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Scene 2 ScenIQ (S2IQ) is a podcast dedicated to artists who share a passion for the outdoors/nature/the scenic routes. In this season, our host (Deren) interviews musicians, poets, actors and visual artists/artisans
You're listening to Scene2IQ, the Scene2Cenic Podcast. We want to begin by acknowledging that we are currently broadcasting on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Neutral Peoples, as well as a Haldimand Tract, land which is promised to the Six Nations that runs six miles on each side of the Grand River. We are grateful to be using this space this evening. We express our gratitude to the Traditional and Original stewards of this land, and at the time of recording appreciate the work that the Indigenous organizations such as Crow Shield Lodge are doing right here in Kitchener Waterloo to include all nations in land stewardship through ceremony and public events.
Speaker 2:All right, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Scene 2IQ. I'm here in a brand new location. This is the new studio from Joshua and Doran, which is called
Speaker 3:This is Sapling and Sky Studios.
Speaker 2:Super excited to be here, guys. Thanks so much for having me in your studio for the show. We're going to talk about all things regarding your music, the passions that you guys have, the stuff work that you're doing in community and your local business. And I'm really excited for the conversation. So thank you for your time.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Thanks for having us on So your
Speaker 2:we're here in your studio. You guys are local musicians, artists, business owners. We're going to get into all of this stuff, but maybe I just want to throw it back. I don't remember if you remember this, Joshua, but, like, the first time, at least the first time that I saw you in concert, it was a summer evening at the sunset sessions. Good co.
Speaker 2:You, I think, were solo on a keyboard and just bring in so much energy that the whole crowd was captivated. I saw people stopping, like, their cars on the street because we're at, like, a corner of a spot in Bogosang Green and, like, listening to you. And I just remember going like, wow. Who's this guy? Like, is he local?
Speaker 2:I couldn't believe you're a local person. Do you remember that? Like, how was that for you?
Speaker 3:Like, at that point, how much in your career with music were you in? It's actually so funny. I've done so many shows that I actually forget that one. So yeah, no, I don't remember that. It must've been just one of those, like, one of those shows that I've done just to help build my music career.
Speaker 3:Right? Because there's people who, yeah, don't go out and perform as much, but it's their passion and their dream too. So I I wish I can remember that. I wish I can remember all my shows. There are some that are more memorable than others.
Speaker 3:Mostly the ones where I'm where I'm playing with my band. But yeah, no, I feel bad. I don't remember I don't remember that one.
Speaker 2:That's totally fine. And I don't blame you because I assume that just as you mentioned, when you play so many shows, and it's great to hear that you're actually pretty prolific. You you just got back from The US, for example, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Bit of a tour there. So we'll talk more about that later too. But, yeah, that's fine. And it's interesting. Hopefully, it helps for you hearing stories from other people going like, hey, man, this is when I first heard your music.
Speaker 2:And now, well, basically since that point, I've been really wanting to sit down and chat with you. And Doran, this is the first time I've met you. Thank you so much for having me,
Speaker 4:your studio. It's
Speaker 2:pleasure, really. And let's talk a little bit about, well, this is the first time I'm meeting you, so I don't have a cool backstory, but we're sitting in a really cool studio, and you were telling me a little bit before kind of, like, your passions and your music is started with violin.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So I started with playing violin. And coming out of high school, I was like, oh, I don't know what I wanna do. So I just went to university for violin. And somewhere in there, I discovered Ableton 10.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:The light version on my computer. And I just really fell in love with it and all the technical aspects. And I I had this dream of, like, owning a studio one day, but I never really thought it would ever happen. But then yeah.
Speaker 2:And now you're here.
Speaker 4:Now we're here.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. And you're an engineer?
Speaker 4:Not by trade, but we're figuring it out.
Speaker 2:So yes. Which is cool. We'll we'll get more into that as well. Joshua, was just gonna come back to you for for a little bit here. I know that you're also a music teacher, and, you know, that's part of your, I'm gonna say, legacy that you have here in the community, which is really cool because we get to see you on both sides of the coin.
Speaker 2:Right? Like, we see you on stage, and then we see you teaching other folks. What's something that you've learned from one of your teachers or mentors, you know, that you're carrying forward in your current music?
Speaker 3:Good question. Yeah. Good question. Good question. I think it all started with high school.
Speaker 3:Like my, my very first music teacher was a, my, music, my vocal teacher, miss Farrow. So she, yeah, she taught me everything, like the found, like the, yeah, the fundamentals of music. She taught me that it can be a full time, like, gig. Right? So very, very appreciative of that.
Speaker 3:And, yeah, all my teachers have inspired me to also, like, teach as well. Right? To carry on that and continue giving giving more information and just inspiring, you know, the younger generation and, yeah, just giving that that light to these yeah. The the people I teach at least. So yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's awesome. And I think it's really important to do that because music, like many forms of art, it is an art form, is something that is, like it really thrives when it's shared with other people. Right? So obviously, you're known well for for your vocal talents, at least that's what I'm gonna say, because that's what I've heard.
Speaker 2:Right? But you also play keyboard, guitar. So like, when you're writing a song, like, what's that process? Like, how does it start for you? Do you get on your keys and get something going?
Speaker 2:Do you write some lyrics? Like because, you know, you have some pretty I'm gonna say some really catchy, but also very deep, like, lyrical content in your songs. So how does that process look like for you?
Speaker 3:Yeah. It's it's truly different for every single song. And for me, I I usually start with a with a chord progression with the, the instrumental bits for, for the, for the most part anyways. I, I start with the, the guitar and then kinda just start building, like building blocks, like, like Lego basically. Right?
Speaker 3:Until I have this, this master piece. In terms of, like, the melody and the lyrics, we we're talking about this how, just before, I I didn't care too much about the lyrics. I I always I always focused on always the beat good is is it making people, you know, feel happy? That was my that was my thing. But then later on, I was I was really trying to, I guess, change that perspective and really focus on the words because the words are impactful.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah.
Speaker 2:That's cool. So, you know, you you mentioned you were talking to Doran about this. So I'm gonna pass it to you, Doran. Like, what's that process like for you when you're writing? Because I know I've seen you on stage with Joshua on the multicultural fest playing violin, but I'm just assuming underneath that there's a lot more of your own creative writing happening too.
Speaker 2:So when you start writing, what's your process like?
Speaker 4:So the way that I really try to start is focusing on the feeling. So what feeling am I trying to convey as the creator here, as well as what feeling I want the listener to experience? So whether that's happy, sad, or, like, anger, energy. Because real when it really comes down to it, that's, like, the most important element of a song. Right?
Speaker 4:What feeling does it give to someone? Whether that's through the drums or through the baseline or, like, a key sample that really brings out that feeling to someone. Usually, though, same with Josh. It's different for every song. Sometimes you start with the drums or you hear a sample you really like.
Speaker 4:Mhmm. You just build on top of that. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's really cool. I'd love to hear the story of, like, how did you two meet? Like, and how yeah. Like, what's what's that like?
Speaker 3:Funny. This guy slid into my DS. Woah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. We had, like, a mutual friend, and they had a post on Instagram of, like, him doing music. I just messaged him. I was like, hey. I think we have a lot in common.
Speaker 4:We should, like, wake up sometime and try to we went to the gym the first time, actually.
Speaker 3:Oh, you're right. We did. We
Speaker 4:went for a workout, and then we we just got some soup after, worked on some music stuff. And then I went to one of your shows after. Yeah. It was a similar experience. I was like, wow.
Speaker 4:This guy is just, like, really bringing the energy. Like, the crowd is alive. And then we were just, like, friends for a little bit, couple years. And I had this recording studio idea. And I was like, hey.
Speaker 4:Like, I need someone to partner up for this, and I think you'd be good for me. What do you think? And it all started there. That was around, what, March, April?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. April. Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. And your collaborations, Joshua, go a pretty long way because you talked about, you know, you have a better feeling when you're with your band. So your band is like the who's who of freaking, like, kitchen or water. Like, seriously, man, you got, like, Halo band, like a bunch of other for Kevin, like a bunch of amazing musicians always partnering up with you. And I see a lot of, like, inspiration coming off of each other when you guys are on stage.
Speaker 2:But maybe let's talk a little bit about that because, you know, when you wrote your own songs, but then when they get in, what's how does that does it change things or does it, like, what does that do for your music, and how do you like to collaborate with other musicians?
Speaker 3:Yeah. No. I love I love collaborating. Right? There's this saying, right, community of competition.
Speaker 3:So you wanna be you wanna be collaborating and connecting with all these artists, because then you get their perspective. You get their side, their views. And it, yeah, it helps you get out of your own box. So that's why I love I love collaborating with Kevin, Caleb, and, like, having these guys part of some of the writing process. Like, Caleb, for example, he was doing a lot of guitar for my song breaking, and that's become one of my, like, favorite songs.
Speaker 3:Even Kevin, I have a bunch of, like, ballad, like, piano songs that have Kevin's piano playing, which I can't replicate. Like, the song wouldn't be what it is without without them. Right? So, yeah, it's it's always good to have, you know, new people and just have have people collaborating with you just because you get that, yeah, get that new side of things.
Speaker 2:Totally. I'm gonna say it again because I feel like that's such a KW thing, but I'm hearing it from you, and I love it. It's community over competition. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Do you wanna add anything to that, Doran? You when you do collaborations, is there anything that you're looking for a feedback or do you just go in with an open mind or, like, how does that work for you?
Speaker 4:Yeah. Think collaboration is super, super, super important, especially for me and, like, my mental state. Just because I think a lot of people think that when you collaborate, it's like, well, why do I need someone in this room, like, criticizing me or telling me what to do? But in reality, it's the opposite. Right?
Speaker 4:It's like when I have an idea, instead of me shutting it down, like being like, oh, that's terrible. If someone says that it's good, I might stick with that idea for a little longer, put a little more commitment into it. And I'll see like, oh, maybe that actually was a good idea. Whereas when you're working by yourself, it's so easy to just like, chase that perfectionism and be like, oh, that one's not good. I'm just gonna move on.
Speaker 4:This one's not good either. I'm just gonna move on. Then you get nothing done. Yeah. So collaboration can be really helpful for just, like, honing down on one good idea.
Speaker 2:Dawn, I really appreciate that perspective. And I think you hit on something really important, at least for me personally. I'm I'm, like, really vibing with it, which is this idea of, like, being able to bounce it off of somebody else. So to take away your fear of your own, like getting in your own way, which is something I find I do more often than I would like to admit. So really cool to hear that.
Speaker 2:We all do. Yeah. And what's neat is, is honestly, like, I've talked to, thankfully, a lot of artists in kitchen or water review now. And every time we talk about collaboration, I'm hearing a similar Fred phrase differently. It's kind of what you just said.
Speaker 2:It's so cool to see that, that they're so willing, You know, like, I remember and maybe I don't know if it's experience either of you have had, but, like, stepping up to your first open mic, and and I was just like, I I'm mostly playing guitar. So, like, I'm doing, like, the neck death stare. Like, I I can't see the count because I'm just, like, looking at it, trying to make sure I'm playing it right. Yeah. I forgot half of, what I was doing at one point.
Speaker 2:Just rushed it, got through the song, and was so afraid to even look up. And then when I'm looking up, people are just like, hey. Great job. Like, you know, you try like, you know, they could tell that I put effort into it. It might not have been perfect.
Speaker 2:But the reaction is, like, you almost, like, hype yourself up so much for a negative reaction when actually, you know, you're just hoping yourself up to see what people say. Half the time, it's not gonna be half as bad as what you think.
Speaker 3:Truly.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Did you ever have that? Like, what was your first when did you first get on stage? What was that like for you, Josh? And then same with you, Jordan.
Speaker 4:Like
Speaker 3:Yeah. I'm trying to remember. I think the biggest
Speaker 2:You don't strike me as someone who's afraid, but, like, how
Speaker 3:is Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like, what was it like for When 20
Speaker 3:I was younger, yeah, I I love attention. I love having my eyes on me, and I love yeah. Just that feeling of being seen. Right? So back in high school, and, and it was actually the pivotal moment of why I wanted to do music in the first place.
Speaker 3:My twin brother and I, we, we auditioned for this talent show for our high school. We were both in grade nine. And yeah, we got in, and we actually end up coming first place in this talent show. Oh, awesome. And and we won a $100.
Speaker 3:And I was like That's
Speaker 2:huge, man.
Speaker 3:I was like, first place, a $100. Like, we're we're in, like, ninth grade. Like, this is, we're freshman in high school. It dailies. I was like, this is awesome.
Speaker 3:And I remember thinking, was like, wow, you can you can make
Speaker 2:money off of this. You can you can
Speaker 3:do this. It was it was such a surreal moment. So I I knew from that moment, like, performing was something I I always wanna do, something something I was, like, called to do. It was yeah. Were you nervous?
Speaker 3:Honestly, like, now thinking back at it, I was not nervous. I was so excited to just, like, showcase, like, this this song, and it was the worst song ever. Like, was an original song that me and my twin brother wrote.
Speaker 2:I still remember. Did that with your twin, though?
Speaker 3:No, it's super cool, right? Like, we have such a yeah, we have such strong bond in like music, something that's always going to like connect both of us. Like, he's also like musical in his own way. But, man, it was, yeah, it was a surreal moment. No no nervousness.
Speaker 3:So I I think that's that's where my calling came from. But I do remember after getting that 100, we opened up, a a bank account because now we have money. I was like, oh, let's go. And I remember going to Mcdonald, like my job, weird me and my twin, we're just spending this $100. Like, oh, whatever it's happened for me.
Speaker 3:And then we went to McDonald's and our card got declined. And I was like, wait, yeah. Oh, oh, it's so funny. We're like, oh my, it's fun. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Good stuff. Good times,
Speaker 2:man. That's a great story. What about for you doing? And like when you first stepped on stage, what was that experience
Speaker 4:like for man, for me, I don't really get nervous in terms of, like, the playing. Like, you won't see it in how I play. I'm just kind of shy to begin with. Right. Like, I wear black every day.
Speaker 4:I just wear a black t shirt. I'm just not as outgoing of a guy as Josh all the time. So I guess it just translates to, like, a little awkward body movement on stage. If I'm playing, I'm not nervous. Yeah.
Speaker 4:I always, like, played in orchestra and stuff. Like, orchestra talent shows, like you said, piano, like, violin stuff. I don't play too many shows. I just play right now with, like, Maria. Shout out Maria Gabriela.
Speaker 4:It's more just as, like, a favorite to her. And I'll play a show once in a while if it's, like, if it's a fun one that I'm genuinely interested in.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:But right now, I'm not like a solo act or anything. Maybe one day, that'd be really fun if I could like find a supporting band and do some originals. Sorry. I'm like way off track of the question now.
Speaker 2:I don't know. This is how these go.
Speaker 4:But do I get nervous? I'd say I only get nervous if I'm not really familiar with the source material. But if you're really confident in what you're playing right? The goal of when you're practicing is not to practice till you can get it right, but to practice so much until you can't get it wrong. True.
Speaker 4:So that, like, in a worst case scenario right? Like, like, let's say your cables are messed up or it's raining out or there's, like, a million people your crush is in the crowd or something. You practice so much that your fingers are just doing the work. You don't even have to think about it. It's automatic.
Speaker 2:I love that. Can you repeat what you said about practice? Was
Speaker 4:really cool. No. That
Speaker 3:That's my right? No. I say that to my students all the time. Right? Right?
Speaker 3:Don't don't practice until you get it right, but practice so much until you can't get it wrong, doc. That's that's why we click. That's why we click. That's crazy.
Speaker 2:You heard it here, guys. If you don't remember anything about this podcast, that's what you remember.
Speaker 4:There you go.
Speaker 3:Practice practice.
Speaker 4:That's was telling my students that too on Sunday because she's getting ready to play for someone's wedding. Oh. And she's never played for a wedding before. Oh. And it's a whole different Trasher
Speaker 2:is real.
Speaker 4:It's completely different from, like, playing classical violin, which we've been doing for, like, four or five years at this point. It's like, okay. Now how do you be a professional?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:How do you stand in front of a, like, a bunch of people with phones? How how do you react when someone has a camera in your face filming for, like, that wedding video? Right? What do do in that situation? It's so different.
Speaker 2:That's great. Actually, I wanna pick up that really quick, Doran. So it's notable. You should be no. No.
Speaker 2:We're talking Joshua's teacher music teacher. You're also a teacher
Speaker 4:for music. Yeah. I just have one violin student, but I did go to teacher's college. And I was an elementary school teacher for a while. I taught grade eight last year.
Speaker 4:But music jobs are just so far and few, and they're just really hard to find these days. So I decided I'm gonna take a break. There's nothing really good. I'm mixed good and great. There's nothing really great on the market, like the job market.
Speaker 4:So I'm gonna take a break and try this music stuff out.
Speaker 2:I think honestly, that's the way to go, man. Just follow your dreams. Like, that's one thing I've been learning over the last year. And by learning, I mean, hearing also from other artists. I'm like, yeah.
Speaker 2:I wish, like, you guys are relatively, I'm gonna say relatively young still, which is great. So that you're doing this now. I wish I had that advice like fifteen, twenty years ago. So thank you for following your dreams.
Speaker 4:But at the same time, it's also never too late.
Speaker 2:Truly, truly. It's never too late.
Speaker 4:Because the people that inspired me to do this are my friends at the gym that are, like, 40 years old, 45 years old that had career changes. Like, some guys that were, like, electricians for twenty years and then decided, hey. I wanna be, like, a coach or I wanna be, like, a private chef. And then their their income totally took up. Not that it's about income, but their their life freedom as well.
Speaker 4:Like, they they were able to follow their passion even at 40. Mhmm. So it's never too late. I don't know how old you are. You might.
Speaker 2:And it's honestly, it's great to hear that from your perspective and also from friends that you have who are
Speaker 4:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Doing this because that's that's what I'm trying to do now. And you honestly, you guys are inspiring me to keep going. So thank you.
Speaker 4:Never too late.
Speaker 2:Never too late. Speaking of, well, I guess something else that I've heard when the conversation, and never being too late. There's some cool life events that have happened in the last year for you, Joshua, that I'm aware of.
Speaker 4:So,
Speaker 2:which is great. And congratulations.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:I hope that you are engaged.
Speaker 3:Yes, I am. I am.
Speaker 2:And is your future wife is she a musician, or how did you connect with her? Was it was she like a fan? Did you you know?
Speaker 3:I don't date fans.
Speaker 2:No. No.
Speaker 3:Me and my fiance, we met at the at the same school that we both teach at. So, yeah, she's a she's a music teacher. She studied music therapy at Laurier.
Speaker 4:So we were actually in the same There we go. Same program.
Speaker 3:So my fiance and Doran, they actually yeah. They were in the same program
Speaker 2:at the same time. So they're like, same
Speaker 3:year and everything. We didn't
Speaker 4:really talk much, but we had, like, mutual person.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Guys are in different. Yeah. Truly. It was yeah.
Speaker 3:But we met at the music school. And, yeah, this was this is around the time as well where I was, like, somewhat rediscovering my faith. Like I always had my faith, but I kinda like fell off of it, like through college. And then when I hit 25, I was like, oh, I'm like, I, I need to like make this decision to like make God like center and everything. And, from that moment, like, I, I truly believe like God, like, put her in my life.
Speaker 3:Wow. For that reason. And I was like, wow, this is, it was such a God moment, but yeah, really, really blessed to have met her. I can't wait for our future to, yeah, see where God takes us. It's gonna be, it's gonna be really cool.
Speaker 2:That's real. Yeah. Great story. That's amazing. And also like, again, shout out to like Laurier and the.
Speaker 2:Shout out to Laurier.
Speaker 4:Shout out to Laurier. Yeah.
Speaker 2:No. That's what I'm hearing. But cool. Music therapy too. I've talked to a lot of music therapists and our mutual friends are watching our music fair.
Speaker 2:I'm sure you like Jay Won and stuff like Yeah. So
Speaker 3:Jay Won does music therapy?
Speaker 2:Yeah. She she has her own practice now, but she's
Speaker 3:good friend. Yeah. Good stuff.
Speaker 2:Know. Amongst things. Like, yeah. It's awesome. No.
Speaker 2:That's
Speaker 3:so awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. So just seems like a lot of people connected for Laurier, and that's that's great news.
Speaker 3:So Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's funny because as you were talking about her, I could see you smiling, and I just thinking about a couple of your songs, but especially like Oh. Everything up. Like, now when you're doing that, I know you can't have to like, it's probably gonna get so you go, of course, you're gonna say, But is that do you is you're thinking about it.
Speaker 3:Right? Yes.
Speaker 2:So because it's cool how that happens now.
Speaker 3:Truly. Truly.
Speaker 2:Yeah. The perspective of that song. 1100%. When you wrote it, did you have, like there's maybe there's somebody in your life. I'm not sure.
Speaker 2:But was, like, did you have somebody, or were you waiting for that person to be that Yes. So song?
Speaker 3:We'll we'll talk about the the one song that's actually about my fiance, which is which is versions. Okay. And when I first wrote this song, like, we weren't even together. That's the funny thing. Like, we were just friends.
Speaker 3:And I was I was, like, showing showing them my like, the chord progression for the song. Was like, oh, what do think of this? And she said it was super cool. So I was like, okay, cool. Let let me start writing lyrics about this.
Speaker 3:And as I was writing these lyrics, I was like I was like, wait a second. Like, why does this feel like this is about her? I was like, I was like Woah. So confused. Right?
Speaker 2:So and at this point you weren't dating.
Speaker 3:No, we weren't. Were just like, exactly. Like, we were just friends and like, I feel it's so funny because I feel like, yeah, we were friend. It was it was almost like more acquainted because like, we didn't like know know each other. We were just like like, yeah, work friends.
Speaker 3:Right? So it was just a, it was really cool. And then I, I then just like had this song in the back of my head and I didn't actually release it until like, like months later. But yeah, it was just a really surreal moment how like music really like comes from the soul. It's like, music, you're like, yeah, like music's gonna come out like, and it is, yeah, it's just so surreal.
Speaker 3:It's it's it's really cool every time I think back about that song. So it's called versions. You can find it on Spotify, Apple Music.
Speaker 4:Alright. Alright. It's like your heart knew before your brain even knew.
Speaker 3:Truly. Right?
Speaker 2:No. Truly. Keep going with that door in there.
Speaker 4:Oh, hold on.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Please. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Your heart. I don't know where to go. Like, that's all I got. That's the wisdom for today.
Speaker 2:It reminded me of something you said before, which I think was really apt as well. It's like, you talked about writing songs. It's like the first thing you wanna do is capture a feeling. Right? So it sounds like maybe this part of that was what inspired you of this song.
Speaker 4:I have that feeling.
Speaker 2:What was for you, Doran, was there a song that comes to mind that you wrote, or it's just like
Speaker 4:I don't really write a lot of songs.
Speaker 2:Or even like a melody or Not like a
Speaker 4:yet. And I guess it's a really difficult thing. Right? Like tapping into those feelings at the right time. And I think it's a difficult thing that a lot of artists talk about as well, where it's like, why do you want me to recreate music that was like this style or like this certain album I made back then when that was, like, the worst point in my life?
Speaker 4:Stuff like that. Right?
Speaker 2:Interesting. Right.
Speaker 4:Yeah. It's hard to tap into those emotions musically. Yeah. That's it. That's the sentence I get.
Speaker 2:Yeah. No, that's totally fair.
Speaker 4:Let's talk about watches.
Speaker 2:Mean, if that's a hobby that you gotta like, that's absolutely
Speaker 3:Honestly, like, this watch right here, like, I I got this from my fiance, so she got it for me as, a birthday gift. I'm not too into watches, but it's, yeah, it's a nice sentimental gift that
Speaker 2:looks like we're Saco brothers.
Speaker 3:We are Saco brothers.
Speaker 4:Let's go. Saco brothers. Saco. I got the,
Speaker 3:is that Saco?
Speaker 4:I got the fake AP. That's, yeah, it's still a Saco. It's a NH '35 movie.
Speaker 2:Perfect. So yeah, it's a Saco movement. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So
Speaker 2:under the hood. Exactly. That's amazing.
Speaker 4:I also got it as a gift for myself. Oh,
Speaker 2:interesting. So this is something I did wanna pick up because this is a great tie in. Thank you, Durian. Is actually you're a twin. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I'm a twin. So this is really cool. And something my twin brother and I share specifically with watch that I'm wearing. It's just a kind of fun comment is is he's really into, like, timepieces and watch out me and stuff, but he has this exact same watch with the white dial. So this is the black dial version.
Speaker 4:Wow. He
Speaker 2:actually had the white version. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Let's see.
Speaker 2:He did. Yeah. He doesn't have it anymore. He's got another limited edition. I'll bet they
Speaker 4:have such good dial design.
Speaker 2:It's amazing. But yes, white Sarbetsv, I believe it's VO five. And this is VO three. And he got it for me actually was one of our key, like, milestone birthdays together. So he got me that watch.
Speaker 2:And now, like, both wear that watch on, like, birthdays and stuff and, like Oh. Yeah. So it's how many connections. So throwing it back to you, Joshua, is there something that you and your twin do that kinda camaramorates, like, being a twin that you guys saw music is one thing. But Yeah.
Speaker 2:What else do you guys do you share another passion or thing or something that you do as a ritual together? I'm just curious because me and my twin have a bunch of things we always do together.
Speaker 3:No. I love that. Yeah. No. Right now what?
Speaker 3:Yeah. What do like, we we have, like, I would say, like, somewhat weekly, biweekly, like, phone calls just kinda catching up just because he he lives, like, down by, like, Toronto area. So we we don't see each other much, but we, yeah, we kinda talk on a regular basis and just talking about our goals, how to motivate each other, and just, like, continuing to push our push each other forward to to just succeed in life, basically. I I'm trying to think. He he got me like this, like gold fossil watch, which, oh, I love it.
Speaker 3:It's like, I wear it all the time. Well, now I switched, but it's okay.
Speaker 4:Can't wear it every day.
Speaker 3:You can't wear it every day. No.
Speaker 2:You need the rotation. Right?
Speaker 3:Exactly. But other than that, no. Like, when we were younger, like, we what do we do?
Speaker 4:You've running. You've been running for
Speaker 3:some
Speaker 4:Thank club with you. Yeah. You remind me.
Speaker 3:So a a lot of things that he does, like, it inspires me. Like, I would say my twin brother is, like, my biggest, like, inspiration, my biggest motivator.
Speaker 2:I know exactly what you mean.
Speaker 3:Right? So when it comes to yeah. Like like, working out, he he, started dead lifting. Was like, oh, this is easy. It's not that easy.
Speaker 3:It's never
Speaker 2:that easy. It's my weakness. Honestly, my back, always gets
Speaker 3:it's it's so tough when this is back in like COVID, like 2020. So him and I put on like for us anyways, we put on a lot of weight. So like right now I'm like one hundred forty five.
Speaker 2:I don't see it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm one hundred forty five. But back in COVID, like when everyone's like kind of like, I don't know. That's when a lot of weight on people started. I got up to I got up to one hundred eighty, but so like one eighty for me, like I'm, I'm a small dude, but one eighty, I, I kind look Yeah. A
Speaker 4:Talk about COVID nineteen. Put on COVID.
Speaker 3:Truly. No, it was rough, but I was deadlifting like four fifty five.
Speaker 2:He
Speaker 3:he got up to five plates, so, like, four ninety five.
Speaker 4:So he's crazy. And he can't blame your genetics. You you you can't. No.
Speaker 3:You can't blame your genetics, truly. Oh. So when, yeah, when he was working out, I was like, okay. Like, I need to keep up. I I need to do this.
Speaker 3:Now he's running. And like, he's preparing for a, like, marathon, like a full marathon. Wow. He just ran like 20 I think he did 25 kilometers just
Speaker 4:Basically a half.
Speaker 3:Basically half. Just over. Yeah. And I ran a I ran a 10 k literally the first time, I think four days ago. Wow, dude.
Speaker 3:No, it was rough. It was rough.
Speaker 4:How did it make you feel?
Speaker 3:Oh my goodness. It like I, man, it was, it's a crazy story. Let me tell you. So the start of the 10 ks, I in my head, I told myself, I'm going to run this 10 ks. So I go for it and I'm running.
Speaker 3:I'm thinking, oh, this I'm like, I was running for maybe I thought it was like thirty minutes. I was like, oh, I'm already I'm already halfway. I was only at like 1.9 kilometers and and something in my head was telling me turn back, like turn back. Like once you hit 2.5, just turn back, go back to your car. You're not gonna make it to 10 k.
Speaker 3:And so I'm fighting this urge and like my, I had like a pain on my left knee, but I just something in me. Was like, no, I I gotta fight this thought in my head and I gotta fight this pain in my knee. So I just kept running, kept running, and this pain was just hurting a lot more. So while I was running, I was listening to worship. It was a, I think it was a Brandon Lake song that was on talking about like, oh, like I've seen cancer cured and I've seen all this.
Speaker 3:So in my head, was like, wow. Was like, you know, miracles can have it. So I was like, praying God. I was like, hey, get this pain out of my knee. Like, I, you know, I wanna finish this 10 k.
Speaker 3:So now I'm just running. I'm trying to I'm trying to get to this five k mark. And honestly, like and I I promise, like, my knee felt so much better. Now now I'm pacing way better. Like, I don't know if it was, like, the runner's high, but now I'm going.
Speaker 3:And and I made it to the five k mark. So now now I'm five kilometers away from my car. So now I have to run back. That's I was like, okay, now I have to. There's no going back.
Speaker 3:Right. So and throughout this whole time, like, I'm constantly running. I didn't want to stop. I didn't want to walk. And that was because my my twin brother had rented 10 ks, but he had walked like the last kilometer, I think, or something like that.
Speaker 3:Was telling me and he felt so disappointed. And so I was like, Okay, He stopped. Like, I I need to prove something. I I I wanna I wanna get through this. So I'm I'm now maybe like seven kilometers in Earl, and and now I'm dying.
Speaker 3:I'm like I'm like in so much pain. Like, both knees are hurting. But again, I'm just I'm just like running and I'm praying. I was like, okay. Like, you know, like, I I can do this.
Speaker 3:Like, I just need, you know, I just need a strength and protection. And yeah, I made the 10 k. Wow. It was like, the pacing was kinda whatever and the time, but like my goal and my purpose was to make the 10 ks. That was, that was the biggest thing.
Speaker 3:Like honestly, like I'm, yeah, it was such a, like a surreal moment. So yeah,
Speaker 4:it's like, goes back to what we were saying before. Go at your own pace. Right?
Speaker 3:Yep. There you go. Go at your own pace.
Speaker 4:True. So were you like running a lot before or was this like your first 10 ks ever?
Speaker 3:First 10 ks ever.
Speaker 4:What about like five K?
Speaker 3:There we go. I've done maybe like four or five, like, five k's before.
Speaker 4:But, like, a while ago? Exactly. I just jumped into attack.
Speaker 3:Just just jump right into it. Because I, like yeah. I felt like it. I was just like
Speaker 4:You wanted to prove to yourself.
Speaker 3:There we go. Exactly. That I that I can do it. Like, it is possible. Right?
Speaker 3:Nothing's impossible. True. True. Truly nothing's impossible.
Speaker 2:And I I think it speaks to, like, perseverance and, like, taking it, like you said, like, I guess, no pun intended, but step by step. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, yeah. And you're right. What's cool is when you get to that point of no return, like you said, you have
Speaker 4:no choice.
Speaker 3:You have no choice.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's that's just where you need to get to in order to just say, okay, now it's I'm committed. I gotta go. Right. But truly, and like, may, maybe it's a good life lesson in general, but like, you're talking about pursuing your dreams. Your dreams can be like that too.
Speaker 4:Like when it comes back to the studio, right?
Speaker 3:Oh, there we go. Good segue to the studio. Good segue
Speaker 4:We to have this sunken cost here. I feel like the way you get through life is you commit to something, and then you finish it. You don't quit. Right? That's like my whole life.
Speaker 4:I committed to doing university. I didn't even know what I wanted to study, but I committed to doing music, and I finished it. I committed to teacher's college, and I finished it.
Speaker 2:Amazing.
Speaker 4:And now I was like, okay. I wanna do something here. I have someone that will keep me accountable. I put some money in it, so I'm, like, really screwed if I don't make that money back. And it's like, we're committing to it, and we're gonna figure it out.
Speaker 4:And that's the way life goes. Yeah. Just when you're ready.
Speaker 3:There we go.
Speaker 4:It's like running.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. And the other thing that I found too is like, now that you guys know how old I am, I I learned this too. I feel too late in life. So for you guys, you probably already doing this. It's like, don't wait until everything's perfect to do what you wanna do.
Speaker 2:Right? Like, I kept thinking like, oh, I gotta like have this house or have this like established because I'm married now. Thankfully, ten years plus it's been great. Obviously some challenges too, but we're, we're going strong and we love it and we love each other. But it's like we always thought, oh, we have what about we just have to get this and then we'll be able to do X, Y, and Z and then we'll be it's like, no, we just started to go in a direction where we're gonna get what we wanna get out of life in terms of our creative projects and doors to start opening up because you committed yourself to doing it.
Speaker 2:You don't have the best plan. Like you, even the studio, like you're saying, it's like, you guys aren't like perfect engineers, but I bet you you're pretty darn good.
Speaker 4:We gotta figure it out.
Speaker 2:And you're never gonna figure it out.
Speaker 4:That's what you realize too. Right? Everyone's just faking it. Everyone, where
Speaker 2:you look at it,
Speaker 4:where you think they have it altogether, when you talk to them and you meet them, you figure out they're just faking it too. These guys that are making, like, 100 k, 200 k a month, they're just faking it. They don't know what they're doing either. Right.
Speaker 2:But they're figuring it out.
Speaker 4:Exactly. Going with the flow. That's easy to look like you have it together.
Speaker 2:Right? Right. Right. And, you know, I get from you guys, like, the genuineness, though, is, like, even though you're faking it, there's a difference. It's not you're faking it to look a certain way.
Speaker 2:You're faking it because you're getting your experience.
Speaker 4:Oh, I don't wanna say faking it anymore.
Speaker 2:We're learning. We're learning. That's what I'm trying to get at here. Right. So I'm gonna say that it's you're learning while you go.
Speaker 2:It's not. So I wanted to make that distinction. You're not actually faking.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. But everyone should be learning as they're going. Right?
Speaker 2:Truly. That's right.
Speaker 4:Can never stop learning. Lifelong learners.
Speaker 2:Yep. You heard it here first. Yeah. That's right. Speaking of which, what is one of the coolest things that you've learned since opening your studio?
Speaker 2:I'm just curious.
Speaker 4:You wanna go first? Yeah. I learned that rugs cost a lot. No. Couches.
Speaker 4:Oh my god.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I don't know if they can see the floors, but, yeah, we
Speaker 4:But they serve a
Speaker 2:purpose outside of looking cool. Right? You gotta dampen the sound.
Speaker 4:Is that part the sound? Lot. Truly.
Speaker 3:You know what? Think it's I only learned about, like, opening up the studio.
Speaker 4:It's tough because we're just, like, still very recently opening. We're just getting people in.
Speaker 3:That's it. Yeah. Right?
Speaker 4:It's just it's like you said too, waiting for the perfect time. Like, you went out of the country for a bit. I was out of the country. Like, things have just been so hectic. Like Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Making time to come in here. I'd say the difference between, like, having a home studio and being in a dedicated space. Right? That's a big thing.
Speaker 4:Even, like, going back to a gym thing. Like, I had a home gym before in my bedroom during COVID. So I was not like you, Joshy. I'm sorry. I was working out during COVID because I spent, like, a thousand bucks on, like, I had, like, a squat rack.
Speaker 4:I had a bar. I had, like, 400 pounds in my bedroom like an idiot. But luckily, was in the basement. So it's, I'm not going through the floor or anything. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna break through to my downstairs.
Speaker 2:You dropped like
Speaker 3:that. That's crazy. Yeah.
Speaker 4:I was in the basement. I'm, like, benching 300 with no Benching
Speaker 2:300, dude.
Speaker 4:It's gonna suck. Work I work as a personal trainer, so that's why it's I have to be a little strong for
Speaker 2:my job. Respect. Yeah.
Speaker 4:What was the point? But, anyway, had this home gym. And after, like, after twenty minutes, I'd start going on my phone or I'd get distracted by something. Because you're just not in the right head space, right, versus being at the gym. It's the same thing with the studio.
Speaker 4:Yeah. You can have all that home studio equipment, but being somewhere that's dedicated to their to your craft, it's like you forget your phones there. You just really lock in. As the kids say, you're locked in.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:It's different.
Speaker 2:You're absolutely right. No. Absolutely. That. Go ahead, Josh.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:No. No. That was good. Was just saying that's that's a really good that's a really good perspective for, like, the studio here. Right?
Speaker 3:So, yeah, it's, like, why why people wanna come in here rather than just record at home. Like, Doran just said. Right?
Speaker 4:So yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. No. And and like you were saying, Doran, I just wanted to bounce off that too. It's so true about the idea of having a dedicated space for something that you're gonna do. Because sometimes you just really just need to change the scene.
Speaker 4:You know
Speaker 2:what I mean? Of of where you're at, even in your mental, like, space.
Speaker 4:You know
Speaker 2:what mean? So that's that's really cool. I it's funny. Like, when I was having a hard time working from home, although I love working from home, I prefer it because otherwise I have to commute to Toronto. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But when I was having a hard time, one thing I did sounds kind of silly. It did help to change my mental space and get some other strategies. Used to actually dress up like in my lecture and stuff like that, like work shirt and stuff and sit at my desk and be like, now I felt like I was ready for work. It's funny how you do these little things, right? But it helped, honestly.
Speaker 2:And I would much rather have a local office to go to, like, builders club, for example. Now it's rated we're lucky. It's weird. Midtown radio does a lot of our work now. So
Speaker 4:Do you know Colin? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. He's telling been me to go to builders.
Speaker 2:He's he's got that cute
Speaker 4:little dog. Yeah. He has the three little dogs. Yeah. Monica.
Speaker 4:So Yeah. He goes to I go to same gym as him.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay. That that's awesome. I
Speaker 4:should Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Gym do you go?
Speaker 4:Lowes Gym kitchen? Check that out. Oh, you have? We work because
Speaker 3:yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. It's so close by.
Speaker 2:Because because Chris
Speaker 4:is so much. Yo, Chris.
Speaker 2:We we saw him at Josh's party.
Speaker 3:Like Oh my no. That's
Speaker 2:Oh, that's
Speaker 4:Oh my god. Oh, you know, Chris from the gym. I was just working today. We're working out together. Yeah.
Speaker 4:So that's just, yeah,
Speaker 2:I do like that gym. It just is my condo as a gym.
Speaker 4:Just not like that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Equipment is definitely this more abundant and better equipment. So if you're in Kitchen or Water looking for a gym, shout out.
Speaker 4:Dedicated space full of like minded people. Right? Just like being at the studio. You go there, you're surrounded by people who are serious, and you're just in the right space. You're surrounded by weights.
Speaker 4:You gotta pick them up. Right? You might as well. You're already here. You took the effort to drive there.
Speaker 4:You gotta do something.
Speaker 2:Right. So for those who are looking and they're hearing this podcast and like, hey, this sounds like a really cool studio. These sound like great people who are really authentic and you are. How do they get ahold of you for the studio? Like, what kind of services are you offering?
Speaker 2:All that stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah. We're we're a sapling with sky studios. We offer live tracking solo artists, like vocals, even instrumentals.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're, we're a place to, yeah. Like helping artists grow is, is how we wanna kinda
Speaker 4:Collaboration, competition, like you said. Truly. Exactly. Which is a good reason why I wanted to stay here and like not do something in Toronto. Right?
Speaker 4:Yeah. Although, I don't know the Toronto scene, like, that well, so maybe I'm just kinda guessing. But I feel like it's more of a rat race there where people are, like, competing with
Speaker 2:each that. Yeah. From the all resources, I've heard that. So I think you're right.
Speaker 4:Choice here is just, I really love the community here. But back to how people can reach us, check out our website, saplingandsky.ca. We've got, like, a form there you can fill out, tell us about your projects, or you can just DM us on Instagram, either the studio Instagram or Josh's Instagram or my Instagram. I'm sure they'll all be linked up anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah. We'll provide some links and descriptions for the podcast if you're watching. Or if you're listening on Midtown radio, it'll be on the Transistor FM description. Awesome. So, we had some great life advice that you guys were throwing out there.
Speaker 2:If I may, I'd like to just go back to some of Joshua's, I guess, songs and some of the energy because, like I said, when I first saw you, you know, I don't know how to describe it. It's like people who are doing, like, solo keyboard stuff, usually, it's pretty reserved. I find. And they let the voice do the talking, which of course you do, but like you were hyping the crowd up. You were just like full of the energy.
Speaker 2:You, you were there, like your energy and presence were felt. And I think it was like, yeah, it was like filling a space more than just the music was filling a space. And that's the best way I can describe it.
Speaker 4:Think I would describe him as infectious infectious in a good way, in a good I
Speaker 2:would agree. And I would agree. And we heard a bit about you, like Joshua, is that you like you, you really enjoyed performing, like that attention and stuff like that. Like, when we're, when you're sitting and talking, you're, you're, you know, you're very calm and collected. And when you're performing, you're infectious.
Speaker 2:So is there like, it's not as I'm not as you're not flipping a switch, like, yeah, describe that. Like, what is that? How does that work for you, man? Like, how do you become that person on stage?
Speaker 3:I think it's the reps. It's just doing it so often that when I step on stage, I know my job is to make sure the crowd's having a good time. It is my yeah, it is my responsibility to make sure that they're here to feel something other than what they've been feeling at work, at home, or like, yeah, that that's how I wanna be able to like serve. Right? I I'm using my talents to to, like, help the commune is how I how I picture how I wanna kinda make it out to be.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I would I would say I'm a very goofy guy in in in a lot of ways. So I I try to just showcase that on stage while while yeah. Like, while we're talking here, it's like, you just make it very easy to talk to. So I appreciate But yeah.
Speaker 4:Do you feel like it's a character? Like a Oh my different Josh that you're stepping into? Like
Speaker 3:a different Some sometimes. Sometimes.
Speaker 4:It's like explain it up.
Speaker 3:It is in it's it's when I wear my glasses. So I
Speaker 4:That's what it
Speaker 3:is. There you go. So I wear glasses on stage
Speaker 4:for The the perfect opposite.
Speaker 3:The opposite is Superman. So I like to wear, like, glasses on stage. Just so Sunglasses. Sunglasses. Sunglasses.
Speaker 3:Sunglasses. That's saying. Just like reading glasses.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to I'm trying to read the lyrics
Speaker 4:trying on the grill. To get a monocle.
Speaker 3:No. But, yeah, when I put the sunglasses on, it just I don't know. It I think it gives this, kind of a shield. Changes
Speaker 2:the scene.
Speaker 3:Changes the scene. There we go. Exactly. Yeah. That's the switch.
Speaker 3:It's like a it's like a costume. Right? So Cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I just gotta say, if you if you're listening to this and you haven't heard Joshua Pasquale's live shows, check the Instagram of some of the people posting rails and stuff. Like, people are dancing, like he's up on like the monitors. It's, it's just something you
Speaker 3:have to
Speaker 4:push ups.
Speaker 2:He's doing push ups. Sometimes the shirt comes off.
Speaker 4:So good. Yeah, man. And that's something we would Truly. How do you get that live experience to transfer to a recorded song? Yeah.
Speaker 4:Right? That's a really difficult thing. How do you still bring that same infectious feeling Yeah. Into a recorded song? Right?
Speaker 4:And that's something we're still working on. I don't have the answer.
Speaker 3:No. Exactly. Right. Yeah.
Speaker 2:No. But I think that that you're even, like, having that as a question that you're looking to resolve, I think is amazing. So speaking of of resolving, just to finish this thought about the live show, it's like, it's just a different experience. I can't explain it. And he everybody's like, listen to his music.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. But then if you can see him live, it's a different experience, and you just have to be there to experience it. But, yeah, and as Doran said, like, that's a really cool idea actually is taking that experience and trying to capture it in a recorded way. If you I guess, if you can square that circle, like, you'd be Yeah.
Speaker 4:It's difficult for every band. Right? Yeah. Absolutely. A lot of
Speaker 2:What's that like recording them? Like, like I can just picture you behind the, the mic or the keys or something while you're recording. You got that same, like drive and energy or do you like,
Speaker 3:well, that's the thing. So I had to really, what's the word? So I actually had to learn how to, like, sing in a studio. Because when you're singing live, it's, you know, it's, you get one chance. You get that one time.
Speaker 3:But in a studio, you you get a lot of takes. So I remember Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I remember finding myself having this thing called red light syndrome, which is
Speaker 2:Yeah. What's that?
Speaker 3:So it's when you see the red recording dot, the like, it just becomes like I I don't know. I think it's nervousness or just something where you're not performing at a 100% because you know that it can kinda be, like, recorded over and over.
Speaker 4:I don't think it's a I don't think when you say performing, it's like skill wise or technique wise.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Right? Because I'd say your technique when you're recording is really good. It's emotionally.
Speaker 3:There we go. There we go. You you can capture
Speaker 4:the filter
Speaker 3:on. There we go. Right? It's how do you capture that emotion? When the red light comes out, the emotions kinda
Speaker 4:I feel like we're you're so focused on being so perfect sometimes.
Speaker 3:There we go. Yeah. We've, yeah, we've talked
Speaker 4:about a lot where I'm trying to get you to
Speaker 2:like Keep talking about it. Is good.
Speaker 4:And like be less technically perfect. That it's okay to be imperfect because when you have those live shows, right, you have those imperfections, but that's what makes it fun. That's what makes it human. Yeah. And when we're recording, it's just like so, so perfect.
Speaker 3:Right. Everything's on the clock. Everything's
Speaker 4:like Right. With a click track, all that stuff. Click tracks take away your emotion. Don't record with a click track.
Speaker 3:Why? If you need time, you got you got to. No, that's that's so fair. I again, so I studied I studied music for three years. And, you know, like, you will learn all these rules.
Speaker 3:Like, you know, now have a degree with with jazz, contemporary vocals. And it's so hard to, I guess, step out of the mindset of, I guess, like, breaking these rules that have been set.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Right? So It was, like, a huge thing for my entire
Speaker 2:especially if you're, if you like maybe
Speaker 4:a non, but if you're classical, like, you like, man, classical, like,
Speaker 2:yeah, I've heard that from other folks who've got like, were, you know, like trained up in classical and, conservatory and everything.
Speaker 4:Like I love the professors I had and everything. But I got it was it's on me, ultimately. Right? Like, I was so focused on, like, oh, this note's out of tune or this one's, like, flat or whatever, and, like, the rhythm is wrong here. I forgot to play with emotion.
Speaker 3:Ah. Right.
Speaker 4:Until I remembered that, like it's like, what's that Batesopan quote? To, like, play a wrong note is not a crime, but to play without emotion, like, is it Yeah. Is, like, terrible. Whatever whatever the quote is.
Speaker 2:I love it. I don't know.
Speaker 3:That's a good quote.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's great.
Speaker 3:Are you classical then? Did you? No,
Speaker 2:I grew up in high school band, similar idea, like clarinet of all things, because of my guitar. My parents buy drums.
Speaker 3:How dare they?
Speaker 2:No, but it did lay a great foundation similar to what you said, Joshua, too. I'm grateful. So grateful to have like the best music teacher in high school. Yeah. To this day, like, and he's well known in the community and everything.
Speaker 2:But he yeah, he instilled like, if anything was passion, like, I can't say I like, he was also very technically minded, but I just didn't have the technical skill at the time, or I guess the interest on clarinet to really do it. Cause I really wanted to play guitar. So I was learning more on guitar at home and stuff. So anyway, it's not about me, but to answer your question. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Mostly self taught after high school, but just had a super great foundation. Thank you to all those music teachers includes you guys.
Speaker 4:Shout out music teachers. Yeah. Teachers. There you go.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Music teachers give sound advice. Yeah. There you go, truly.
Speaker 4:I love it. I love it. That's funny. Yeah. The red light.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I think another thing too has been our recording process, which we haven't had a chance to get the whole band in yet to do, like, a live tracking session with drums and everything. But it's like in the what's I wouldn't call it the old way. But the old way we're doing it before where you're just recording one track at a time. Right?
Speaker 4:Like, you lose some emotion doing that.
Speaker 2:Truly. Oh, I can't. Yeah. I can imagine.
Speaker 4:Like, just with the click track, recording vocals. Yeah. It's terrible. No. It's abrasive.
Speaker 2:I find it really hard to record anything without the drums behind, like, actual drums, like, instead of just the metronome. Not really. But I guess last question for you guys because I feel like this is something we could talk about for a bit, and this is great. But what's next for you guys, both of you individually and as a studio? Like, where do you see yourselves going in the next six months and a year kind of thing?
Speaker 2:This is not an interview, like, you know, like, you know, job interview question. This is, a passion 100 question. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I think we talked about this, and I had a had a conversation with my twin brother about, I guess, the business goals. Right? So he was kinda instilling. It's like, what's the purpose of this business?
Speaker 3:And, you know, typically, when you start a business, you think of the money. Right? Like, a business is to generate income. And so that was that was kinda weighing heavy on me. I was like, okay.
Speaker 3:Like, now we gotta, like, really focus and, like, just be so driven, to to make, like, x amount a month or get x amount of people in the studio. And I was like I was, like what's the word? I was, like, kinda, like, pushing that onto Doran. And what what I love about Doran is that, one, like, he holds me accountable to to so many things. And in this case, it was why we started this studio in the first place.
Speaker 4:Even before that. Like, why do you do music before? Exactly. Because if you wanted to make money, no offense, but music's not the right place
Speaker 3:to write down. Don't don't do this for the money.
Speaker 4:No. Exactly.
Speaker 3:And, yeah, you you do it because you have that passion for it. So when when we talked about these goals, I I took away the the real reason we started this is so we can grow as individuals, as musicians, artists Right. Producers, engineers, just lovers of music. Right? And lovers of, you know, like, sharing our talents with other people.
Speaker 3:So so it truly shifted my mindset to to the point where I was like, okay. This is what we want. I I hope we can I can speak for both of us? Like, what we want is to truly grow. Like, the reason why it's called Sapling Sky.
Speaker 3:Right? We're just we're saplings, and we're trying to grow into this into the sky
Speaker 2:truly. Beautiful.
Speaker 3:Right? So it's yeah.
Speaker 4:It's Shout out Robert.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Brother brother name. Right? So that that's where we're at. We're we're in a in a season of growing.
Speaker 3:We're in a season of learning and just meeting new people. Right? So everyone that inquires in the website, like, understand, like, we wanna know your story. We wanna know why you wanna be recording in here and so we can we can help and we can, you know, be be part of the journey with you. So
Speaker 4:Yeah. We're not trying to make a million dollars. It would be nice. But, ideally, it's just like a place for you to record your stuff for me to learn and grow and to meet other people and just grow our own personal careers from there. And if the studio can make a little bit of money along the way, that would be great too.
Speaker 4:Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Absolutely. Because you're supporting the community and in turn, that means the community is gonna support you. Yeah. But it's financially, which is, as you mentioned, for the business side, like, that's practically what you need.
Speaker 2:But in other ways, potentially as well. Yeah. That's great. So personally then, I'll throw it over to Joshua and then Doran to wrap it up here. What's next on the horizon personally?
Speaker 2:Any new songs coming up or you got the wedding plan and stuff? What's going on with Josh next?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So, yeah, got got a couple more shows, more like corporate gigs this summer. And then, yeah, it's gonna be grind time for this studio. Wanna get more people. I want I'd love to focus more on that, but still focusing on my own music.
Speaker 3:Try I was trying to drop songs every week and realized, hey. I should take more time with
Speaker 2:my beat the
Speaker 3:That's what I tried. Yeah. So just just in July, dropped a song every month. Every month. Every week.
Speaker 3:But now it's
Speaker 2:I remember you said that when he performed at the gospel.
Speaker 3:There we go. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so I'm I'm just kinda like, again, this is a season of growth and season of learning.
Speaker 3:I'm seeing what works, what doesn't work. And right now, I I do wanna take more time with my music and take more time with the lyrics and take more time having people come in and, like, listen to the songs and tell me what's wrong with them and tell me what's, you know, what's what can be better. Because everything can
Speaker 4:Or what they like.
Speaker 3:Or what yeah. Of yeah. There you go. I I have on that. Right.
Speaker 3:I have a mindset of, like, always thinking it's like, what how can we always improve? But
Speaker 4:You got it.
Speaker 3:So But it's good to it's good to know what does work. Right? So you need that. But, yeah, it just season growing. So that's what I'm doing.
Speaker 3:And, yeah, planning a wedding. Tough.
Speaker 2:That's that sounds great. Thank you, Joshua. Torin?
Speaker 4:What about you? I'm gonna make you go first. Midtown. This is Midtown Radio?
Speaker 2:This is visit it'll be on Midtown Radio.
Speaker 3:There you go. But SceneIQ. Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I see. Scene two IQ.
Speaker 4:Scene two IQ.
Speaker 2:It stands for scene to scenic. So it's like changing the scene.
Speaker 4:So So what are your hopes? What are your goals? Once one year, you know, five years.
Speaker 2:Thanks. Actually, there's a really exciting project that I'm gonna be part of coming up in a couple weeks that we're talking about not having the best plan and just setting your direction and just going for it. This was probably the biggest leap of faith, if I can use a phrase to say that I'm super excited for. So there is the there's a fingerstyle guitar festival in Quebec that was put on by one of my heroes of fingerstyle guitar. His name's Antoine Deferre.
Speaker 2:And I was very fortunate to have my last podcast interview with his current partner, Kyleera, who of herself in her own volition is an amazing operatic singer and artist of all kinds, plays harp and all this stuff. So we're together and she's from Kitchener. Wow. So, yeah, and it's a it's a long story. But all that to say is in the next while, I'll be heading to Quebec and helping to film a mini documentary with Kailira about the fingerstyle scene there, which to me is like insane that I'm doing this.
Speaker 4:Got to Quebec. It's a foreign world over there.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. But that's just, that's just speaking to like putting your passion and setting your focus and say, okay, I'm gonna do, I don't know what the result is gonna be, but I'm just gonna do this.
Speaker 4:The law of attraction. Right? Yeah. Butterfly effect. If you didn't start the podcast, then who knows where that could bring you to?
Speaker 2:That's exactly how it happened. If I didn't start the podcast, it wouldn't make Kylyra. And I wouldn't mind. Then I wouldn't have met. And it just kept going like that.
Speaker 2:So that's and, you know, that's my biggest thing on the horizon. And outside of that is is very, I guess, serendipitous too, but I'd love to start recording some original music.
Speaker 4:So Hey.
Speaker 3:I know. Know. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Right. We're
Speaker 2:gonna chat. We're gonna chat after this.
Speaker 3:Yeah. We'll chat. We'll chat.
Speaker 4:For us to start. Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 4:Now we're here.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 4:I just started with one message. The algorithm should be a reel. Anyway, plans for me Yeah.
Speaker 3:Store. Please.
Speaker 4:I don't know. I just wanna release a level of music. Right? I kinda have this perfectionist mindset. I know it's so bad.
Speaker 4:At the same time, it's like, don't finish stuff either. And every producer has this problem. If you say you don't, you're like right? But you, like, fit you start a loop.
Speaker 2:Capo. Good enough. Push on.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I guess so. But, yeah, you make, like, an eight bar loop. You put drums on it whenever, and you don't bother to arrange it or you don't put it on BeatStars. You don't put it on YouTube.
Speaker 4:You don't send it out to anyone. You just have this sitting on your hard drive for ten years, and I probably have 200 of those. And I gotta put them out and finish them, and that would be nice. Yeah. Right?
Speaker 4:But you keep telling yourself you're not good enough. Anyway, I wanna do an instrumental album, something on violin, maybe some writing.
Speaker 3:Okay. Mac DeMarco. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Well, I'm not really a singer anyway. That'd be nice. And just collaborate with a lot more people.
Speaker 2:There you go. That's amazing. Gentlemen, thank you so much for both your time. Thank you for inviting me to the studio. It's been a huge pleasure getting to know more about you guys individually, getting to know about your business, getting to know about the goals.
Speaker 2:I really appreciate this. And again, I just want to show you guys out. Anybody who's listening, please check out stop playing Sky Studio website, Instagram, check out Joshua Pasquale's music, go see him live. And in the future, go see Doran live because that's part of his goals.
Speaker 4:Hey. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Guys, have a great night. Thanks again. And take care.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Thanks for having us. Take care.