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Here are the job opportunities (or as we like to call them, Grind Opps) from this week's show.
12/26/16
GRIND OPP #1
Position:
Sound Engineer
Industry: Recording
Location: Louisville, KY
Description
Kids’ theme park is seeking a sound engineer for special events.
12/26/16
GRIND OPP #2
Position:
Production Assistant
Industry: Film
Location: Dallas, TX
Description
AMS Pictures Original Programming Team is looking for a qualified, assertive, energetic production assistant.
12/26/16
GRIND OPP #3
Position:
Video Producer - Freelance
Industry: Film
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Description
Global marketing agency seeking video producer that will create advertisement content for national and global campaigns.
12/26/16
GRIND OPP #4
Position:
Audio Tech and Board Operator
Industry: Radio
Location: Seattle, WA
Description
Broadcasting company in the U.S is looking for a part time tech to run live and recorded programs.
12/26/16
GRIND OPP #5
Position:
Audio Engineer for Television
Industry: Recording
Location: Charlotte, NC
Description
Charlotte NC based Television Production Company is searching for a full-time Audio Engineer.
Transcript
DJ IZ: Welcome to “Connected.” I’m your host DJ IZ. I’m here hanging out with my lovely girl, Miss Cloie. Say what’s up, Cloie, with that…
Cloie: Good morning.
DJ IZ: …that beautiful day after Christmas smile.
Cloie: Yes. Thank you. Thanks.
DJ IZ: Before we even kick things off, Cloie, we already got folks in our chat hangout. Shout-out to Mazen, Liya, our lovely Liya, Manolo Feliz, Julian, Roger. You know, they keep coming in. So I just wanted to give them a quick shout-out. I had a wonderful Christmas. How about you, Cloie?
Cloie: Did you? I was almost gonna say it was super chill. That’s not true. I hustled on Christmas, and that was lovely.
DJ IZ: See? It never stops, huh?
Cloie: It doesn’t stop.
DJ IZ: It never stops.
Cloie: [inaudible 00:01:25], though. How was yours?
DJ IZ: You know, mine was great. You know, I was just happy to be hanging out with my family, my mom, my dad, my brother, my girl, my son. For me, that really was what it was about, for me, just hanging out with them, you know? We finally have some cold weather here in Cali, so I love that.
Cloie: I know!
DJ IZ: It’s kind of [inaudible 00:01:49]. And just…you know, just had a full-on Christmas spirit. I actually went to my cousins’ on Christmas Eve and hung out there and just had a good time. So my overall Christmas was great. However, I knew today we were gonna have to get up and grind and make sure we were here for folks so that we can present these wonderful jobs that we do every week, every Monday. So today, Cloie, we’re on show 44. Prior to the show, we were just talking about our show’s anniversary, which I believe comes up at the end of February.
Cloie: Technically, a leap year.
DJ IZ: I think we should do something really cool especially for our viewers. So maybe that’s something we can kind of talk about. If anyone has some ideas or whatever, we’d love to see that pop up in our Q&A when we get to that part of the show. But for those of you who are just tuning in, again, this is show 44. You can also catch us on our Google Play and our podcast on iTunes. Cloie, let’s let these new…you know, if we got new folks in today, let’s let them know where they can catch us on our social media.
Cloie: Sure. Thank you all for joining us. You can find us across the socials @IZconnected. That’s I-Z connected. And that’s on Facebook. That’s on Twitter. That’s on Instagram…yeah, Google+. We’re IZconnected. That’s who we are. That’s what we do. Also, shout out to…wait, Mazen says, “Liya and IZ, I took the decision, and I’m gonna play with the big dogs. Moving to LA within a week or two. Just have to figure shipping my current stuff. Super excited.”
DJ IZ: Wow, that’s so amazing.
Cloie: That’s Monday movement.
DJ IZ: Man, we got you, man. Get out here, and let’s make something happen. Also, too, Cloie, because we always forget, I wanna encourage our viewers to also catch you @alwayscloie on Instagram.
Cloie: That’s me.
DJ IZ: You know, we make it a little personal. You can always catch me @iz_avila on Instagram.
Cloie: Shout out, I shout back.
DJ IZ: Shout out to Jacinta, because we’re still rocking with her music at the top of our show. We had some questions come in from, you know, a couple of artists during the week in regards to…you know, I believe there was a question about producing. There was some more links for songs for us to check out. So we’ll be diving into that in the Q&A part of our show. I’m trying to think, Cloie. What else do we got coming up? We got a couple of cool things coming up top of the year, which is NAMM, for all our musicians, songwriters, the NAMM convention, which I believe happens the second week of January in Anaheim. So we’re actually putting something real cool road show for those of you who would like to attend. We’re pretty much in the in the mix of that getting those details together for you, guys. So me and Cloie got a cool little photo shoot we got coming up, because we got some cool upgrades and revamps for you guys coming soon.
Cloie: Real soon, guys.
DJ IZ: Real soon.
Cloie: Like, we’re talking, like, hitting 2017 hard and running.
DJ IZ: Yes. And I think too, Cloie, I think it’s important for them to understand, like, where we’re getting ready to go with what it is we do here on “Connected,” you know, making it super exciting for you guys, making it very painless and easy for you guys as far as getting you connected to these jobs, and just, you know, over all, building the relationship with our viewers and keeping it very intimate, keeping it real, super basic as far as the connectivity. But that’s kind of what we’re going. And you’re gonna see some really cool…you know, you’re gonna see a new environment. You’re gonna see me and Cloie together a lot more, her location, my location. Well, yeah, just stuff I’m excited about, Cloie.
Cloie: [inaudible 00:05:29] excited, yeah.
DJ IZ: Do we have anything else going on before we jump into these grind opps, Cloie?
Cloie: I think we hit it all. So we at IZconnected, we’ve been hustling so hard. So for our grinds opps team, thank you for all you do. Merry Christmas, and we’ve given them some time-off to just go and to be with family. So with some of the grind opps that you are gonna see, these are positions that are still open. So it’s a mix of some of the grind opps that are still open as well as some new ones for this week. And for this week, holidays and whatnot, we will have five grind opps.
DJ IZ: Yes, and also for those of you who are just tuning in, you can also sign up at rrf.edu.com/connected. Cloie, let’s let these folks know where they can also email questions, music, resumes, cover letters.
Cloie: For sure. You’re going to email those to [email protected], okay, [email protected]. And for those of you that are on social media and watching us, make sure you’re watching us on our official powered by Recording Connection. But hashtags, like, shout us out this week. We wanna know, where are you located? For people that are watching, put that in the thing. If it’s your first time, shout out a 1, make sure that everybody can see us and hear us too. But for social media this week, show us where your classroom is, #thisismyclassroom, because you wanna see where you’re really getting your learning out there in the world, in addition to Recording Connection.
DJ IZ: Yes, sir. Sounds good to me. So, Cloie, before we jump into these grind opps. I mean, I know our faithfuls know what to do at this point in time. But for those of you who are just checking in for the first time, this is your first “Connected” experience, we like to make sure you have everything you need, make sure you’re equipped so that when we run off these details, you got everything locked and loaded. You’ve got all the information, because these grind opps do come with very, very detailed information that’s important for you to know. So you can know whether you’re fit, equipped, or not for the gig. So we like to tell folks get out your pen, your pad, your iPad, however you jot down information, whether you text it, [inaudible 00:07:45] letters. What else, Cloie? See, Cloie is giving a great…
Cloie: [inaudible 00:07:50] whatever. I don’t care, just get it.
DJ IZ: Your Twitter fingers, get your Twitter fingers together.
Cloie: Get it.
DJ IZ: So with that being [inaudible 00:07:59]…
Cloie: We got a lot of first-timers, IZ. Hi, first–timers!
DJ IZ: Okay.
Cloie: We got a lot of first-timers.
DJ IZ: Who do we got first?
Cloie: Shout-out to Kurt from Portsmouth, Virginia. Eddie, yes, thank you for joining us again, Eddie from Louisiana. It’s his second time.
DJ IZ: We got Stan.
Cloie: Stan DC, baby.
DJ IZ: We got Alex [inaudible 00:08:18] Florida. Let’s see.
Cloie: This program has been going on almost a year, Eddie, right? Let me let me upgrade you. Yes, Stan DC is in the house as well. [inaudible 00:08:38]
DJ IZ: All right, here we go, new timers. This is how we do it. We kick off into these grind opps. First grind opp of the day is in the field of recording. This is sound engineer. A kids theme park is seeking a sound engineer for special events, and this is in Louisville, Kentucky. Here we go. Here are some of the details. He or she will be in charge of any sound-related requests made by clients. Equipment used includes…okay, here we go. We got another detailed equipment list. So I’ll make sure I’m gonna go through this very, very slow so you guys can jot down this information.
Equipment list includes Allen & Heath GLD-80 with a tri-amplify configuration and four wedges, four wedges being stage monitors. He or she will be going through a trial period of 90 days. Luckily for you all, the details on this grind opp are very short, very to the point, pretty standard, pretty basic. Again, you know, last detail was trial period is 90 days. The cool thing is these 90 days are just…you know, it’s not a waste of time. You know, these are kind of opportunities that you can look to kind of build off of and possibly land the gig. You will be being paid for this trial period.
Cloie: Yeah. You’re also being watched.
DJ IZ: Yes.
Cloie: I mean, let’s not get it twisted. I must be real. Come[SP] correct, you’re being watched, #overperform.
DJ IZ: Yes. So I think too what’s key about this one is you’ll be in charge of requests that are made by the clients. So to be able to actually execute those requests is very important and also to…
Cloie: And also to…well.
DJ IZ: …[inaudible 00:10:30] trying to figure stuff out at the last minute. And a good way to kind of prevent things is, you know, on any job, you wanna get as much detailed information that you possibly can prior to showing up. That way, you can do your homework, do your due diligence. I know for a lot of cats, the new way of learning and figuring it, like a quick cheat sheet, is going to YouTube. Like, most cats go to YouTube nowadays, Cloie, to kind of like “Let me see how they’re doing it” or “Let me see it so…” You know, those are great ways to kind of get yourself brought up to speed on some of this stuff that can be very technical.
For instance, like this particular grind opp, you know, they’re naming a list of equipment that they want you to be able to be familiar with and work on. So I would say, man, get on YouTube and dial these…you know, the equipment list and see what pops up, right, Cloie?
Cloie: Yes, make it fun for yourself. Learning can be “fun-damental,” right?
DJ IZ: Totally, totally, man. So again that’s in Louisville, Kentucky. I don’t know if we got any Louisville attendees today. But that is in…
Cloie. We got Texas. I saw Texas.
DJ IZ: We got Texas in the house. Okay, we got…
Cloie: First time Texas…
DJ IZ: [inaudible 00:11:41] we got Texas, D.C., L.A. We got Vegas. We got Jeff, shout-out to Jeff. Jeff is a first-timer. He’s from Las Vegas.
Cloie: Yes. And Margarita is the first-timer from San Antone, San Antone, Texas.
DJ IZ: San Antonio. All right, so that’s grind opp one. We’re gonna move into grind opp number two of the day. And this is in the film. This is a production assistant. AMS Pictures original programming team is looking for a qualified, assertive, energetic production assistant. This is in Dallas, Texas. Here we go. Must have a strong work ethic, critical thinking skills, and positive attitude. Well, we like to call those the fundamentals of presentation, because that is priority number one. Positive attitude, work ethic, and organized, being able to organize and having those things. A candidate must have strong organizational time management skills and have excellent communication skills. Must have advanced knowledge of all Microsoft Office programs. Knowledge of licensing and copywriting rules is a major plus. This is definitely an experienced production assistant gig.
Now, Cloie, being that this is primarily your field and what you do every day, you’re in the field, you’re doing commercials, you’re reading scripts, you’re doing everything, what is the ultimate production…like, If you were to hire a production assistant, what are some of the key things you’d be looking for? Like, what would you need them to have in place locked and loaded for you to really have confidence in hiring them?
Cloie: Other than organization, I would need them to be confident in themselves. Like, they couldn’t ask me…initiative. I think that’s it, a self-starter, somebody that doesn’t need to be told every single detail, but can take that jump, that leap themselves, seeing what needs to be done, and as opposed to asking how they can add, just jumps in an add, you know? I’m of the school of thought where it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. So I would rather you jump in and do too much. And then I can be like, “Hey, hey, hey, thank you, and maybe a little bit less,” as opposed to me looking at you like “I’ve been waiting for you to show up.” And at least perform, let alone over-perform, you know? So strong, self-motivated…motivational skills.
DJ IZ: Right. And, obviously, being there for the multitasks, right, because I’m sure a lot of times…I know, even with assistants, I’ve worked with them. You know, I might throw five or six different things at them. So being able to process that information and then eventually just execute it and get it done is a huge, huge factor.
Cloie: Yep, yep. I think that outside of what they have written here…I mean, this is what we were saying is a lot of what they have written, but Microsoft Office [inaudible 00:14:48] like that. Those are just key things nowadays, Microsoft Office suite. They have classes, again, online to figure out all of that stuff. This is a more specified PA job. They all have a administrative component. This is a more specialized sort of admin set, you know? But Office, it’s intricate. But it’s not impossible to learn, at least on a perfectly functional level.
DJ IZ: Right. And also too, I think it’s important, like, in this role, I mean, to be definitely, you know, tech savvy, have your laptop. You know, I think anybody who’s, you know, looking to be a PA should definitely know most of these Microsoft programs, emailing, all of that stuff.
Cloie: Anybody in this world…I understand we wanna be…we’re artists. You know, “I’m a [inaudible 00:15:49] guy,” whatever. Yes and thank you. Learn how to invoice and learn some Microsoft Office suite. It’s not gonna kill you. It’s only gonna help you as you run your business. This is the entertainment business, right, not the entertainment touchy feel.
DJ IZ: Right, right. There you go.
Cloie: Sorry, I get warm. I get hot.
DJ IZ: I feel you, Cloie.
Cloie: Because they don’t teach that in school. They do not teach in school. You can learn a lot, many things. They’re not teaching that.
DJ IZ: You know, I think that’s important. I think, you know, just based off of, you know, our experience with how it is we operate and function with a lot of our students who come to the Recording Connection is that a lot of this stuff, you know, doesn’t have to be trial-and-error. You know, a lot of these things can be caught early on. And, you know, I think what we’re able to offer at the Recording Connection, we’re putting our students in real environments, on real sets and real studios. That kind of curves, you know, those experiences for you, you know? You’re learning in the real world.
Like, again, you know, the classroom for us isn’t your traditional classroom. Your classroom is the actual working environment in the workplace. So those things, you know, you’re learning right then and there versus “Oh, man, I wish I would have, you know, had a heads up on that. I wish I would have knew that” or “I wish maybe on the next one, I won’t make that mistake.” But, you know, we kind of catch those early on in.
Cloie: And we’re talking a little bit more about your school of hard knocks later in the show, no?
DJ IZ: Right, absolutely, absolutely. School of hard knocks is where you’re gonna learn in a day.
Cloie: Well, well.
DJ IZ: All right, Cloie, this next one is in the field of film again, your favorite. So I’m gonna let you dish this one off too to our audience today.
Cloie: Okay. So grind opp three, film, video producer, freelance. Global marketing agency seeking video producer that will create advertisement content for national and global campaigns. And this is coming to you out of Las Vegas, Nevada. Viva Las Vegas, as they say, right? The freelance video producer will be responsible for project intake with client, including assessing needs and goals, estimating project costs, developing timeline and schedules, running project kickoffs, and maintaining communication with client throughout the project. The freelance video producer should have one to two years of experience in an environment with exposure to video and print. Resume, cover letter, and production reel required. I mean…
DJ IZ: Yeah, I know, right?
Cloie: You thought of what I was gonna say, okay. I’m just gonna [inaudible 00:18:39].
DJ IZ: And, you know, we do have some Vegas folks here in the chat today. So this can be cool. I’m not sure if they’re in the field of, you know, film or music or, you know, any of those, radio, which I’m sure we can find out once we get to our Q&A part. But how do you feel about those details on that grind opp, Cloie?
Cloie: I feel like what they need for application is so clear. And for those people that have been tuning in from us, not even since the beginning, right? We have been over, like, the resume, the cover letter, the production reel. We know what those are. So we have access to them in our archives. Make sure you check them out. Team, can you pop in in there where they can check out our archives where we do talk about the resumes, cover letters, and all like that, por favor. Thank you.
I just also think that when you’re working freelance, right, if you think about it just from a money perspective, your next job is not guaranteed. So the fact that how you have to show up and hustle and over-perform is very, very clear, and it means the difference between having your next job and also that spider web of jobs that can help you grow and having nothing lined up. That’s where my mind goes.
DJ IZ: Right. And I definitely agree with that. I think, you know, for this grind opp, you know, they’re saying, you know, “Should at least have one to two years of experience.” And you’ll find, you know, a lot of our grind opps’ details do come with a specified, you know, experience requests. And I think those are always good because it lets you know at the level of some of these grind opps, you don’t wanna get in there and not be able to deliver or perform. You know, I think it does you so much. You know, it’s so beneficial to you in the long run of doing your due diligence so that by the time you get to an opportunity like this, you got everything in place. You know what it looks like. You know what you need to be. You know what you need to do.
And, you know, we’ve been encouraging our viewers from day one to send us your resumes. Send us your cover letters. Let us help you build those out. If you’ve got a sizzle reel, we got a department that can look at that and help you kind of make sure it’s definitely in pocket and in place. And I think over all too, Cloie, these things are…you know, we’re looking to kind of position things in a way that best suits you as an employee or possible employee so that, you know, when you walk into these interviews and you’re looking [inaudible 00:21:35] these gigs at, you know, you could compete. You know, that’s the thing. It’s, like, everybody’s looking for a job. And thankfully, these jobs are only made available through our show here.
But, you know, [inaudible 00:21:44] the next man is in line two. And, you know, those things you always wanna keep in mind, because a lot of people don’t know what a cover letter is, or what should my cover letter be? Is my resume good enough? And throughout the course of our shows, we’ve actually featured some really well put together resumes. And, again, like I said, that’s something myself and Cloie and our team can help you build out and mold a great resume that pretty much showcases you in the best way possible.
Cloie: Wait, can I say one other thing about this grind opp?
DJ IZ: Go for it, honey.
Cloie: In terms of what it is specifically and how, like, we’re talking about specialized skills and what you bring to the table, this job, right, in that you’re video-producing, you’re working with client, you’re working a lot in translating somebody else’s ideas, right?
DJ IZ: Right.
Cloie: And you got people that are coming to you, and they’re like “Okay, this is what I wanna do. It’s the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” And you are taking this idea and molding it and shaping it into something that is communicated and translated to production team, to talents, to casting, to wardrobe. So you need to be in the business of translation and also taking this from these lofty ideals to making something reality, because, you know, sometimes the budget makes all the difference in the world, right? And to be able to communicate all of what it needs to be back to the client. So the ability to take in and to give and receive, that’s what I’m talking about. I just needed to say that.
DJ IZ: Absolutely, honey, I got you. I’m right here, Cloie. I got you, baby. I got you. So we’re gonna move over to grind opp number four, guys, grind opp number four. This is in the field of radio. We got any radio folks? Let’s see. Let us know on or chat. This is in the field of radio, so audio tech/board operator, PT. U.S. broadcasting company is looking for a part-time tech to run live and recorded programs. This is in Seattle, Washington. Here we go. Candidate must have experience operating radio broadcasting consoles. I was just talking about that. Must have experience, okay. Potential fulltime position. You must be available to work holidays and weekends. Candidates must have strong communication and organizational skills.
So as we just mentioned in our previous grind opp, Cloie, we talked about having experience. So here we go. This is a grind opp where they’re asking for experience. Also too, interesting detail of this one is they’re asking that you be available to work holidays and weekends. And I would like to think that anybody who is looking to land a gig is willing to sacrifice a holiday and a weekend.
Cloie: But some people aren’t. A lot of people aren’t.
DJ IZ: And that’s why I threw that bait out there, Cloie, because I knew you was gonna keep it 100.
Cloie: It’s true.
DJ IZ: So, folks, yes, holidays, weekends are what I like to think of as a luxury in the field of grinding, okay? So not every grind opp, you know, is gonna be your eight to five, get in and get out before traffic or any of that. So you got to go in expecting that. But if you want it, you want it. You do whatever you got to do to get it. And that’s just how it goes. And the cool thing with…you know, I initially started off with, you know, it being a part-time. Now, as I read into these details they’re also saying its potential for fulltime. And I would like to think if that’s based on how well it is you get in there and do and what you allow the folks to see in you as far as your work ethic, your drive, how you communicate, how you organize. Are you structured? Those are the qualities that allow a boss to be like “You know what? I need that dude” or “I need her. Like, I wanna keep her.” “I wanna keep him.” So great opportunities to really make an impression, you know?
And I think too, Cloie, that’s another thing is, you know, going into these jobs and saying to yourself, you know, “I got to make an impact somehow. I got to allow them to see something in me. I got to allow them to see that I’m willing to be the first one there and the last one to leave,” you know, those are the key things. And that’s how you get from, you know, stepping into something that was a part-time, and now it’s possibly a fulltime for you.
Cloie: Or as they in the Disney movie, Hercules, “from zero to hero.”
DJ IZ: Girl, from zero to hero, I like that. That’s pretty cool. That’s pretty cool.
Cloie: It’s the whole song. It’s the whole song. IZ laughs at me all the time. It’s true.
DJ IZ: All right, well, Cloie, I’m gonna let you hit this last grind opp of the day. This is grind opp number five, and I’m gonna let you take this one home.
Cloie: Bringing it on home, IZ, coming to you from the field of recording, audio engineer for television. Charlotte, North Carolina-based television production company is searching for a fulltime audio engineer. He or she must have a knowledge of television audio production, mixing live television audio, and post-production normalizing. He or she must have experience working with Adobe Audition or Avid Pro Tools to be able to sweeten audio levels for outgoing videos to network venues. Knowledge of PreSonus audio equipment and consoles is a huge plus. Benefits offered, medical insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, Aflac, and gym memberships. What?!
DJ IZ: What?! That’s a dream gig.
Cloie: And gym memberships?
DJ IZ: You know, I’m gonna tell you, Cloie, this grind opp should be like our sixth grind opp of every show until somebody gets hired.
Cloie: Seriously.
DJ IZ: Now, those are serious benefits. But, however, it’s a lot of stuff you got to be familiar with too on this grind opp.
Cloie: You have to know your shit. Oh, the knowing of the [inaudible 00:28:26]
DJ IZ: Knowledge of PreSonus audio equipment and consoles. Now, I tell all my engineers or engineers that I come across that kind of wanna pull on me for information and kind of just get my advice or whatever. I tell all these folks, you know, “Know your gear, man. Know your equipment.” Especially if you’re an engineer, you have to know everything. You’ve got to know vintage gear. You got to know software plug-ins. You got to know Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Reason. You got to know everything, because everybody works different. Everybody uses different things, you know? And that’s really the key for, like, doing your due diligence and, you know, doing your research on things, because you get a great opportunity like this, and you wanna be able to go in there and kill it. I mean, gym membership?
Cloie: Dude, and your gym membership, right?
DJ IZ: You don’t say.
Cloie: Yeah, yeah, yeah, medical, dental, life, Aflac, sure, sure, sure. Gym membership?
DJ IZ: Count me in. Where do I sign up? How do I get in?
Cloie: Even if I hate the gym, thank you.
DJ IZ: Until we get somebody that gets locked into this position, I’m gonna make it a point that we announce this grind opp until somebody get’s hired, because those are amazing benefits. And, you know, a lot of folks will sometimes say, you know, “Cool, yeah, I like that grind opp. Is there any benefits? Is there a 401(k)? Is there, you know, paid sick leave?” I mean, here you go. You know, it’s everything I wanna ask for, right? My insurance, you know, dental insurance…
Cloie: [inaudible 00:30:08]
DJ IZ: …gym membership.
Cloie: [inaudible 00:30:10]
DJ IZ: I can go to the gym after a grind opp, cool.
Cloie: Thank you. I can go to the dentist, the doctor, and the gym. I can also die and know everything is okay.
DJ IZ: Right, right. So, again, this is in Charlotte. For those of you who are in Charlotte who might be joining us today, definitely check this one out. We can definitely help you on this end if you wanna put a resume or a cover letter together. Let us help, you know, carve something cool out for you so that you might be able to be at the gym after you get out of work, right?
Cloie: Why couldn’t you?
DJ IZ: So, folks, that is our fifth grind opp of the day. But I encourage you to definitely go to our website. Check out all of the grind opps we got going. And I would say, I mean, you can go as far back to episode one if you kind of wanna see just the diversity of grind opps that we’ve been able to make available to you guys, you know, just to kind of bring you up to speed on our show for our first-time visitors today.
Outside of that, we are now gonna get to one of my newest favorite feature parts of this show, which is kind of the School of Hard Knocks where, you know, I get real questions thrown at me, and I kind of just give you a very non-edited or scripted, you know, response based off of my personal experiences. And, by the way, what me and Cloie do here every Monday is definitely not to any script. This is all just real shit, real jobs, real opportunities. And we just love being here, man. We just love being here. We love seeing the folks in our chat communicate with each other and connect even outside of us. I think that’s important for you guys to do, because, you know, like I said, you guys could be the conduit for each other with whatever it is you got going on.
If you’re a person in film and you’re looking for music, you’re gonna find somebody in the chat that does music, producers. If you’re in the field of radio going and you wanna get, you know, access to artists, you can find folks that maybe are working with independent artists. I mean, it’s a weird way of how everything connects, but it’s definitely there for you guys. So without any further ado, let’s roll into this clip, School of Hard Knocks.
Cloie: I know I’m dancing, but I just [inaudible 00:32:25]
DJ IZ: A couple of traits that I’ve experienced that seemed foreign to me with this generation, this culture, it’s a two-sided coin to me. And when I say two-sided coin, I see, one, great areas for success. Two, I see remedies for failure. The great side of the coin that I see with this generation and culture is, one, they have no fear. They fake it till they make it. They boast before they’ve done anything. But they have this confidence. And it’s a mixture of entitlement. It’s a mixture of “I don’t give a F. This is what it is. This is who I am. And I’m dope.” Got to have that. Got to have those things. You got to believe. If nobody believes in you, you got to believe in yourself. So I love all those characteristics with this generation The flipside of the coin, work ethic is foreign to them. Sacrifice, they don’t even know what that means. The appetite to display, it is what you love, they do it in different ways.
For my generation, we were taught you got to work. You got to work, work, work, work, work, work. Then everything else is a byproduct of that, right? “I’ve made it” or “I’m this” or my talent… To them, it’s all about their skill and their talent. And that’s as far as they can see. And I see this firsthand with just visiting… But what I’ve also…is why some of these cats don’t necessarily make it in the process of sitting with…because it’s a very clever way of weeding out the person who’s not willing to get up on time, not really in a place to engage and acquire information, meaning you got to take on the mentality of “I haven’t done anything yet. I don’t know anything yet.” You got to be humble.
And one of the key ingredients that I see with this culture is they’re not humble. They’ve already arrived. So if you feel in your mentality is “I’ve already arrived,” as a mentor, what can I really [inaudible 00:34:50]? What can I do? And see, it’s only till you get around some real cats that have really done it and are doing it and have been able to do it over and over and over again to where you say, “Oh,” you kind of fade to black. And your copout is either “It just wasn’t for me” or “I didn’t really like how they were teaching” or “I wasn’t willing to learn,” you know? Those are the kind of things you tend to come up with. And that’s just where the culture is at.
You know, when I sit with folks, sit with this generation, this culture, the first thing they wanna know is “Man, how much money are you, man? Are you…?” Whereas, me, I was just like “Man, how did you learn how to do that?” Like, it’s not how much you make. It was never. I was always in awe of the actual ability and skill that it took to be great.
That’s real shit right there, Cloie?
Cloie: If this were a mic, I’ll drop it.
DJ IZ: Right? That’s real…I mean, I don’t know how…
Cloie: What you are basically talking about is ego versus humility. That’s what you’re talking about.
DJ IZ: Yeah, absolutely. Those are the things that I see in being around, you know, the younger generation and talking to these cats that are more intrigued with the things that come once you arrive versus being intrigued with the roadmap and the know-how and “How how do I get there?” So, you know, anytime I get to really tell it like that, you know, that’s what these folks need to know. They need to know, like, it’s gonna be a wonderful, wonderful rollercoaster ride that consists of ups and downs, failure, relearning, learning something new, getting rid of what you’re used to in your mind and having to start over, like, all those things. But that’s what…you know, that’s what cultivates greatness. That’s one way to get it. And then once you get it, how do you sustain it? Those are all the things that you ain’t gonna learn in the classroom or from a book, you know?
You know, I really like we’re just a culture of business has gone, Cloie, because it’s so unconventional now. You know, there are so many ways you can really make it happen and put yourself in a really great position to do things that, you know, most folks from even our parents’ generation just still can’t fathom, you know, and still can’t put it together here to make it make sense. So, hey, it’s vigilante mode. You know what I’m saying? It’s like…
Cloie: Pure guerrilla, guerrilla style.
DJ IZ: Right, pure guerrilla, but you wanna be pure guerilla with a plan and a purpose and the know-how. So I always love, you know, looking at these clips because, you know, we sat down for, like, an hour or two, Cloie. So it’s, like, you know, to kind of see what they’ve put together, you know, it’s always good for me to see, like, “Oh, okay. Wow, we test on that? Oh, cool, man,” you know? So seeing these clips is always fun to me.
Cloie: I love that. And it ties right in with everything that we were talking about earlier. And I love specifically the part about what you said, about when ego…how I translate it is when ego and humility clash, and the folks that are all ego are confronted by the shit they don’t know and the reaction to it. Ego says, “Well, blah, blah, blah, I didn’t learn anything.” Humility is like “Oh, let me pause and recognize that this is an opportunity for me to grow.”
DJ IZ: Right, absolutely. So with that being said, Cloie, we’re gonna move into my favorite part of the show now, which is our Q&A. We got a lot of folks in here who are just chatting away with each other.
Cloie: There’s a parking conversation too.
DJ IZ: There might be more questions for others than they actually have for us, which is always a good thing. Folks, if you got any Q&A for us, you got any questions that you want us to attend to, man, let us see it. Let’s pop them up.
Cloie: Yes. Let’s see what we got here. We’ve got…Mazen is giving a tip. He says, “Just a tip, if you want to work with a live company, ask for the equipment list and learn at least signal-flowing them. Not as hard as it sounds. Signal flow is the same concept for all consoles.” Thank you, Mazen.
DJ IZ: There you go. Also too, we had a question that came from Anna Lee[SP]. She says, “Hi, I’m Anna Lee. I’m a hip hop artist. I’m looking for a producer. Please send some connections. If you can help me please, here is my number.” I won’t give out her number publicly. But in regards to what she’s looking for, so she’s a producer…or she’s an artist who’s looking for a producer. So if there’s any of you who produce music, maybe there’s a possibility where you guys can maybe get with her or reach out to her, connect with her somehow. But I think, you know, she’s already taking the first step, which is always a good thing. She’s actually reaching out. So I think on that side, it’s just getting an understanding of what she is as far as a hip hop artist, you know, her appetite for music and what her ear likes to hear. So I wanted to make sure I addressed your question, Anna Lee. Thank you for sending that to us.
Also got a message from Manolo Feliz who sent us a couple of links, which we’re gonna check out and get you some feedback on that. He had a mixed tape that had came out called “Press One for English.” I like that. And that came out, like, two weeks ago. So we’ll be diving into that, Manolo, and we’ll have some feedback for you on that on the next show, which will be next week. Let’s see. What other messages did we get in here?
Cloie: From Roderick, Roderick Wesson, who wants to know if you guys cover the Nashville area and Memphis, Tennessee, areas in the likes of A&R work or anything in the likes of talent scouting, also casting.
DJ IZ: Oh, cool. So I would say to you, Roderick, definitely check out our link, which is www.rrf.edu.com/connected. Click on our job vault, because there you’ll find…we’ve actually have had numerous jobs come up in Nashville. So you can definitely find something there. As far as A&R and casting and scouting, definitely stay tuned with us next. We got a lot coming in in those particular fields. So, you know, it’s just a matter of you continuing to connect with us every Monday. We’ll definitely find something for you. Let’s see. What else do we have?
Cloie: Nansamba, we’ve got “So how do I get to give you guys my ideas? I haven’t organized a script yet, but I will if you like my idea.” So to that I will say…to anybody that wants to get stuff to us, you’re gonna email it to us [email protected]. But for the rest of it, Nansamba, I feel like if you have an idea, don’t wait for somebody to tell you whether it’s good or bad, because you could be waiting forever. Write the script. Do whatever it is that you want to do with it. And then take the finished product or at least the draft of the finished product and get it our way or get it to somebody that can read it and maybe help you to shape it. But don’t wait for anything. Don’t wait for us. You got an idea [inaudible 00:42:48] just make it happen.
DJ IZ: Make it happen. Let’s see who else. I think we got a response from that… That’s a hell of a long email address right there. Did you see that one, Cloie?
Cloie: Which one?
DJ IZ: [inaudible 00:43:07]
Cloie: A search of authentic selves, I like that. I had to break it down like “Sesame Street,” though. It was like the “A-ser-cha, a-ser-cha…” Yeah, shout out if you all know what am talking about. Maybe I just put myself on blast with age, but I don’t care. What did he say?
DJ IZ: He says, “I wanna meet people who wanna make movies as well. Thank you.” The first person I’m gonna connect you with is my man Cats[SP], because Cats is film all the way. So you should definitely reach out to Cats. Hopefully, he’s tuned in today, Cats, so he can connect with you, because I know you can you can definitely get with him on that.
Cloie: For sure. Alex is asking, “Any film production in Florida?” We had gotten a fair amount of stuff in Florida in the past, Alex. You’re one of our first timers. Thank you for joining us. Also, check out our vault to see what we’ve had in terms of… And the other thing that I will say is when you all go to our vault, I feel even though sometimes jobs may have been taken, sometimes they haven’t been, just because a job has been taken doesn’t mean that you can’t still send somebody your stuff and follow up appropriately, because you never know when, A, something is not gonna work out or, B, when something is gonna pop up and maybe they don’t wanna put it on blast to everybody. You wanna always be in the present parts of their brain. And with the rule of seven, it takes somebody seven times to see you before they remember you.
DJ IZ: There you go. We had a…
Cloie: Wait. Go ahead, go ahead.
DJ IZ: Well, this isn’t a question, but this is from Dorothy. She says, “I’m wondering if I get bodyguards becoming a DJ?” Girl, please! Don’t waste my time, Dorothy.
Cloie: I’m IZ’s bodyguard.
DJ IZ: That’s hilarious. More important things than asking that, Dorothy.
Cloie: Wait, Desiree, this is to the whole conversation of giving up holidays and sacrifice, which you also said so greatly in your speech about having to sacrifice and getting your ass to sacrifice. Desiree says…this is also for the radio job. We’re asking if anybody does radio. She’s like “Right here, been running the boards with iHeart Radio for a couple of months, super fun.” Work it, girl. “Holidays and weekends are non-existent in radio,” shaking my head. She just pulled a double yesterday 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. or, I’m sorry, I think that’s 11 p.m. And that was Christmas, if you celebrate it. Work.
DJ IZ: Work.
Cloie: Work. What else do we have?
DJ IZ: I like Eddie’s response to Dorothy. He says, “It depends if you’re good like Skrillex.” Yeah, then you might need some bodyguards and if you are on that level, definitely. Gary says he’s a hip hop producer. Cats left his email. See Cats is on it. You know, shout-out to Cats who’s been rocking with us since day one who, man, just continues to over-perform. Cats is an over-performer. I love that about Cats.
Cloie: He is. And so is Desiree and so many people in our feed.
DJ IZ: Shout-out to Des.
Cloie: There is the article that’s up on RRFEDU right now. She actually just is a recent grad and landed a job. So, guys, check out…the link is in the feed, but it’s a great write-up and photo of just what she has accomplished, because it’s awesome. She interviewed, and she got the job. And she also sent us some great music that we have listened to. So thank you, Desiree.
DJ IZ: Yeah, and shout-out to Des, because she’s a recent grad who’s been able to land work and, you know, makes it a point to hang out with us almost every Monday. So definitely we wanna shout you out, Des. And we definitely appreciate that. And keep doing your thing, girl. We [inaudible 00:47:25] here. We’re cheering for you. So definitely, shout-out to you.
Cloie: I think that those are the last of the questions. I mean, again, there’s the whole parking thing. Thank you, Esther, for your input on the parking and suggesting the Waze app. I personally am a Google Maps fan. I feel like Waze is a bit too shouty for me if she tries to get me to make a left-hand turn that I don’t want to. No, I’m not going to make a left-hand turn into the middle of Third Street when there’s a light, unless it’s after midnight. The end.
DJ IZ: Danny says…Okay, shout-out to Danny who just checked in…is ” I’m a recent recording grad in L.A., specializing in Ableton Live. You know anybody down here I can link up with?” Absolutely. Danny, I’d like to connect you with Edwin. Edwin definitely can point you in some areas, and I also can too. So let’s make sure we get an email address from Danny who’s on our chat team so we can actually connect with him and point him in the right direction as far as what he’s looking to do. He is a recent grad. So I wanna definitely make sure we definitely tend to his needs.
Cloie: Kirk says, “A bit of advice for people looking to really learn about audio music and what goes on besides sitting in the big chair.” He says, “Check out ‘The Wrecking Crew’ on Netflix and check out
‘Standing in the Shadows of Motown,’ which is a DVD.”
DJ IZ: Those are great things to definitely mention to folks. I’ve watched both of those. Absolutely, man, that’s great information, Kirk. Thank you. Let’s see. They’re pouring in now, man. Desiree says, “Indeed, thank you, the support and energy from RRFC is monumental.” So I would suggest, you know, for those of you who wanna kind of dive in and just kind of do your diligence on what the Recording Connection is, I think, you know, Desiree can definitely share her experience with you. You know, if you guys wanna get Desiree’s email address, that would be great, or somehow connect with her. She’s been through the system. She can tell you firsthand what the experience was like and, you know, how it’s affected her career path.
So let’s see here. [inaudible 00:49:59] Danny is now talking to Mazen. Mazen is talking to Danny. Esther is talking to Danny. Hey, man, that’s what it’s about.
Cloie: This is how we do connecting. I think we hit all of our questions both in the feed and also in the…what’s that thing called where you send it to people…email.
DJ IZ: Yeah, email. Yeah, that’s it.
Cloie: Sorry, it’s my little French girl here today. She’s little French girl.
DJ IZ: Shout-out to Mike, because, you know, we definitely need a [inaudible 00:50:32]. Shout-out to Mike.
Cloie: Oh, wait, Cats says, this is in reference to the question that we got. Who said it? It was Nansamba that said…I was asking about a film script. Cats says, “If it’s a film script, we have a team to polish it and shoot it.” There you are [inaudible 00:51:02], there you are.
DJ IZ: Another thing too real quick, Cloie, because it looks like a lot of our viewers have a personality about them, and I think, you know, understanding, you know, how to connect that and present that through various forms, like a resume or a cover letter. And I think that’s key for you guys to also understand is how you are here, your personality, whatever, it’s always a good idea and good practice to display that through a cover letter that kind of tells who you are. You know, let that person kind of be able to read and know you without having met you, you know, in person. It’s always important to display that through your presentation. And we’re keen here on making sure your presentation is solid and best suitable for you, you know, in allowing people to see who it is you are and what you’ve been [inaudible 00:51:59]. Definitely keep those things in mind.
Cloie: Yes. #sesamestreet. Thank you, Eddie.
DJ IZ: Yeah. But, Cloie, I think that’s pretty much it for today’s show. You know our grind starts immediately after the show and Tuesday through Sunday. We got a full week ahead of us. And, again, we got some great exciting things coming up top of the year for you guys, and we’re looking to get 2017 kicked off in an incredible new way for you guys. You know, this doesn’t work without you guys. And it’s always great to see you guys consistently tune in every Monday with us and hang out and hear our sideline jokes and our real-life experiences. So without any further ado, I wanna make sure we shout our team who also makes this possible to do every Monday. Mike, Howie, Brian, Chevy, Jay, Liya, Edwin. Did I miss anybody, Cloie?
Cloie: Michael. Michael D.
DJ IZ: Michael, yes, Michael D.
Cloie: And I think that’s it. IZ, the next time we see all of you guys, it’s gonna be a new year.
DJ IZ: I know, right?
Cloie: So, guys, whatever you are doing to wrap up 2016, whatever you are doing, more importantly, to start 2017, just remember, there are so many things I could say, that at the end of the day, it’s important, yes, to connect for yourself and also to connect with and for other people. So serve to the greater good.
DJ IZ: I like that.
Cloie: Sorry, I didn’t mean to [inaudible 00:53:45].
DJ IZ: You know what I like to do closing out 2016 from our “Connected” audience? I’d like for you guys, if you can take the time, send us a quote, send us a thought, send us an opinion about what “Connected” has been for you, whether you’ve just tuned in today, whether you tuned in six shows ago, or you’ve been here since day one. That would be great. And I like to feature those going into 2017 and kind of just, you know, make it about you guys and, you konw, what your experience has been here with us, you know, every Monday and what you’ve been able to draw and extract from this platform that we created, you know, to help you guys.
So I would say, for me, man, most importantly, outside of the grind, family is everything. Embrace them. Love on them. Family can be a pain in the ass. And you’ll find sometimes that friends can treat you better than family at times. But at the end of day, love them, embrace them. We just lost George Michael, so, you know, definitely sending our prayers to his family. Was a huge hero in my household. And you just never know…and time is the only thing we can’t ever get back. It is that one luxury in life that we do have, but not enough of it.
So, man, closing out my 2016, I just wanna say, man, it’s been a blessing. It’s been a blessing to see my lovely co-host every Monday to help me fly this plane, because nobody does it alone. I definitely don’t do it alone. And I have a wonderful team that God has blessed me with and has put in place for me to do this. And all I’m trying to do is share the information that was once given to me. And I love doing this for you guys. That is my closeout. Without any further ado, I’m your host, DJ IZ, my lovely beautiful co-host, Miss Cloie. Look at that smile. And on that note, I will see you next Monday. It’s been a pleasure. Love you all. Peace.
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