repeatedly three things that I don’t
want to grow up and be a normal boring
old adult to I don’t ever want to own a
suit for a job and three I will always
listen to punk rock and heavy metal and
that for me those are the three things
if I do this I will have achieved not
selling out his selling out for me when
I was a kid was a really big deal
especially as a music fan is a fan of
any art and culture in general because
selling out was that thing your favorite
band did and they got famous and you’re
like no it’s your favorite artist or
favorite actor who did indie films and
all of a sudden now is doing like big
blockbuster explosion films you’re like
no selling out is that compromise that
someone seems to make that you feel for
yourself for that person has compromised
their integrity and it changes the way
you see them selling out especially for
bands and for musicians it gets hard
when you’re trying to be successful and
achieve success but you also want to
keep your punk rock integrity intact
bands like green day we came gallon on
radio and it made a bunch of people
angry me as the metal had loved
Metallica and Metallica all of a sudden
put out the black album and became the
sellout band but also came up with one
of the greatest quotes of all time when
it comes to selling out Jason Newsted
the basis was when asked do you think
you’re a sellout as a band he looks
around is llaman sell out we sell out
every seat in the house every time we
play I’ve always thought okay I want to
have that kind of sellout integrity so
it’s like sort of selling out but
without selling it may be selling out
the right way well for me and my career
my job I had graduated from a Christian
liberal arts college with a degree in
youth ministry so try to do the mental
punk rock youth ministry church math
there and so I went I was like I’m going
to work with high school kids so I went
to work with high school students in
Southern California so I are keeping the
youth thing going Southern California
hotbed of punk rock and heavy metal then
I went to work in a mega church and then
I needed a suit I needed a suit for
funerals and weddings and that became a
little tough but because it was just for
those two three times a year we’ll leave
the suit thing to the side but it kept I
kept my tiger
intact I didn’t sell out just yet
because i was working with high school
students in the inner city urban orange
county california i was taking these
students it’s lots of rock shows taking
the punk shows enjoying music together
enjoying life and culture trying to help
these kids in the arts and as a part of
what i did as a youth pastor i had to
create flyers and programs and design
stuff for events so i got some bootleg
photoshop from my dad and i was working
on some flyers and stuff and i really
enjoyed the process and over the years
working with high school students i love
designing all of a sudden I kind of like
designing more than working with high
school students and at the church it was
cool because they would started asking
me hey can you help design us some
flyers for some events we’re doing this
big outreach thing can help design
something and I really like the design
thing and one day when the bureaucracy
and politics of working in a mega church
that was crazy weird and on TV and super
bizarre I said you know what I’m
declaring to the heavens right now I’m
going to be a graphic designer I’m going
to be a creative I’m going to leave this
church world behind and that was a scary
day for me because I’m like oh no how do
I keep my integrity intact how do I not
sell out and make this huge transition
so today I want to talk about a few
things I’ve learned over the past few
years as I transition from one place to
another place and trying to keep my punk
rock integrity intact and not selling
out or selling out the right way and the
first way I think about selling out the
right way is getting in the pit you’ve
ever been to a punk show or a hardcore
show or a wheel weird alternative
alternative show back in the late 90s
you’ve seen the mosh pit right maybe
some of you’ve been in it maybe some of
you have seen it in like that stinks
that’s weird those are guys throwing
haymakers over there I don’t like this
the must fit is that place it a show
especially a punk show where that’s
where the action is happening as I’m
getting older I feel like I’m the old
guy at a rock show when I go out and so
I sit around the edge I’m in the back my
buddy’s not do that thing we’re just
leaving kind of nod our heads why like
there’s a crazy pit happening ahead and
a few years ago my buddies and I read a
show and they’re like we can we stop
being the old guys can we get in the mix
and so we ran up front and had so much
fun because we
in the pit that’s where the actions at
your active participant in the music and
what’s great about the pit or two things
first one danger danger is an amazing
motivator and an amazing thing that
keeps you sharp that keeps you focused
and it keeps you grounded what does it
little danger going on your heads always
on a swivel you’re not comfortable
you’re in the moment you’re present and
danger kind of makes you feel alive
danger at a punk show its kind of goes
hand in hand there’s this venue in metro
Atlanta called the masquerade and the
masquerade is where all the punk bands
play in Atlanta and it’s this old wooden
building that used to be a mill and it
looks like it’s about to fall over with
a good hot wind and then you go inside
and there are three venues inside of it
to add to the danger component there’s
heaven there’s hell and there’s
purgatory those are the three venues so
already you’re coming this is awesome
it’s kind of scary weird and the danger
components amazing and because it’s an
old building there’s these old floors
that when there’s a thousand kids in
this place jumping around the floors do
this and you’re like oh this is the last
day I’m going to see my family okay and
the danger component keeps you on her
head the head on a swivel keeps you
looking around keeps you focused on the
things are important when my wife and I
decided to move from Southern California
to Atlanta Georgia to follow a job in
the design for me it was my first design
gig no else would hire me because I
worked in churches forever I had no
resume i had no book I had no nothing
these guys took a chance on me and it
was dangerous who moved from a place
where we had a community to a place we
didn’t know anybody but a danger kept us
frosting it kept a sharp it kept us
grounded it kept us connected that’s
like being in the pit the second thing
after danger that I like to focus on his
community this may sound
counterintuitive because in a pit it
doesn’t feel like people are being very
hospitable it feels like they’re fat
sweaty do just throwing haymakers at
each other and it’s like I might get
stabbed I don’t know but really when you
break it down in a pit it is a bunch of
like-minded people gathering together
albeit you try to viscerally enjoy the
moment and be present but we’re all like
minded and we’re all a part of
unity if you’ve ever been a part of one
and it’s been a few years since I’ve
really been in there throwing some crazy
knuckles or picking up change or
whatever it is what I like to do is
what’s really cool is when someone falls
down everyone stops and picks that
person up it’s amazing thing to see
because the thing is it’s just super
animalistic and crazy but the minute
someone Falls would pick each other up
there’s a amazing community there after
we moved to Atlanta the company I
started working for was an upstart web
company and they lost their funding
after six months and guess what we all
got fired or let go as they say and I
losing my job it was like well here
comes the danger component again I’m now
jobless I don’t have a career really I
don’t have much to show for I’ve started
this whole thing I moved to a new land
but by the grace of god there’s a
community of people there who we met
through working in metro Atlanta who are
in young bands bands who became friends
with who later get signed a major record
labels who needed artwork help then we
meet with other young bands who are like
hey are young brands and non businesses
that hey we’re starting this business
can you help me design something and
before you know it this community of
people that were there to kind of catch
us and pick us up helped us kind of
launch and get us going and keep
propelling us towards success and got my
business going and got it off the ground
by getting them the pit having a little
bit of danger and a lot of community we
kept going and I still kept my integrity
intact and I sold out the right way the
second idea I have its weakness as
uniqueness now this weird way of selling
out the right way is determining that
your weakness is not a horrible horrible
thing but it’s a thing that makes you
amazing it makes you unique what I’ve
learned it all these years of working in
creativity and design is that not only
the just the most talented people are
always not the most successful talent is
one of those things we do measure
proficiencies all those things we do
measure but sometimes those are the guys
who are in the basement noodling on the
guitar they’re super talented but
they’re not the most successful there’s
a lot of bands who start out terrible
because they have fire they have energy
and they’re excited because they’re
maybe not be the most talented what they
do they turn their weakness not being
very good at guitar /
and turn it into a uniqueness by playing
faster turning up the reverb getting
crazy as a designer when I started my
career I kind of realized there’s a big
flaw that I thought every designer must
have which is the ability to draw it’s
kind of a big deal and I can’t draw very
well and having that in my life was kind
of frustrating but what I did was I look
for other ways to find new avenues to be
creative and kind of hide the fact I’m
not very good at drawing so I start
taking photographs I started falling in
love with photography then I started
using some weird artwork techniques and
some weird software two techniques that
someone made and also they became the
unique look for what I did I turned my
weakness into a uniqueness and that made
me hopefully stand out amongst other
people when I’m trying to fight for a
job one of my favorite examples of this
being a metalhead there may be some
metal heads here today is Tony Iommi the
guitar player for the band Black Sabbath
Tony Iommi is credited with creating the
sound and invented heavy metal but with
Tony Iommi was 17 years old he was in a
garage band loved playing guitar wasn’t
in Black Sabbath yet but he’s working in
the factory and one day he had a factory
accident a machine press came down and
lopped off his ring tips of his ring
finger middle finger on his guitar Han
and I don’t know if you know missing
fingers and playing guitar is kind of
tough but he went home determined to
figure something out and he started
playing on guitar and the regular
strings hurt his new fingers so he got
fatter guitar strings got bass strings
and put on his guitar gave him a nice
lower tone but still kind of hurt a
little bit so he developed these little
caps and he’d put on his fingers and he
play and it felt better and had this low
muddled tone that would go on to kind of
create the sound that invented an entire
musical genre heavy metal he let his
weakness determine his uniqueness I
think that’s really important in not
selling out because that keeps you
grounded that keeps you focused and
reminds you that you’re not perfect and
in all those ways you can turn a
negative into a positive the third and
last idea I have for you in selling out
the right way is young mimo
now this sounds weird and what is young
me moments me young me moments have you
ever had those moments or if you said
yourself if sixteen-year-old me were
here right now they would not believe
what is happening those moments where
you’re like wow I once dreamed of this
I’m so glad we’re here because very
often we don’t take time to look back we
just keep looking for right we barrel
forward and what we’re doing young me
moments of those moments where you sit
back and say young me would have loved
this being a lover of music as you can
tell my but we would buy records all the
time my buddies and I would buy records
all the time and have to drive an hour
to the look closest record store and we
drive an hour save our money get over to
Fort Wayne Indiana and we go to the CD
store buy a bunch of Records and get to
the car and just open them up and start
pouring into them we look over the liner
notes my buddy was a real weirdo and he
would open it up and sniff the packaging
and I’m like dude what is wrong with you
but he’s like that’s how much in love
with this product we were and we look
over the liner notes you ok this guy
played guitar here these lyrics are
amazing and especially me as a creative
mind even though I wasn’t doing design
yet about who did this artwork this is
amazing and the drummer at the time too
I want to be like one day I want to have
my name these liner notes as a drummer
that’s one of my goals again 16 year old
goal sure everyone wants be a rock and
roll drummer right have their name in
liner notes a few years after get my
business going I started doing projects
for friends back to the community aspect
doing projects for friends in their
bands and the one of the first records i
got that I designed I opened it up was
just like okay cool it printed this
correctly this looks nice there it was I
saw my name the liner notes I was like
all right I may not be in here is a
drummer but I’m in here as a crazy
graphic designer that’s a young me
moment 15 year old me would be freaking
out if he knew this day was happening
and I find these young me moments are
those things that keep us grounded that
keep us established and keep us kind of
focused on what’s ahead but reminding us
not to forget the past kind of reminding
us of her childlike heart can you
imagine there’s probably a million
Disney illustrators that work for Disney
who when they were kids grew up on all
those Disney films I bet you every day
they walk into work and see the big ears
and they see all the crazy at latin
illustrations and this that and the
other that is
don’t go man if eight-year-old me had
any idea and that probably is a point of
success because for me I was never a big
fan of spreadsheets I was never a big
fan of absolutes that said these are the
four things you have to do to be
successful I get it you have to make
money but if you can make money cool but
make your end goal the things that make
you happy it seems young me moments that
determine that the last illustration
I’ll give you is when I finally felt
like I had arrived as a professional
creative and that’s the moment someone
actually pays you for being creative and
it was this perfect storm and this
perfect amalgam there was a heavy metal
and punk rock festival in metro Atlanta
and this blog needed a photographer they
called me and they actually wanted to
pay me so I got to go to this festival
of my buddy who is writing the stories
and at this festival it was like I can’t
believe I’m here right now all my
favorite bands i got that cool backstage
pass lamb in it i can go anywhere it’s
like hey guys i can come in that’s cool
and we it was just an amazing experience
so all my favorite artists but that
wasn’t really the moment that blew my
mind the moment that blew my mind it was
says all right I’m doing the right thing
this is the direction I need to be going
is when I got invited by one of my
favorite bands of all time to have a
hamburger with them did they say could
you design my next record package can I
give you a bazillion dollars no we just
had a hamburger and talked about
football for like two hours it was
amazing and that was the out-of-body
moment I had that a 15 year old me or 18
year old me knew this was going to be
happening they would freak out and not
believe it it’s about selling out the
right way and remembering why you’re
where you’re at and keeping your feet
firmly planted on the ground and we do
that I think I’d do that in three ways
get in the pit it’s a little dangerous
there’s community around you to help you
remember your weakness is your
uniqueness is those things that maybe
not the best at but they help you find
other ways to rise up a third and last
point is those young me moments that
keep you focused and grounded and keep
you in the right trajectory on the right
path hopefully that path is on the path
to selling out just the right way
thank you and I’ll see you guys in the pit