MN Music Note - Ep 40 - 5 Gigs a Week. Full-Time Job. Zero Excuses with Aly Dyg

What happens when you stop waiting for the "perfect time" and decide to go all in on your dream?

In this episode of The Minnesota Music Note, Aly shares her journey from singing in her grandma's kitchen as a little girl to becoming a working musician playing multiple shows a week across Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

With a growing catalog of original music, a packed performance schedule, and plans to leave her full-time job behind, Aly opens up about what it really takes to build a music career from the ground up.

In this episode:
• Why Aly is leaving her full-time job to pursue music full-time
• How she taught herself guitar through YouTube and determination
• The reality of playing up to 5 gigs a week as an independent musician
• What it's like being an introvert who thrives on stage
• The story behind her original songs, including "Sweet Lover" and "Death to the Nation"
• Why finding the right band has been harder than expected
• How she's releasing new music every month while building her career one show at a time

If you've ever chased a dream, taken a risk, or wondered what it takes to make a career out of music, this conversation is for you.

🎧 Watch the full episode now and subscribe for more conversations with Minnesota musicians.

Resources:
PodcastCrew website: podcastcrew.online
The MN Music Note FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/minnesotamusicnote/
Email: william@podcastcrew.online

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:17

So how long? So 30 years old, how long have you kind of like been into music? Were you like born with a microphone in your hand?

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Oh yeah. Always. So I when I was apparently I was singing before I was talking to people or humming as a kid. Really? Baby. Yeah. I would hum all the time, I guess. Um, and then also when I was four or five, I would dress up in a sheet, and then I would make my older siblings or aunts or someone make me a paper torch, and then I would so I would be Lady Liberty, and then I'd walk out into the into my grandma's kitchen so I could sing the national anthem for everyone.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Really?

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

So that's what I was doing.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

So you were what were you inspired by somebody else in your life, or do you you just were born a performer?

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Um, I honestly do think I was kind of born a performer because I'm really the only one in my family to do music or to perform. Yeah, but then when I was 10, I didn't know I actually wanted to act perform for people. Um I always wanted to sing. Um, I didn't know I wanted to perform for people until I was 10 years old. And I went to my um my then vocal coach. Um, I went to one of her shows, and that's Colleen Ray. I don't know if you know Jennifer Grimm's a pretty big name around here. So that's her mother. Okay. Um she was she played, it's it's it was called the Girl Singers of the Hit Parade. And I went with my mom, my Aunt Bonnie, my grandma Kathy, and then there's just me, a 10-year-old girl surrounded by like 50s and up. Um, and I was the only kid in the audience, and I was just awestruck by these pretty ladies in ball gowns um singing songs from by Patsy Klein, Connie Francis. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Well, that's pretty cool. I mean, even you said yeah, 10 years old is still pretty young. And it kind of like just kind of make that choice and kind of settle into something.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

So yeah, I guess I really I can't really think of anything else I would have wanted to do. Well, I did want to actually go into wildlife ecology at one point, but my my my life took a turn and I just decided I I've always wanted to do music, so I'm gonna do music.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Cool. Oh, well, tell tell me about the turn. Can we dig into that a little bit? Like what was going on there?

SPEAKER_00 2:49

So I was actually gonna go to college up in Ely, Minnesota once upon a time, and I ended up not going because I was with uh I was with a boy, and so I I don't know, it just I decided to stay down with him because I thought I was in love and he didn't want me to move away, and it was just I'm glad it hadn't ended up the way it did. But I don't know if I had the chance to go and do it, I probably would just because I like to learn.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Yeah, yeah, still oh yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

I I'm learning every day. Um I actually went to Ely a couple years ago for my birthday trip. I take a birthday trip every year, and I kind of went up there and thought about what could have been, but I don't I don't live in the past. I always look towards the future. So yeah, but it was kind of fun to think this is where it could have been for you know a couple years of my life.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Ely is not a not a large city.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

No, it's small. I'm not a city person. No, I'm so terrified of big towns, big cities, um, driving in them. Um, I'm actually a very introverted person. I'm an extroverted introvert. So I don't like crowds. I don't, which is kind of hard. It's counterintuitive when you're trying to do a music thing.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

It's it's funny because you you're saying that, and I would say out of gosh, we must be going on like 40 episodes now. I'd say out of 40 episodes, there's probably 38 of them are exactly the same as you. Yeah. It's funny how many of us musicians like we find an outlet on the stage, yes, and we just let it all go. But once we're off the stage, I don't want you to talk to me anymore.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

I really don't want to have a, you know, I want to go hide back to it.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

Let's give you on a podcast and it's fun. Then we're then we're gym and we're having a good time. Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

No, this is one-on-one. I'm good in this. I'm good in this.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Yeah, but don't want to go out in the crowd and like hang out and talk to everybody. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

No, it's it's kind of hard. But yeah, I I think it's great. I think that this is um why a lot of musicians or artists or creative people are that way, is just because you do need that outlet, and that is your outlet. And when you're done, you just need to go back and find home.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Yeah, I mean, think think about the concept of fame, right? I mean, I I think maybe at one point in time, all of us that are musicians at one point fantasized about how big we could get or who we could be like, or but imagine how difficult it actually is because I would imagine that a lot of those really big musicians are probably also introverted extroverts, you know. And that they really don't want to not be able to go to the grocery store, you know what I mean, and and just buy cucumbers because that's what they want to do without getting mauled by 20 people or whatever, you know. Yeah, it's gotta be pretty challenging.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

I think that's why I know a lot of fame people that get famous actually end up getting therapists or going to therapy for being famous, and I think that's probably why.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Yeah, I mean, it's gotta be a lot to deal with, a lot to carry.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

I I know I've uh had the conversation before too. I'm a I'm kind of a metal fan, yeah, you know, on uh Metallica's, you know, kind of thrash metal band that's one of the most famous ones in the world. But can you imagine how difficult it is to have four or five people in this marriage for 40 years? No, you know what I mean, and still be doing it and still be out there. There's got to be so much, you know. I I'm married to one person, my wife, you know what I mean? And we've we've grown a lot in 20 years together and we've changed and it's challenging at times, right? But imagine doing that and having four other people you have to deal with at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

I know, I can I could not imagine. I'm I'm trying right now to actually find a band.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Is that right?

SPEAKER_00 6:38

I've been trying for like two years now, and I just can't find people that click fully, or there's I gotta find someone that's great, and they're in five other bands. Uh-huh. And so that's that's something I've really struggled with. So I would love to be able to fantasize about that, but right now I'm having a really hard time. But eventually, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

So do you do you not want band members to be in five other bands? Is that concern you, or is it just because you want to play a lot and you just frequently be challenging?

SPEAKER_00 7:12

The frequency would be very challenging. That's what I'm running into. Um, so like I play on the summer last year, I was playing four or five shows a week. A week? Holy cow. Yeah, like with between private parties, um bar gigs. Um yeah, I was I'm playing a lot. Um this this went this month, next month. I have shows every weekend. So like two shows every weekend. I'm playing two shows Saturday.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

Wow. Um, so I'm whereabouts, let's drop it here. You know what? Never mind, because this episode probably won't be out in time, but you could share it anyways. I want to know. I'm curious.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

I play all over pretty much western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. Get get my directions right. Um, I'll be playing, I played Ziggies in Stillwater uh quite a bit, River Siren in Stillwater. Um sometimes I go down to Rochester um and uh Lake La Crosse, Wisconsin. Um I play up in Sha Tech in Wisconsin. That is a very fun lake town, very fun place to play in the summertime. So, and there's everywhere has music in Sha Tech in the summer. So any musicians out there listening, um, try to get up there. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

So so without the band, like what's what's a performance for you like now? Is it you and a guitar?

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Yeah, me and a guitar. Um sometimes I use backing tracks for like some of my originals just because I like to add a little bit more fullness. Yeah, the fullness. Um, and then also I have been very scared, but I would love to incorporate uh my keyboard. Uh I just have to get past that first gig where I play my keys and then I'll be fine.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

So do you play a lot of keys at home when you're completely?

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Like at home, at home, yeah, in my little closet studio. I've got my little keyboard on the table next to me.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

I'm not like a it's funny how you're an introvert and you call it a closet studio because you just imagine like literally you with the closet door closed. Like, don't, don't, don't talk to me, don't touch me. Yeah, I really making music.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

When I'm when I'm working, do not talk to me. I am I am a bear. Yeah. The only thing I want to, so I do have a boyfriend and we live with each other. Um he only he knows just if he's coming into the into my space, he needs to knock on the door or like wait till I'm quiet because I might be recording something.

SPEAKER_02 9:39

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Then he'll knock on the door, and I only want to ask here two questions. Do you want food or something to drink? Like, because I need to be, I need to, I'm in the zone, just leave me alone.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah, I I think you guys need to work out like you know, in the in prison where they have a little door that opens so you can just slide the food in. Oh, that would be amazing. Yeah, it's hot and warm. Don't you need to talk to anybody?

SPEAKER_00 10:02

He takes care of me. Yeah, he makes sure he makes sure I've got I've got food and water, so that's really nice.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

That's good, keeps you hydrated.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Keeps you supported. I like it.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Yeah, but that's a good idea. I'm gonna have to do that. Well, that would be ideal.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

I'm full full of ideas, yeah. Cool. So um, so 10-year-old you decided, you know, watching this large group of performers, you know, that's what you wanted to do. So it'd kind of start there and just kind of take before. Like, what was your journey like?

SPEAKER_00 10:32

Yeah. Um, so first started, like I said, in my grandma's kitchen. And then in school, um, my family, we were not, we had no money. We were very poor. So the only I wanted to learn how to play an instrument when I was in school, um, but we could not afford it. Um, so the only instrument I did have was my voice. So I was always in choir. And then from choir, and like I don't know how old a 10-year-old is, fourth, fourth, fifth grade, um singing in school, music classes, anyways. Um, I went to the show and I saw the girl singers at the hip raid. And then my Aunt Bonnie was friends with the the main singer, Colleen Ray. And so they set me up with voice lessons and I did voice lessons for a little while, but again, no money in my family. It got too expensive. So then we quit for probably a year, and then one Christmas when I was like 12 or 13, um, I got a little certificate in my stocking that said I could start voice lessons again because my grandparents had paid for me to do voice lessons because my mom couldn't pay for it. Um, and then so voice lessons. Um, I ended up dating a guy in high school, and his family went, they were big into music. We went to an open mic in Lakeland, Minnesota. It's called the Beach Bar. And so I would go there with them. I was like 14, 15 years old, probably shouldn't have been in the bar, but um no one no one said anything. And um, so we'd go there and play music. I'd sing, I didn't know how to play an instrument at that point. And um, my boyfriend then at the time, he was a bass player, and so he would play bass, and uh I would have to sing songs that other people knew that I knew, and so I didn't like that because I wanted to sing the songs that I wanted to sing, and I saw another lady get up there, which there's um there was one or two women that went there. It was Trandy Blue and Sarah van Volkenberg. And Sarah von Volkenberg was the first one I saw. She's a musician in the in the area here.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

And uh she's still performing, still out there?

SPEAKER_00 13:00

She is a little bit, yeah. She's a music, she was a music teacher. I don't know if she's retired. Um, she was a bit older than we were. Um, but I saw her play guitar and sing, and I was like, I asked her after when she got off. I was like, how hard is it to do that? And um she's like, it's not hard at all. And she said, if you think you want to do it, then you should. And so I got a guitar and I taught myself how to play from the YouTube Academy. The Academy of YouTube, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

And um started playing. Um and then for I don't know, probably four or five years. I I didn't actually go play a show or anything, I just was playing at home and doing what I could. I'd sometimes go out to open mics and stuff and jam a little bit, but then one day I was decided I just wanted to play shows myself. Or scar, excuse me, I'm missing a whole spot. I played in a cover band. I was a singer in a cover band. Okay. What was the name of the cover band? Flashpoint, and that was out of Woodville, Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

Okay. And they're still around?

SPEAKER_00 14:07

They're not around anymore. No, um, I hope that they'll start again sometime soon. But I know that the guitar player, um, Josh Gerhardt, he had hurt himself. He fell off some rafting doing some work at his house, and he was the lead guitar player. And so I don't know how he's doing with that. And I haven't talked to him for a while, but um though I put so I played in the cover band for a while and then So how long?

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Like like what age were you when you started, and how long were you in it?

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Cover band, I was probably 23 or 24 when I got in the cover band, and then uh I was in it for maybe four years. Oh, so I was probably 23, four years, so 23, 24, 5, 6, 27. I think I started playing. I did my first solo show though. I decided like I can do this. Like I'm doing this with the band, I can um I've got my guitar. I see other people doing this solo, so I just needed a speaker, so I got a speaker system for Christmas, and it was not a very good one, but at least not compared to what I have now, now that I know a little bit more about equipment. Um, but it may do. And um, so I told the guys after a year of trying to do solo shows and doing the band shows, I kind of said I just want to try to do this by myself, I just want to go solo. Um, and uh they were very supportive, they kind of knew it was gonna happen, and uh so that was like I said, I think three or four years into the band, and then I I did one year where I was doing band and solo shows, and it got to be too much, and I wanted to play more. So that was really what it came down to. Not that I didn't love playing and performing with those guys, but I wanted to play more than they wanted to.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

So, what do you write about? What are your songs about?

SPEAKER_00 15:59

A lot of them are very uh, I guess, introspective um things that I feel inside myself. So, like my latest release called Sweet Lover, who's definitely born how can how how PG can I go with it? Or how R-rated are we?

SPEAKER_01 16:18

We're all adults here, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Thank goodness, okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Yeah, we were laying down some F-bombs in the last episode. Wonderful. You're at a safe place.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Wonderful. Okay, so Sweet Lover is my latest release, and I wrote that because I was um at a point in my life where this is gonna be weird coming from a woman or uh from a girl, I guess. I was so sexually frustrated. And so it's not about the song's not about love, it's about lust. It was about me wanting to just go out and take whatever I wanted. And so that's what I I write about just emotions that sometimes people are afraid to say that they have. Um, we all have emotions like that. Sure. We all feel like that. And if you say that you don't, you're lying or you're a saint. Um, but so that's what that song's about. And then I just released a song in January called Death to the Nation. Um, and it's not political, it's a personal song. So what is your nation? Um, was kind of the question I was going off of. And your nation is you, it's your your mind, it's your ego. So one of the lines in my song is um death to your ego, say goodbye. So it's really about ego death, and um a lot of the things I write about is you know not really living up to society standards, I guess you could say. So just a lot of internal turmoil on my end. Um all the emotions that I feel I cannot uh really express personally. I just I write about them.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

So um one of the artists that I used to love when I was growing up, if you want to apple, very uh uh disturbed in her music. Yes, I love it in the first several albums, and then she found success and her music got a little bit more campy, I would say, and a less less deep. Do you see that ever? Like what what would happen if you if you made it to some larger stage and had a couple million, you know, just on the side, you know, that would be wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

Right?

SPEAKER_01 18:39

I would never have a problem to have, but that'd be a wonderful problem.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

Um I feel like for me personally, I feel like I I don't want to say I've suffered, but I've been through quite a bit in my 30 years. And so to finally have if I were to finally have something like that, I think that the songwriting would definitely change, but I wouldn't forget I guess where where it came from. Yeah. Um, and I feel like a lot of artists like that who find success, what really happens is that um they get with the record company, they get with a team, and the team kind of starts to dictate what is good and what they should write about. Um and they do inevitably put put themselves in a box that you, yeah, you sign that deal, but what are you giving away? Um because I've seen some artists like Halsey, she just come out in uh she was in an interview like a couple months ago, and she said, I can't release another album because my record label won't let me, because the album I just released didn't perform as well as I thought that it would. And it's like, well, yeah, it's because you you signed your name on their contract. So um crazy. I don't so I I don't maybe I'm giving Fiona Apple the benefit of the doubt, but I do feel like especially with artists, when you start out and you're alone or you're just working with a couple people, there's less influence and it's more coming. It's just whatever's coming out through the ether is filtering just through you. And then when you do kind of get bigger, there's a lot more roles that are filled that you were once doing, and there's a lot more rules and politics to follow.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

A lot more decision makers and the more chefs in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Yes, yes. That's just how I feel though.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

No, I thought that's that's exactly what I was open for. Just your perspective on it. Yeah. And to give Fiona Apple some great credit. She actually has some newer stuff out now, which is fantastic. So I've got a 15-year-old who started playing Fiona Apple in the car. I was like, dude, is this Fiona Apple? Like I knew it was a new song and you never heard it. I had never heard it before. That's awesome. I didn't know she was really singing. Some new material out there is pretty good. Tori Amos just came out with a duo.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Yes, I love Tori Amos. Oh my gosh. You're saying like some big artists that I just love.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

Is that right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Fiona Apple's great. Um, Tori Amos, I love her song, um, Take to the Sky. That's a song that I would love to cover. Um, we'll see.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Mm-hmm. Nice. Yeah. Cool. So do you do covers anymore, or is it pretty much you're performing your own stuff?

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Nope. I'm still doing covers. Um, sometimes when I book shows, um, if the venue specifically asks for it to be a cover show, I'm gonna make it a cover show. Okay. I might sneak in an original if I can. But um, for the most part, my set list is mixed with um covers and originals. Generally, I do a pretty good mix of them. Um, it's like 50 50 now. Um, if I'm doing a show in the cities, it's like in Minneapolis or something, is generally an all original show. Um, so I just played a really cool show. The green room on Tuesday last week.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Oh, that's a nice spot.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

Yeah, it was a really cool venue. And I played that with a full band. Um and that was great. We played eight of my original songs. Um half of them are out, half of them aren't. Um, so that was really fun. And then Thursday I was at the Midway Saloon with the North Star original review. Um AJ, I guess. AJ, yep. AJ Stone. Our buddy AJ. And um so I played there on Thursday. And then so those were two original shows last week. And then, gosh, where did I play Friday? I played somewhere Friday and Saturday, but I uh honestly can't remember where. And they were both. Well, and I am still working full time too, so but I will be quitting. Um, I put in my notice. I gave them yeah, I gave them quite a lot of leeway.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Full in to music?

SPEAKER_00 22:53

I'm going full in, yes. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Yep, yep, congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

We're gonna see how it goes. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Congratulations. A lot of people, yeah. A lot of people wish to take that plunge and a lot of people don't for one reason or another.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

But yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

Yeah, play as much as you're playing. And exactly.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Yeah, I'm very I'm very happy and very lucky, I guess, that everything's kind of fallen into place right now. Like I don't I don't have kids or anything to take care of, it's just me and my dogs. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

And a boyfriend who feeds you and waters me.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

And a boyfriend who feeds me and waters me. Yeah.

unknown 23:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

I do it. I give him food and water too, so it's okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

It goes both directions. Yeah. Just when you're recording, it only goes one way.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

He fixes my car. Um and I feed him more than he feeds me, so it it makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

So he's st he's still worth keeping around.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Yeah, he's worth keeping around. All right, yeah, good stuff. Not time to train him in for a new one yet.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

Too funny. All right, give me a funny or weird or strange story out in the wild when you've been playing.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

Oh gosh. I can't think of anything too crazy.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Give it inspirational, right? You walked in and didn't realize it was this and participated, you know.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Right. Um I guess the funny thing, this is like the lamest thing you're gonna think is the lamest thing. Um it's a tip. I got a tip once and it wasn't like a cash tip or anything. It was a little piece of paper that said, don't go ice fishing in June. And so I guess that's my funny story. I have a terrible funny story there. But um that is pretty funny though.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

It's good out to you, and that's uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

It was a terrible. Um, your shack sinks. You can't get past the shallows. Um so that was my funny story, which I'm sure I have more funny stories. I just can't think of them right now. It's gonna come to me later. And then um your other question was, sorry.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Uh no, that was that was the question. It was just yeah, it was either funny, inspirational, just I just gave you some options.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

Now I'm getting nervous, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

What why are you nervous? What are you nervous about?

SPEAKER_00 25:08

Thinking on the spot.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Okay. Well, I do have the worst memory.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

I have the worst memory. So is that right?

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm the same way. I know I'm I can remember everything, remember the actor's name, remember the show I watched, remember the title until you ask me about it.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

I'm like, Yep, yep, yep. That's gone. It was there and then now it's not.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Yeah, off in the ether. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Cool. So um what's what what's next? I mean, obviously, it sounds like you're putting your notice and you're gonna be out here doing more music. So where where where are you going?

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Um hopefully all over. Um still kind of regionally right now. Um so Minnesota, Wisconsin. Um I'm hoping to maybe get some spots in Iowa and Illinois later on this year. Um, but we'll see. Um where I'm going for right now is that I'm just doing um a waterfall release schedule. So I'm releasing a new song every month. And I'm trying to do a music video for um them every month too. So my my first release of this year, uh, January, was Death of the Nation. And I made a music video with that for that with my little sister, and my budget was $40. And I don't think we did terrible. Um, she's 14, so she's like a videographer. I bought a $40 spotlight, and we did it in my sis other sister's um pole barn. Um and so we made it work. I think it's great. It's on YouTube. Um, my next release, Sweet Lover, just came out um Friday, um, the 27th. So just a couple days ago. I'm doing a music video for that this Friday. Um the budget for that one's a little bit bigger. I have real I have dancers coming in and we're doing it in a studio.

SPEAKER_02 26:59

Oh wow, cool.

SPEAKER_00 27:00

Yeah, um, so I guess that's just that's where I'm at right now. Um I l I have I enjoy making content um but I really just want to make music. But unfortunately with the day and age that we're in right now, you do kind of have to be a content form, I like to call it. So that's kind of where I'm at where I'm um relinquishing my day-to-day job so that I can be at home and I can just make more content, write more music, um, and put as much of it out there as I can every time I'm practicing, every time I'm writing a song, if I think something looks cool, I'm gonna always just have my phone there and record it and then put it out for the people to see. I'm not gonna always look great. I mean, if you see some of my stuff right now, I'm in like pajamas, my hair's not brushed, or it was after a 1 a.m. show where I got home at 1 a.m. and I always wake up at like seven every morning. It doesn't stay in the world. It doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

Yeah, so my wife's the same way, no matter how late we're out, she's up at 6 a.m.

SPEAKER_00 28:07

Yeah, it's rough. Um but no, I'm just gonna give I'm gonna put out into the world just kind of the most raw form of me that I can give people. And uh I just hope that they like it. Yeah, so big release schedule for 2026, and I'm hoping I'm hoping that my music that um my producer and I, uh Daryl Bolichek. I'm hoping that what we've been working on for, you know, two and a half years that it's gonna come out this year, that's gonna open some doors for next year. Um I know that when you're building something, um, especially something as real as this, um success doesn't come instantaneously. It's it's a it's you're it's a momentum thing. You're you're building up to it. So I'm hoping that I'm gonna have some big opportunities this year, but really I'm just building for next year.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

Oh, that's fascinating fascinating. It's it's great to see you out there doing it. And I I'm I'm inspired, I'm encouraged, I want to see you.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

I want to see you win for sure.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

Yeah, Laura, I'm trying. I'm trying.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

Alright, so I like to wrap these up by always asking the same question. And since you haven't watched my podcast, you have no idea what I'm gonna ask you. I'm sorry. That's all right. You'll catch you'll catch up eventually when you have time.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

Well, so as there's an audio of your podcast, though, right? Because that's what I normally do. I listen to audio. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

So it's on it's on all the major uh channels, Spotify and Apple Music and all that stuff. So I mean I love the video version, that's why I've got the cameras here.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

But um Amazon music, because I'm a weirdo and I do Amazon music.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Amazon music, it is probably on. Okay, perfect.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

Well, I'll be your I'll be your follower on there.

SPEAKER_01 29:54

Okay, awesome. So, anyways, the I always wrap these up by saying who do you recommend should be next on the show? And obviously AJ, so graciously recommended you. So you can't recommend him. He's already been.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

No, I know I won't recommend him. Um so actually I'm gonna go meet a friend later on t tonight after this, um, over at the White Skrill Bar.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

Oh yeah?

SPEAKER_00 30:14

Yep. And so I'm gonna recommend him and his band Halfway Down.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

They're pretty awesome. They're a pop punk band. Nice um out of the cities and originals? Oh yeah, originals all the way. Awesome. Um they just played at the um Big Term Music Festival. So yeah. Okay. I'm gonna recommend Sean from Halfway Down and the other two guys.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

And the whole band. The whole band. The whole band. Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Cool.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Well, thanks so much for coming on. Thanks for making all the trip all the way out here. Yeah. This will be great content for you, so you can have access to all of it. Yeah. We'll we'll create typically we create the edit, the full episode, and we'll give a reel as well. And we use the reel to promote the episode, which you can also have the reel, and then you can create your own. Oh, I will blast it all over my socials.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

Yeah. Nice. It's just very cool.

SPEAKER_01 31:01

Awesome. Well, thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 31:02

Thank you. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

Hey there, Minnesota Music Family. If I haven't personally reached out to you yet, consider this your 100% official invitation to join me on the Minnesota Music Dode. I'm Will McLeod, co-founder of the podcast crew here in beautiful Robinsdale, host of the show, and the guy behind the kit for the band Hits and the Misses. I started this podcast because I want to get to know the people who make our scene tick. Whether you're fronting a band, spinning hip-hop, running sound, booking shows, running shows, or teaching the next generation of talent, your story belongs here. We've had everyone from videographers to festival organizers on the mic, and we're just getting started. It doesn't matter if you're playing arenas or just making magic in your basement. If you're part of the Minnesota music community, I want to chat. Slide into my DMs or hit the email below and let's hang out and talk shop.

SPEAKER_02 32:07

Did you think it would hurt me when you pulled away? Did you enjoy my bed, sweet lover? Feel that call you kidnapped. You can be my job, I'll be in the game. All they wanna play, there's no losing in this game, all they wanna play, help me on a feeling's training on the heart, let me take a plane away, you can be my job, I'll be in the game, there's no losing in this game.