Latest / The Scene Projects / HAAWWS on Music's Impact, Building Community, and Shaping the Boston Scene

Transcript

HAAWWS on Music's Impact, Building Community, and Shaping the Boston Scene · The Scene Projects

• 0:02
  This program is part of the Scene Projects podcast network.
• 0:07
  Scene Project features interviews with independent musicians, comedians, and artists
• 0:12
  from across the Midwest.
• 0:15
  Become part of our community and support local art wherever you are.
• 0:27
  Welcome into another exciting episode of the scene.
• 0:30
  I am your host, Bubba Starts, and with me today is recording and performing artist, Hawes.
• 0:36
  Brother, welcome to the show.
• 0:38
  Peace.
• 0:38
  Peace.
• 0:39
  How are you, brother?
• 0:40
  How are you?
• 0:41
  Man, I'm doing well this morning.
• 0:42
  We were, we were wasting good content in the pre pro, so it was it was time to hit that
• 0:48
  record button and to get into it.
• 0:50
  But before we get into all the things that you're doing now and some of these awesome
• 0:54
  initiatives that you're part of out there in Boston, I wanted to give you the floor for a
• 0:59
  minute here and, just give us a little bit of your backstory.
• 1:03
  Yeah, man.
• 1:03
  I was rapper, entrepreneur, you know, started here in Roxbury.
• 1:08
  Just the kids who kinda, you know, figured out, like, how to turn his rap into a business,
• 1:13
  avoiding, you know, the the the stereotypical pressures of growing up in an urban community.
• 1:18
  I mean, the area that, like, you know, kinda raised me and kind of helped me become the
• 1:25
  person I am today is grow home, like, very prominent in a lot of my art and the way that I
• 1:30
  kinda, you know, express and present my music.
• 1:34
  It's like a big theme for me.
• 1:36
  But, you know, overall, I'm just a Roxbury kid, you know, navigating the inner city, figuring
• 1:41
  out life, figuring out what I wanted to do, you know, finding a passion in music, and I was
• 1:48
  just putting words together and creating songs and presenting art to people and bringing
• 1:52
  visuals to life.
• 1:53
  And I kinda just, you know, just poured over and snowballed into a whole bunch of other
• 1:57
  stuff, but, you know, that's kinda, like, got us to this point today.
• 2:01
  So it's just like feels like a sense of purpose now.
• 2:03
  You know, we're just moving and rolling with it.
• 2:06
  Yeah.
• 2:06
  It's funny how, you know, us gentlemen of a certain age.
• 2:11
  Right?
• 2:12
  And you look around and all of a sudden, you're kinda one of the OGs.
• 2:15
  I'll be 40 in May, and it was like I feel blessed to just have survived to this point, to
• 2:22
  be perfectly honest.
• 2:24
  But now, I'm able to be an inspiration to a lot of young artists that are coming up.
• 2:29
  And, I'm a songwriter myself and have you know, I I raised in a rural environment and fell into
• 2:35
  a lot of the trappings that befall the urban community.
• 2:38
  Right?
• 2:38
  I did time for selling weed.
• 2:40
  I did, you know, two years of my life that I that I gave up to prison and kinda lost myself
• 2:45
  in a lot of those things, addiction and and a lot of that.
• 2:49
  So, but music is, in many ways, the thing that, especially now, keeps me out of trouble.
• 2:56
  Right?
• 2:56
  I mean, I have kids, and I'm obviously a lot older.
• 2:58
  And, well, all the stuff that I did time for is getting descheduled and, legal to buy from the
• 3:05
  store, but it it really music has been the one constant in my whole life when everything else
• 3:13
  has kind of faded away no matter what it was.
• 3:16
  I I'm a huge, supporter of other independent artists.
• 3:21
  I have my own music career and those things, but I really am passionate about supporting my
• 3:28
  community, and my community are creators.
• 3:30
  And I loved that about you.
• 3:33
  Obviously, we talked to Michelet, and, when she told me about you, and I was like, yeah.
• 3:39
  Connect me as soon as possible with this man because I feel like we are kindred spirits in
• 3:45
  that in that realm for sure.
• 3:48
  Yeah.
• 3:48
  Yeah.
• 3:49
  No.
• 3:49
  That's a fight.
• 3:49
  That's a fight, man.
• 3:50
  I think it's all about paying it forward.
• 3:53
  I think there's a there's a big, saying.
• 3:55
  It's like teach what's taught.
• 3:56
  Right?
• 3:57
  So it's like, you know, if you have some information, like, how do you pass that down?
• 4:00
  And I think, honestly, like, when when one grow, I think we all should be able to grow.
• 4:05
  And I think that the idea is, like, build something that is kind of a platform that
• 4:09
  people can participate in and whatever the you know, however that may look.
• 4:13
  And and I I think that's what we're we're we're we're we're about here in the kind of the New
• 4:17
  England creative scene, you know, while there's there's pockets and whatnot for whether it be
• 4:22
  for a different genres or whatever the case may be.
• 4:25
  But I think for the most part, like, we're all trying to platform it and, you know, just like,
• 4:28
  you know, you guys over there just, you know, trying to trying to put on for our our area,
• 4:34
  our very overlooked area.
• 4:36
  You know?
• 4:37
  Yeah.
• 4:38
  And I'm a member of the Midwest Country Music Organization.
• 4:41
  Last year, we were blessed to be voted on by the members as the content creator of the year
• 4:45
  for that organization.
• 4:47
  And, it meant a lot to me because a lot of the, you know, voting members were the people that
• 4:52
  were guests on the show over that period of time.
• 4:55
  Right?
• 4:55
  So, you know, we kinda juiced up the vote in that, and they said, the award wasn't even a
• 5:00
  thing, before that.
• 5:01
  But as soon as I saw it on, you know, the nomination list was like, oh, we got a really
• 5:05
  good shot at this because there's just not a lot of creators, especially in the podcasting
• 5:10
  world in, you know, South Dakota and just the Midwest in general.
• 5:14
  Right?
• 5:14
  You know, I live in rural South Dakota.
• 5:16
  My town's a thousand people.
• 5:18
  I'm an hour and a half from a town that has over 50,000 people.
• 5:21
  And, you know, Sioux Falls is, I think, like, 200,000, the biggest city in the state.
• 5:26
  I'm five and a half hours from Minneapolis, Saint Paul, five and a half hours from Kansas
• 5:30
  City.
• 5:31
  So there's not these huge population artistic centers even close.
• 5:37
  And and there's so many creative people in between those spaces.
• 5:42
  So I really set out with a mission to, like, be the connector between all of those small
• 5:48
  places, but then finding a way to connect in the bigger areas.
• 5:52
  Right?
• 5:52
  So we got some, you know, we got some really nice hubs.
• 5:54
  We're very, you know, getting more connected in the Nashville scene, obviously, kinda coming
• 5:58
  from a country music world.
• 6:00
  I'm a lot more of a rock, you know, indie rock kind of of guy, but Yeah.
• 6:04
  You know, thriving rock scene in Nashville as well.
• 6:07
  I got deep roots in the Chicago area.
• 6:08
  That's where my family moved to South Dakota from.
• 6:11
  So still have a lot of love for that city.
• 6:13
  Minneapolis has become a really huge supporter of what we're doing.
• 6:16
  And last summer, I got to spend a lot of time in Missouri between Kansas City and St.
• 6:21
  Louis and and building that out.
• 6:22
  This year, we're taking a big trip to Texas, spending a whole week between Dallas, Austin,
• 6:27
  Houston, and planning on being, you know, really in the heartbeat of the music and tech
• 6:32
  art world for South by Southwest for that purpose.
• 6:36
  Let me go and be who I am in these you know, where the action is because I know I'm going to
• 6:43
  attract people inside of that.
• 6:45
  And I don't have to be the star of the show to go find a few of my people to start collabing
• 6:50
  with and to build that out.
• 6:52
  And that's why when I got introduced to your music and just you as a person and all the
• 6:56
  things that you were doing, and we're gonna talk about, mass music and arts summit as well
• 7:00
  because that you know, we're building creator conferences in the same vein that you guys are
• 7:05
  doing out there that, like, creators need to be educated on what the industry actually is these
• 7:12
  days.
• 7:12
  Right?
• 7:12
  Those days of the major record deal and you're gonna get signed and somebody's gonna come
• 7:17
  along and change your life, those are long gone.
• 7:20
  They've been gone for decades.
• 7:22
  Right?
• 7:22
  And it it's time for, you know, young artists that, you know, think they can go out and and
• 7:27
  to put something out on Spotify and they're all of a sudden gonna become some overnight
• 7:31
  sensation.
• 7:32
  That doesn't happen.
• 7:33
  And, it there there's a business education that you need in that part.
• 7:39
  Yeah.
• 7:39
  Yeah.
• 7:39
  I I think that's extremely important to know.
• 7:42
  I think what it like, there was even an emphasis for the last iteration of the mass
• 7:46
  music at our summit this past year when we held it at the ALOV.
• 7:49
  There's this big, like, emphasis on institutional knowledge and, like, what it's
• 7:54
  like to be a part of systems and learn what it's like to work within these these different
• 7:58
  corporations and kinda, like, navigate and, like, how do you be a champion for your artists
• 8:03
  outside of, like, the maybe the direct on the ground team.
• 8:06
  I think it's important because a lot of time, you don't get that that information.
• 8:09
  Like, right, that's, like, inside information.
• 8:11
  You're doing an internship for however many years before you get maybe a contract to be on
• 8:15
  position for something, you're working a part of a creative team.
• 8:18
  But for the most part, a lot of people in our market are freelancing.
• 8:22
  And for those who are kinda working with the major corporations, they've kinda, like, you
• 8:26
  know, how do you say, moved on up, you know, or kinda, like, moved out of Massachusetts or
• 8:32
  moved out of the New England area, went to the West Coast, or whether it be kinda went down to
• 8:36
  Atlanta.
• 8:37
  So I think it's just important to bring, like you said, bring resources here to where people
• 8:42
  can kinda, like, really really connect with information that they might not have access to
• 8:49
  on a day to day, and then definitely be in a room with people that they're just not gonna
• 8:53
  always be in proximity with.
• 8:54
  That's what, like, you know, cofounder of BTO, g, who's also, like, a the very instrumental
• 9:00
  because he is kinda, like, pioneering this summit with, like, it being a brainchild of
• 9:05
  his, and we just kinda materialized and it bring it to life over the last couple of years.
• 9:09
  But really connecting young people because him being an artist himself, understanding that
• 9:13
  grind, like you mentioned, it's kinda like it's tough, and he doesn't feel the need to always
• 9:18
  be the point person similar for myself.
• 9:21
  It's like, don't always gotta be the guy.
• 9:23
  Sometimes this is just about connecting the dots, and that's what the that is kind it's our
• 9:26
  industry expo.
• 9:27
  That's what it is in the simplest form.
• 9:29
  I think it's growing.
• 9:30
  It's beautiful.
• 9:31
  Like, super excited about it.
• 9:33
  Super excited about this year, but I think we get the opportunity not only to bring great
• 9:37
  talent here from the industry, but, like, platform, great talent that's already here.
• 9:41
  And we we kinda have this, like, independent market thing going on in in Massachusetts right
• 9:48
  now.
• 9:48
  That's that's a little swag.
• 9:49
  So it's like, I I feel I feel, like, a lot of gratitude to be behind, like, what are the
• 9:55
  forces behind, like, pushing that and, like, you know, kinda helping change the landscape
• 9:59
  out here musically when it comes to, like, the economic component too.
• 10:03
  Because you mentioned that, you know, being able to build a career outside of waiting for,
• 10:07
  you know, the a major label to come around and drop a contract on your front door.
• 10:13
  So not Yeah.
• 10:14
  It's just it's not happening.
• 10:16
  Yeah.
• 10:16
  Unless you've already built up and beyond just, like, followers and some metrics, like, you
• 10:22
  have to have your business tight before people really want to invest in you anymore.
• 10:27
  Right?
• 10:27
  There's been so much money lost on artists that are just gonna turn around and and blow it and
• 10:32
  waste the investment in them that, you know, they're just not big risk takers.
• 10:37
  Right?
• 10:37
  The major labels and even a lot of the independent labels, they just don't have the
• 10:42
  you know, with no record sales, right, which always kinda leverage that.
• 10:45
  Like, you know what?
• 10:46
  We we could deal with you being, you know, a a little bit of, you know, maybe just being hard
• 10:51
  to work with or being, you know, someone who doesn't have their business game tight.
• 10:55
  If you could sell records still, you're willing to deal with it.
• 10:59
  Right?
• 10:59
  Well, now with streaming, stealing all the money from that record industry and it it not
• 11:05
  being what it is, that you really have, very little wiggle room in that.
• 11:10
  You better have your game super tight because the margins are slimmer than they've ever been.
• 11:15
  Yeah.
• 11:16
  Yeah.
• 11:16
  I think that's important to know.
• 11:17
  I think you just, in general, right, you wanna be educated.
• 11:20
  This is something you wanna be a professional in.
• 11:22
  I think there's the aspects of the art, the business, everything associated that you kinda
• 11:28
  just you have to learn or just be a breast of be, like, you know, just be up on game to
• 11:32
  certain things.
• 11:33
  And then if you're if that's not necessarily your expertise or within within your bandwidth
• 11:38
  to kinda handle and manage, you know, build a team around yourself and be intentional about
• 11:42
  that.
• 11:42
  But I think we also that's the more nuanced part of the game that you learn.
• 11:46
  I think you get that, at the summit as well.
• 11:49
  Like, you know, how to build a team, how to network, and, you know, really, you know, Issa
• 11:53
  Rae has this thing, this great quote where she kinda just talked about, like, the the process
• 11:59
  of networking and building and, like, really seeing value in your peers and understanding
• 12:03
  that you have to network laterally opposed to, like, you know, maybe chasing someone who's
• 12:08
  working on a different level and whatnot, but more so working with the peers that you already
• 12:12
  have to get to that level.
• 12:13
  And I think sometimes, you know, just in the pursuit of whatever it is that you're working
• 12:17
  on, you can kinda lose sight of that.
• 12:19
  So it's important to kinda just, like, emphasize community, which I think is another
• 12:23
  aspect of what we've been talking about.
• 12:25
  But with these things, these systems that we're trying to build, and it's, like, at its core,
• 12:29
  are that's what they are, really.
• 12:31
  It's just, like, these community building opportunities and spaces and experiences for
• 12:36
  artists.
• 12:37
  And that's important, especially when we're in these small markets.
• 12:39
  Right?
• 12:40
  Like, I know you mentioned thousand people, but it's like, here, it's like you you know, it's a
• 12:44
  a obviously, a metropolitan city, but we still got, like, the the feelings of that very like,
• 12:49
  when it comes to the music scene in particular, it could feel very, very microscopic.
• 12:55
  So, like, I totally get that and understand.
• 12:57
  Yeah.
• 12:57
  Well and and Boston's not, you know, one of your top you know, it might be top 10, but it's
• 13:02
  not one of your top five markets, right, for for music?
• 13:06
  At all.
• 13:06
  And it's like it's it's it's something that you know, we've been trying to change that
• 13:11
  narrative.
• 13:11
  There's actually a Globe article from, one of our great, journalists out here, Vicky, that
• 13:18
  should just talk about the scene not really needing, anything but a rebrand.
• 13:23
  Like, I think it's there's this misconception that there isn't music, there isn't
• 13:27
  entertainment out here, but I think that's, honestly far furthest from the truth.
• 13:32
  There's a lot of opportunity here for dope stuff to happen.
• 13:35
  There's just a lot of great arts and culture to begin with, and I think there is a lot of great
• 13:39
  entertainment and music that comes out of the Boston and then the Massachusetts and the New
• 13:44
  England area just for the most part.
• 13:46
  But I think it's kinda untapped in a sense.
• 13:50
  Like, it isn't how it's covered.
• 13:52
  We don't get the opportunity, our coverage as much.
• 13:55
  You're almost too close to New York.
• 13:56
  Right?
• 13:57
  Like Yeah.
• 13:58
  Yeah.
• 13:59
  And so it's just like, you know, how things are covered here.
• 14:01
  But I think, you know, as much as people wanna talk about the grind and putting the work and
• 14:07
  putting out music, you know, the the the promotion and the the conversation and the,
• 14:15
  like, the publicity, for lack of a better term, really, around what's happening in the scene
• 14:21
  and in the area has to be just as just as driving as the the energy behind the creators
• 14:29
  and the people making music.
• 14:30
  I don't think we we really have, like, platforms like yourself where there are
• 14:34
  individuals who are kind of, like, helping communicate this message outward and kinda,
• 14:39
  like, helping build in an online digital space to, you know, kinda, you know, be parallel with
• 14:45
  this whole streaming society that we're living in.
• 14:47
  We all know that we're in a digital space now, but they're very view now there are a lot more
• 14:51
  platforms than what existed.
• 14:53
  You know, Boston's an interesting place.
• 14:55
  It was where we had, like, a 2012 kinda twenty sixteen run of a few artists who were able to
• 15:02
  take off and have some stuff going.
• 15:04
  Like, one of our most notable cousins is, like, just bro just dropped swag for a year straight
• 15:11
  and then, you know, ascended and and he's kinda been doing his thing ever since.
• 15:16
  And, you know, obviously, we have guys like Joyner Lucas.
• 15:19
  It's kinda like out West Mass and coming from the Worcester area.
• 15:23
  But, like, there there's been a a gap in kinda like the the idea of there being any type of
• 15:31
  vibrancy here in the city of Boston.
• 15:33
  I think what's been blank slated is a lot of other media, which you might be familiar with
• 15:37
  or you may not be, but, you know, the news that comes out of Boston very rarely is about, you
• 15:43
  know, music, arts, or any type of culture that makes sense for the most part.
• 15:49
  So we just, over the last couple of years, been trying to change that.
• 15:51
  And then, you know, obviously, having an expo helps.
• 15:53
  Right?
• 15:54
  Like, you know, is that that Well Shout out in shelves.
• 15:56
  Yeah.
• 15:57
  Big deal in
• 15:57
  that space that space that you're in today shout out the space that you guy that you're
• 16:02
  using today and, give them some play because I think that's a big start to that because you
• 16:07
  live in an urban area that not everyone can afford to build a studio.
• 16:12
  They don't have the space to build a studio.
• 16:14
  You may be living with three generations in a single flat and, like, it just doesn't lend
• 16:19
  itself to that.
• 16:20
  So, like, the creator spaces like you're in today are the important, like, cornerstones of
• 16:26
  that.
• 16:26
  So go ahead and give them a shout out and tell us a little bit more about the building you're
• 16:29
  in.
• 16:30
  Exactly.
• 16:30
  Exactly.
• 16:31
  I'm glad you kinda re brought that up because right now, we're it's BTR Studios and they're a
• 16:35
  creative youth development organization that's kinda been helping youth over the last couple
• 16:40
  of years.
• 16:40
  And and not just on the creative side, but there's a human development component to it as
• 16:45
  well.
• 16:45
  They do mental health and wellness.
• 16:47
  Just a lot of mental health and wellness programming, bringing different clinicians in.
• 16:51
  They have marathon Mondays where they kinda sit and they do exercises within that kinda space
• 16:58
  and, like, you know, really talk through experiences with a lot of the youth.
• 17:01
  And I think that's just important to note that there's a like you mentioned, there's a hub in
• 17:06
  areas where, you know, a lot of times people may not have access or direct access to studio
• 17:11
  space and professional studio space like that.
• 17:13
  Like, they're offering, you know, quality recording space to come and get your music
• 17:18
  record, mix, master, work on other creative projects.
• 17:21
  And just be in community as well.
• 17:23
  I think that's a big thing too.
• 17:25
  Just like even when there isn't much, as long as you have some community, I think that goes a
• 17:29
  long way because people are able to work and collaborate and build, and then that's how
• 17:33
  things do come into fruition.
• 17:34
  So, you know, b t r BTO is, you know, trying to grow and kinda continue to grow their program
• 17:40
  out, you being with the summit, and they have a showcase that they do where they kinda, like,
• 17:45
  bring artists that have gone through their program.
• 17:47
  They give them the opportunity to perform at the end of each summer.
• 17:50
  So I think that's really dope.
• 17:51
  That's something that hasn't existed.
• 17:53
  It's kinda like, you know, this program that offers label services to young artists before
• 17:57
  they get to the point where they would even need to be on their own.
• 18:00
  And I think right there in that is really revolutionary, especially in an area where
• 18:05
  we're at.
• 18:06
  So, you know, like, while there might be a lot of studios, there's different places to go to,
• 18:10
  but a lot of things are not super affordable.
• 18:12
  And we think about the economics, think about the data and the age we're living in right now.
• 18:16
  A lot of people, especially for young creators coming up, things that are definitely not
• 18:20
  accessible.
• 18:21
  So having a place like VTO is extremely important, and I think it just does a lot for
• 18:25
  the community.
• 18:26
  And, you know, there's the there's also that that Nipsey Hussle message to where it's just
• 18:30
  like, you know, every human act is to inspire.
• 18:33
  So it's like the I think that's kind of the the emphasis and the the inception really of this
• 18:38
  organization and why they came together.
• 18:40
  And so I think that in itself is just, like, really important.
• 18:44
  You know, started in 2019, and here we are in 2026, two two expos in, a bunch of showcases, a
• 18:53
  bunch of programming, a bunch of youth serve.
• 18:55
  I think that's just like that is honestly mind blowing because when I was coming up I'm only
• 19:00
  28 now, but when I was coming up, I didn't have this especially, like, in the area that I grew
• 19:05
  up in.
• 19:05
  It's like it's in the area that I grew up in, so it's like even mind blowing every time I
• 19:09
  step in the space.
• 19:10
  It's, like, still mind blowing.
• 19:12
  Like, I never I never am not enthused about walking into the studio because it's, like,
• 19:18
  literally when I tell you, but it literally did not exist.
• 19:22
  And it's just like, yo.
• 19:23
  This is crazy every time.
• 19:24
  And then, of course, there's this great mural that I get to always look at too.
• 19:28
  You know?
• 19:28
  You feel me?
• 19:29
  Big nip.
• 19:30
  So that's that's always beautiful.
• 19:32
  There's a, I mean, so much of what you're talking about.
• 19:34
  It just hits right to the essence of why I started this podcast, to bring people in,
• 19:42
  everything we've hit on, networking, mentorship, just a creative space.
• 19:48
  Right?
• 19:49
  It's all part of community, and and it's why it's right under you on the stage right now.
• 19:53
  Right?
• 19:54
  It was such a big part to me at the inception of the scene projects that it was not just
• 19:59
  about the media and the podcast.
• 20:01
  It was about the community that we were growing.
• 20:04
  And now we have the Midwest original music organization that has over 900 members on
• 20:09
  Facebook.
• 20:10
  We have, you know, the Scene Projects group on Facebook, which is more of an open, like, just
• 20:14
  share your art kind of page, right, that has over 1,600 members.
• 20:19
  And this is all stuff that I've started within the last two years.
• 20:21
  Like, the Scene Projects didn't exist twenty four months ago.
• 20:25
  I was just start I thought I was quitting my welding job to go be a rock star, Hawes.
• 20:29
  I was like, oh, I got the gigs booked.
• 20:32
  I'm going out to do it, and we're very fortunate out here to even without ticketed
• 20:36
  shows, we get pretty good guarantees.
• 20:38
  So I was going out and, obviously, the cost of living in rural America, much different than,
• 20:43
  you know, our metropolitan areas that, you know, I was like, well, man, I can pay my rent
• 20:47
  and make almost as much money playing music four nights a week as I can, you know, working
• 20:52
  at this job where it's just sucking the life out of me.
• 20:55
  So I'm gonna go do that.
• 20:57
  And then over that course of the time was just like, I don't have I don't have it in me to be
• 21:03
  about me that much to do this forever.
• 21:06
  Right?
• 21:07
  Like, I'm not selfish enough to go be that star and to only do this.
• 21:12
  And and in the meantime, I had kinda started the podcast.
• 21:15
  You know, my first real exposure to it, I had done a few interviews on my phone.
• 21:21
  Just I had a piece of equipment called the Zoom p four.
• 21:23
  Could plug the XLRs into the back of it, and I could plug my phone in the side.
• 21:27
  So just to call call in all my friends.
• 21:28
  Right?
• 21:29
  I already had the broadcast mic because of my music studio, and Yeah.
• 21:33
  I had done a few when I'm promoting my new track of, you know, being on a few other, my
• 21:38
  friend's podcast.
• 21:39
  And I was like, oh, I have that.
• 21:41
  Oh, I have that.
• 21:43
  Oh, I got I have a podcast studio at home, don't I?
• 21:45
  And they're like, yeah.
• 21:46
  You definitely do.
• 21:46
  Just hit record and go.
• 21:48
  So I just started.
• 21:49
  And one of our first big, moments was going to the Midwest Country Music Organization award
• 21:56
  show.
• 21:56
  New member had just joined in, like, January or February.
• 22:00
  The award show was in April.
• 22:02
  And before I as I was packing up to leave, I was like, well, I'm gonna bring these
• 22:05
  microphones in this little unit, and I'm gonna I'm gonna figure out how to do some interviews.
• 22:09
  So I camped out at a you know, grabbed a table at jam night, the night before the show where
• 22:14
  everybody's just kinda hanging out and ran interviews.
• 22:17
  Did 25 interviews that night, just running people through in a couple hours, and it was
• 22:21
  like, oh, this is born now.
• 22:23
  So I woke up in the morning, got on the laptop.
• 22:25
  I I cut up all the you know, they were all kinda shortest episodes, you know, five, ten
• 22:30
  minute interviews.
• 22:31
  So I I made a batch of them, and, I put them immediately onto my website.
• 22:36
  And I had previously, I call them tags, but I had made up a bunch of little QR code like
• 22:43
  business cards.
• 22:43
  I can print 10 of these on a sheet of paper.
• 22:46
  I laminated it myself so it had a little bit of, you know, play to it.
• 22:50
  And, I I put I had, like, 300 with me.
• 22:53
  I put one on every seat in the theater the next day, and that was kind of the the launch of the
• 22:58
  scene projects.
• 23:00
  And, you know, you fast forward a year from that point, and we get to bring home a little
• 23:05
  bit of hardware.
• 23:06
  Right?
• 23:06
  And then we get a you know, we get rewarded and kinda recognized for that effort.
• 23:12
  And then, you know, fast forward to this year, we finally took it onto video.
• 23:16
  I did a 100 episodes my first nine months.
• 23:18
  Right?
• 23:19
  I I wasn't scared of just doing them and releasing them.
• 23:21
  Nobody was listening anyway.
• 23:23
  Right?
• 23:23
  There was no point in me taking two years of doing an episode a week to get to a 100
• 23:28
  episodes so that other podcasters would actually take me seriously.
• 23:31
  Right?
• 23:32
  That, like, 100 number was a huge milestone for everyone.
• 23:36
  Like, you're not a real podcaster until you have a 100 episodes.
• 23:38
  And I was like, cool.
• 23:39
  Well, I'm gonna get there as fast as I humanly can.
• 23:42
  And that this year, we had 1,500 uploads on our YouTube channel, over 350,000 views on our
• 23:49
  material.
• 23:50
  You know, not a lot in the long form side yet, but generating a thousand views a piece on the
• 23:56
  short form content.
• 23:57
  And once I realized that, like, well, that's where our juice is.
• 24:00
  Well, cool.
• 24:00
  Well, then we're gonna put out 10 to 15 Shorts a week and just drive content and put it out
• 24:05
  there.
• 24:06
  If that's what the algorithm's going to accept, that's what we're going to do.
• 24:09
  And now, you know, you talked about your guys' summit.
• 24:12
  We're crew we're doing creator conventions is what we're calling them or creator conferences.
• 24:17
  And that's part of our national tour.
• 24:19
  It's not just going out and performing and doing showcases to record for the podcast and
• 24:24
  on our fast streaming networks and YouTube channels and all of that, but to also sit down
• 24:29
  with creators, bring our industry experts.
• 24:31
  I mean, I myself have the authority now to call myself an expert, the same as you would.
• 24:37
  You know, Brad Stewart, the founder of Music Mogul AI, coming out on the road with us and
• 24:42
  some other people to just sit and do a panel and to share our experience with everyone and
• 24:47
  to have people get to glean some of that knowledge from us.
• 24:51
  And to do that as much as possible this year is the goal and then to have all of that to
• 24:57
  release out into the world on the YouTube channels and everything as well because exactly
• 25:03
  what you said.
• 25:04
  The education of this next generation is so important.
• 25:06
  And you're a lot younger than me.
• 25:08
  You know?
• 25:08
  You're you're a very mature young man who's had a lot of life experience and that experience
• 25:14
  inside of this industry specifically to be able to educate kids that are, you know, 15 to 25
• 25:20
  and to help them come up and to learn and to be able to grow and hopefully surpass you when
• 25:26
  they're 22.
• 25:27
  Right?
• 25:28
  Like, get past me.
• 25:29
  That's what I want.
• 25:29
  Go.
• 25:30
  You know?
• 25:30
  Go and and do more.
• 25:32
  Do better.
• 25:33
  Yeah.
• 25:33
  And you're you're seeing that a lot with initiative, and you're seeing that a lot with
• 25:36
  energy.
• 25:37
  I think, like, you you even mentioned it.
• 25:38
  Get into that 100.
• 25:39
  You're just gonna take the initiative and get going instead of waiting and, you know,
• 25:43
  whatnot.
• 25:43
  I think that's what I'm also seeing a lot for the younger generation now.
• 25:46
  It's just, like, their initiatives to just get out and go and organize and make sure that they
• 25:50
  have things going, whether it be their shows, how they, promote their projects and their
• 25:54
  media.
• 25:55
  Like, it's just very much of a, like, an attitude of and the audacity.
• 25:58
  And I think that's what's important because that's what you have to have.
• 26:00
  And I know a lot of time they talk about artistry.
• 26:03
  You gotta, like, live in this idea of, like, delusion almost, like, to the point, you know,
• 26:07
  it's, like, a brink of the brink of insanity.
• 26:09
  But I think it's more of an audacity that you have to have with your creativity and the
• 26:12
  consistency for it.
• 26:13
  You gotta really just, like like you mentioned, just, like, dive and then going.
• 26:17
  I have this thing called signaling.
• 26:20
  It's just like so it's just like I'm dialed in.
• 26:22
  So it's just like a focus of why you're just hitting a specific point.
• 26:26
  You're focusing on these things And just like, you know, like, it's a concept I I pulled from
• 26:31
  somewhere.
• 26:31
  I can't remember off the top of my head, but, like, I think it's just like, sometimes a great
• 26:36
  philosophy to have because it's just like this focus, this this, this and this, like,
• 26:41
  insatiable focus that you have to get what it is that you're trying to do done in that
• 26:45
  whatever the case may be in whatever field.
• 26:48
  And I feel like you can apply that to any part of life, and I think that's the important thing
• 26:51
  too is what I'm seeing about, like, a lot from the younger generation is their their their
• 26:56
  ability to utilize their transferable skills.
• 27:00
  I think that's, like, something that I've really been noticing, and I was like, that's
• 27:03
  cool.
• 27:04
  You know, you just see something about your younger cousin.
• 27:06
  It's just like, okay.
• 27:07
  Like, that's cool.
• 27:08
  It's just like it's like, oh, that's dope.
• 27:10
  They're picking up, like, a lot earlier on things, and I think that that's just in the way
• 27:15
  the world is now.
• 27:16
  And I think so there's you know, because they always say that, like, sometimes things go up a
• 27:20
  little too fast.
• 27:20
  But I think in the way the world is now, you can't you can't necessarily be you can be a
• 27:26
  little bit too grown, you know, depending on the situation, but I think it is good when you
• 27:30
  just know there's, like you can tell, certain young people just have a certain amount of
• 27:34
  social awareness.
• 27:35
  Because I think that, like, at the basis, that's really important for this industry as
• 27:38
  well.
• 27:38
  Right?
• 27:39
  Because the community, like, what like, it like, while it's an industry, within that
• 27:42
  industry is a community, you know, you wanna be able to build and, like, you know, you know,
• 27:47
  scale it by being able to create great relationships with people because that's what
• 27:51
  it's about.
• 27:52
  Like, right, we're now we're now building on this relationship we have to mesh kinda
• 27:55
  connecting us, and that that that's the important.
• 27:57
  I wanna know about what you have going on there.
• 27:59
  You have to know about little bit more what we have going on here.
• 28:02
  Maybe there's an opportunity to connect further and build those bridges as you're talking about
• 28:06
  taking things on tour.
• 28:07
  I think that panel concept into a tour fashion as a component is just, a great concept overall
• 28:13
  because we just the shows are looking to be more dynamic.
• 28:16
  I don't know if you're familiar with the artist, the Russell, who's been doing this
• 28:19
  thing online now.
• 28:20
  Super popular.
• 28:21
  But, like, he's even taking, you know, his shows to the next level, incorporating
• 28:24
  different things.
• 28:25
  I'm seeing a lot of independent artists really do that.
• 28:27
  And and just artists in general time, like, even some of the major acts trying to take some
• 28:32
  experimental leaps on the things that they do, whether it be in their live performance
• 28:35
  experiences or just, like, rollouts and whatnot and kinda going against the traditional norms
• 28:41
  because, you know, most, like, you know, major acts, they have a their their performances are
• 28:45
  really kinda limited to, like, a meet and greet and and just them performing.
• 28:48
  But, like, what is the idea to, like, do more and, like, build that out?
• 28:52
  In this new day and age where you don't have to be one way.
• 28:56
  There isn't a one way.
• 28:57
  Like, while they've always said that, we've always said there's no one way for an artist's
• 29:00
  journey.
• 29:01
  There is it's like once you get there, just like they make it as, like, the these these
• 29:04
  specific ways in which you kinda have to show up, and I think that's not the day and age that
• 29:09
  we live in now.
• 29:10
  And I think that's also dope too because there's a younger generation that gets to
• 29:13
  participate in that.
• 29:14
  They get that opportunity as something that didn't exist maybe when we were coming up.
• 29:18
  You know?
• 29:18
  That's always
• 29:19
  Yeah.
• 29:20
  And because of podcasts, you you feel like you know artists more.
• 29:24
  Right?
• 29:24
  Because a lot of artists and especially bigger ones, I suggest every artist in our world that
• 29:30
  they should have their own podcast because people wanna feel like they know you.
• 29:33
  Like, that's always been the allure of rock stars or pop stars is that, like, people
• 29:38
  through your music feel like they know a little piece of you.
• 29:42
  But now because we've kind of had that experience, right, I think the '9 the nineties,
• 29:46
  the pop stars of the nineties and early two thousands, boy bands and stuff, it kinda, like,
• 29:51
  killed that.
• 29:52
  And now that you have this massive, massive industry of podcasting that people want more.
• 29:59
  They they wanna know all the details of your life and to kind of see the person behind the
• 30:05
  star, and we can probably thank Taylor Swift for that, honestly, in a lot of ways, right,
• 30:11
  who has just peeled back the layers of her life and have let her fans in, that now there's the
• 30:16
  expectation of that.
• 30:18
  So to, like Yeah.
• 30:18
  Think that you're just gonna be some artist and go out, deliver a show, and to be someone
• 30:24
  someone else behind the like, behind the scenes, like, no.
• 30:28
  If you're not letting people behind the scenes, they probably ain't following you on the stage.
• 30:32
  Like, it's not it's less about your music now than it has ever been, and it is more about you
• 30:39
  as a person and and who you are as an artist because of that life experience.
• 30:44
  And and the more you can share that, the better off you're gonna be.
• 30:48
  And I feel like this podcast is actually going to make my music more popular.
• 30:53
  You know, you heard the intro music off the top.
• 30:55
  Like, that's my song.
• 30:56
  Right?
• 30:57
  Like, that's a way that I'm working my music into the public diaspora without you even
• 31:03
  knowing that it's me.
• 31:04
  Right?
• 31:04
  It kinda cuts out before the lyrics come in and you don't realize it, but you are driving that
• 31:09
  twenty five seconds of that song in.
• 31:12
  So when it does, you do start to hear it out in the world because I can fund some ads and to
• 31:18
  put, you know, that song in front of more people that you already know it.
• 31:22
  You don't know why you know it, but you do.
• 31:25
  And that's where I'm always, always encouraging artists.
• 31:28
  Like, you gotta have you gotta have some kind of weekly content.
• 31:31
  It doesn't have to be an interview podcast.
• 31:33
  It can just be you.
• 31:34
  You know, Alexandra Kay really blew up because of her coffee and country, and all she was
• 31:39
  doing was showing up, making her iced coffee in the morning, and singing a different country
• 31:43
  cover.
• 31:43
  And before you know it, Randy Travis is appearing with her on there.
• 31:47
  And then, you know, a year later after that, she's on tour with freaking jelly roll.
• 31:51
  And now she's going out on her own and selling out theaters and doing all of those things.
• 31:55
  Like, it can happen for you, but you have to be in front of people on a consistent basis.
• 32:00
  Like, you can't show up once a month with a new single and expect people to care.
• 32:05
  It's just it's false.
• 32:06
  It's like a false reality that we're living in to think people are gonna care.
• 32:11
  Like, if you're not showing up to support them and being a part of their daily life, why are
• 32:15
  they gonna show up for you?
• 32:16
  You're not that cool.
• 32:17
  Yeah.
• 32:18
  Yeah.
• 32:19
  Yeah.
• 32:19
  No.
• 32:19
  You you you put it perfectly.
• 32:21
  I think, you know, I think this is the year 2026 and beyond is the year.
• 32:24
  Starting this year, should have started last year, should have started years ago.
• 32:28
  But definitely in 2026 and beyond, there's a real big emphasis on consistency.
• 32:33
  I think it's something cliche that we say, but to your point, gotta consistently be in
• 32:38
  people's faces.
• 32:38
  However you're people's faces, I know we're in a content age.
• 32:41
  And like you mentioned, having a podcast, I think artists, to your point, should create
• 32:45
  their own platforms.
• 32:46
  Right?
• 32:46
  You know, we're seeing the streaming the streaming era in the streaming, you know,
• 32:51
  kinda, I would say, space become more popular and artists kinda figure out and navigating
• 32:56
  that space, whether it's their partnering up with already existing streamers or starting
• 33:00
  their own streams as a way to kinda connect with their fans on a day to day.
• 33:04
  But I think that someone like someone who's been connecting with their fans in the same
• 33:08
  way.
• 33:08
  Like, shout out to the Swifties, but I think of, a Wiz Khalifa who has, like, a daily basis.
• 33:12
  Wiz massive.
• 33:12
  Yeah.
• 33:13
  That, like, he's been always doing.
• 33:15
  And I the wrestlers kind of, like, who's even, you know, kinda shouted Wiz out for the
• 33:20
  inspiration on that.
• 33:21
  But recently when, you know, they have linked up, I had saw that online on that kinda clip
• 33:26
  went a little viral.
• 33:28
  The wrestler just kinda explained an experience of why he creates his, like, day to day content
• 33:32
  where on his channel, like, he's always doing whether it be walks or just, like, you know,
• 33:37
  his homie, Splash, kinda just following him around, and they're doing a behind the scenes
• 33:40
  vlogs, they're releasing those on a daily.
• 33:44
  And I think it's important because to your point, it's more about personality than it is
• 33:47
  about music.
• 33:48
  You know?
• 33:48
  That's why someone like Cardi B is so dope because Cardi gives you, like, you know, gives
• 33:52
  you that personality that just, like even though she's not always she started off in a
• 33:56
  lot of media, like, you know, always whether it be blogs and stuff like that.
• 33:59
  He was inundated by her just because her personality has always gone viral.
• 34:03
  But then I think over a period of time, it allowed her to step back and then just continue
• 34:07
  to still have these moments because she knows how to be herself when she does show up.
• 34:11
  And so I think it's just important to know that, you know, like, people are people at the
• 34:16
  end of the day, and we wanna know that we can connect with another person, like, outside of
• 34:20
  the things that you may be offering.
• 34:22
  And so it's like, when you can get a little bit more of a person, whether that be through an
• 34:27
  interview or they're doing their own kind of content on their own platform, I think you're
• 34:32
  just letting your audience in a little bit more.
• 34:34
  But I do think it's a it's probably a tough space for artists.
• 34:36
  I know even for someone like myself starting off, it was something I had to figure out and
• 34:40
  navigate, and I know that, for others, it might be something that's just, a a little hump that
• 34:45
  may be tough to get over just figuring out, like, what it looks like for you because you
• 34:49
  definitely wanna do it within your, you know, your niche and what your creativity kinda,
• 34:53
  like, you know, communicates.
• 34:55
  Like, whatever it is you're trying to communicate with your art, whether that be at
• 34:58
  the time for a specific project or just your overall brand and image, you wanna make sure
• 35:02
  that, it's an alignment.
• 35:04
  Because, you know, this day and age, you can, unfortunately, misrepresent yourself as well
• 35:10
  just because we're in a content age and people clip things up and all this other stuff.
• 35:15
  So just, like, having a you know, just giving that thought as well and making sure that
• 35:20
  you're moving moving, diligently and, you know, just moving.
• 35:25
  But most importantly, just like you're on point just with like, when you're building out your
• 35:29
  content sphere or your platforms or whatnot, and it's manageable.
• 35:32
  Because that's another thing.
• 35:33
  Like, you you kept it going.
• 35:35
  You kept it going, but there's a lot of people who kinda built out platforms, and then, like,
• 35:39
  they kinda just went dull.
• 35:40
  And and, you know, it's always crazy to me.
• 35:42
  I'll still see like, I'll still see the page up for something, and it was just like, damn.
• 35:46
  That was a great platform.
• 35:47
  And it's like, damn.
• 35:49
  They just stopped creating content.
• 35:50
  And it's like, you know, that was really helpful.
• 35:52
  It's like and that's happened a lot out here in this market, unfortunately.
• 35:56
  You know?
• 35:56
  And that's kinda why we've had a lot of like, again, we've mentioned consistency earlier,
• 36:01
  which, like, we've had a lot of stopping goals.
• 36:03
  Like, stopping goals.
• 36:05
  Like, we'll have some goal.
• 36:06
  We'll have some momentum here as a scene, and then it it'll stop.
• 36:10
  And then we'll have some momentum again, and then from 2020 and really 2022, we've been
• 36:15
  having just straight momentum and kind of feel like this brink of a renaissance.
• 36:18
  So we're just trying to lean into that and, you know, stay creatively inclined and, you know,
• 36:23
  just continue to swag.
• 36:24
  Well, I think sometimes what happens is that that momentum is just created by, like, one
• 36:29
  person or one crew, and it's not as a community as a whole.
• 36:33
  Right?
• 36:33
  So that when that one person or crew makes it and they move away to a bigger market because
• 36:38
  it just happens.
• 36:39
  Right?
• 36:39
  Like, we had one of our biggest artists, shout out to Denham, from South Dakota, but he just
• 36:43
  moved to Nashville.
• 36:44
  And, like, that hurts our scene, right, in total because he was pushing, but he had
• 36:48
  outgrown it.
• 36:49
  Right?
• 36:49
  Like, what what can you do for the man when when he's bigger than everybody else?
• 36:54
  You know?
• 36:54
  He's the only artist in South Dakota with tens of thousands of Spotify listeners every month,
• 36:59
  and he's pushing harder than anyone.
• 37:01
  Like, brother, we're proud of you, man.
• 37:03
  But, yeah, you're you're gonna outgrow some scenes, but that's why community is so
• 37:07
  important that, like so then that theme doesn't die.
• 37:10
  And that was that's how we landed on the name of the show because, everyone I was talking to,
• 37:15
  was like, you know, I'm thinking about starting this thing up and, you know, oh, that's great
• 37:19
  that you're doing that.
• 37:20
  Yeah.
• 37:20
  Because we got tons of great players, lots of great musicians, but there's no scene.
• 37:24
  There's no scene.
• 37:25
  Right?
• 37:25
  And I was like, well, you know what?
• 37:27
  There is now.
• 37:28
  And it's the scene projects, and it is a much and that's why it's always been the projects
• 37:31
  because it's been, you know, not just a shout out to kinda like the old housing projects.
• 37:36
  Right?
• 37:36
  And and the community that those, you know, become granted, you know, not always great
• 37:41
  because of what they were, but it was always a much larger idea than just a single thing.
• 37:47
  Right?
• 37:47
  It it was leaving the room for growth inside of that.
• 37:50
  We have four networks underneath this umbrella now.
• 37:53
  Right?
• 37:53
  We got a sports network and a shout out to one of the greatest sports cities in the world,
• 37:57
  Boston, Mass, man.
• 37:58
  Come on.
• 37:59
  Do you feel
• 38:02
  So big change.
• 38:02
  Man.
• 38:03
  How many freaking champions?
• 38:04
  Do you feel like the sports culture there, because it is so great that it kind of
• 38:09
  overshadows the music culture a little bit and and that, like, it doesn't necessarily always
• 38:13
  leave room for growth, or do you feel like they could be more intertwined?
• 38:18
  I mean, the Celtics, the Patriot, like, the freaking Bruins.
• 38:22
  Like, you got so many championship teams in the last few decades.
• 38:27
  Do you feel like the sports culture kind of hinders the music where there could be more
• 38:32
  growth between the two?
• 38:34
  You know what, Bubba?
• 38:35
  I I I do.
• 38:36
  I do.
• 38:37
  I think I think in a way, it's been it's been merging really well now.
• 38:40
  We just have the Celtics.
• 38:42
  I don't know if you, like, go on social media, you follow RRC just if it happens to come
• 38:46
  across your timeline, you know, when JP might be crossing somebody over, but the the just
• 38:51
  aren't even creative down to the creative teams, at the organization for some of the, the
• 38:56
  different professional teams we have.
• 38:58
  Just, again, so they're just getting so crazy with the content.
• 39:01
  That's how you know just, like, sports wise, we're in a great space.
• 39:04
  Like you've mentioned, we always have been, but I think now they're doing a better top like, a
• 39:08
  job of, like, either whether it's young people being in a building or working behind the
• 39:12
  scenes.
• 39:12
  So they just tapped in what what's cool and what's culture, like, what's trendy from, like,
• 39:17
  down to the edits on the content, from the the type of interviews, like, you know, what the
• 39:22
  artists and athletes are doing.
• 39:23
  You know, like, the we have this big you know, fashion is a big part of sports now and what
• 39:27
  athletes are wearing, how they're showing up in the lifestyle component.
• 39:30
  So I think for entertainment here in the New England area, that's what we really have.
• 39:34
  We've had sports.
• 39:34
  Like, you know, as for if we're doing talking anything entertainment, it'd be sports.
• 39:38
  So you're looking at our athletes, and those are, like, our biggest celebrities when it
• 39:41
  comes to Massachusetts.
• 39:42
  But I think they're they're also doing their job about getting in community and highlighting
• 39:47
  things that are built because you have local celebrities everywhere.
• 39:49
  You know, every community has their local celebrity where it's like, you know, those
• 39:53
  people on the ground in community that a lot of people know and that whether they have a lot of
• 39:57
  great relationships or they do a lot of great organizing or they, you know, give a lot to the
• 40:02
  community or, you know, they're that you know, they can be just that go to person.
• 40:06
  Know, you can be that elder in the community that just everyone goes to as well.
• 40:10
  So I was like, I think they do a great job, especially, between all of the Celtics player,
• 40:15
  most of their, the most of the entire program.
• 40:18
  Honestly, the staff over there, even Joe Mazula has been in community, kinda just, like, really
• 40:24
  getting on the ground with folks and, like, showing that they're here, that they're
• 40:27
  personable, they're human beings as well.
• 40:30
  You know?
• 40:30
  Obviously, they're put on this very, very high pedestal.
• 40:34
  Excuse me.
• 40:34
  But for the most part, they're just like us, and and and they wanna be able to showcase
• 40:39
  that.
• 40:40
  JB has come through the studio before.
• 40:42
  He's a really dope dude.
• 40:43
  You know, he's even hopped in the music space too, so it's how you know, it's kinda like that
• 40:47
  era where you had certain, like, Shaquille O'Neal trying to make music.
• 40:52
  You know?
• 40:52
  Like, not trying to, like, really making albums.
• 40:54
  Like, Shaq put out albums and stuff like that.
• 40:57
  And now shout out to the man while you're talking about him that he's, you know, putting
• 41:01
  a lot of money, putting his money out there to support independent artists.
• 41:04
  I saw a real, with him talking about a new initiative that he's doing and putting his
• 41:08
  money out there to support independent artists and to get that out there.
• 41:12
  So really cool thing.
• 41:13
  To me, like, because it's such a big sport, there shouldn't be a single sports reel that
• 41:18
  comes out of the city of Boston that doesn't have a Boston artist music behind it.
• 41:22
  Right?
• 41:23
  And, like, that takes a community initiative where we're like, hey.
• 41:26
  The the creative team's like, look.
• 41:27
  We ain't putting nothing out there that's supporting any artist that isn't from Boston.
• 41:32
  Right?
• 41:32
  And it takes that and then I see Boston has always been, like, a fiercely independent area.
• 41:39
  Right?
• 41:39
  Like, because they're always trying to separate themselves from New York and the rest of, you
• 41:44
  know, the East Coast, you know, especially Philly and all that.
• 41:47
  Okay.
• 41:49
  That you want to you know?
• 41:51
  They've always fought to be that.
• 41:53
  And I think that that's a cool initiative, that hopefully somebody's doing and maybe you're
• 41:57
  seeing more of with athletes dipping into that music space to be like, no.
• 42:01
  Anything with my name on it going out there in the world, it's gonna have this list of artists
• 42:07
  and then compiling that database of artists and their music that, like, here's the selected
• 42:12
  music you get to choose from.
• 42:14
  And there ain't nothing wrong with, like, building bigger communities on a national
• 42:18
  level, but also being, you know, having a fierce love for your local community.
• 42:25
  Yeah.
• 42:25
  Yeah.
• 42:26
  And that happens that happens.
• 42:27
  There's been a lot of you see locals, whether it be artists or whether it be influencers
• 42:32
  getting a lot of sync placements or they're just getting a lot of media ops.
• 42:35
  You know, the Celtics and their halftime, we got a DJ, shout out to break one, that does a
• 42:40
  great job.
• 42:40
  He does a lot of, like, you know, the music direction and DJs a lot of the games for the
• 42:45
  Celtics, and, you know, he also works with the Red Sox Association.
• 42:49
  So, you know, he brings a lot of local artists in.
• 42:52
  Recently, I just saw on Instagram as I was just scrolling that we had an artist, r and b
• 42:56
  singer, goes by Nali, is who just did the last halftime performance.
• 43:02
  We had many artists of various genres do the halftime performance before.
• 43:07
  So I think the Celtics have been doing a great job, and their entertainment team has been
• 43:10
  doing an incredible job about, like, you know, making and connecting those dots.
• 43:15
  You know, Red Sox always have well, the Fenway is always having someone there, and I think
• 43:20
  that's dope.
• 43:21
  And I think we are seeing a little bit more, you know, there whether they're picking people
• 43:24
  up for voiceovers and trying to use local filmmakers and cinematographers to bring things
• 43:29
  to life.
• 43:29
  I think the the people behind the scenes are are are doing a great job.
• 43:33
  We're just getting more hometown.
• 43:34
  A lot of times, we'll have a lot of transplants.
• 43:36
  I think, this Massachusetts is good for that as well.
• 43:39
  We're just, like, having a lot of people coming from different places, whether it be for work
• 43:43
  opportunities or school.
• 43:44
  And so they're, you know, they're also, like, you come in the space, of the creative field
• 43:49
  and working at a lot of these different agencies, and on some of these, teams.
• 43:53
  But I think they're also doing a good job of just about tapping in locally, you know,
• 43:57
  whether it be come just from, you know, living and staying in Boston over the couple of years,
• 44:02
  going to school or working or whatever.
• 44:04
  Oh, you got one of the greatest, you know, musical institutes in the play on the planet in
• 44:08
  Boston.
• 44:10
  Yeah.
• 44:10
  Yeah.
• 44:11
  Yeah.
• 44:11
  Berkeley's right there, and it's it's a it's a thing to where it's like even even that.
• 44:16
  You think about that, right, where there's, like, there's this there's this outside
• 44:19
  perception of, like, Berkeley, and it's great, and it is.
• 44:22
  And I think what has been happening over the last couple of years, I really wanna say after
• 44:26
  the pandemic, really, like, maybe 2022, there have been there's been more of this connection
• 44:32
  between institution and community.
• 44:34
  Like, I think, we talked about it earlier.
• 44:36
  I briefly mentioned, like, wanting to get institutional knowledge out to these next
• 44:40
  generation artists, which is artists who are also, like and still in the ground, like, you
• 44:44
  know, people who still need access to that information at every level.
• 44:47
  Because, right, like, you you mentioned at one point that we're experts, but, like, you know,
• 44:51
  there's still people who who've been in the business and done and achieved and, you know,
• 44:55
  done deals and all types of crazy stuff that we can learn from.
• 44:58
  There's always, like, people you can learn from.
• 45:00
  So it's just like like, being able to kinda, like, build with those people and learn from
• 45:04
  those people, I think, is, extremely important.
• 45:08
  But making those connections when they're local is important as well too.
• 45:12
  You have, like, mentioned an institution like Berkeley College of Music.
• 45:15
  Like, how do we make those connections from institution some of the organizations, like, in
• 45:20
  the community that might be in the music space or directly to artists?
• 45:24
  And I think Berkeley does a great job.
• 45:25
  They got a performance venue.
• 45:26
  It's like, like a red room, small, but they're, like, hip hop club and, like, other, like,
• 45:32
  student clubs that do music or music production.
• 45:35
  Sometimes when they showcase, they'll bring in different local artists.
• 45:38
  They'll book them to the headline and stuff.
• 45:40
  But I think that's really dope.
• 45:41
  They do a lot of, like, open arcs and beach showcases, and they allow, like, the public to
• 45:46
  come in and participate.
• 45:47
  I think that's really the initiative of the students, more so the university or the the
• 45:51
  college itself.
• 45:52
  But I think it's still a testament.
• 45:54
  You know, it being allowed to happen is a testament to what, you know, the the college is
• 45:58
  looking forward to and probably would love to do, but maybe just not have a lot of internal
• 46:02
  capacity for it.
• 46:03
  That's understandable.
• 46:04
  Well well, and shout out a couple of South Dakota kids that are there, Rowan Grace and
• 46:08
  Parker Sunby.
• 46:09
  I've been blessed to work with both of these young people, and they're out there going to
• 46:13
  school.
• 46:14
  And I get to kinda follow along vicariously.
• 46:16
  You know?
• 46:17
  I I wish I would have been smart enough at a young age.
• 46:20
  You know?
• 46:20
  I I went to school for, you know, a business degree that I was never gonna use.
• 46:23
  So after, like, a semester, I was like, yeah.
• 46:25
  I'm out of here.
• 46:26
  Where if I would have gone to school for something that actually interests me, which has
• 46:30
  always been music, I probably would have stuck it out.
• 46:32
  And I could have learned music business.
• 46:33
  And I could have been a lot farther along at 39 than I am, but I feel like, you know, God has
• 46:39
  put me in this position, you know, to put me through that school of hard knocks.
• 46:43
  And it was just such a a huge shift, right, from 2004 when I graduated high school to 2026
• 46:51
  where we're at now.
• 46:52
  Like, a lot has changed in this industry, and I kinda have, you know, one foot stuck in that
• 46:58
  analog world still.
• 46:59
  It was really hard for me to stay consistent jumping on this thing and doing my lives, but I
• 47:03
  try to take it out on a walk every day and and hit my community and to share a little bit of
• 47:08
  what's going on in our world every day.
• 47:10
  But it wasn't easy, right, to be in your late thirties and and to not be part of the TikTok
• 47:15
  generation and all of a sudden, like, being an influencer.
• 47:18
  I was already an influencer before I started.
• 47:21
  Like, I was influencing my community before I was ever, like, online doing it on a consistent
• 47:26
  basis, if that kinda makes sense.
• 47:29
  And I feel like a a community like Boston, lends itself to having a lot of those
• 47:34
  influential people out there already that necessarily aren't on camera all the time.
• 47:38
  So it's bridging that gap.
• 47:40
  Spaces like you're in today, initiatives, and the mass music arts, like, guys are doing it,
• 47:45
  and I can't wait to come out.
• 47:47
  I need you to shout out, the dates for the summit so that I can put it in my calendar
• 47:52
  maybe come out and make an appearance with y'all.
• 47:54
  And then, I I need your website where everyone can find you before I let you go.
• 47:58
  Yeah.
• 47:59
  Yeah.
• 47:59
  So the summit, you know, happens yearly each fall.
• 48:03
  It's an annual summit, Mass Music and Art Summit.
• 48:05
  You So can be looking for the date will probably be coming pretty soon, but we're
• 48:08
  aiming probably between, the October and November, for the summit this year.
• 48:15
  So just be on the lookout for that, but you can go to massmusicandartsummit.com to check that
• 48:19
  out, or you can go to beat the odds, btoboston.org to check out beat the odds if you
• 48:25
  wanna read up on them and the great work that they do in the community.
• 48:28
  For myself, HAAWs, that's h, double a, double w, s on all platforms.
• 48:33
  You can find me anywhere you got Wi Fi or cellular service.
• 48:36
  You know, I'm on there.
• 48:37
  I'm on there.
• 48:39
  Yeah.
• 48:39
  You got some great stuff, man.
• 48:40
  Really enjoyed the music video.
• 48:42
  I I got to listen to and watch.
• 48:44
  Love the artistry.
• 48:46
  Love everything that you're doing, you know, even more than the music.
• 48:49
  I I love who you are in your community, how passionate you are about those things because
• 48:54
  that's what drives culture.
• 48:56
  Right?
• 48:56
  And and and what the, you know, what the big guys are doing with, you know, the major sports
• 49:01
  teams platforming Boston, you know, all of them around the country starting to platform more
• 49:08
  local artists in all of their locations.
• 49:11
  The downstream effect is that is more art in your community.
• 49:14
  Right?
• 49:14
  It inspires young kids that are at the game for their first time and be like, wait, man.
• 49:18
  Like, that he's from our neighborhood.
• 49:21
  Right?
• 49:21
  Exactly.
• 49:22
  And now he's down there like that.
• 49:23
  The downstream effects of that are so incredible to a community.
• 49:28
  And I'm just so proud of you and your whole crew doing what you're doing, man.
• 49:32
  It's incredible.
• 49:33
  I will be there.
• 49:35
  I'll be keeping an eye out for dates.
• 49:36
  I'm gonna do everything in my power to come out and be a part of that.
• 49:40
  We should be on a run for another tour there.
• 49:42
  I've never done New England in the fall, So, maybe I'll be making making a a swing out on
• 49:48
  tour, and we're able to bring our two communities together and to do some of our
• 49:52
  showcases and do our content as part of what y'all are doing and really bring our
• 49:57
  communities together that way.
• 49:58
  Think it'd be an incredible experience.
• 50:01
  Yeah.
• 50:01
  That sounds like swag, man.
• 50:02
  You know, we just put it together so, you know, it's nothing it's nothing to get it together
• 50:07
  and keep it going.
• 50:07
  But, like, nah, I I appreciate the kind words, man.
• 50:10
  This is a a great conversation, and I think you you kinda hit it right on the nail with that.
• 50:14
  It's like big on community building and connecting the bridge, you know, whether that
• 50:18
  be across the coast or, you know, across the pond or across the street, man.
• 50:22
  And that that I think that's what we're just trying to do, man.
• 50:25
  Just kinda continue to build this global music community.
• 50:28
  But that's what music does.
• 50:29
  It brings people together at the end of day.
• 50:30
  Right?
• 50:31
  100%.
• 50:32
  100%.
• 50:33
  Haws, thanks for taking some time for me today, brother, and thanks for being part of the
• 50:37
  scene.
• 50:38
  Of course.
• 50:38
  This is beautiful.