THE QU‍‍‍ESTIONS

Epiphanies come at the oddest moments. At least the ones that really stick seem to. I assume most people have a ton of epiphanies everyday; split seconds where your brain connects thoughts to get you from one moment to the next. But most of those flitter away as soon as they’ve served t‍‍‍heir purpose. But some epiphanies stick, either because they happen at such an od‍‍‍d moment you can’t help but remember or because the epiphany is something you’ll find yourself returning to over and over again throughout your life.

This is a story about an epiphany, how it shapes my life today and what you can take from it. ‍‍‍

A couple years ago I was helping a friend sell vintage adu‍‍‍lt magazines online. I needed cash and he needed help. Inside of his living room sat an abnormal amount of vintage adult magazines that needed sorted for an upcoming auction. Preparing bundles of magazines for an auction can be mind-numbing work, so every couple hours we’d go take a smoke break outside, then come back in for another couple hours of sorting and listing. I tend to get introspective and in my head when I smoke, which is why I don’t smoke often. But every so often I get a really good run of epiphanies going to the point where I have to feverishly write them down before my brain trails off on a tangent of ridiculous shit.

PORN, WEED & LIFE'S PURPOSE

THE LESSON

On this particular day, I started asking myself questions about what my goals in life and in my career were. Not only did I ask ‘what’, I asked ‘why’, ‘where’ and ‘how’. As in:

What: I want to tour overseas again.

Where: Australia, UK, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, Brazil, Spain, etc.

How: (to be figured out)

Why: (to be figured out even more)

I wrote this series of questions down. They covered everything from my “Idiot’s Guide to Anarchy” ‍‍‍album to financial ambitions and long-term life goals with my wife and family. I didn’t just ask what I wanted in these areas of my life, I forced myself to ask how and most importantly, why. This list of questions became the centerpiece of nearly every choice I’ve made since I wrote it. Not only do I re-read it on a monthly basis (at the least), I edit and improve upon it. When I’d first ask ‘why’ I wanted something for myself; as in ‘why do I want to tour overseas’? My answers were shallow and self-serving: ‘because I have a network of promoters in this region’ or ‘because I want to see this part of the world’. As time went on, I was forced to reflect on my previous answers and provide a greater level of depth to them. ‘Why’ became more selfless and more vague, as in: ‘Why do I want to tour overseas?’ ‘What service, message, perspective or experience would I offer these specific areas of the globe that would warrant me performing or traveling to these regions?

As I began to ask these questions over and over again, each time with a deeper layer of answers, my approach as a performer, artist and human changed entirely. All senses of entitlement began to melt away (though I’m sure there’s a healthy amount still in need of melting). For instance, the above question regarding touring overseas led me into what would become my SEANCE event in San Diego; rather than an event where we squarely promote ourselves as performers, we promote the platform and idea we hope to provide for musicians, artists and fans across various cultures. I’ve become so much more interested in the community and creativity we might be able to help foster; the chance that we might be able to contribute to a greater culture.

As I take on new clients in my audio production and visual design company SoundRzn, I find myself offering these questions to them as well. Previously, when someone was looking to release an album or start a ne‍‍‍w business I’d offer whatever music production, mixing or visual services that seemed to be a fit. As both my freelance career and my relationship with clients has grown these past few years, I’ve begun viewing their careers with the same care as I view mine. Asking them these questions has helped me develop music and visual branding for them at a much deeper and soulful level, allowing them to reach goals they hadn't even necessarily thought of themselves.

Many of my supporters are independent artists and small business owners; you may be one yourself. With that in mind, I wanted to offer the framework of these questions to anyone interested. I’ve found them to be extremely helpful. Many of these questions will be specifically pointed at independent music artists (since that’s what I do), but with some slight re-wording, this should ideally apply to anyone. So without further ado...

What are you hoping to achieve with this project & campaign in particular as an artist? Why?
Who is your aud‍‍‍ience on this record? Who are you speaking to? Who are you having a conversation with? Why?
What do you hope to get out of that conversation? What do you hope to add to that conversation? Why?
What conversations do you want this project to create? Why?
Where do you want these conversations to happen? Why?
Who do you want to change and how do you want to change them? Why?

PROJECT GOALS‍‍‍

Are you hoping to see a ROI on this project or are you expecting this to be a passion project that may lose money in the interest of gaining something else (awareness etc)?
If looking for a ROI, how are you looking to capitalize on this project to do so? Touring? Licensing? Merch? Speaking engagements?

PERSONAL & FINANCIAL GOALS

Are you looking to invest in physical merchandise? If so, what type of merch do you feel works best for your fanbase? Vinyl? CD? TShirt? Misc?
Whatever physical of this project/campaign you see yourself printing up, why are you choosing what you’re choosing? Personal reasons? Fan demand?

PRODUCTS & MERCHANDISE

What do you hope to achieve for yourself, your lifestyle and your family with this project and campaign? Why?

LIFE & FAMILY

Assuming you’re looking to continue touring, where are you looking to perform in support of this project?
Why do you want to perform in these places in particular?
What value do you think you offer to the places you’d like to plan to? What do the people in those regions want from you?

TOURING & TRAVEL

You don't have to have the answers to all these questions. I didn't. I still don't have the answers to all of them. But every year I’ll revisit my answers and without erasing the previous year’s answer, I’ll write in what my current year perspective holds and see how similar or different it holds to the previous years. Revisiting these questions will occasionally lead me to add a few other thoughts, one of which I’ll share with here.

Below is my own personal value list. No one has to use it for themselves, but if there’s anything you’d like to take out of it, feel free.

Greater-Than-Self Potential - to excel and exceed my own expectations of what I feel God put me on earth to do to help serve humanity and the planet better.
Self Potential Achievement - to excel at becoming the greatest me so that I can fulfill my first value. This includes excelling at my craft, growing spiritually and philosophically, as well as maintaining a healthy body and lifestyle to the best of my ability to allow for as much time to achieve goals set by these values.
Strong Foundation in Family & Friends - By being the best person I can be, I become a better husband, parent, friend and relationship to everyone around, specifically my family, leading to a stronger and healthier family unit.
Lineage & Security - to have physical space to not only create and grow as a person and family, but own property that will sustain our family and future generations and allow for greater self-preservation (food, health, etc.)
Perspective - Being able to freely travel, whether on business or just for the experience gives a wider worldly perspective and allows for potentially deeper spiritual growth, balance and understanding.

VA‍‍‍LUE LIST‍‍‍

It feels weird to put this all out here like this. I can't pretend I always follow these goals perfectly. Sometimes when I'm depressed I don't even look at all this; I think it's stupid and pointless. But I haven't come up with anything better so this is what I come back to. If you’re reading this and have ideas on how to improve or add on to everything above, feel free to write me back with suggestions. These questions and answers are always evolving and I’m always reading and conversing to find new layers and perspectives to add in.

If you don't see the purpose in diving this deep (it can totally feel overwhelming), I'll close out with the lessons I took away from asking these questions over the past couple years.

Don’t forget, my new album “An Idiot’s Guide to Anarchy” is available on all digital platforms or HERE on 2LP vinyl. You can read about it here, here and here if you’re s‍‍‍kep‍‍‍tical.

Also, learn more about our monthly SEANCE event HERE, we’d love to take it on the road this year. We think we have something very special and unique.

Thank you for reading, have a great one

Ill Po

Learn yourself. Take the time to learn yourself and feel out what makes you happy, what makes you passionate. Figure out how that helps other people. Create value with your passion for other people and you will be fine. I believe you stop worrying about being broke because you will always have money for what you need. If you don’t have the money, you didn’t need it like you thought you did. Continue to perfect your craft, learn yourself, ‍‍‍provide value by any means and the money will come‍‍‍.
Ask the right questions. Keep asking yourself deeper questions about who you are, what you stand for, what your passions and dreams are, what value you offer to others. Know your worth and challenge it often. Keep asking.
You only need 3 things to self-educate: literacy, curiosity & self-belief.
Ask a question, if it doesn’t work, then rephrase “How Can I do it if I can’t do it this way?”
You only have to be really good at one thing. Keep asking deeper questions about that one thing, moving from macro to micro. The more micro you get the more likely you'll find an area in your field and passion untouched by others that allows you to add value you add to this earth.