Turn Passion into Profit | Kris Bradley

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Episode Topics:

• Discover how Kris Bradley turned her passion for music into a successful online business.
• Learn about the creation and growth of “Produce Like a Boss.”
• Hear Kris’s inspiring journey from a young musician to a sought-after coach.
• Understand the power of digital platforms in reaching a global audience.
• Get practical advice on balancing creative pursuits with business goals.

 

Rick Jordan  

What’s shakin, hey, I’m Rick Jordan today. We’re going all in. Hey, welcome back to All In I am your host, Rick Jordan, and my guest today. Amazing Kris Bradley. What’s shakin, Kris?

 

Kris Bradley  

Man, how are you doing?

 

Rick Jordan  

I’m amazing. You know, I’m I’ve said this before the show I’m blown away because you’re a singer-songwriter. You’re now you have a coach or a class, right? Produce like a boss. Yes, that’s killer. I saw this 250k in revenue just launching in November. That’s insane.

 

Kris Bradley  

Actually, it’s about 100. More than that, by the end of the year, I think I think we were in the middle of a launch. When I emailed you. Yeah, we closed out the year for the first year out over 350.

 

Rick Jordan  

That’s amazing. It’s so cool. Congratulations.

 

Kris Bradley  

Thank you so much. It’s been such a blessing. I absolutely love it. If you had told me just a couple of years ago I would have fallen in love with teaching. I couldn’t have predicted it. I always kind of knew that I was teaching that I’d like to teach, but I kind of had a limited, you know, scope of what that looked like, you know, I was like, Oh, I would never teach like going to school. And so when I found the ability to do online courses, I was like, Oh my gosh, and then you know, the impact you can make just being digital is insane.

 

Rick Jordan  

 So, it is insane. Yeah, for sure. That world just opens up possibilities for everybody. Now, I mean, even churches, right? Because, you know, we need to go online now. And I have a friend who’s a pastor, he was just on for our Christmas episode too. You know, they’ve got a 500-person congregation but then their Easter video last year, like the first virtual when they did after the pandemic hit, they had like over 10,000 views on like their first Youtube videos like, oh my gosh, we’re reaching China, or else I’m like, Yeah, you don’t have 500 people anymore, man. It’s the whole world, bro. Right? It’s awesome. I’m excited. So your music? When did you start as a musician? I see. 15 Is that about right?

 

Kris Bradley  

Well, 15 is when I left the house actually. And so that’s when I started pursuing it. I guess it was a different way. But I’ve been playing music ever since I was little. I was raised with my great-grandmother in the house. For the first eight years, my mom had been pretty young. So we had me, and we would live with my great grandma till I was eight. And I grew up singing and playing the piano and putting on shows in the living room and, you know, doing musicals and jazz standards and stuff like that. So my grandma says that even when I was very, very small like before I knew what harmony was I was harmonizing. You know, before I knew it, I liked really new notes. I only knew a few notes. I could hear wind chimes, and I would go that’s a D or that’s a C

 

Rick Jordan  

you know, you can hear the pitch. That’s awesome.

 

Kris Bradley  

When I was a child, yeah, it’s more relative now than perfect. But yeah.

 

Rick Jordan  

My daughter and my youngest son are that way too, you know, and even playing guitar myself, you know, you can just hear it in the song. It’s like, Oh, I know what key they’re playing. And then that’s a D chord that he’s strumming right now. Right? Is that a Gretsch? Behind you? I can’t see the headstock. Yes, it is. Oh, I love it.

 

Kris Bradley  

You know what threw me with that with like, because that’s how when I say relative pitch like that’s how I would memorize like songs or I would hear keys. I’d be like, oh, like Sweet Home Alabama is D Yeah. And like, oh, like E minor is like, you know, Unforgiven Metallica and so but then I then after singing and doing all these shows, I ended up having to tune my guitar down a half step. And then it threw me off. Because I got so used to hearing those songs in that new tuning. And so I’m not quite as sharp with it as I used to be, but I still got a pretty good year. I’m

 

Rick Jordan  

sure a lot of music is relative to because you’re talking about the different chord progressions and it depends, of course, because you had to drop these have you dropped half a step on your guitar? Yeah, mostly,

 

Kris Bradley  

especially. Yeah. Especially living in Nashville where you’re just playing so many gigs. Oh my god. I’m gonna take this hassle.

 

Rick Jordan  

That’s okay. You talk about Metallica. It’s funny because that’s how I learned to play was to Metallica, I mean, just, you know, power chords and teaching myself and I got a chord book. And, but then I noticed when I started seeing their live videos, it’s like, that sounds a lot lower. He’s not really up in the high registers like usually is, and that I mean, I’m only 12 or 13 years old at this point, but then I realized, you know because I’m still going through puberty at that moment. It’s like, but then when your voice settles as a dude, it’s like, oh, now I get it because you can’t sing for three hours straight. If you keep going up into the scream zone. Exactly, exactly. That’s so fun. Awesome. So you played in Nashville for a while you were saying Right. Did I actually

 

Kris Bradley  

I didn’t really do the Broadway circuit I kind of went to Nashville more for the songwriter you know, I was doing the writer’s rounds a lot. And then even when I would take cover gigs for example, I would do them just about an hour outside of town because I could make more money. I mean, well, more money upfront. That is not to say you can’t clean house on the streets of Broadway you know, but it is really dependent on how many people are there so if you have a slow night, you’re leaving with 40 bucks, but I would find places outside of town that would just pay me really great upfront money and also Wouldn’t insist on me playing like I swear to God, Rick if I ever have to play Hotel California again. And there was none of that they kind of let me make my own rules you know, so I go now we’re outside of town make a little more money. It’d be more mellow too. It wasn’t like the craziness of the honky tonks of Broadway so that was more my speed.

 

Rick Jordan  

Stick. That’s your death song now, isn’t it? Oh,

 

Kris Bradley  

yeah, maybe like Hotel California. Nope. Nope. I got $10 Nope, nope. 20

 

Rick Jordan  

it’s you know the movie Wayne’s World. Yeah. It’s like they go into Guitar Center like no Stairway to Heaven, which is funny, because a cover band, Led Zeppelin cover band, or tribute band is that your gig is? Oh my

 

Kris Bradley  

gosh, yes, I have done everything from these bar gigs to these writers’ rounds I actually fronted an all-female tribute to Led Zeppelin called Lez Zeppelin Lives. That’s it. Yeah. We played in India. And then we did it was it was an interesting tour. We started it in India, then came back to the States, and then did a complete United States tour. I wanted like 43 states or something like that. I really, truly lost count. But it was amazing. Yeah, on a bus. Yeah, like on a really sweet bus. Like I guess like, Will Smith had the bus before us. I was told it was one of those buses that you would park and it would go through the day the doors would come out and it would expand. I was like, this is the most Rockstar life I’ve ever had we had writers and everything. And he was really something out of this world, though, you know, to step into a project that was so fully formed already and had that following and yeah, yeah, super fun experience. But it definitely I mean, the only reason it ended is because I didn’t want to relocate to New York and like, say, this is life. Now. It was fun to do. I’m a huge Zeppelin fan, but I wasn’t ready to go. Okay, but this is my number one job in music. I just knew that wasn’t the best fit for me. Yeah, for

 

Rick Jordan  

sure. You start to pick that up along the way too. Because I mean, those schedules are just grueling. Oh,

 

Kris Bradley  

yeah. I mean, I think playing in Nashville wore me out imagined that I was still singing Robert Plant songs.

 

Rick Jordan  

Sorry, Robert, I’ve moved on.

 

Kris Bradley  

Well, I mean, like even he didn’t have his voice passed. The first like the best Zeplin records as far as his vocal range is really just the first couple. You know, I still love them. But you kind of lost it after that. Yeah,

 

Rick Jordan  

that’s a lot of them say with like, Steven Tyler, anybody from that era? Really? Totally, it looks totally Dream on. And it’s like, I remember when he was, uh, when Steven Tyler was a judge on American Idol. You know, and he did just a portion of Dream on, on that, you know, and it’s like, that’s cool. He’s still got it. But when he went to scream, you know, bridge because it was such an abbreviated version of the song. It’s like, you kind of had to slide into it a little bit. And those that are musicians that are listening understand this, you know, because yeah, you’re like hunting for the notes. Your voice was just trashed. Like reaching. Yes, he got there, which is great. You know, that’s fantastic. But that’s why you tuned down a half step.

 

Kris Bradley  

Exactly. Exactly. First Circle. And that’s why we tuned down a half step. That’s awesome. Losing the voice is a small price to pay to the rock gods, right? Oh, my God.

 

Rick Jordan  

Yes, for sure. Talk about when you’re 15. So I saw that on here. You were on your own, then that’s what is listed here. Right. You’re on your own since you’re 15. Tell me about that. What does that mean on your own?

 

Kris Bradley  

Well, I mean, we didn’t do what’s called when they do it legally. emancipation is what it’s called. We didn’t do anything like that. But it was this very agreeable, like my mother was like I said, she had me really young. So I think about it now. And it’s like, okay, she was 16 when she had me, which means when I was 15, she was 31. And I’m like, could I have handled me at 31? So I mean, I take responsibility for my part. But my mother was also just going through her own thing. And like, I had matured so much we kind of grew up together when a 16-year-old has a kid. You grew up together. Yeah. So I don’t, it’s no way to knock my mother by any means. Like, we were both like, No, we can’t do this anymore. And she knew I was independent. I was like, I’m on like, Nah, man. Yeah, you know, and I and I left and I just started working full time. You know, I happen to be dating a guy whose mother worked in a temp agency, and I happen to type like 111 words a minute, I had just taken this legal secretary course. So it’s strange because my my first few jobs were very odd out of the house, it was like working for a legal form firm as a legal secretary or being an administrative assistant or some less honest things. You know, but yeah, I was just, you know, I kind of slipped into it felt like survival mode at home, even to be honest at that point, so nothing much changed. It was just like, now I don’t have to deal with my with my parents. So it was the best thing that could have

 

Rick Jordan  

happened. Sure. What were those first couple years like, I mean, because here you are, you’re responsible for yourself financially, you’re responsible for yourself legally. I mean, I even think of the logistics of it, because at that age, you can’t even sign a contract. Technically, in most states. You know, how does that happen? I’m fine, you know, or rent an apartment signed the actual lease for the apartment, you can’t even do that. Legally, totally,

 

Kris Bradley  

totally. So when I got I got asked to leave at 15 I short a short, like, turn 16 Like quickly after, so I was able to work legally. And then I was able to rent rooms I’ve just always been kind of a little bit mature for my age. So I was able at 16-year-olds 16 years old really present myself, I had a full-time job, you know, as an administrative assistant. And I’d come in I’d schmooze. You know, I’d be like, Hi, I’m crazy. I’m so professional, you know. And then and by the way, I’m 16. But don’t worry, I’ve got the money, like, here’s a couple of months upfront, you know, and I got people to rent my rooms, to be honest. And then actually, at 17, my mom and I started talking again, and, we decided it was still the best thing, and she actually cosigned for me to get an apartment that I would be financially responsible for, which I was. And that’s how I got into my first apartment was actually my own mom.

 

Rick Jordan  

That’s awesome. That’s really cool. I have a similar story because my dad died when I was 16. You know, so it was almost kind of like when I was on my own because my mom was working. And I remember, you know, thinking, Oh, I’ve got the money, you know, because I was working as a manager at McDonald’s, of all places, you were the administrative assistant, I was the manager at McDonald’s when I was 16. I couldn’t have an alarm code, because of insurance purposes. I wasn’t 18. That’s like, I need a car to drive to work. So but then I go shopping for a car at a dealership, you know, and they’re saying, Well, you can’t buy this, you know, you’re only 16 years old. So then it was my mom who came in to buy my first car to cosign for me when I was just 16. In a similar scenario, but you just the point is that you just figure out ways to make it work. And it’s cool, because your mom and you, it sounds like you didn’t really, like separate you were friends. And you were like for each other through this portion of life, right? Because you grew up together. That’s awesome. Yeah,

 

Kris Bradley  

yeah, definitely. I mean, we still we still kind of like right now, you know, because she, she raised me to be scrappy, and she’s scrappy. And she raised me to be an independent thinker, and she’s an independent thinker. And then she doesn’t understand when I don’t listen to everything. She says, I’m like, ma’am, you did? You just, you know, different views. So, but yes, it is. It’s really wonderful how it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. You know,

 

Rick Jordan  

that’s so fun. The after the Led Zeppelin gig. Is that when you sort of, I mean, how did you end up getting to California, you know, because you were in Nashville for a while, right?

 

Kris Bradley  

So I’m from California. Originally, I moved to Nashville for five years. And I just got back a couple of months ago. So it’s just like coming home. So I was born here. I was actually born in North Hollywood. Oh, wow.

 

Rick Jordan  

That’s fun. Awesome. What’s the opportunity like there? Because I mean, Nashville is country music, you know, and it’s pretty much the music capital of the whole US unless you’re talking about pop, you know because then you’re looking at LA, everything else? What are the differences there for the industry? Because I know that geography, where you’re planted matters, especially in the entertainment industry, you know, So what made you move back to LA versus being in Nashville if things were going okay for you there?

 

Kris Bradley  

Yeah, so a couple of things that I’ve noticed about LA, is that it’s very spread out, and there’s not as much community. And then it tended to be a better place to showcase for example, rather than to try and build a tribe, right? In Nashville. It’s like you’ve got all these little like Mom and Pop, like, you know, you got piled houses, you got bars, you got a restaurant, you got like so much community of just songwriters. It’s like, you know, you just walk into town, and like there’s people walking around with guitars or Gavin coffees, they’re writing songs, hey, I got a meeting at 10. And they gotta write it too. And then I got a meeting with a pub. And I’m going to see BMI at nine. I mean, that’s all the language in the culture of Nashville, and like, LA is just everything’s so far apart, you know. And it’s like all these little separate kinds of clicky things where I just never really found a home. And I always like to say, but kind of like this like redheaded stepchild between Nashville and LA, because when I was in LA, people be like, you’d be really good with the country you kind of have this country thing, which I was like, oh, okay, and I get to Nashville and they’re like, Oh, honey, you ain’t country. Oh, okay. And now I’m totally out of the box. And I’m like, Well, okay, so I went to Nashville for the songwriting community, and for that network, it’s totally different. Like you’ll you just run into hit writers everywhere. I got to I got to write with some hit writers. 

 

It was one of my bucket list things to do in Nashville. And then you know, I got a couple of wins. You know, being there I got some cuts with other artists but that was really my focus. I didn’t actually want to pursue anything or fame as an artist myself, I wanted to get a song cut by other artists. And you know, got a couple of wins and got featured in one of my songs in Rolling Stone magazine or one of my songs in Music Row magazine. And just like you know, I was noticing that this stuff was like more like street cred than anything but I still wasn’t like, really able to pay my bills like comfortably. And I’m like, wow, like if this and not only that, I was chasing the number one. I started to meet people that had number ones that had the hit songs and I was Like so I was going for you. And they’re like, I need to learn what you’re doing, which is producing and recording because I was making money as a session singer. They’re like, my pub deals only paying this or I can’t get my pub deal renewed. I’m like, didn’t do this, right, like for so and so’s last single? And they’re like, yep. And I’m like, wait a second. Yeah, yeah, this is my dream. So. So then that’s what I learned how to produce. And that’s how this company produced LIKE A BOSS kind of came about. But to answer your question, the reason I came home is because once I realized, like, once I started producing, I started doing everything remotely. And I was no longer chasing the industry up the standard of like, oh, you move to Nashville become a hit songwriter, and that network. And I really went into the web. I was like, Where can I get work? Where can I make a living as a musician, 

 

I was like, oh, people will pay me to sing songs and to record music. And so I’ve done everything, from jingles to film and TV placements, to custom songwriting, to kids songs to podcasts, like I’ve done all these different things as a result of learning how to record and I got really on fire about that started making a nice living doing that. And then it was like, at that point, the next step was I needed to turn around and help my friends that were in the same boat. There’s so you know, they’re talented, they moved here chasing a dream. And it just turns out that whether that dream comes or not they need to have some financial security. So I started teaching people how to do this, and then kind of turned it into a business. And then I realized, well, heck, I can really be anywhere. I don’t need to be in Nashville anymore, right? Number one, and number two, I noticed that certain clients I had as a producer would go Oh, but you know what? You’re too country before even hearing anything from me. And I was like, what are they getting this country thing from? It was because I had Nashville, on my profile, a two-sided question. One was I wanted to get home and be back to the beach. And the other was, that it didn’t fit my brand or my company. And what I do so just coming back to California, for me was like coming back home. Yeah,

 

Rick Jordan  

that’s intriguing. Because you’re talking about your friends, you know, who are chasing the dream, and you have the dream of being a writer, there are also people that have the dreams of being the artist, you know, what really is that dream look like? Because there’s so many people that have that. But yet at the same time, it’s like, there’s so few that actually attain that. And like you’re saying, because I mean, I know people from Nashville too, I don’t really know, people from the West Coast music culture, but when I talk with them, and I know people that have written hit songs, number one songs, and it’s, they’re struggling, you know, from a financial perspective, and it’s hard to see it say, you know, everybody around them keeps beating him down, saying, When are you going to get a real job? You know, it’s, but then there’s those that are saying, Hey, keep chasing your dream, but they never really learned the business of music. You know, they’re just right there. Yeah, they’re just doing the stuff. They’re just trying to do what they feel is creative and everything. But there’s this whole other side of things, where it was that wake-up moment for you, where you’re like, oh, man, I need to make money at this. Yeah.

 

Kris Bradley  

100%. And really, it’s when I started talking to people that had the success that I wanted, because I think in my mind, especially it just letting it be this kind of elusive, like the thing was like, oh, when I’m a hit songwriter, everything will be okay, and not actually unveiling like pulling the curtain up and going, what does that look like? How many spins? Would I need to get it? How many cuts would I need to get to make the income I want to make? You know, and when I did that, it was a big like, wake-up call. And that’s what kind of got me thinking, okay, I can do this session work from home, I was already doing it, I learned how to produce honestly, out of necessity, because I was paying out my songs gonna pitch them to other artists, right? So I was like, I better learn how to do this so that I can save money, you know, and that’s, that’s what started happening as I started getting paid for it. And then I started to really pay attention to the market, like what were people willing to pay me for? And started asking different questions, right, because I think as artists and musicians, so the only people that are in business that don’t know, they’re in business, like they don’t know, they’re entrepreneurs, and I’m like, Hey, friend, I’m like, if you want someone to pay you for something that you made, you’re an entrepreneur, okay? And there’s got to be a bit of service in there. It doesn’t, you know, when you show up, and you do whatever you want to do, that’s called working for you. And as my mentor, my production mentor says, and if you’re working for yourself, you better be a high-paying client, right? But otherwise, there is something called market research and learning how to serve an audience. And that’s what I’ve been drawn to, you know, rather than going, I’m going to keep making this stuff and going, instead of going, Why won’t people pay me for this? Oh, I said, What is the market need? And I found jobs and I filled that need. And that you know, hence comes all these really interesting Swiss Army Knife jobs that I’ve had as a singer, songwriter, and producer. Yeah,

 

Rick Jordan  

for sure. What’s the biggest piece of advice you could give your friends these days? I mean, because you sound like the one that would go on because you seem compassionate, a really compassion. And having your friends it’s like I can, I can help you, you know, what’s the one thing that you think would help anybody out there who’s chasing this dream and just going up against walls?

 

Kris Bradley  

Yeah. And it’s not to give up the dream by any big means. But I say, Listen, if not Beyonce, Big or broke. You do not have to suffer for your art. First of all, that’s a limiting belief that that’s just being that’s just there. Let’s just get that out of the way because a lot of people think it’s like zero or hero. And it’s like Like there, you know, you can keep going for that big cut, you can still keep chasing a dream. But hey, let me show you how to not have to work at the local restaurant as a bartender or not have to work for our bar gigs or what? Hello, pandemic, you don’t have any work. Let me show you something you can do from your home and pajama pants. Yeah, I’m not even wearing real pants right now. I want to be real with you. Awesome.

 

Rick Jordan  

Just for the fun of them. Jeans, right? But you

 

Kris Bradley  

know what I mean? Like, let me like I love teaching people about this, because it’s such an untapped like, the thing that people don’t they don’t know, it’s even out there. And then when my students tell me that, that they listen, and they’re like, Oh, I did what you said, I set up my profiles. And you know, there are online marketplaces where people don’t have to be the savviest, they don’t have to build a business. You know, you can hop on a moving train, there are websites out there that you can sign up as a session, say, or you can sign up as a producer mix engineer, and they will get you work and they’ll take a booking fee. It’s totally worth it. Because they’ve got hundreds of 1000s of followers like so I just love that’s how I would help people is to let their plan B support their plan A, rather than I’m working my ass off to try and support this dream. And it’s killing me. Yeah,

 

Rick Jordan  

no kidding. And incomes produced LIKE A BOSS exactly for that reason. That’s awesome. It sounds like such an amazing program. I mean, to the point where I wouldn’t even want to check it out. You know, just because it sounds fun. And it just would be a hobby for me more than a business. But if it can help, I mean, look at you look at what it’s done for you. And you. You saw this. It’s amazing to me because you saw this and you just shifted. I hate the word pivot. But it actually legitimately applies here. Because people like to throw that around as a cliche. Especially after 2020. It’s like, oh, you need to pivot. Keep your business going. You need to pivot. If I heard pivot, or we’re all in this together one more time. Oh my god.

 

Kris Bradley  

Do you ever watch Friends? Oh, yeah, I watched the episode. Okay. Okay, seriously, love that. Remember the episode with Ross where he’s like, pivot

 

Rick Jordan  

with the couch? I want to hear pivot. Oh my gosh, that’s the same thing. I’m like, this isn’t Ross, you know, that’s like taking control of 2020 or something like that. And then there’s Rachel at the top. And she’s like, I’m just gonna let it go. I think that’s most of it for 2020. Right, I’m just gonna let the couch go. Exactly. To produce like a boss. Tell me about that. Because I mean, we’ve got the context around it now, which is awesome. But how did you decide I’m gonna even launch this thing? Because you’ve done it for yourself, when you’re like, Where was that moment to where you’re like, Hey, I’m gonna do this now for everybody else.

 

Kris Bradley  

Yeah, it was just a couple of stepping stones that honestly, I was like, you know, I keep teaching people the same thing in person at my home studio, maybe I should shoot a couple of videos. And then that turned into, I noticed a lot of producers use videos of like tutorial videos, to build brand awareness, which will give them more clients as a product as a producer, I thought, oh, wonder if that would be a good form of marketing. And you know, kind of two birds one stone, like, I can help some of my friends. And I can also use it to promote. And then I’m just having coffee with a friend slash publisher in Nashville. And he goes, Oh, you need to read the book launch by Jeff Walker. And he goes, and I would just create a course he goes, I’ll email on your behalf, I’ll be an affiliate for you and you know, help you as much as I can. And I went, Oh, and I remember thinking, gosh, that’s a lot of work, you know, creating curriculum and all that it seemed very overwhelming. But I was like, You know what, I’m just gonna do it. And I feel like where I got really lucky because now that I’m in this entrepreneurial world, I see so many people, they’re like, looking for what their avatar customer is and trying to find their unique value proposition. And I got so lucky because I just made this for 29. You know, 28-year-old Kris. Like, I made it for me. And I thought there’s gotta be people out there like, like me singer-songwriters. Because, oh, here’s the premise of producing like a boss. I simplify the hell out of complex things. Ie music production, right? So when people try to teach this, they tend to get really techie with their talk. And I call it technobabble. Oh,

 

Rick Jordan  

my God, they do. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Right. So and

 

Kris Bradley  

I never got like it, it was so frustrating for me to try and learn this skill because as a singer, and songwriter, I’m not wired that way. Yeah. So it was through trial and error and massive failure that I learned this I, I know we were talking about the story. And I’m like, Yeah, so I learned how to produce Yeah, that, by the way, was hell. Okay. And so I remember just asking questions that for years never got answered. Because people seem at least people I was going to seem to like to hear themselves talk more than actually teach and try to see if I could understand. So it became more clear for me because that’s what happens if you struggle with things right. And then you get clarity, right? And I think it may make you a better teacher. So I got so lucky. And that the way that I teach I just talked to literally eight years ago, me and I say it the way I need to hear it and it turns out there I have a tribe of people that are like, Oh my God, thank God. I want to learn how to do this, but I’m so intimidated.

 

Rick Jordan  

Scared and so well today to talk about the seven band pair dimetric EQ, exactly 250 Hertz. Stay tuned next week for attack and release on your compressor.

 

Kris Bradley  

Yeah, yeah. And so and that’s what, you know, I thought, how can I make this in a way that somebody can get their ideas out of their head? Does it sound good? And you know, there’s no one size fits all when you’re making music. You know, presets are great. But like, what, what can I do to make it easy, but like, you know, make it thorough? And so I created a program. So my company is called produce like a boss. But my flagship program is called From Voice Memo to Demo. Hey, because we all take our voice memos. We get our song ideas and stuff

 

Rick Jordan  

from like, seven, eight years ago on my phone, some songs.

 

Kris Bradley  

So it’s called from Voice Memo demo. And it’s just like this whole kind of one-on-one walkthrough masterclass of how to produce a song from top to bottom. I even take a voice memo on my phone, that’s just me playing guitar not to click or anything, and I pull it into my software program to show them like, here’s what we’re going to start. And then I give them everything. And rather than doing deep dives on things like compression and EQ, I give them just what they need and nothing that they don’t good. So you don’t need it. Because here’s the thing, when you learn how to produce, it’s already so much you’ve got the multi-tracking, you’ve got the balancing the mixing, how do I gain stage, so many things coming at you that if now I tell you, you need to fully understand compression, or you need to fully understand EQ you’re going to give up because that’s too much. That’s like trying to learn five languages at once. Right? So I just break it down. I’m breaking down

 

Rick Jordan  

and then mastering to is a whole nother world. Do you even get it? Do you get into that in your program?

 

Kris Bradley  

I do. I do. And I call it the songwriters master and then I even bring in my book. That’s what I teach them how to do in logic using the stock plugins because I also keep it stock so they don’t have to spend extra money. But then I have a bonus video with my friend Mike Gennaro from Lander Mastering and I actually have him go into a deeper dive so they can learn how to really beef up and like kind of get that polished, also get the volume that they need to be competitive and stuff.

 

Rick Jordan  

Yeah, for sure. I know. That’s a tough part too, especially when it comes to mastering because you’ve got the demos, and I’ve heard them you know, and they sound so quiet and you have to try to crank them up. Because where are people listening to doing that trouble? Do you go through that too? Because I mean, it’s the same thing as we do in tech, right? Like, listen, this device right here. This is what everybody consumes any kind of information on now, whether it’s a podcast, whether it’s Facebook, whether it’s a song, whatever it is, this is where it has to sound good now.

 

Kris Bradley  

Right? Right. So you’ve got all these different references that you have to listen to, just to make sure that it sounds good. You know, the car, listen on my phone, listen to my headphones, I’ll set up my speakers.

 

Rick Jordan  

No doubt. Yeah, that’s awesome. I love the simplicity of it, too. Because that’s a, I think a lot is actually I’m gonna ask you, I’m gonna I’m gonna lead you into a question, because I have an opinion on the question too. But I think a lot get caught up in the complexity, right? And they get scared of it. And that’s why they don’t jump into it.

 

Kris Bradley  

Absolutely. They’re overwhelmed and intimidated. And also, you know, there’s, there’s, there’s a, I’d like to say I’m trying to bridge the gap. There’s a whole bunch of producers and techy people over here going Yeah, no, no, no, you’re a singer-songwriter. You stay over there. This isn’t your digital playground to complain. And I feel like I’m coming in like the school teacher like, not like, like trying to be like you let them come in. They want to play to you know, and trying to make it less scary. But then there’s also the other side of it, where and I talked about this when it comes down to procrastination is like, people make things bigger than they are because they’re being I don’t know where I got this from, but I can’t get it out of my head. So I always say it perfectionism is procrastination disguised as productivity. Right? Oh, hey, oh, hey, right. So like when somebody’s like, oh, you know, I’m gonna start I just don’t have the right gear yet. I’m like, What do you have? Well, you know, I have an interface. And I have a computer and I got this cheap mic. And it’s like, stop it. Would you say that you needed to drive a Benzo for your first car? Because that’s what you’re telling me right? Now. You know what that is? That’s you creating, oh, when it’s perfect. When I when I one day, I’m gonna one day I’m gonna need to stop. I’m able to share my story of how I was able to monetize this skill with very minimal gear, even though I might have nicer gear now, which is a choice, not a necessity.

 

Rick Jordan  

Yeah, right on. I love that. I mean, even the podcast, right? It’s like, you and I have the same mic, I see that we got the SM seven B, and we know what we’re doing with the gear side of it. But you know, I started the show with a frickin Blue Yeti, you know, two years ago. You know, it’s perfection. I love your phrase. And another way I’ve heard it before is, you know, it’s perfection versus progress. Which one do you want? Do you want to be installed into something that you’re never going to accomplish? Just because you think all the ducks need to be in a row first? Or do you want to just like dive into it and see what happens and then all of a sudden, you got $350,000 in two months?

 

Kris Bradley  

I am a big fan of like, ready-fire aim. And in the end that’s simply because I did that for so many years. Like when I wanted to produce I mean when I say it was hell, I mean, between me just giving up so many times and going I’m so frustrated. I can’t do this. There was also me going oh, I don’t have the gear or Oh, I’ve got logic but I don’t have I only have stuff Like sounds, so my music not going to sound good until I can afford the virtual instruments that cost 1000s of dollars. So I think that I should start there if that’s like trying to run before you can walk or crawl. So I feel like it’s another thing where I get to just insert myself like Who was I when I was in this place and then I get to come in there

 

Kris Bradley  

was so much love so much love.

 

Rick Jordan  

It was fantastic. My brain goes to, you know, because I have kids in my brain. But let’s be serious. I watched Disney movies even before I had kids, okay, you know, this was a but it’s Jack Black, you know, because he’s frickin hilarious anyways, but Kung Fu Panda, you know that you’re like a child. But he’s like, Skadoosh Oh, that’s fantastic. Let’s, let’s go into one final segment today. Cool. I’m curious because you’re at the heart of this industry right now. And it’s awesome to have somebody who’s got just as this track and this perspective. Last year, you know, with everything with COVID, the internet has completely changed the face of music, you know, actually, just the music industry as a whole has changed. Because look at it, even Nashville, we’re talking about granted, they opened back up probably a lot faster than everybody else. But all of a sudden, it’s, you know, all kinds of entertainers just had nothing, zero. And all the tours, let’s even talk about big artists now, all of those where they make their money on these big tours and go on those 43 states, in the Rockstar status buses and everything. It’s like, they don’t have that right now, you know, some of them are adapting and everything but doing virtual shows and everything. What would you have to say to them right now? Because I mean, first everybody needs to get produced like a boss, period. Right? But what’s the what’s the outlet now, for them to still be able to put these creations into the world?

 

Kris Bradley  

Yeah, it’s interesting, because, you know, I remember like saying, like, oh, you know, I do session work, or Oh, I do this from a home studio. And people were like, Oh, that’s cute. Oh, that’s cute. Like, it wasn’t a real thing. And I feel like now my phone is kind of constantly ringing with people that I used to approach these people that you’re so talented, you should try to get into this, you know, you can make a few 100 bucks a song, you know that? Oh, no, they’re, you know, they’re over here. And now they’re like, Hey, how do I do that thing? So seriously, my advice would be to learn how to record. And there’s so much you can do with that not because I’m trying to lead them to produce like a boss. Let’s just take that off the whoever you learn from learning this skill is going to allow you to go digital, and you know, it does feel like a bit catastrophic, right? Like, all these things are canceled, but like about, like how we started what we were talking about. It’s like now all of a sudden, you got 10,000 people on that church show, you know, I think about when I see Tony Robbins in front of his zoom screen, and I see all those people

 

Rick Jordan  

has an amazing image. Yeah, like, think

 

Kris Bradley  

about how many people show up to the live event event? And it’s like, yeah, that’s cool. And it’s a bummer that that’s gone right now. But it’s like, now, if you’re online, you’ve got it’s limitless yo, like, it’s limitless, look at this as an opportunity. But the only way you’re gonna be able to connect is in my opinion through actually learning how to get your audio dialed in, right? Because yeah, you could do it like live on your phone. But like, I don’t feel that that’s what’s really going to connect, I feel like using the power of streaming and Zoom online marketplaces, if you are a fantastic singer, there are people that will pay you to write songs. Oh my God, when it comes to you don’t have to go to Nashville and write some of us, right? Like in Nashville, I was writing two to three songs a day, every day. And then we great songs and we get it, you know, you pitch it to a publisher. And they’re like, Yeah, I’ll take a copy of that. And then you never hear back again. It’s like, those are all I call the hard drive graveyard songs that are just like, Okay, well, I didn’t write that for me. I wrote it down. You know, so you’ve got this talent that you’re trying to monetize. And now it’s gonna go die on your hard drive because one person said, No, no way. There is a world out there. A market out there where you can monetize your skills, whether you’re a songwriter, a producer, a singer a mix engineer, or a beat maker. They are beatmakers Hip Hop guys that make another movie. making six figures a year. No. Fun. So fun. So I would just say that the the possibilities are limitless. It feels like the end of the world. It feels catastrophic. But really, it’s just if you’re able to get out of the tunnel vision of this is the only way I can make money or be successful and just go back a bit. There’s so much so much opportunity.

 

Rick Jordan  

Oh, I love it. That everyone needs to follow Kris. At Purdue, it looks on Instagram, like produce like a boss, right? Yes, that’s it. Yeah, that’s awesome. And produce like a boss.com where you can pick this up? I think I’m even gonna have some of my people go through it. No joke. Not even kidding. Because it’s awesome. We just bought it. We used to do this at a producer’s place but now we brought everything in-house for the show just about three months ago, and it’s been a lot of fun. Yeah, I mean, quality is notched up in everything, but it’s cool because I think they’re gonna learn a lot from this to my team and produce like a boss.com Kris Bradley. You’re amazing. Really. Thank you. It’s been fun just having fun with you.

 

Kris Bradley  

Thanks for having me. The feeling is mutual. live such it’s such a pleasure to be here. Thank you