Dan Mehta's Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dan Mehta
The goal of the podcast is to provide insight into my world of creating music for films and other creative endeavors.
Podcast Topics Include - Music Production Techniques - Recording Instruments - DIY Tips on Music - Lessons learned from Experiences - My Favorite Quotes
https://danmehta.com
Brought to you by Dan Mehta Productions LLC
I went to the book store yesterday and was thinking of a video to film for Vlogmas. I thought about talking about my favorite books but then realize how muffled the audio would be with my mask so I gave up on that idea. Instead I thought of doing another podcast of explaining why On The Road by Jack Kerouac is my favorite book and how it has inspired me to always seek adventure through motor vehicles. Hope you enjoy.
Check out my music and donate if you wish - https://danmehta.bandcamp.com/
https://danmehta.com
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For the past 14 years I've mainly been working as a Film/Media Composer specializing in bespoke music for an array of projects. Though I love being a composer and enjoy every minute I spend working on making music to picture, this career was never really on my radar. It was something I thought would be cool to do but 14 years ago, my main pursuit in life was to be in a band that would get signed and basically I would tour and make records for the rest of my life. Most musicians know that this is not really the narrative anymore as technology has given us the ability to do so much on our own without the help of a big name record label. In this podcast, I talk about the start of my musical journey and how it lead me to my dream of being a quote unquote rockstar who makes records and tours the world. Though this dream was not realized (yet lol) the lessons I learned and the people I've met in my journey have all played a huge part of shaping who I am today. Talking Points
My family of talented musicians Being a lonely teenager with a guitar Joining the High School Marching Band (This one time at bandcamp) Realizing my dream of touring You don't choose music. Music chooses you
This podcast is not heavily edited so you will hear a lot of my filler words (uhh, um, but, so, ok) I recommend listening it in 1.5x speed :)
Check out my music and donate if you wish - https://danmehta.bandcamp.com/
https://danmehta.com
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/danmehta/message
While I am lucky enough to have published a lot of music with artists and just myself, it wasn't always an easy task. Why it was not easy was because I had trouble collaborating due to my ego. Over time, I learned the hard way that you have to check your ego at the door and to always respect and explore ideas of the musicians you collaborate with. If you are struggling working with your bandmates or with a group of people in general, hopefully this podcast helps you so you won't have to go through the same mistakes I made.
Talking Points in this Podcast
- Don't have expectations
- Let go of your Ego to serve the song
- Leadership doesn't mean you make the decisions. It means being honest with your thoughts
- Leadership means not being afraid to be vulnerable
- Create a space where it's comfortable for everyone to express themselves
- If you don't like something, suggest something different. Don't just say "I don't like it"
- If you want a singular vision for your music, then hire and pay musicians
https://danmehta.com
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The goal of this podcast was to speak on my thoughts about finishing work. As artists, it seems like our work is never finished and we continually work on it without ever releasing it and ultimately abandoning it. Or we do release it but are never happy with what is now a finished product. Being an artist, musician, craftsman and human, I have been able to finish and release lots of songs mainly due to my career as a film/media composer but also struggle with releasing work solely for myself. When I have deadlines, it almost feels like I'm abandoning my song because I ran out of time and I know there is no need to revisit the song as it served it's purpose for either the film, advertisement or what have you.
Also, the ease in which we can create and release music now has created a sense of urgency to always be releasing work without thinking if what we are releasing is a representation of our true selves as artists. Some may say it's playing into the rat race of gaining popularity. I'm not one to have straight answers to these issues but I think about them a lot.
But whether you are having issues finishing a song/project or always disatisfied with what you're producing, I provide some insight into those age old dilemas that hopefully can help guide you into releasing your work to the world. I hope you enjoy my rambling of a podcast and please follow, comment, agree, disagree and or debate. Would like to know your thoughts as well on releasing your work.
https://danmehta.com
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"...a man who procrastinates in his own Choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance."
- Hunter S. Thompson
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"It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs, who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
- President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt
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Once a task is just begun,
Never leave it till it's done,
Be the labour great or small,
Do it well or not at all
- Quincy Delight Jones, Sr.
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Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you wanna go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see (ah-ah)
Our troubles are all the same (ah-ah)
You wanna be where everybody knows your name
- Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo
Today's quote come from the lyrics of the Cheers Theme Song. In today's episode, I talk about my quote unquote Cheers and how I found it. It's not a physical place but you'll have to listen to find out what it is!
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"Without Music to decorate it, Time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid"
- Frank Zappa
https://danmehta.com
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"Ideas are easy, execution is everything" - Casey Neistat
My name is Dan and I'm a film composer. I also like to make films, internet content and mostly anything creative. This is a new segment I am starting where I will be talking about my favorite quotes. I keep a book of quotes where if I see, read, hear a quote I like, I write it down. Instead of withholding these quotes, I thought I would share. Also, I will be sharing some of my favorite movie quotes and lyrics. Though many of the quotes will seem inspirational or motivational which I like, this is not meant to be an inspirational or motivational segment. It's going to be whatever it wants to be. Hope you enjoy
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