Dan, Carly and George talk about the convergent thinking that happens when artistic and technical genius meet, the difference between pivots and random acts of “improvement,” the unlikely rise of Crocs in the fashion world, and the different distribution models offered to musicians. They also talk about how to be your own hype person and share some of their favorite instrumental soundtracks.
Show Notes
- H. Jon Benjamin’s (aka Archer of Archer and Bob of Bob’s Burgers) jazz album Well, I Should Have…. He released a second album this summer too, The Soundtrack Collection
- Eartha Kitt as Catwoman
- History lesson time! Raymond Kurzweil founded the Kurzweil Computer Products, Inc. in 1974 and invented “the first omni-font optical character recognition system, a computer program capable of recognizing text written in any normal font” which led to his relationship with Stevie Wonder. The two ultimately co-founded Kurzweil Music Systems where the Kurzweil synthesizers were born
- Eddie Van Halen: he came, he saw, he reinvented electric guitar
- Frank Zappa was one of the first Synclavier owners
- How Crocs Became An Unlikely Fashion Success Story
- TuneCore has paid indie artists over $2bn to date – and is now paying them over $400m per year
Three Things
Dan
- Listening: To the Counting Crows album Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, a more personal album that Dan likens more to reading poetry than listening to music
- Watching: Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You Documentary on AppleTV, which brought the E Street Band back together recording for the first time since Born to Run
- Listening pt 2: To the Jimmy Eat World album Futures released in 2004, a year that he’s been thinking of lately with nostalgia and wondering what the future will bring
Carly
- Listening: To the Inception soundtrack, aka Time by Hans Zimmer, as productivity music. It is also one of the only videos on YouTube with overwhelming positive and philosophical comments
- Watching: Tenacious D’s Time Warp video with a bunch of cameos including John Waters, Susan Sarandon, Elizabeth Warren, Phoebe Bridgers, Eric Andre to name a few. Who knew Jack Black would look so good in a white blouse crop top or that Kyle Gass looks best in lipstick and eyeliner?!
- Loving: The New York Times Election Distractor which provides a much needed moment of calm, did you know segments, bunnies eating carrots and so much more
George
- Quoting: Egon Schiele “One needs to observe and experience the world with naïve, pure eyes in order to attain a great weltanschauung; — that is a living cult — the proper tone is a book which, for some, may be nice to consult, but proves itself completely useless in the world; in other words, there are those who should live through books and those who exist through themselves; who are better? — that is clear. — Few see the sun and everyone else must read novels and novellas in order to finally realize that there is light.”
- Listening: To the reissued American Beauty album by the Grateful Dead on its 50th anniversary, and American Beauty: The Angel’s Share with never-before-heard studio recordings
- Admiring: Joe Biden for his integrity, for never stooping low, and for his consistent empathy and decency
