And so, again, I'm just preaching that again, I think, that focused approach.
Now, can you do everything today perhaps, but I do think if you find
that niche that you're just great at, that's different for a writer-artist.
Someone that really spent their lifetime wanting to be on stage and
they go out and do it.
And I know you work with someone just like that.
But that's the real unique individual,
somebody inspired to be that writer-artist.
And we have those in our industry, obviously.
But I have traditionally been with a lot of people that really, one or
the other, you know what I'm saying?
But if they got outside those little parameters and became producers, and
managers, and everything else, sometimes they crumble.
[MUSIC]
>> I feel like I know a lot of people in the business who don't maybe appreciate or
understand their own strengths best.
What do you say to students?
How can you find the thing that you're really good at?
You find brilliant writers who want to be on stage,
or performers who really work best aside people.
How do you know when you've hit upon a thing that is really yours?
>> That's a toughy and I just think, and you probably could answer it,
I think we all could.
But the old Joseph Campbellisms of following your bliss.
It's kind of like I think that's the best thing I could say to someone.
I'm also a spiritual guy,
and I just really do believe that certain gifts you are given.
And, ironically, sometimes recognizing it is the hard part.
But, you know what I mean, I do believe following your bliss,
just what makes you, what you're not tired, you want to keep working on it.
And I know, I hope that's just not too bland of an answer, but
I just know I have found.
Before I came to Belmont as dean, I've been on the advisory board here for
20 years and I've also been involved in the mentoring program.
And it's amazing that the reason I do it really is
I was that student 30, 40 years ago.
I was a music business student at Belmont.
I was one of the early, early folks to come through the program.
I sat in the chairs, I heard people come in and talk about it.
I just love music, I was so into music.
But, really, I learned to engineer.
Again, every path I went down led to another, but ultimately, in my heart,
following my bliss, it was working with songwriters.
I still think there's nothing better than hearing a song
just after it's been finished and the writer's got all that energy and
God given thing that just happened, a creation.
And they play it that first time.
After that, it's not as fun for me, you know what I'm saying?
But I love that and I knew that that's where I wanted to go with that.
Going back to mentoring students, I found by just having these kind of discussions.
And often, they'll have a list of people that are looking for mentorships and
I used to pick somebody that I thought I could tell they hadn't figured out yet
exactly where they wanted to be.
And, again, first of all, I would talk like I am now.
But by the second or third meeting, all of a sudden,
the talking was coming back at me, you know what I'm saying?
It opened those doors of passion.
And by the end, normally, it was like,
yeah I think, I don't want to do this, I want to do this.
And so, I don't know if it's something that can be taught as much as
just what I'm saying, just an awareness of what really touches your heart.
And you're going to have friends.
I think the toughest thing for entertainment students,
music business students, film students, sometimes your peers and
your parents, if they don't get it, they don't get it.
You know what I'm saying?
Sometimes, they're not going to be very supportive or what's plan B?
What's plan B?
And I know everybody thinks you need a plan B, but hey,
sometimes it's nice if you don't because you are so impassioned about this.
And, then, whether it's Vanderbilt, whether it's Belmont,
if you do go to university and say you get a real knowledge of the industry,
you can take that knowledge to any industry.
As long as graduates are coming out of here.
The overused word of critical thinking.
What I just really like to just say, just be able to think, you know what I mean,
on your feet.
Hey, something just fell or we got to fix this.
Be able to really think.
And beyond that, again, as a program that even though we're teaching
technical skills to our audio guys and music publishing and copyright to music
business, and on and on down the line, I preach from the day they get on campus.
First of all, from the day you're at Belmont,
they'll treat you like a professional.
And, therefore, you're competing, not with grandmother or
your high school class, you're competing with the charts.
You're competing with the films.
>> Right. >> Your stories are now competing
on a world basis.
And then the second thing that I start off first time I talk to the students
is just the aspect of integrity.
And, for me, I was blessed to go to work for men and
women with integrity when I left here.
And, at first,
you're thinking you've heard myths about the industry or what you gotta be like,
but what I've found, the people that survived are those that you can depend on.
They pretty much do what they say they're going to do.
And you know what I'm saying?
And you can come back, and back, and back again.
And I know in my own life I got a major,
major job because songwriters told some folks they needed to call me.
>> That's it.
That's been my experience, too.
I mean, because you can't, business isn't that big.
>> It's not.
>> That you can go around hurting people, and
it doesn't eventually come back and get you.
>> And it's just what is the right way to live?
Because, again, what we are, we are blessed getting to do this.
And totally, I'm going to go off, but
I have told, in my heart, several songwriters that,
some of them represented in the room, that I really felt, because of my passion for
music, I was put in my job, not about me, it was about them.
Because I was going to be the guy who was going to sign them, and
do you know what I'm saying?
>> Mm-hm. >> And so, well, that turns it around, but
again, it goes back to my Bill Hall philosophy about why I was,
Doug, why you're here.
It's because of the people right down the hall, you know?
>> Yeah.