- Hello and welcome to Introducing Me. I'm your host, Sarah. I
started this podcast to get to know other people and lifestyles while discovering more about myself. Each episode, I'll give
a new guest a chance to discuss their background,
culture, interests, or whatever they want to talk
about to help increase all of our own worldviews. Today, I would like to
introduce you to Asher. Asher began classical violin
training at two years old. He has an accomplished career, but in 2014, a health
challe
nge meant he had to rebuild his musicianship. So I'm excited to hear
more about Asher today and how his life has
turned out the way it is, and just good information. So thank you so much, Asher. Why don't you go ahead and tell the audience more about yourself. - Sarah, thanks so much for
having me. Pardon my voice. Um, I'll try to make it
through the interview here, uh, without it kind of crapping out. But, uh, yeah, long story
short, I did start at the age of two on a little margin box with the
rubber band serving as strings. And I moved through the
Suzuki method over a period of maybe like 12 to 15 years. And as I grew, the instruments
grew along with me. Uh, and, uh, I wasn't really supposed to be a professional musician. I never had intended for it
to be a career, uh, believe it or not, uh, since the age of,
even, even as late as like 17 or 18 in high school. But, uh, it just sort of fell into my lap as I moved to New York City. And, um, I, I was looking for a way to, to bring in a
side income. And I was fortunate enough
to land a bunch of events, weddings, and corporate events. And that sort of led to
grew into this career as I worked my way through
unrelated, uh, degrees that I do not really, um, I don't use, uh, today except I guess the, the higher order critical thinking sales. I guess I could, I could give credit to that as far as the degrees. - So then it wasn't,
you know, the intention to go professional in musicianship, but you obviously did take lessons. So what
sort of training do you have in the world of music? - Yeah, so private training
since the age of two. Um, pretty intensive, private,
private training along with live performances
since the age of three, four . Um, and with orchestras and kind of did some competitions
all the way up to high school. And then in college, I took
courses in music, um, sort of as an add-on to my, my other degrees. And, and then I, I have to
say, in the world of improv, which is largely what I do today, 'cause I'm not
spending a
lot of my time sight reading, although I do on occasion
with like string quartets, I, I find that I, I, I have
to give credit entirely to my career since 2001. I've learned every, like,
most of what I know today, um, improv, just just on the
job, um, observing other, other incredible musicians
and jazz musicians and, um, club date, you know, performers and saxophonist, wind section. I've just sort of brought in my knowledge. So from a variety of different instruments and, um, musician
s. Yeah. Not just from the
classical, uh, string musicians. That's what, that's
what I'm trying to say. - Yeah. It, it definitely makes sense. And I, and I will get back to that, but since you started
violin at such a young age, and it wasn't originally
going to be your career path, was there any point when
you wanted to stop playing? - Oh, yeah. Throughout my entire to those two decades that I
was playing, I wanted to stop. 'cause honestly, it wasn't
the cool thing to do. Uh, I'm holding up my
fingers
in quotes for those of you who aren't watching the video, that I guess the video doesn't exist. Um, it, like middle school was like, okay, bearable high school was pretty difficult to be in the orchestra
when you kind of wanted to be in the jazz band, or the
rock band, or the, you know, or on the football, you
know, uh, league or whatever. Um, in retrospect, I'm
really, I'm thrilled that I, that I went through
those painful years, uh, because I developed the skills that have carried me
through today. However, um, so yeah, I just, yeah, that's pretty much all I
have to say about that. - Yeah, I think, you know,
it's, it's interesting to hear as people learn music
from such a young age, do they want to stick with it? Are they feeling like
it's a chore or something? And for you, you know, societal
peer pressure is definitely, um, a thing that, that young kids and young adults go through. - It's a waste of thought,
to be honest. I'm, I'm disappointed in myself for even caring. Um,
and if I had cared less,
I probably would've been able to focus more on the things that mattered, such as building my skills. Although I have to say that
by 11th, 12th grade, I sort of came into my own, um, as I did a couple of professional corporate gigs, and that I started to see the potential and just the skills I
built over many years as a violinist. - Mm-Hmm. And so you've talked about improv and, you know, in school wanting to like be in the jazz band. And I think when people
think about
the violin and orchestral instruments,
they do tend to lean to that classical setting. You're playing Mozart,
you're playing Beethoven. So what is it that got you into improv and how is your
musicianship different than the classical world that
people might think of? - Yeah. Uh, well, it
wasn't my teachers . Um, and I went through about
seven of 'em over the span of like two decades. Um, and I asked them to teach me improv, and they just didn't like Scott Joplin. Uh, not Janice Joplin, Scott
Jopl
in basically ragtime, uh, was the closest I got to improv, and that was sight reading Scott Joplin. So it's like, you know,
thanks, but no thanks. Like, this is not what I was looking for. But, uh, the improv started
when I was just, when I, uh, connected with some band
mates, um, keyboardist, drummer guitarist. And, and I was just able
to sort of play along with the musicians and, and I realized that there
was potential there, uh, to, to kind of branch out in a
unique way as a performer, as a v
iolinist, as an electric violinist, because I had to amplify my instrument. Um, so once, once I moved
to New York for university, uh, I, you know, I went to, I started by sitting in a couple times
at one of these, like one of these events in, uh, I think it was on the
west side of Manhattan. And, uh, I'm trying to
remember the, the, the name of the venue I'll remember in a minute. But, uh, they, I was required
to bring in a pre-amp. Uh, so that, and, and then a pickup. So I, I just sort of learn
ed
very quickly on the job, and I realized that, you know, they were giving me a place on stage. So I, it was, it was kind of a no-brainer. I spent time practicing
over just pop music, uh, at ho um, at home. My home was a dorm, in the dorms. And, uh, and on the job I
actually was a little bit timid for, I would say, for at
least for the first year. 'cause these musicians had
like, toured with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, like all
these heavy hitters. And, uh, but, but I, but you know, they were
, they
were giving me compliments and encouragement, and I just
felt really good at the end of the day, like going
home with a paycheck. And, uh, I just, I felt like, okay, this, I hadn't spent my childhood
learning to improv, but I had the skills of
classical, um, and sight readings. So I just sort of marry
that with improv and, and I was able to distinguish myself. - And so what was it that
you were going to school for and originally intended
to have a career in? - Uh, I was practical minded.
So, uh, biology, um, I went to education. I taught in the DOE, speaking
of your show, which relates to diversity, I taught
in the South Bronx, uh, wonderful kids, um, for four years in, uh, the middle school level,
the high school level, uh, mostly Black and Hispanic, uh, kids from under-resourced neighborhoods. And honestly, I have to
say I love them dearly. And I kind of regret having left, except it was more like the,
the politics that I just, I didn't want to have
to deal with anymore. So I
left. Um, so yeah, so, so NY, I have a degree from NYU
in, uh, science education. And that was obviously the
precursor to teaching the DOE and then a nursing degree also from NYU. And, uh, I can't tell
you, I've, I, the number of events I've done for
like corporate events and fundraising events for,
for medical related like, um, for hospitals and, and just
like pharmaceutical companies and just the medical indu
industrial complex, if that's what you call it, uh, but as
a musician, not as a nurse
. So, funny coincidence, probably not a coincidence at all, but. - Right. You, you know, you know what they're going through in, in some sense. So then what was the like
pivotal point that you switched and said, I can do musicianship full time? - Uh, it, it really wasn't a,
um, there wasn't a moment of, there wasn't an aha moment because it happened very gradually
where I was playing part, I was playing part-time like once a week, maybe four times a month. And then it just sort of
increased as I
had more time and I didn't have to study for exams. And then as I was, as I reached a point, I guess you could say, as I
graduated from nursing school, I had, I was studying
for NCLEX and like the, and I had a house at that point, a family. So I had big, like, big
time bills in Long Island, so I needed quick cash and on, and strangely enough, um, you know, music was, was paying my bills. So it very strange. I have a very strange, uh, uh, circuitous route to this career. Um, it was a lot, it was
kind
of, it was a tense moment where I was sort of
choosing between two races and I realized I couldn't run
two races at the same time. I needed to run one, and
I kind of gave it up, and I just went for, for music, putting, putting nursing on the, as a
back burner on the back burner. And, and I just, I haven't
stopped since I, um, since I started doing music
full time at that point, after having graduated and
collected all those degrees. So. - And you know, sometimes
that's, uh, how life works
out. So what was it like. - Not with too many people, but for me. - Yeah. Uh, so what was it like
setting yourself up as a musician full time? Like in the world of you need to pay taxes on your musical income and not just like, oh, I got some side cash from
playing at a wedding. - Yeah. Uh, so I've, I probably
have too much to say about that considering,
considering the state of my throat, um, since
you mentioned taxes, that's like a real trigger
for me because it's tax season and we just got o
ur W-2s and 1099s. That's why we probably mentioned it. Um, I've been racking my brain
trying to figure out how to, how to streamline this
incredibly unnecessarily complex tax process for an a
freelance independent musician who's gotta a, like, who's gotta, like, I, I don't have a W-2. Like, it was so easy when
I was a teacher, you know, in nursing, like when
you work for a hospital, you just have a W-2, you
submit it to your accountant. I'm bringing in my, I have
so many different streams of in
come and I have to declare them, and I can't screw it up,
otherwise I get fines. Like I got audited and
you know how it works. Um, so I had to properly
categorize thousands of items and I had to do it on autopilot. So it's taken me a couple years. I start, I almost lost my mind. And I, I just finally sat down
for the last three weeks in between gigs and like,
productions and performances and, and, and releasing music videos. And it's just been a tough month. But I've been focused on que uh, quer
ies, PowerPoint
queries, pivot tables, um, synchronizing all my data sheet,
my, my credit card sheets, and then macro programs, like I've had to become a programmer because I can't, I, it's not even something I
could farm out to other people. 'cause they don't understand what I do. They don't know how to
categorize things properly. V lookups, I mean, I could
just talk about this forever. And frankly, I think I
might run, run a course because even all the videos
that I watched online didn't, like
, didn't inform what I now know. after three weeks of
like, I don't know, just, um, working pretty hard to
acquire this knowledge, but now I finally figured it out. So yeah, that's the tax
bit I just wanted to share. Glad I got that off my chest.
And what was the other thing? ? Um, the complexity
of being a freelancer. - Yeah. Yeah. I think I, I'm honestly
not sure if I asked much beyond the whole like, tax side of it. But yeah, I think that like
setting yourself, yourself up as a freelancer, w
orking for yourself. And of course with that comes
all of the tax implications. - Right? So when you're a freelancer and you're working for
like 10 different companies or businesses, and then you
have like 30 different clients and you have 200 gigs a year, and then you're earning
streaming income from Spotify and iTunes, and then, um, uh, just the, the list is endless. Um, when you have multiple
streams of income, uh, it's really important to be,
in order to earn full income, uh, full-time livin
g. The way I do, and this
probably applies, applies to any freelancer, regardless
of music or being a violinist. Um, you have to keep, you have to know how to properly deduct, uh, so
that the IRS, first of all, you don't get fined by the IRS and also so that you, you
categorize things properly, uh, so that you, you again get the
deductions that you deserve and that, that you need. Um, and then you, you file that
away so your accountant, um, knows how to, how to
submit whatever to the IRS. Um, so
collecting every bit of data possible, I would
say is a prerequisite to being successful as a free, as a full-time freelance musician. Um, so in, in addition
to the, to the 200 events that I record, I, I I that
I record in my Excel charts, I'm also recording like where,
when, how much I charge. 'cause I, 'cause I have different people calling me throughout. Like I'll have, I'll have a
client call me, you know, today for a gig, um, for a similar
type of gig that he called me for in 2017. And the
n I have to factor in inflation and I have to know, I
have to understand, okay, how much more am I supposed
to be charging, um, without ha without losing the job? So that's like one of many
examples where I'm sort of playing, I'm wearing many hats. Like I have to know how to
quote for myself as somebody who wants to control my own
income and my freelance journey and not depend on a manager
who controls everything for me. Um, you know, that's just
like one of many things I have to know how to nav
igate,
steer, uh, what else? I'm throwing a lot at you
here. Um, a lot to say . - Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's definitely a lot of different cogs in the wheel. You mentioned a family. Is your family at all involved in any of the like, music business? - I was gonna mention expenses as, as much more even complex
than just listening 200 gigs. But they are actually
sometimes, uh, involved like, 'cause they sort of live
vicariously through me, through my performances,
through my music releases. I run them
by, uh, I,
I run my music videos and songs by them before I
release it to, to the fans. Uh, so they, yeah, they're very much involved in that regard. I mean, other times they, they, they don't wanna be bothered. So, but, but, uh, I, I, I li I, I find it,
I think it's important. Um, I don't wanna release music
that I wanna release music that, uh, as many people as
possible regardless of age or, you know, uh, cultural
background or religion. Um, I want it to appeal to the masses. So that's, that's
what I try to do. And, uh, it starts with my family. And if, if they don't like
it, then I, I gotta ditch it. , so. - And so are you then writing
some of your own music? - Yeah, I have, I have
two and a half albums out. Um, one is the Neon Dreams
album. It's an unreleased album. 'cause I haven't figured
out what to do with it. But all the songs are on Spotify. They've been public for like years. Um, the older ones, like Neon
Dreams, like three years old, but Redemption has just
been out for lik
e a month. That's the most recent release. And that's actually, that is paired with my first 3D animation
Pixar type music video, which is, which is on YouTube. And, uh, up until now,
up until Redemption, it, I, it was, all the music videos were
always featuring me on violin. I'm not in there, uh,
there's no violinist. It's just, it's a
narrative that I happen to feel is relevant to a lot
of people to these days. And I'll, I'll, uh, allow your
listeners to check it out. And it's, it's pretty cle
ar
what the, what the message is. Um, but it wa it was, it was something that would've been too
difficult for me to kind of share the, um, playing violin. So that's why I kind of made
it a Pixar movie type thing. Uh, so yeah, so two albums, , um, and I, and the first
album is a, a covers album. So there's like 12
covers, songs, pop, pop, instrumental songs, the
Neon Dreams original album, which is also, first of
all on all major platforms as singles is also on AsherLaub.com. Uh, you can also dow
nload it from there. Um, but it is not published as an album. That's what I mean, like,
it hasn't been released. That's all original music. Um, and then I have a
third album that's half, that's like six songs in,
that's a violin covers too. So, and then I have a classical album, and then I have another album,
which is unreleased, um, which you can check out on
AsherLaub.com/sync, which I'm reserving for film
and movies and stuff like that. So I'm not releasing it until
I have eight songs right n
ow. There's like three or four. Um, so that's what's going on with that. - So it sounds like you've
got a lot going on with, uh, publishing and streaming and
creating and all of that, but you're also still performing a lot. So what is kind of like, I
don't wanna use the word typical 'cause it's, I, I feel like as a musician, there might not be like
a typical week or month, but what does like a
year look like for you in music? And are you focusing on performing? Do you always take performing gigs
or do you have to like, allow
for this time to, for all of the other creative endeavors? - Uh, so what I do and what I wanna do are
a little bit different. Unfortunately. Uh, I, what
I, this is what I wanna do, uh, world, if you're
listening , I, I, if anybody cares out there,
I'm, I'm, I'm hoping I, I will eventually, maybe this year, uh, succeed in saying no to
two thirds of the gigs that come my way and focus on the stuff behind me, which nobody sees. Uh, it's, it's my studio
where I produce
symphonies and EDM, classical type
music and music for film. That's what I love doing. Songs like redemption,
like Neon Dreams, um, but in greater quantity and focus more on the
film income, uh, the sync, licensing income, um, if, but, but at the moment, uh, a typical year looks
like anywhere from 175 to like 215 some odd live events, which include corporate
weddings, concerts, some concerts are really small. Some are, some are huge. Like, I guess everything's relative. What's huge, huge is lik
e 50,000 people. Like huge would be like,
for me, 6,000 people. Um, and like paired
with other bi big names. Um, so I'm doing a lot
of different things. I'm doing some studio sessions. Uh, like I mentioned, my,
my income is very diverse and that's why I have to
keep track of all the, the expenses, which are insane. They're insane. Uh, when, when
you look at the books, uh, and the potatoes, the tables,
it's a little overwhelming. Uh, and yeah, that's, so I don't know if that
answers your question
. - Yeah, yeah, I think it does. Um, you know, the, the
goal to where you wanna be as a musician, you know, it,
it takes time to get there, but since you're, it is full-time for you, that is obviously a
step in that direction. So where have your more
interesting performances taken you? - Uh, to Hawaii? Uh, Maui, uh, that was
pretty cool. I gotta say. Can't complain about stuff
like that, um, to Europe, um, and to Israel, uh,
Middle East, I would not, I don't think I'd go there
now, but, um, cons
idering the, I'm saying the circumstances, but yeah, so like the Middle East, uh, uh, Europe nor, you know, Canada
all over the country. Um, I would say my most
frequent out of town gigs used to be Los Angeles. I used to go to, I used to
play in Bever, Beverly Hills and, um, Malibu and like all over LA. Um, I used to fly back and
forth like every other week. And then I, and then I
got old, to be honest, it just got really tiring. Um, as much as like, it's funny, I was bright eye bushy tailed
for
the first 10 years, and I was like, wow, I'm
in LA and Beverly Hills, and then it's just, um,
and then I have a family and that I got old and crotchety and realized I wanted to sit here. Uh, this is what I really love to do, just kind of produce music. So, did I digress or did I
answer your question? - Uh, you answered, you
answered the question with. - Travel over the place. - Yeah. With these places that
you've gotten to go to, maybe outside of LA and Beverly Hills, um, was that mostly thro
ugh group performances or were you doing some solo stuff? - So, in Cal, in California,
I used to do a lot of group performances, like maybe, uh, 15 to 25 piece, uh, productions. And they've, I guess most
of 'em were LA based, but they flew me out and
sometimes other people from New York would usually only me. Um, I did some individual
stuff like, you know, I do Bollywood events
and getaway vacations and, uh, some concerts,
like I mentioned, weddings, corporate events, like in
Texas and North Car
olina, and just like really all over the place. Uh, I haven't been to every state, but, uh, I try to stay,
honestly, I try these days I try to stay local just for my
family, like Tri-State, New Jersey, New York, uh,
Connecticut as much as possible. Um, but to answer your question,
your original question, I, I travel a lot by myself,
can get lonely, , uh, and on occasion with bands. But, uh, but I would say most of the traveling now is, is myself. 'cause 'cause I, I, I sort
of fill a specific nic
he as a DJ violinist, so I
play along with tracks and I, um, like custom, custom music, um, so people can sort of fly me
out without having to deal with the expense of a drummer
keyboard is, uh, whatever. And five other wind instruments. Uh, they can sort of
keep them local and then, and then they'll just bring,
bring me out sometimes and I won't play with tracks, I'll play with the local bands. I don't know, I just, I don't
know why it is that way, but maybe it's the way that
I market myself. -
Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure. I guess I could ask how common is like people doing the performing
that you're doing? - Uh, I'm noticing that
it's more and more common. I thought I was the only
one in the world, um, like five, six years ago. There was like three other
people that I used to see, and now I'm seeing more
and more DJ violinists, uh, strolling violinists. Now, when I say strolling,
like it's a whole setup, like electric violin, wireless unit going into a
sound system, a mixer, um, which
also contains custom
tracks which pertain to client requests or
concert requests, whatever. So that's what I mean by
strolling, electric violinist. Um, I've, no, I've noticed
there's like an increasing, uh, number by the year. I'm sure there are many,
many hundreds of them now just in North America alone. Um, and I think that's a good thing 'cause uh, 'cause the whole DJ violin connection, like having a dedicated DJ and then a violinist
working with the DJ, um, it's just become a very, I've not
iced that that's become more and more common saxophonists also working with DJs. Um, I think because violinists don't
really, uh, this is my theory, um, that, that, uh, violinists generally are
that they, they're sort of absorbed into a large band and they're sort of part of the band or part of the string section. I think that a lot of the
electric violinists like myself that are working with DJs, they kind of wanna be the front man . So, uh, I think that's a
reflection of my music. My violin is
the, I'm the front man in, in the violin that is the soloist. There's no vocalist. So that's largely reflected
in the live performances. - Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. Now, are you currently regularly
playing with any groups? - Um, I, I might do like
15, 20 performances a year with some of the same groups. Um, out of the maybe 200. And I'll do maybe like,
I dunno, 30% by myself. It, it, it fluctuates a year by year. But I, I like it that way.
The, the variety is, is nice. I get too burn
t out with
any one type of performance. - Right. And did you ever
consider switching instruments? - Yeah, many times. Uh,
throughout high school. I, what I was actually mentioning before, uh, when I was sort of embarrassed to play the violin, I wanted to play the guitar,
the drums and keyboard. And I actually picked up those instruments and played them professionally,
briefly in college, um, during, during my, I'm saying my four years,
years as an undergrad. Um, but, but I, I, there's a million,
um, of those, there's a
million other musicians that are way better than me,
uh, in those instruments. So I just sort of stuck to
what I was really good at and that's why I stick
with the violin. - Right. Of course. Now, in the intro, I mentioned
a health scare in 2014, um, and kind of having to
like change some things. So would you be willing to
talk about that experience and what the differences
between like before and after? - Yeah. Um, well, the differences before was me being an ave, uh, m
e being a vegetable . Um, and after me being a fully
functioning human being, uh, I was, I was diagnosed
with an adrenal, uh, a adrenal insufficiency,
uh, a condition that is, uh, I wouldn't wish upon anybody. Uh, very serious condition. I was on permanent dosage
of cortef, just steroid. Um, I got off of it. Um, and I emphasized permanent 'cause I was not supposed
to be able to get off of it. Um, but I went through alternative methods and I, thankfully over a period of a year, recovered about a
year a little more. Um, so yeah, and once, once I did
recover, I, I, I, with a lot of which, with much relief went back into the music industry. Um, prior to that I was just, I just kept getting progressively weaker. Um, five years prior to
that, I was diagnosed with an inflammatory, um, a a like a global, um, chronic
inflammatory condition. And that it was, they
just couldn't explain it and could have been
environmental, whatever. And that sort of progressed
to this, uh, this adrenal situation,
which is pretty scary. So, um, you know, I
manage it very carefully and, uh, I've been doing pretty well, uh, for the last 10 years or so. - And so do you have to like, take any extra precautions that, you know, something could flare back up or you've been doing
well for the past decade? - Yeah, occasionally. I,
occasionally I get flare ups that, that are big scares for me. But because I know my body really well and I avoid certain triggers,
uh, like toxins, things that, like I can't sit in a r
oom
with, with smokers, uh, it's just, it, it just, it knocks me out. Like it not, you know, my blood pressure , it's everything. It's just a mess. Um, and I just know how to manage it, uh, in a pretty professional way. I mean, it helps to have
a nursing degree also. Like I know the signs and the symptoms and um, a kind of, uh, and you have to 'cause like, as a live performer,
you can't screw things up and have like a thousand people waiting or, um, you just can't. There, there's no, there's
no
room for, for misses. Um, welcome to my life. - Have you ever had a point
when like you were supposed to be performing that you
have had a health scare or like needed to cancel something? - Yeah, I, I'm actually
been pretty reliable, um, considering I, I'm trying to remember when I've ever had to cancel. I mean, when I, when I, I
canceled some, some flights to California, um, when
I was bedridden , like, so naturally I'm not gonna be able to, you know, go out there for that. And there's a period
where I was, I was on where I was on crutches or I thought I would
be able to get better. I, I didn't. But since
then, since I got outta that wheelchair, I
can't think of any times that I had to cancel. Um, I have to think hard. I, I can't, surprisingly,
I can't think of, of, I'd have to think about it. I don't, I don't think so. But, um, but there have been moments
where I've had scares like towards the beginning, uh,
where I was just, I would start to get, to get really lightheaded. Um, my bl
ood pressure, you know, my, my blood pressure would drop. And, um, you know, it's, it's one thing to have like an anxiety situation or an anxiety disorder where
you have those symptoms. It's another thing to
have, um, a to have a, a serious condition, like not
producing enough cortisol. Uh, and that's 10 times
scarier 'cause you could die. Um, and that, that period of that year was probably
the scariest for me. 'cause I just didn't know how
much I could handle even like, lifting a case to a gig.
But thank God I've been,
um, I've been pretty good, pretty smooth sailing. - Good. That's good to hear.
- Yeah. And speaking of canceling,
what was 2020 like for you? - Um, it was bizarre. It was, it was, uh, the,
the twilight zone as it was for I think you and
probably everybody else. Uh, and my income dropped precipitously, but I did still earn an income. Um, I just sort of came through other ven like, uh, through other
media, I guess through, um, you know, I was earning
from posting on soci
al media royalties, streaming, um, remote projects, those types of things. And I was doing some, uh, some other, uh, like vi like remote
violin performances that, that paid some bills, . But, uh, I got, I was that
close to moving back to, to getting a job in nursing. But my wife said, not with your condition. Yeah, I'm not gonna expose
you to, uh, to covid in such large numbers. Um, and it was hell for
all the nurses out there. And so to be honest, I kind of at that point in 2020 felt like
I'd m
ade the right decision to move to music, even though
financially it would not, it was not the best thing for us. - Yes. Yeah, I mean, it's
definitely something where a lot of things had to change in that time. Um, it sounds like you
were able to make it work, um, which is good to hear. 'cause I know that, um, you know, the arts definitely took a hit and are are probably still
different in some ways. - Yeah, yeah. Uh, the, the arts, uh, Broadway, I mean, uh, people, a lot of
people quit permanent
ly. Um, people who were successful
musicians and DJs, they quit. Uh, they went to, you know,
other, other professions and I just stuck with it 'cause
I'm a stubborn bull . - Yes. I I think it's
great that you, you stuck with it even though it wasn't
the original intention. Um, I think it, it says a
lot about, you know, your, what you know you desire to do and desire and what that's doing for you. - Yeah. I, my my philosophy
is probably due to the, not necessarily the most practical, but, um, it'
s largely, you
know, life is pretty short and I, I kind of want to bring my best and I think that this is the career where I can bring my
best and be the happiest and feel the most fulfilled and feel like, okay, uh,
at the end of my life. Like, I did something I really enjoyed. I didn't just like, I don't
know, do the nine to five that paid for my retirement,
uh, a little bit better. You know, I, I I guess
I, I've been willing to take the risk, so
I continue to do that. - Yeah. So now you were
w
illing to take the risk. Um, it can be very difficult
to do music full-time. It wasn't the original plan. Was there ever any kickback
from your family to say like, why are you doing this when
you just got a nursing degree? - Yeah, everybody was like, like I knew, knew everybody was disappointed. I mean, they give me, they
gave me their support. Um, they, you know, they
obviously un understood and understand that I'm an adult and I make adult my, my own decisions. Um, I'm sh I know that
they did
not agree with, with what I had done. Um, but my wife supported me pretty much a long, a long hallway. And she actually, uh, is one
of the main reasons why, why I didn't give up the music career, uh, and continue to do it full-time. If, if I didn't have her blessing, I, I probably would've been back in nursing or something like that. - And is your wife musical at all? - She loves listening to
music, but she's a professor and speaking of diversity,
uh, she's a professor of, of well-published auth
or in
diversity related topics. Um, so a little bit of coincidence there. Um, yeah, I guess I'll just
leave it at that . - Yeah, I mean it's, uh, I think it's, it's great that someone
who's not in the music world supported you like so much
to say, like, yes, continue to do this and, um,
pursue that since it can, there can be a big stigma around pursuing performing arts as a career. - Y yeah. And, uh, she just wanted me to be happy. She didn't want me to come home
like unhappy miserable every day
or stressed or whatever. Um, I mean, it's, it's tough
running it, running this ship, but it's, I find a lot of
joy in the process. - You mentioned how, um, you know, the, the production aspect
doing that sort of work is the goal more full-time. So is that what you find the
most joy in musically? - Um, yeah, for the, I
would say on average, um, producing music that I can be
really proud of, uh, I find that to be more enjoyable
than doing a networking event or a corporate event or even a wedding,
as joyous as that is. Um, maybe I would say a concert concerts where people are
really like focused on the music would be sort of in line with, um, the joy that I get out of producing music. So. - Good. Now, before I start to wrap things up, is there anything else you would like to share with the listeners today? - Um, I, I guess thanks for listening to my blather for 45 minutes. Um, I, I guess, uh, for any
aspiring musicians out there, um, or anybody considering
trying to do something that th
ey're, they, they, they
part-time earning an income, uh, I guess weigh, weigh the pros and cons, you know, are, do you think that there's a possibility of
paying, you know, being able to pay the bills if
you're, you're able to, if you end up running that one
race, which is part-time now, and, uh, consider taking a little bit of a risk if it makes you happy, if not, you know, stick
to what you're doing. - Um, definitely some good advice there. Now, as I mentioned before we
started recording, I do
ask all my guests a random question. So my question for you is,
what is your go-to drink? - Um, yeah, it's gonna
disappoint everybody. Fiji Water. That's all I got. Sorry. Um, I can't, no, but that, but
that's like a medical thing. Like I, I am actually prohibited
from drinking any sort of sugar water or anything with
that's highly sweetened. It's, it's, uh,
contraindicated very much with, with my condition, so stick with water. - All right, that brings
this episode to a close. Of course, if yo
u would
like to connect with Asher and check out his music, his website will be in the description. So that brings you to all of
his social media, his YouTube, Spotify, you know, he mentioned his music is out
there on all the platforms, so feel free to go check all of that out and connect with him. And if you would like to
connect with the podcast, our website is in the description
that brings you to all of our past episodes, past
resources, our social media. We are on Instagram,
Facebook, and L
inkedIn. So if you wanna support those pages and go follow that is always appreciated. If you'd like to support
the podcast monetarily, there is a link to do that as well. And if you would like to
be a guest on the show and share your story, my
email is in the description. That is always the best way to reach me. So thank you so much to
Asher for spending time with me today, especially
as he has a sore throat. So I'm grateful for him
getting through the interview and sharing his story, and to my
listeners
for taking the time out of your day to hear a new story. Until next time, bye. - Thanks for having me, Sarah.
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