
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  I'm a good friend too.
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  Definitely.
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  Awesome, man.
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  Well, off the top here, I I like to just kinda give all of our guests the floor for a few
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  minutes, allow you some time to, give us a little bit of your backstory, and then we
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  obviously have a lot of exciting stuff to talk about.
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  So we'll get into that later.
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  The floor is yours, sir.
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  Okay.
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  So a little bit about me, everyone.
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  So I am a singer songwriter from The UK.
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  I have been in the music industry for about thirty plus years.
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  Started off as a youngster singing in the choir in Edie in Cambridgeshire, and singing in my
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  local choirs in school.
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  And then started singing professionally probably in about my twenties when I started to
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  sing in pubs.
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  Then songwriting sort of came about a couple of years afterwards.
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  Started sort of writing songs about general things to do with life, and then sort of moved
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  on from there, because I wanted to get into a bit more in terms of the professional scene.
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  So I started to sing more than I did, entertain.
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  So I started off with a bit of DJing, and karaokeing, and then found that I missed my
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  singing too much.
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  So I mixed in my singing with karaoke, and then I quickly sort of changed into the singing
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  world and sit doing more gigs with singing.
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  So I moved on from that.
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  Wanted to take it a bit more seriously, so I looked into competition singing around The UK
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  with holiday parks, with local competitions, national competitions.
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  And then I was hooked into the x factor in 2015, which was an adventure.
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  But after doing that, it sort of made me realize that actually singing was more of a
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  career.
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  And even though I was working full time, as a social worker, as soon as I finished my daytime
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  job, I was wanting to go out as many times as I could in the evenings and weekends and do my
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  singing, doing my songwriting, and doing what I love the most, you know, and being part of the
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  music world.
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  So the singing and songwriting become more important in my thirties because I was writing
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  more, and I was finding the connections with the collaborative world of musicians in the
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  independent industry, more interesting because I was meeting newer people.
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  Got to about COVID time, and I think that's when it become even more serious because we was
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  asked to do a project with Warner and also a producer in London for the British nurses
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  during COVID.
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  And in the past six years, I've collaborated with multiple musicians around the world,
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  writing songs for, like, the national charity.
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  So I've I've been really good.
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  I've really enjoyed it.
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  I had a lot of experience and fun times with a lot of amazing musicians from as far as Uganda
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  to UK to America.
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  And in the middle of that, I've been podcasting and trying to set up my own music business as
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  well.
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  So, yeah, it's been quite an adventure.
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  You're as busy as I am.
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  Yeah.
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  It's been a busy time to try and put that all in a slab, you know, but, you know, we sort of
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  talked about, like, how long the show was gonna be.
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  And then I was thinking, you know what?
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  I'm gonna have to do this in a nutshell because if I try to talk about thirty years of the
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  music business, it'd probably take about 30 episodes.
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  Well and I know that you have, you know, your podcast, and you have so much content that's
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  out there.
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  If people really wanted to learn more about you, they can go and do that.
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  And there's so much that you and I are working on together right now and separately as well,
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  but we're working on some really big things.
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  And I wanted the purpose really of this episode to be promoting more of what's happening now
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  and not so much of what happened before.
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  Because not to say that it's not important, but I don't think it's as important as what we're
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  accomplishing right now between, you know, our collaboration with the Scene Projects Academy,
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  you working with me, with my band, with your Phoenix Rise PR and music mentorship side, and
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  a big Christmas party that we're gonna be throwing as well.
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  So there's
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  a lot of big one.
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  Let's start with PhoenixRise.
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  I know that it's a a newer company, but you've been doing PR work for quite some time now.
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  Did it really stem from your dipping your toes into that x factor ten years ago, seeing a
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  little bit of the you know, maybe not so much of the music business at that moment, but the
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  TV business and how much how many layers there is to being a musician and being a performer?
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  Yeah.
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  I think it is.
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  I think X Flights have really gave me a big insight to music in general.
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  You know, it wasn't what I expected it to be, and I saw so many artists in the o two wanting
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  to be where everyone is on the TV, out on tour, you know, all the stardom that you see around.
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  And you can see so many people.
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  You know, I lined up with 3,000 people outside London 02 from 06:30 in the morning, and you
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  can see the energy and the passion of all these singers who wanted to make it in the music
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  industry and thought that the X Factor was the thing that was gonna help them get to the music
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  industry, you know, in a in a blink of an eye.
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  You know?
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  It's almost like a golden ticket opportunity to be recognized.
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  And, obviously, we all know and when we watch X Factor, we watch Britain's Got Talent and
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  things like that, these musicians move on quite quickly.
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  Even if they got the golden puzzle or they win the show, they sort of have an episode or so,
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  and that's all they get, you know, and you hear their name for a year or two.
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  But me and some of the contestants, on the X Factor, you could see the passion behind people
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  really wanting to make it in the music industry, and, you know, and half of them
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  didn't know what their next steps were gonna be if they didn't make it.
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  You know, you could see sort of it's almost the the drama of the show and how much it was moved
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  out, you know, and I'm not gonna go into details for HVAC to say, to be honest, from
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  what I've seen.
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  It was an it just was an eye opener for me.
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  But I think from then, it really did make me realize it wasn't just me as a musician who was
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  finding the independent music industry so broad and so big and so mind boggling, especially
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  with this day and age where we've almost changed what we were in the eighties and
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  nineties.
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  When I was in the eighties and nineties, I saw myself and people see me as a singer, you know,
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  and I think very much now with with with brand, you know, we've almost got to stand out in in
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  front of so many more people now, you know, a lot more in terms of social media, in terms of
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  TV, you know, and it's it's it's it's almost become, you know, like a rat race for singers
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  to be to be popular because earning money is so much harder, especially because all our music
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  are just, streaming services and things like that where we're paid very little.
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  So actually, you know, if people ask me about my experience in The X Factor, actually, it's
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  given me a big, big knowledge of the independent world about actually how can I help
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  people?
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  You know, I've had my career thirty years.
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  You know?
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  I'm 49 now this year.
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  And most people say, well, you know, there's still Tom Joes, and there's still people going
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  out there doing singing on stage in a professional manner.
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  You know.
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  However, obviously, financially, it's very difficult for independent eyes.
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  Actually, I get more of happiness in my heart when I'm able to help the younger generation
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  relive their dreams, even if it is being able to set them up with a podcast, a TV interview,
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  you know, having their music played on the radio.
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  You know, there's some real things about the music industry that people miss out on because
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  they want their dream.
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  They want to be as far as they can and get the multimillions, but actually hearing their music
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  in the local Tescos.
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  You know, I saw a singer today, and he was saying in Asda, he's got his music playing for
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  Christmas.
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  It means more than him and a Ferrari.
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  The fact that he can walk his family into his local, and his Christmas number one is gonna be
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  played in all the ASDA stores around The UK.
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  You know?
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  So it's fantastic.
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  And I think Phoenix Rise for me, turning it into a mentorship, is being able to help those
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  artists still live their dream, whatever their dream can be.
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  It's but it's being creative.
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  If we're able to help them reach the top and get to the very top and tour and singing like
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  you've been with the Grand Ole Opry, you know, when you've done your podcast.
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  You know, if we can get them there, then we would do everything in our powers, music
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  mentors, you know, to get those dreams there.
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  But I think it's been in in a creative manner, and I think X Factor really helped me in that
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  way.
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  Yeah.
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  And it it's not that we're trying to run an agency, and I think that's why having the
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  mentorship side and really focusing on that is that we're just trying to give you skills,
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  maybe open some doors for you, but we're not trying to take a cut of the zero money that
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  you're making in in the world right now.
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  Right?
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  Like, there aren't there are no longer and there was.
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  Right?
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  There were royalties and a lot of these things and musicians were making an incredible amount
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  of money, you know, in the sixties and seventies and eighties and nineties and through
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  parts of the two thousands.
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  And, yes, people at the very top of this world are making substantial livings and creating
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  generational wealth with their music.
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  But the reality for most people is that it is not.
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  Right?
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  The reality is that it may you know, if you can turn your music career into something that is
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  affording you maybe between 30 and $50,000 a year, and you've made it.
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  You've made it.
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  Right?
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  Yeah.
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  Did, but that's a lot of money.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  I mean, that's a substantial living.
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  I I was making about 50,000 a year working at a factory, giving someone else forty to sixty
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  hours of my time every week.
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  Right?
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  And to me, that's kind of what it means to make it in this day and age is can you build a
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  living for yourself?
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  And I think now more than ever, that's very possible.
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  When you break it down in very simple terms, that's playing four nights a week for a regular
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  fee of $250.
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  That's not unfathomable.
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  Maybe in some markets, it's a little harder to pull off than others.
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  But when I go out and play with my band, I'm making that or better.
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  I'm just in a point in my life.
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  I turned 39 this year that I don't wanna be away from my young family four nights a week
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  because I live in a rural area.
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  I'm not playing.
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  I'm not able to play all those shows in a small, you know, community.
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  Right?
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  Like, I can maybe play locally in my town twice a year where people who live inside of some of
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  these larger metropolitan areas, Minneapolis, somewhere that we're very close to or a Kansas
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  City and into your major, you know, big major markets, it gets harder because the pay is not
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  there.
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  Right?
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  You know, people in Nashville are are making, you know, a $100,000 a year, but they're
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  playing four gigs a night times eight, five, you know, six nights a week and really putting
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  in the grind, but they're also play paying a lot more just to live.
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  Right?
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  The cost of living in some of these metro areas.
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  So it's like, how do we coach people?
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  How to find that balance?
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  Right?
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  And getting people to treat their music careers as a business themselves.
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  You are an entrepreneur.
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  Right?
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  If you are coming into the music business now, you are an entrepreneur.
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  Nobody's coming along to to write you a big check, give you a big pile of money in
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  advances, and send you on your way.
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  That is not happening.
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  You know, there are some people are being signed still, but very few and far in between.
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  And, really, the only people who are getting signed are ones that have been able to
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  establish a career for themselves already, and then maybe a record label can pour some
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  gasoline on a fire you've already created and take you to another level.
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  Now they may do that, but they're going to want a substantial cut on the backside of that as
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  well.
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  So we're really trying to be a, you know, like a tugboat almost.
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  Right?
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  You have this massive thing.
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  We're trying to guide you through some of these ports and may hopefully, you have enough on
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  your own to when you get out to sea and you're on your own that you can really make something
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  of that career and not sink to the bottom like so many artists careers do for one reason or
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  another.
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  And I I think that's important to hit on.
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  I think and that's where we align so much is that I don't want to have a music agency or a
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  record label or any of those things.
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  I want to be able to help as many people as I can to give them the knowledge that I have and
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  we're constantly learning more and to bring that to them to say, what you do with this is
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  up to you.
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  Now the ball is in your court, and what you make out of your career is completely up to
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  you.
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  Thinking entrepreneurship in music industry, I think it has to come out more and be real
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  creative.
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  We're in The UK.
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  We're struggling with venues, and we're struggling with finance in the music industry,
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  almost as though it's starting to disappear almost.
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  However, there is money to be made in the music industry, and there are avenues that people go
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  down.
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  And I think in terms of being creative, you know, we've got things like TikTok.
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  The TikTok agencies, which are now being created, actually widening the door for the
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  music industry and enabling people to almost busk online for a fair amount of money.
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  You know, I'm really an advocate for people exploring more avenues in the music industry
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  and being more aware of what's out there.
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  And that's exactly the same with the mentorship.
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  You know, PR management has moved.
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  I've done PR management now for at least six years, if you count on what I've done with
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  OneLife.
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  You know?
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  It's changed.
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  It is become a way in which the it's no longer managing someone.
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  It's almost supporting someone to see those doors which are open.
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  When those doors like TikTok are open, you you can earn it, you know, a good sizable amount of
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  money.
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  They've got record labels who are looking at those avenues and, you know, opportunities
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  through TikTok itself to be musicians.
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  You know?
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  And I think just because the pubs and the bars and the festivals are harder to at least to get
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  to, there are avenues which are opening up, you know, exactly the same with the problems that
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  we're having at the moment with AI.
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  You know, people are seeing it as a huge thing in the industry where it's taking away the
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  ability of, you know, producers and writers and vocalists.
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  You know, some of the comments that I've seen in relation to AI is quite scary, you know,
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  that it's taken over well because it's new, and it does feel as though it's a personal attack
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  on us human beings because we've worked our part for so long.
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  However, in the music industry, there's going to be other new opportunities for artists to be
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  more creative, to be able to do things faster and quicker, and be able to save a lot of money
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  where actually, you know, if you think of a a common studio session of being £300 per
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  session, and then all of a sudden you've got an AI app that can like, the ones which are out at
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  the moment that can actually do that within five minutes, ten minutes, and also be able to
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  be paying a subscription of $9.99 or, you know, £15.
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  You're saving a vast amount of money.
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  That money can then go back into what you do best, going out, performing, and having a
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  budget to be a singer.
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  And I think it's just us moving with the times, and I think that's what mentorship does so much
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  better is actually we learn together, us musicians learn.
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  And I think we if we think that back and the ones who have been in the industry for a long
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  time, feed that back to the younger generation coming through, I think music will survive, and
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  I think it will actually get stronger eventually.
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  And I think we will start to see that we just work together with these new new ideas, and,
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  actually, music carries on.
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  I can never see a world without music.
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  It's just new, and it's just a change for the industry.
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  Massive changes in the industry.
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  And it's actually it's eliminating a lot of the gatekeepers.
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  It's more of an open playing field for everyone to join in, but that also creates a ton of
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  competition.
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  It creates a ton of you know, attention is very divided now, and it's about finding your
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  people.
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  It's about finding the people that want to do you, whether you're using social media or, you
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  know, you're out playing gigs all the time.
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  Platform like TikTok is incredible.
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  I have friends that are making 5 figures a month off of TikTok, but that didn't happen
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  overnight.
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  Like, there are no overnight successes now.
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  And even if someone looks like they are, oh, they came out of nowhere, they probably been
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  working their tails off for ten years or more to establish themselves into this and to have
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  the fan base that they do and to be making, you know, some of the numbers that we're seeing.
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  And and, really, it's amazing that you can do it from home now.
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  You don't even have to have a successful touring career.
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  You just have to be committed to getting in front of your camera and performing on a
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  regular schedule.
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  And I think that's more of what the world is now than and that may be the biggest difference
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  is that anyone can establish themselves.
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  Can you stay consistent?
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  Can you keep showing up when times are slow?
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  Or can you allow these people an opportunity, fan meaning fans, to get to know you, to be
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  invested in your life and in your because that's what they want.
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  That's what people want to support.
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  It's no longer just, oh, I like your song.
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  Nobody pays for music anymore.
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  They want to pay to see that they're making a difference inside of your life.
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  And that is really why a platform like TikTok and and what it's being able to bring with
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  people being able to send you gifts or to, you know, tip you in these ways that it becomes
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  such a massive, massive game changer for some of these artists that can figure it out and
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  stick to it.
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  And, I'm really excited to see where, you know, obviously, you've made connection with, some
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  pretty big TikTokers out there now and some exciting
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  things.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  Well, it's gonna be really awesome to be able to bring their knowledge base into the Scene
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  Projects Academy.
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  And I kinda wanna talk about this shift because now we are helping people.
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  And it's not just your music mentorship with Phoenix Rise, but also establishing and showing
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  other people that are like us how to become mentors themselves.
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  And, really, the academy is less courses like a university would be and more of a place to find
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  a mentor that you really vibe with and can gain insights from.
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  Am I I I feel like I'm kind of talking that out in real time with you right now, AJ, as the
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  thought just kind of occurred to me as you were speaking.
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  But, really, I feel like that's more of what our academy is more than a Right.
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  Here's all the the courses and the learning.
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  Right.
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  So, you know, the the the academy ideas started, you know, about three years ago.
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  You know, there was a big shift in the music industry where we could really see it.
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  It was dying.
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  You know?
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  It was changing.
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  You know?
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  Nashville had a big change from being a country, you know, sort of town and country
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  music being the biggest sort of thing that people went to Nashville for.
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  They were even making changes to try and keep people entertained in Nashville.
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  You know, we went from country to country rock in Nashville, you know, just because there
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  needed to be a change.
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  You know, that I think across the world, there's always there's been this fear that the
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  music industry was dying because the the money wasn't there.
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  Social media had taken over.
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  We had a new generation of AI.
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  So many things that happened since COVID.
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  You know?
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  I really think most of it stemmed since COVID.
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  We had a lot of mental health, a lot of people not wanting to go out into the community and
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  play because we were concerned about this new disease that had come around.
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  You know?
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  So but what I did see, I saw a very different partner.
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  I did see big musicians actually stand up and say, look.
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  I'm not letting, like, the likes of the Beatles, you know, Freddie Mercury.
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  All those people would be turning in their graves to see the music industry where it was.
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  And I've actually seen a a a big shift, and all of these artists are actually spending more
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  time giving up their time to the younger generation and even those who just wanna get
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  out and play.
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  And I think that's where the academy idea come three years ago, where all these musicians,
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  whether they were walking the red carpet for the Grammys or they were working with JSA, you
• 23:24
  know, and working with ISSA and all the big organizations, they all wanted to collaborate
• 23:31
  and help each other.
• 23:32
  And I think the the Academy idea stemmed from the fact that these artists actually wanted to
• 23:39
  take time out of their studio, wanted to take time out of their personal lives where, you
• 23:44
  know, if you think of musicians in general, we work twenty four seven, seven days a week, but
• 23:49
  they wanted to get back into the music industry.
• 23:52
  And where could they invest their time as a a mentor?
• 23:57
  You know, we we've got country country stars in our group, in the academy group, who are
• 24:03
  basically saying, look.
• 24:04
  If there's new country musicians out there, I can teach and give all the welfare and
• 24:10
  knowledge that I've got and to sing in the grand old Opry like I have.
• 24:15
  I will sit and give them time.
• 24:17
  You know?
• 24:17
  I think we've shifted that since COVID.
• 24:19
  You know?
• 24:20
  Before then, you couldn't touch a musician.
• 24:22
  You went to a musician on stage.
• 24:24
  It was almost as though they were in a different era, a different world.
• 24:26
  They were too busy for you.
• 24:28
  But now, they want to give you time because they wanna save the music industry.
• 24:32
  And I think it's a it's a powerful powerful thing to have an academy of like, we've got 13
• 24:38
  of the I what I feel is some of the very best music independent artists who are saying, do
• 24:44
  you know what?
• 24:45
  What do you need from us?
• 24:46
  What is it we can give you to help you move your career on and be in a place where you feel
• 24:51
  comfortable in the industry?
• 24:53
  And it's a really powerful thing.
• 24:56
  There's something that you hit on there that I think has been you know, I I think we can
• 25:03
  thank, reality TV for that.
• 25:06
  That in the sixties and seventies and eighties, rock stars were put on a pedestal.
• 25:12
  Right?
• 25:13
  They were put way up.
• 25:14
  Oh, they're different than us.
• 25:15
  They are so different.
• 25:16
  And I think maybe a show like the Osbournes and god bless Ozzy Osbourne for giving us a glimpse
• 25:24
  into his life that people realize that, oh, no.
• 25:27
  They're regular people.
• 25:29
  They're regular people that have an extraordinary talent, and they have they are
• 25:34
  blessed.
• 25:34
  And we are truly blessed to be able to share that talent with the world.
• 25:39
  But I think that it changed the music industry a lot more and how people look at people in the
• 25:46
  music industry and that a lot of a lot of people who support independent musicians,
• 25:52
  especially, are doing it because they want to see because they kinda know that journey now.
• 25:58
  They know how hard it is to break into the music industry and to become something that
• 26:03
  they wanna support that and to be part of it.
• 26:05
  And it's why shows like The Voice or American Idol where people get to phone in and vote are
• 26:10
  so popular.
• 26:12
  And I think it really that without without them even really planning to do that, that they
• 26:18
  turned they turned the music industry on its head a little bit.
• 26:22
  They kinda took the power away from themselves in that way from the industry and gave it to
• 26:28
  the fans, that the fans truly have the opportunity now to make or break these artists
• 26:36
  and and to show them and share their their songs with the world that the fan is actually
• 26:43
  so much more powerful now than anyone ever gave them credit for.
• 26:48
  For decades, the music industry told you what was good.
• 26:53
  They were the ones who selected what was on the radio.
• 26:56
  Now you have thousands of independent radio stations like the Scene Projects Radio, and you
• 27:01
  have all of these different independent sources that are, you know, that are finding these
• 27:07
  people in obscurity and bringing them out there and building communities around those artists.
• 27:15
  And and that's really, AJ, once again, I'm kinda as we're talking, the epiphanies are just
• 27:21
  exploding.
• 27:22
  Right?
• 27:22
  My my head is about to burst because it's like, oh, we are we are way ahead of the curve
• 27:27
  because this isn't slowing down.
• 27:29
  It's becoming more and more of this and no nothing evidence that more to me at least than
• 27:36
  my first trip to the Josie Music Awards in Nashville just last month and to see all these
• 27:43
  independent artists and all of us doing so well, but none of us being at a level that we
• 27:49
  would look at each other like, oh, you're a rock star.
• 27:51
  Like, oh, no.
• 27:51
  I know I know where you're at.
• 27:53
  I you're you're playing the same, you know, we say bar gigs.
• 27:57
  I it's an endearing term to me.
• 27:58
  Right?
• 27:59
  The bar and grill shows that we play that pay the bills and create that that career.
• 28:06
  Right?
• 28:07
  Those are cherish those.
• 28:08
  Right?
• 28:09
  It's not all about selling out the 02 Arena.
• 28:12
  Yes.
• 28:13
  That life would be amazing, but you can live such a fulfilling life playing some of these
• 28:19
  smaller shows and connecting with real fans and real people.
• 28:23
  And you could do that if you wanted to from the comfort of your own home on a platform like
• 28:29
  TikTok or connecting with other people in the independent radio, whether it's Internet or
• 28:35
  terrestrial worlds and doing that.
• 28:37
  I'm just I'm really blown away by how
• 28:41
  I'm you know, I'm blown away because you think, you know, we had Britain's Got Talent this
• 28:46
  year.
• 28:47
  One of the judges was iShow Speed.
• 28:50
  You know, he was in he was in TikTok.
• 28:51
  He was in a, you know, a TikToker.
• 28:53
  You know?
• 28:54
  We've got American American sort of, like, wrestlers who are coming off of TikTok to go on
• 29:02
  to American wrestling.
• 29:03
  Everything's changed, but everything's changed, I think.
• 29:06
  You know, and I think we need to remember this in the music industry.
• 29:09
  Everything changes, the time changes, but that is an exciting change.
• 29:13
  I've got musicians on TikTok who are writing their next albums with their fans.
• 29:19
  You know?
• 29:21
  Where whether that happened in the nineteen eighties over Freddie Mercury, you wouldn't
• 29:24
  have even been able to be in the same room and write the the amazing tracks that he was
• 29:30
  bringing out.
• 29:31
  But we have got an opportunity now where our fans and this is what's the the connection
• 29:35
  between the academy and the scenes project.
• 29:38
  You know, the fans can be a real part of the music industry now.
• 29:42
  They can actually instead of even if they they're not naturally writers, or they're not
• 29:47
  naturally, but they've got such an interest in the music industry that they love someone's
• 29:52
  music, a sentence from them can almost be portrayed in that new single or that new album,
• 29:59
  and they can feel the connection to their eyes which they've never had before in their lives.
• 30:04
  And, again, AI can help us achieve that as well.
• 30:08
  You know, they can almost write something to give in to their favorite eyes, and I think
• 30:14
  that's what you said about Ozzy Osbourne, and I think one of the biggest endings that Ozzy gave
• 30:19
  us, that he gave us a new person to look up to in Youngblood.
• 30:24
  You know?
• 30:24
  I think that artist is the next generation of artists that have come through that actually
• 30:30
  want music to continue.
• 30:33
  You know, the fact that he would give away his tickets to underprivileged people, set up
• 30:39
  festivals for people, and the love he shows is as much as what Shout and Ozzy did in the
• 30:45
  eighties when we had the Osbournes.
• 30:47
  You know?
• 30:47
  He's carried that legacy on for Ozzy.
• 30:49
  It's that music is about the connection to people, the connection to yourself as a
• 30:55
  musician, and, actually, you know, there's so many ways in which music can now move on and be
• 31:00
  part of, and it's it's lovely to see.
• 31:03
  Really, it's lovely to see.
• 31:04
  Now I know we have a lot of negativity around music at the moment, but there's a lot of
• 31:08
  positivity as well from what I've seen.
• 31:10
  And I think the scenes projects and the academy and all the other things that we're doing
• 31:14
  together is only gonna make it stronger.
• 31:18
  Indeed.
• 31:18
  And one of those things being an online Christmas party that we're gonna be throwing
• 31:23
  coming up here in just a few short weeks, December 21 at 3PM central time US.
• 31:31
  It'll be 09:00 UK time.
• 31:33
  Correct?
• 31:34
  If I have the time change.
• 31:36
  And is.
• 31:36
  It's 3PM for you and 9PM for us.
• 31:39
  That's alright.
• 31:40
  You like to stay up late anyway, AJ.
• 31:43
  Well, yeah.
• 31:43
  You know, it's a life of a musician, I'm afraid.
• 31:46
  You know?
• 31:46
  It's like we stay up quite late.
• 31:48
  Now you did you did this you did this last year on on your own platform.
• 31:54
  Now we're bringing it over the scene projects and helping you to produce this.
• 31:58
  So tell us a little bit about what we can expect because this will be my first time doing
• 32:02
  it as well.
• 32:05
  It's magical.
• 32:06
  Christmas is magical anyway.
• 32:08
  And what you will see from the independent music industry is everybody's so excited about
• 32:13
  Christmas.
• 32:14
  You will see independent artists from the November up until the December writing as many
• 32:21
  Christmas songs as they possibly can because they love Christmas so much.
• 32:25
  And I think one of the things that I've seen personally in the industry over the last six
• 32:29
  years is that charity becomes a big thing for independent writers.
• 32:34
  They want to support their local charities, their national charities, and we've been very
• 32:39
  lucky in the previous projects that we've done, in terms of One Life because we've had a
• 32:45
  connection with the Make The Wish Foundation.
• 32:48
  It is very dear to a lot of people's hearts because it's a worldwide charity, in terms of
• 32:56
  supporting children who have palliative care needs and giving them their families their last
• 33:02
  almost their last wishes in life to do something special, and that can be anything
• 33:06
  from me and John Cena, you know, to having a local party with, you know, their family
• 33:14
  members that they haven't seen for a period of time.
• 33:17
  You know?
• 33:17
  I I'm very blessed to to know some of the members in the UK Made A Wish Foundation, and
• 33:24
  have also met some of the members around the world.
• 33:26
  But it does give us an opportunity to raise money for a great, great charity.
• 33:33
  But also what it gives us is time to spend time and wish each other a Merry Christmas at
• 33:37
  Christmastime.
• 33:38
  I had a brilliant show last year.
• 33:40
  There was about four hour show, 20 artists, all raising a glass at Christmas, all basically
• 33:47
  remembering Christmas is a time of supporting each other, a time as a pat of family, and
• 33:54
  basically just celebrating the fact that we'd got through another great year.
• 33:59
  Some great singles were played on the night as well, and we were all there for the same reason
• 34:04
  and was raising money for the Made A Wish Foundation.
• 34:07
  So we've got another opportunity, to do it again this year.
• 34:11
  And just thank you so much for the stage projects, carrying this tradition on because
• 34:15
  I'm really looking forward to what we can achieve, it being hosted in America for the
• 34:20
  very first time.
• 34:22
  And we've already had dozens of artists sending in their Christmas songs.
• 34:26
  We kinda put out the APV that, you know, this is gonna be a chance to share your to share
• 34:32
  your music on a much larger stage than even we provide on a weekly basis.
• 34:38
  And to watch this grow now, it's been it's gonna be really incredible.
• 34:43
  I'm really looking forward to hosting it alongside of you and and hearing some amazing
• 34:48
  music, supporting an incredible cause.
• 34:51
  And just, to celebrate with our friends, having a few special guests on during the time.
• 34:56
  And, like you said, a chance to connect with everyone.
• 35:00
  We'll have the live chat running on YouTube where everyone will be able to dip in and to
• 35:05
  wish everyone a merry Christmas and, to really start to to celebrate the year that was and to
• 35:12
  really look forward to doing even more in 2026.
• 35:17
  And we're really just getting started, AJ.
• 35:19
  We've only known each other for maybe a a month or two, a a matter of mere weeks, really.
• 35:25
  And Been amazing what we've achieved in a month.
• 35:27
  Accomplished so much of what we've been building.
• 35:31
  And, really, it was not just me and you meeting each other.
• 35:34
  It was our worlds colliding.
• 35:36
  And I think that's what I'm most excited about with the Christmas party is it's a chance for a
• 35:42
  lot of my people to finally meet you because so much of what we've done has not been out in the
• 35:49
  public eye.
• 35:49
  It's kinda been behind closed doors.
• 35:52
  And this is, I mean, really the first time that people will see us together publicly is now
• 35:56
  this episode.
• 35:57
  So a a great time to be able to finally sit down with you in public, so to speak.
• 36:03
  Exactly great.
• 36:04
  To discuss all the things that we've been working on and so many of the things to come.
• 36:09
  AJ, is there anything that I missed, over the course of the last half hour or so?
• 36:15
  You haven't I think we've we've we've covered as much as we possibly can in the time we've
• 36:20
  got, but please please get those singles into us for the Christmas party and bring a mince
• 36:25
  pie and and some wine or whatever you're gonna bring for the party because it's gonna be the
• 36:29
  end of a great, great year.
• 36:31
  Yes.
• 36:32
  And if you're hearing this, for the first time and you want to send in your submissions, you
• 36:38
  can email those to Bubba Starts, spelled like it is on the screen here,
• 36:43
  @thesceneprojects.com.
• 36:46
  So send in your singles.
• 36:47
  We would love to play them.
• 36:49
  It's going to be an amazing time.
• 36:50
  Of course, that is December 21, 3PM central US time, 9PM there in The UK, and you will have to
• 36:59
  figure out where it is, wherever you're listening at that time.
• 37:02
  But we're gonna be live on YouTube and across some of the other social media platforms as
• 37:07
  well.
• 37:08
  And YouTube is the spot to come in where you can really gather and to be in the live chat
• 37:12
  with us and to just enjoy what's going to be a very blessed day and so much great music and
• 37:20
  community that we'll be sharing.
• 37:23
  We're looking forward to it.
• 37:25
  AJ, I wanna thank you so much for everything that you've brought to my life.
• 37:30
  So much joy in a short amount of time, and I'm already looking forward to a very long time of
• 37:36
  sharing not just the Christmas party, but what we're building with the academy.
• 37:41
  So many memories and so many lives are going to be changed through this collaborative effort.
• 37:47
  And I'm really glad that we had an opportunity to not just meet and work together, but to
• 37:52
  become friends and to grow as men together as well.
• 37:57
  So I appreciate your time today.
• 37:59
  I appreciate your time always, and thank you for being part of the scene.
• 38:04
  Very welcome, and thank you for being part of our life over here in The UK as well.
• 38:08
  Take good care of yourself.
• 38:10
  You as well.