Sound and Substance - Songwriting and Music Production artwork

Sound and Substance - Songwriting and Music Production

19 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 40 ratings

Sound and Substance is a podcast for independent artists and producers who want to improve their songwriting, performance, production and strategy, as well as get closer to the career they envision for themselves through their music. John Steen interviews people in the music industry who are making it happen, and offers helpful advice and inspiration for indie artists and producers who want to get their mind right to succeed with their art, while picking up some practical tips from our many guests.

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Episodes

Andrew Bair - Value and the Independent Musician

May 06, 2019 19:18 - 1 hour - 106 MB

Andrew Bair is a freelance recording engineer and musician. He's a member of the band ADMIRALS and runs a recording business called Dead Format Records.

2019 Announcement: New Podcast - White Space

March 16, 2019 01:24 - 4 minutes - 7.02 MB

I have a new podcast about the future of creative work, among other things. Would love to continue the conversation over there with new, relevant topics.

52: How Generdyn turned his passion for music into a full-time business in less than 6 months

June 13, 2017 16:31 - 47 minutes - 65.8 MB

Joshua Crispin's (aka Generdyn) dad gave him a challenge to make money from music in 6 months. He did it in 3. At 21 years old, he's placed music in trailers for Marvel, Disney, Paramount and many other major motion pictures.

51: Michael Kanne of Northern National

October 28, 2015 16:19 - 50 minutes - 58.2 MB

Michael Kanne of Northern National has the mentality that you have to make things happen. While many artists and bands make their music and hope to get noticed, Michael hustles day in and day out to create his own opportunities. In this interview we go over how in Northern National's first year as a band, they've already gotten gigs and opportunities that a lot of bands wait 3-5 years to get. We talk about how he reaches out to blog, how to spread awareness on social media without pissing p...

35: Lorenzo Cosi - Producer and Songwriter

May 27, 2015 11:00 - 32 minutes - 44.4 MB

Lorenzo is a producer, songwriter and mixing engineer currently living in London, UK. He's worked with artists, producers and ad campaigns like Lana Del Rey, Martin Terefe and McDonald's. Lorenzo and John first met when they were interning at Kensaltown Studios in Notting Hill, UK. At Kensaltown, Lorenzo ended up sticking around and learning from mega producers Martin Terefe (Jason Mraz, KT Tunstall, Shawn Mendes) and Sacha Skarbek (Adele, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey) and eventually developin...

30: Michaelangelo L'acqua - The Infinite Possibilities of the Creative Mind

May 06, 2015 01:58 - 35 minutes - 49.2 MB

  I’m pumped to have Michaelangelo L’acqua on the show today. Michaelangelo is a musician, DJ, producer and an international music lifestyle curator. In 1999 he was hired by Tom Ford to create the music identity for Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent and create the musical direction for the runways of Milan, Paris and New York.   He also executive produced the Nat King Cole Re:Generations project on EMI Records, which featured will.I.am, Cee Lo Green and Nas.    He went on to become the Globa...

29: Nick Onken on Following Your Creative Resonance

April 23, 2015 18:14 - 34 minutes - 48.2 MB

From graphic design to shooting for clients like Justin Bieber, Adidas, Burton and Walmart, Nick Onken shares his journey of following his "creative resonance" as a photographer. He also runs the podcast Shop Talk Radio for creative entrepreneurs. Nick originally started in Seattle doing graphic design work. After a life-changing trip to Africa and the encouragement of a friend, Nick decided his greatest passion was in photography. Climbing through a lot of the same struggles as indie musi...

26: Adam McCants on Licensing

January 24, 2015 18:49 - 22 minutes - 10.3 MB

Adam McCants is a licensing rep from The Music Bed, a licensing company with a national presence, garnering over 2 million views per month. Adam and I chat about... -What The Music Bed (TMB) is looking for from artists -What kind of artists TMB selects -How to improve your chances of getting syncs -What kind of music is "syncable" -How frequently artists can expect to get synced and the dollar range of monthly earnings their artists can earn -How to submit music to The Music Bed

15: Wes Stephenson

October 13, 2014 10:30 - 34 minutes - 15.8 MB

West Stephenson has been a professional musician for over 16 years and is currently both a freelance bass player in Dallas, TX and member of the band The Funky Knuckles. Wes is a very educated and skillful musician and has a few pointers for how to assemble a band, making a living as an independent musician and how to hustle and better your craft. I wanted to bring Wes on to show that you don't have to be a megastar to make a living in music for an extended period of time. Wes is loving pla...

12: Johnny Stimson

October 06, 2014 10:00 - 38 minutes - 17.5 MB

After an exciting arrival with a viral video to accompany his debut single, "Human Man," beguiling new pop artist, Johnny Stimson, shows no signs of slowing down. Stimson has since unleashed three additional hits with "Daddy's Money," "Here We Go Again" and "SO.GOOD."  All four tracks rose organically to the top of The Hype Machine's highly respected Pop Chart and, after a personal hat tip on their socials, are proving that he is here to make "major waves" (Idolator) on the pop scene. In th...

10: Sunday Lane of Thick as Thieves and Fauntella Crow

October 01, 2014 08:00 - 39 minutes - 18 MB

Sunday Lane is a versatile artist and songwriter involved with two bands: Thick as Thieves and Fauntella Crow. Sunday has had many licensing opportunities through Fauntella Crow, and has opened for Imagine Dragons and many others with Thick as Thieves. Sunday has played SXSW and Coachella, and has a lot of great perspective to offer indie artists and songwriters. We talk songwriting, collaboration, licensing opportunities and a lot of other good stuff. Thick as Thieves is about to release...

9: Multi Grammy award-winning Mix Engineer Rob Burrell

September 29, 2014 08:00 - 45 minutes - 20.8 MB

Rob Burrell is a mixing engineer in Nashville, TN. Rob has won 4 Grammy awards and been nominated for 12 Grammys to date. He has worked with major artists like Michael W. Smith but also enjoys taking on indie projects as well. In this episode, we talk about Rob's perspective on music creativity, what artists should be focusing on, and having integrity as a musician.

8: Thomas Juth - Grammy Award-winning Mix Engineer

September 24, 2014 07:00 - 45 minutes - 20.8 MB

Thomas Juth is a Grammy Award winning Mix Engineer based in London, England. ​Juth started his career as the in-house mixer at Kensaltown Studios in London, and as a part of the Kensaltown Team (James Morrison, Jason Mraz, KT Tunstall, etc). Over the years, working with a very wide range of musical styles, he has developed his own trademark sound - organic and punchy, as well as "vibey" and exciting. Over the past 7 years Juth has built up an impressive discography, including latin superst...

7: Ari Herstand - Artist, Actor, Blogger

September 22, 2014 08:30 - 42 minutes - 19.5 MB

Most people now know Ari Herstand as the guy who helped them fly with their instruments. His Carry Your Instrument On The Plane… It’s The LAW blog post went viral and has been viewed over 300,000 with over 40,000 Facebook Likes, a Reddit and HackerNews thread. In just under two years, Herstand’s music business advice blog, Ari’s Take, has been nominated by the LA Weekly as the best music blog in Los Angeles and has become a go to resource for DIY musicians. Ari Herstand is a DIY musician w...

5: Sam Smyers of Pollimer

September 17, 2014 07:30 - 42 minutes - 19.7 MB

Pollimer (Sam Smyers) is a solo artist and producer located in Los Angeles, CA. Growing up in Dallas, TX, Sam became interested in music at a young age, first learning to play the viola and eventually taking guitar lessons from the guitar/keyboard player of successful Denton-based band Midlake. After attending The University of Texas in Austin, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his passion for music. Sam picked up the name Pollimer and self-released and produced the single “Summer Nights,” w...

4: Kevin Breuner of Smalltown Poets and CD Baby

September 17, 2014 04:11 - 37 minutes - 17.4 MB

CD Baby’s Director of Marketing, Kevin Breuner, has spent over 14 years working in the music business, both as an artist and an industry professional. A San Diego native, Kevin went East to attended Belmont University in Nashville, TN where he studied Music and Music Business. After college, he joined the Atlanta based band Smalltown Poets who later signed a recording contract with a major label under the EMI umbrella. Their self titled debut album received critical acclaim selling over 200,...

3: Max Helmerich of Thick as Thieves

September 04, 2014 14:53 - 26 minutes - 12.4 MB

Max is a member of LA-based band Thick as Thieves, who blend rock, hip-hop and pop music. From Buffalo to Eugene, Thick as Thieves has toured extensively throughout the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and West coast college markets, opening for national favorites such as Imagine Dragons, Nas, Bassnectar, Empire of the Sun, Sean Kingston, Matt & Kim, Young the Giant, 21 Pilots, and Wale among others. Locally, they have played at many of the world famous Sunset Strip venues such as the Hou...

2: Graham Cochrane of The Recording Revolution

September 04, 2014 14:45 - 46 minutes - 21.1 MB

Graham Cochrane is a diverse producer, engineer and songwriter based out of Tampa, FL. He provides remote mixing and mastering services to clients worldwide, as well as heads up the online music community The Recording Revolution. Graham’s articles and tutorials have been featured by Avid, Slate Digital and Behringer, and his blog garners over 200,000 readers every month. In the podcast, we talk about how to approach a completely DIY recording project, the importance of fun and several othe...

1: Intro to S&S and John Steen

September 04, 2014 14:38 - 5 minutes - 2.56 MB

I talk about what S&S is all about, who I am and why you may be interested in listening if you're an independent artist or producer.