300 episodes

Creativity Excitement Emotion features award-winning composer, best-selling author, and professional podcaster David Andrew Wiebe formerly of The New Music Industry Podcast. In addition to offering expert tips for musicians, artists, and creatives, the podcast delivers candid conversations, interviews, and roundtables with an array of artists, creatives, executives, marketers, coaches, and entrepreneurs. Favoring a storytelling approach, Wiebe’s new podcast is chock-full of personal stories and examples that equip the listener with valuable takeaways they won’t soon forget.

Creativity Excitement Emotion David Andrew Wiebe

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Creativity Excitement Emotion features award-winning composer, best-selling author, and professional podcaster David Andrew Wiebe formerly of The New Music Industry Podcast. In addition to offering expert tips for musicians, artists, and creatives, the podcast delivers candid conversations, interviews, and roundtables with an array of artists, creatives, executives, marketers, coaches, and entrepreneurs. Favoring a storytelling approach, Wiebe’s new podcast is chock-full of personal stories and examples that equip the listener with valuable takeaways they won’t soon forget.

    053 – Pros & Cons of Being an Approval Seeker

    053 – Pros & Cons of Being an Approval Seeker

    Thanks to the proliferation of social media and smartphones, attention- and approval-seeking behaviors are at an all-time high.

    In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David explains the pros and cons of being an approval seeker.
    Download the PDF Transcript
    Sponsors:

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    Highlights:
    00:17 – Can you do life without constantly having to be validated?
    00:55 – Getting the results you’re looking for
    01:58 – Getting results for yourself first
    02:12 – It’s not just about being independent
    03:08 – What lengths are you willing to go to?
    04:03 – Short-sightedness is a problem
    04:36 – Approval seeking is beneficial to those who are willing and able to do it
    05:04 – Not everyone is going to like you
    06:19 – The upsides and downsides of being an approval seeker
    07:27 – Know thyself
    Transcript:
    I don't think I'm much of an approval seeker. There's something that came up in my reflections and I think that's the ideal… if you can be independent… and don't get me wrong, it's always nice to get compliments. It's always nice to get praise. And I think we're all deserving of it to greater or lesser degrees, and we all need it as well.

    But if you can be as independent as possible and not have to run on compliments or praise as fuel to do life, I think that's the ideal. You’ve got to take care of yourself first before you worry about taking care of anybody else.

    If you're doing things in life, it doesn't matter what area, relationships, business, music, or anything else that you might be taking on. If you're not getting the results that you're looking for, it means that some aspect of what you're doing is not working, right?

    I can tangibly see, since February [2023], when I started working out again, that I am getting results. I am looking trimmer, fitter, more in shape, gaining muscle, and losing fat. So, there's proof right there that it's working. If someone wanted to get the results that I'm getting right now, there would be good reason to listen to me.

    If I wasn't getting those types of results, and I was merely advising people from my armchair, that's a whole other situation.

    So, we want to be mindful of where results are showing up before we worry about trying to advise others on the direction that they should go in. First look at whether our method is working at all, in any capacity.

    I'm not talking merely about being independent, though. I think culturally speaking, North America has a lot to learn from a country like Japan.

    People often come back to me and say, “Everything has its pros and cons,” and yeah, that is true. Japan has some odd bits of culture that can be a little bit hard to understand or process. You could get thrown in jail for rather bizarre reasons, but I think every country has that. If you start looking into the law, like, there's almost no country that doesn't have some bizarre rules that could get you into trouble.

    So, I think there's something to be learned about community culture. It's something that Japan does so well, and I'm sure it happens in other countries, too. I just haven't seen it.

    So, I’m not just talking about being independent, although that is important. I think with approval seeking, it's almost your tolerance for what lengths are you willing to go to, to get people's attention. It's exactly what we're seeing with influencer culture. It's exactly what we're seeing with creator culture.

    People are running around in tiny little bikinis, or if you're an OnlyFans model, then naked. There's ASMR, there's video games, there's all this stuff…

    Look, some people genuinely love what they do and are good at it. I'm not going to take that away from them. But you will also find some people do this just because they think it will get them a lifestyle. In some cases, it does.

    You can get advertising money.

    • 9 min
    052 – You’re More Resilient Than You Know

    052 – You’re More Resilient Than You Know

    What are you putting up with? Health challenges? Financial problems? Relationship issues?

    The fact that you’re putting up with anything goes to show how resilient you truly are. But are you wasting your precious resiliency on people and things that don’t matter?

    In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David why it’s important to be willing to change.
    Download the PDF Transcript
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    Highlights:
    00:17 – People are better at coping and dealing with things than they realize
    01:30 – You are more resilient than you realize
    01:52 – You can’t change anything you’re willing to put up with
    02:34 – What are you putting up with?
    03:09 – Make a new commitment
    03:45 – What have you been tolerating?
    Transcript:
    The human ability to cope and put up with things is a marvel. It's incredible. I think almost everyone is better at coping and putting up with things than they even realize.

    Like, “We have a noisy upstairs neighbor and they're always partying on Thursday and Friday. But now that we know, we can plan around that and it's no big deal.”

    No big deal. Really? And it could even be an injury. It's like, “Yeah, I damaged my foot about a month ago and just letting it heal on its own, not going to see the doctor.”

    Just think of all the situations, right? “Yeah, I gained 500 pounds and it’s fine. I'm just going to continue eating and enjoying myself and no big deal.”

    And that's not a judgment on anyone. I think we all do this to greater or lesser degrees.

    “My financial situation is out of control, and I've been going into debt for 24 months. I haven't been able to pay my credit card bills except for minimum payments.” People just don't understand how bad of a situation that is, because they haven't investigated it.

    “I put up with it, it's a fact of life, no big deal.”

    So, understand that your ability to cope with change and put up with things is far greater than you realize. You may fear change, and many people do, but at the same time, you are so strong, and you are so good at putting up with it. What is most likely to happen is the event will happen and you'll figure out a way to put up with it or work around it.

    Your ability to cope with change and put up with things is far greater than you realize.Click To Tweet

    Here's the point. We can't change anything that we're willing to put up with. If it's like, “Yeah, it's okay. No big deal. I'll figure it out.” If it's like that, then we can't go and make a difference in that area in any significant way.

    And usually, that's where we want the biggest breakthrough. And we're sitting there going, “Yeah, credit card bills, no big deal.” And they've got like three credit cards, each maxed to the hilt. And they're barely making minimum payments. You're in a much, much worse situation than you even realize right now.

    And there are some actions to take. There are some things to do.

    So, where are you putting up with things? If you're putting up with them, it means that you're not willing to do anything about them.

    You must change that to something else. You must change the context. You’ve got to say, “I'm not willing to put up with this anymore. I'm going to get into action. I'm going to do something about this. I'm going to start working out tomorrow,” or “I'm going to start looking at my finances every single day and start cutting expenses that I no longer need.”

    Or, “I'm going to start seeing a doctor or a naturopath or someone who can help me with my health.”

    These areas where we're putting up with things are an invitation to make a new commitment, make a new decision, try something else, try something out of the ordinary.

    People get easily stuck in their ways, not recognizing that they have. a near-limitless set of options in front of them. Maybe it's not infin

    • 5 min
    051 – Rental Drama: The Sequel

    051 – Rental Drama: The Sequel

    Sometimes there is no logic to the way people treat you. You could pay less for better service. You could pay more for lesser service. And what you end up with isn’t always predictable going in.

    In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David elaborates on the rental drama that recently unfolded in his life.
    Download the PDF Transcript
    Sponsors:

    Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: Get a free copy of the “Definitive Guide to Productivity for Artists and Entrepreneurs.”

    Highlights:
    00:17 – Being treated worse for more money
    01:34 – Blood, sweat, and tears
    02:17 – All feelings, no logic
    03:10 – Paying back kindness with cruelty
    Transcript:
    Something that occurred to me about my ridiculous rental situation... I realized that I was staying in Abbotsford for about two years, paying, I think it was $800 or $900 a month. It certainly wasn't a whole lot more than that.

    And I was treated way better there than paying $1,350 at a friend's house in Vancouver. Like, how does this even add up? Simple math says I should be treated just as well, if not better. And yet, on some level, I think there's miscommunication, or communication that needs to happen that's not happening.

    “We need you to be out of here in two weeks.” Now, we have no formal written agreement. So, it's not a situation where I can go back to them and be like, “Yeah, two weeks is not enough.” I've pleaded my case already. I've already made my case.

    I said, “Even if I happen to find a place tomorrow and send in my application, and I'm approved, it's very unlikely that I'll be able to move in after two weeks,” and I was met with a dead stare.

    So, that kind of tells me everything. They're clueless. They have no idea what's going on. Maybe they think I'm lucky, for being able to move from place to place.

    Yeah, lucky, sure. You try working your ass off for 10 years or longer to get to this point and build something from nothing. Something that you must put your blood, sweat, tears, and effort into every single day to build.

    All I can say is “Good luck with that.” Because most people don't do it. Honestly, all I can think is they just want to be more buddy-buddy with me or something. They're expecting way more communication than I'm giving.

    Even though they could just as easily, come down, knock on my door, and say “Hi.” See what's going on and ask about my life, which they don't do.

    So, at the end of the day, it just seems to me it's all about feelings. It has nothing to do with logic.

    Like, if someone was paying me $1,350 per month, and they were living in my basement, and they were quiet and clean, Sure, maybe I'd worry a little bit and check up on them every once in a while and see if they're okay. But aside from that, I would let them be. I would let them live their life.

    I wouldn't worry too much about their habits as long as they're not completely out to lunch. And it's like, “Man, we all miss a meal now and again. We all miss a shower now and again.”

    But just because I'm not always eating at home or not always showering at home, it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm not doing those things.

    I want to ask, like, “Do I look dirty and unhealthy?” Because I don't. Not even a little bit.

    So, this is what you get for being respectful of others. They pay back your kindness with, “Yeah, you can't be here. We don't like you.”

    Like I said, I think something is missing in communication. I'm not getting something they're saying, and they're not getting something I'm saying. They're just basing everything off things I've done or not done, not based on any communication or conversation that's been had.

    All I can say is “Good luck with that,” because I know we're human, but if you make all your decisions based on, “I don’t want to talk to them.” Sometimes, you’ve got to take the initiative and have those conversations, especially if something’s missing for you.

    For someone who's supposed to

    • 5 min
    050 – The Golden Rule & Throwing Pearls to Swine

    050 – The Golden Rule & Throwing Pearls to Swine

    Life is unfortunately full of unequal exchanges. You give more than you get. Or you get more than you give. Over the long haul, these types of exchanges always tend to balance out. But the process the universe uses to balance things can occur as chaotic.

    In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David shares his experience with unequal exchanges.
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    Highlights:
    00:17 – Treat others as you would like to be treated
    01:36 – Enduring hell
    02:46 – You can control what you say, not what others feel
    Transcript:
    The golden rule is “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” So, for as long as I can remember, I've always treated others with kindness and respect and understanding and given them plenty of space. Even if they get angry, even if they're weird people, they'd usually get a second and maybe even a third or fourth chance with me.

    As things went on and I got taken advantage of and didn't want to be a doormat anymore, I decided that I couldn’t be that kind or that giving. I couldn’t be that respectful of everyone.

    Because the reality is a lot of people just don't deserve it. But those seeds were planted.

    And I'm still a kind person. I try to treat people with respect and treat them the way that I would like to be treated as much as possible. So, I'm not just thinking about me and my convenience.

    If it's about me and my safety, that's a whole other fucking matter. I will get out of a situation as quickly as I possibly can if it's about my safety, and I've had to do that.

    But if it's not a matter of safety, I'm the gentlest giant you're going to find. And I'm not that big. 6'1”, 6'2” is tall, but I'm not huge. I'm not Michael Jordan. I'm not an NBA star.

    And so, when I think about the way that I've been treated – and I'm not referring to my friends – but when I think about the way I've been treated in the last year plus… In a situation where I can't find a fucking home or I'm having to go from place to place, at times paying for exorbitant Airbnb fees, trying to figure out what the fuck I'm going to do next, working my ass off every single week to make sure that an income comes in so I can sustain some kind of lifestyle.

    Have I been treated all that well? I mean, it's human to look at the situation and evidence for all the reasons why people didn't treat you with respect. I could do that, and I'm sure I could find a bunch. But the reality is I haven't been treated badly by everyone.

    But some of the most disappointing ones are the ones that should know better, in my opinion. But they do say that when crimes occur, it’s usually someone you know. It's more likely to be someone you know stealing from you, taking from you, or doing things to your property than someone you don't know.

    And it's just like, “I may have made you feel a certain way, but you have to take responsibility for how you feel.” It doesn't work the other way. You can't put that on me. I can control what I say, but I can't control how you interpret it and how you feel about it as much as I might want to.

    So, if something is going on, man, come to me first, and let's have a conversation. Seriously. Don't just go assuming things. Don't just go and make plans of your own. I'm a safe guy. I'm not going to do anything to you.

    But if it's something concerning my living situation or my lifestyle, come and talk to me first. Jesus Christ.

    • 4 min
    049 – They Won’t Play It Unless It’s a Hit

    049 – They Won’t Play It Unless It’s a Hit

    The entertainment industry isn’t interested in taking any chances. They only want to work with entertainers who have a proven track record. They only want to bank on ideas that have already enjoyed success.

    In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David considers the future of the music business.

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    Highlights:
    00:17 – Disappointing meal at Barcelos
    00:34 – Covers of Top 40 songs
    01:02 – It’s not a crime to record covers
    01:22 – Where things have been going in the film industry
    01:40 – Gambling on the unproven
    01:50 – How sad would it be?
    02:04 – Adding insult to injury
    Transcript:
    So, I was at Barcello's having a mediocre dinner. It wasn't terrible, I guess, but it wasn't the best either. I've had very good meals there before, so by contrast, I was a little disappointed. I had a chicken sandwich. I guess it was okay.

    Anyway, on their sound system, they have this music playing and it's covers of very popular tunes from the last 10, 20 years or so, and it's this female singer. It's just one cover after another of Maroon 5, Linkin Park, Katy Perry, and who knows what else? I couldn't even identify all of them, but I recognize the songs because they’re all Top 40.

    I'm sitting there thinking to myself, “Is this the direction the music business is going in?”

    Recording covers is not a crime. Many of us were inspired by different artists and when we pay tribute to them, I think most of us are very sincere.

    But with the business side of things, it could move in that direction. Think of movies. In recent movies, they don't take chances. It’s like, “Let's make a sequel” or “Let's make something with the same storyline from so and so or a very similar plotline from this other movie.”

    And very rarely do they take risks on anything else that's not proven. Of course, the music industry has kind of been that way for a long time, as far as the artists that they sign go. Unless it's a proven concept, they're not going to work with them.

    But I mean, how sad would that be? Like, do you want to be listening to the hits of the 2020s, 2010s, 2000s, and the 90s for the rest of your life? Yeah. I don't know. It wouldn't be much fun.

    To add insult to injury, these are pop songs being covered in a pop genre. Like there's no change. Maybe there's a little bit of an electronic or atmospheric, vocal trance-type quality to it. But aside from that, it's the same thing we've heard just with a female voice.

    There was one song, I think it happened in recent history where a song took the hook of, “Blue (Da Ba Dee),” which was never a great song to begin with, but whatever. And they're covering that.

    So, I'm sitting here going, “You're covering a derivative work, a hook from a song from the 90s that was taken and put into a modern song, which you're now covering.” I just thought like, “Wow, the level of meta here has reached a new level.”

    And then the most hilarious thing was listening to her rendition of Linkin Park's “In the End.”

    She's singing just Chester's parts. In other words, Mike Shinoda's rap is completely absent. And I'm like, “This may as well be a karaoke track.” This is so cheesy. You forgot to put the rap in, or you just decided it didn't need to go there. You could have vocalized it. You could have come up with some creative way. Instead, you just ignored it completely and only sang Chester's part.

    • 4 min
    048 – “You Have to Leave”

    048 – “You Have to Leave”

    Things don’t always work out with significant others, landlords, partners, investors, bandmates, or otherwise. It can be devastating, and figuring out your next move can be tough.

    In this episode of Creativity Excitement Emotion, David vulnerably shares about a rental situation gone wrong.
    Download the PDF Transcript
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    Highlights:
    00:17 – Raw emotions
    01:00 – “You’ve got two weeks”
    01:28 – Trying to find a place in Vancouver
    02:38 – Taking responsibility for the role you played in dysfunction
    03:40 – Somehow, it will all work out
    Transcript:
    All right, so I'm going to talk about this while my emotions are still raw. And this is not something I used to do, but I think nowadays I'm realizing it's okay to complain. It's okay to react to life. It's okay to vent and rant sometimes.

    Assuming you come back to that place of understanding or realizing that everything's going to be okay, something's going to come up, it's all going to work out, and an opportunity will show up. If you believe that it must happen, right?

    But in the meantime, I'm like, this is b******t. That's why I'm going to share while I'm still raw because I know that's going to be more relatable than me waiting for later to collect my head and think about what I'm saying.

    So, I've been staying with this lady now for about six weeks in her basement and it's been fine. I stayed with her last year too, so like, obviously that generosity has been super appreciated, and I've communicated that to her, and I'm paying rent. Pretty normal rates to stay there.

    So, it's not like there's no benefit in it for her, but she came down and told me today that, I've got two weeks to stay there. It's not like I was going to stay there forever, and I knew I'd have to move on and find something else.

    And at the same time, it's like, “Could you give me more than two weeks to figure out where I might be going?” It's September, we're almost in October here. I think October starts tomorrow or Monday, but Vancouver is nuts. The rental market, the housing market in general, is insane.

    So, in September, people have just settled in, and there is nothing. I guess you can find the occasional apartment for a bazillion bucks or whatever, but what in the world? Why would you think that there's still something out there right now?

    I probably need to wait until after December, the way that things have been filling up this year, to have any chance of finding anything that's within my price range. And I wouldn't even say price range. Moreso what I think is reasonable.

    Some people might be okay renting a closet for $2,000 and a police check. And I'm not willing to do that, right? You’re going to have to do a little bit better than that for me.

    I understand. It's maybe not a buyer's market as much as it is a renter's market, but give me something here, please.

    Anyway, the message is delivered, and I’ve got to be out of there. Of course, I can take responsibility for the part that I played in this whole thing, which is that I agreed to stay there in the first place.

    Could I have explored other options before staying at her place? Yes. Could I have maybe communicated some things about my life, what I'm up to, and the things that are going on in my life before staying there? Yes.

    So, there hasn't been a lot of communication, and I can take responsibility for that part. But I don't know, I think she just wants to be buddy-buddy or something like that. She has a whole world going on that I don't know anything about and I have a whole world that she knows nothing about, and no part of that's been communicated.

    Leaders take responsibility for the lack of communication.Click To Tweet

    So, it's one of those things where it's a two-way street, right? There's no power in thinking of it in terms of a two-way street,...

    • 5 min

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