Arcane Echo – The ‘Snapshot’ Problem, Bad Managers, Advice for Smart Artists, and Much More

“I don’t care if I’m playing to 30 people. If I’m playing something I love and am passionate about and have written, then I’m good.”Arcane Echo

Josh Jett (Arcane Echo) is a button-pushing producer and performer based in Brisbane Australia.

In this episode, you’ll hear about Josh’s history with Australian mega-duo Mash’d ‘n’ Kutcher (and why he left the group). You’ll gain insights into the dark side of the music industry (it’s not all sunshine and rainbows). And you’ll also gain a more realistic view of what it really takes to make it in today’s industry (and whether you should even strive to do so).

We cover a ton of stuff in this episode, including:

  • Josh’s definition of success
  • The intense workload of an artist
  • Why you shouldn’t trust anyone, ever…
  • How successful artist/manager relationships work (and why most of them don’t) [Related: Episode 36 with Budi Voogt)
  • The two epiphanies I had while listening to Josh
  • Why you need to HUSTLE
  • How to work faster in the studio
  • Josh’s technique for staying grounded (I really like this one, we talk about it right at the end of the episode)

Note: our conversation is LONG (almost 3 hours). Listen below.

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This episode is brought to you by EDM Foundations.

EDM Foundations is my course for new producers, those who’ve been producing for under 12 months, or even those who’ve just started. You can learn more about it here.

The whole idea of the EDM Foundations course is that you learn the fundamentals of music production by actually doing and not just learning concepts. The course consists of 12+ hours worth of streamable video where I walk you through the creation of 3 songs, and give you advice for creating your own original.

Now, on July 1, we’re raising the price for EDM Foundations and this is why I’m giving it a plug in today’s episode. The current price for the course is $127. Next month, it’ll go up to $197. If you want to take advantage of this price, then don’t hesitate. And if you have any questions, just email sam[at]massive-journey.flywheelsites.com.

We’ve had over 500 people sign up for the course, many of them have had great results. Hope to see you in there.


Links from the episode:

Connect with Arcane Echo:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Soundcloud

Quotes:

“My mum and dad put me into piano lessons at the age of 4.”

“I tried to find the DJ element where I could be semi-passionate about sitting in front of a computer for 8 and a half hours a day telling people how to restart their computer so music would play.”

“If I don’t put the pressure on I’ll get too comfortable”

“You’re not programmed to grow up and leave security to chase a dream”

“I don’t care if I play to 30 people. If I’m playing something I love and am passionate about and have written, then I’m good.”

“People say, ‘You better do well when you’re 21 so you can be well when you’re 40…’ I mean come on… things aren’t like that anymore.”

“I had a habit of going into Ableton, and the first thing I did was make the BPM 150. And that’s a terrible habit. That’s dumb.”

“I wrote 120 ideas, and 120 of them were shit.”

“Don’t watch TV for 8 hours a day when you get home from work.”

“Having numbers on Facebook does not mean fame. It doesn’t. It just means that you have created a platform in which more people can view the end result of your hard work for a minute.”

“Don’t ever expect a silver bullet. You’re not going to get one.”

“Work ridiculously hard and perfect your craft.”

Show notes:

  • How he learned to DJ by observing (13:54)
  • How he became a full time artist (17:15)
  • The disaster that happened during Josh’s first gig (18:50)
  • Working at the office job (19:30)
  • First residency—earning $100/hour (20:53)
  • Quitting the office job (22:24) [Related episode: Hyperbits on Making Music Your Life]
  • Working at DJ Warehouse (24:25)
  • Mash’d ‘n’ Kutcher—Josh’s role in the group (25:10)
  • Why a big record label deal led Josh to leave Mash’d ‘n’ Kutcher (29:40)
  • Josh’s definition of success (37:24)
  • The ‘snapshot’ problem—why people don’t see the work behind success (40:30)
  • Why the music scene/industry is backwards (43:55)
  • Copping hate on social media (48:00)
  • The intense workload of an artist trying to ‘make it’ (50:31)
  • Writing 120 tracks in 5 months (54:53)
  • The problem of emulation (55:58)
  • Why Josh thinks you shouldn’t trust anyone… ever (57:42)
  • How labels used to work (1:02:56)
  • Collaborations—why most of them will never see the light of day (1:04:00)
  • Successful artist/manager relationships (1:06:00)
  • Josh’s relationship with his previous manager (1:13:56)
  • What’s next after playing shows? (1:15:42)
  • The drive that comes with having supportive parents (1:18:15)
  • Comparison between artist lifestyle and normal lifestyle (1:21:00)
  • Managers that stifle creativity (1:23:10)
  • Why AE doesn’t have a manager currently (1:24:54)
  • Transition to orchestral music (1:34:40)
  • How can producers be more unique? A reflective question. (1:47:25)
  • Why quantity beats quality (1:51:38)
  • Sam’s two epiphanies (1:53:28)
  • The importance of HUSTLE (1:57:13)
  • How long does Josh spend on a song? (2:02:50)
  • How to work faster—put the hours in (2:06:57)
  • Why Josh doesn’t want to be super famous (2:14:54)
  • The hilarious story about the fan photo (2:25:26)
  • Difference between fans vs. followers (2:26:53)
  • Why you need to know what YOU want (2:32:18)
  • Josh’s technique for staying grounded and humble (2:34:35)
  • Last words of advice (2:39:14)

Direct Download Link

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Subscribe in iTunesSubscribe on Android – Subscribe on Stitcher

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