Episode Transcript
Transcript:
Intro: This is words that move me, the podcast where movers and shakers, like you get the information and inspiration. You need to navigate your creative career with clarity and confidence. I am your host master mover, Dana Wilson. And if you're someone that loves to learn, laugh and is looking to rewrite the starving artist story, then sit tight, but don't stop moving because you're in the right place.
Dana: Hello, Hello. How are you? Welcome to the podcast. I'm jazzed that you're here and yes, I'm jazzed for this episode. Oh my God. You're in for a treat today. My guest on this episode is Rob Stevenson, vocal coach to the stars. And this episode lines up perfectly with my win for the week. This is my win. If you're new to the podcast, by the way I do wins every week. It's how it starts. I start then you go, so get ready. Okay. My win this week is that I have directed my first official music video and it is out there in the world. Ready to be enjoyed by you or by anyone with access to the internet. I suppose, um, the, the recording artist responsible for said, video goes by Liv, shout out Liv if you're listening. Um, and live is one of Rob Stevenson's clients. So the world is truly a tiny little acorn. My win this week is live and my guest this week is lives coach. So cool. So excited to get into it. I do want to dig into this win a little bit more though, because I would be a fool to not talk about all of the things that I got to practice on this gig and just kind of take stock for myself, but also for you. Um, one of the things that I got to practice that I really encourage you to be practicing and be mindful of as well, is this, um, the, the ability to scale a vision in your head in accordance to the budget of the project. Uh, for example, in this case, do we use my busted projector from Amazon or do we use a 20,000 lumen projector that comes with his own projection operator? Um, shout out projector, Paul, what up! Or, or do we go with the 30,000 lumen projector that weighs 200 pounds and might look better, but would also take like 45 minutes to move in between shots? Like, do we pay for the lumens or do we pay for the time? Um, another thing that I got to practice on set of this video is editing fast. I rescaled some of the video files for our projectionist. Like in real time, as we were shooting I'm scaling, um, the video files, it was a really awesome kind of higher pressure editing environment than what I'm used to. Um, obviously we were on a clock, obviously we're on a budget and that really applied pressure that I have not been used to, um, before. So it was, it was super fun meeting that with a willingness to fail publicly willingness to, um, willingness for it to not be perfect on the first go round. Another thing I got to practice is is this decision-making tool of when to budge and when not to budge, in terms of your vision, something like fighting for the dream location, for example. One of the other things I got to practice is preparedness. Just call me Sergeant Spreadsheet because I love a spreadsheet. I love a schedule. I love sticking to the schedule. Um, yeah, my spreadsheets, my shot lists definitely helped me deliver under schedule. Um, so did my kick butt team! Shout out to the, my new VIP DP, Luke Orlando, um, shout out to Artifact Content, the production house, responsible shout out to Arian. My buddy who helped me with the edit, um, super shout out to AJ, Harpold and Ivan Koumaev for being the management team that gets creative vision. And that gets the role of movement for recording artists. Um, and of course, super thank you to Liv for being the reason all of this came together. I could not be more thrilled, super win, super winning. Oh, that's my hat. Super wining. Okay. How about you? What's going well in your world. What are you celebrating today?
All right. Congratulations. I am so glad you're winning really truly. You're crushing it. Keep going. Just keep going. That's all you have to do. Keep winning. I got you. All right. Oh, I shouldn't be whispering. You'll find out why in a second. All right. So this episode is going out to all of my art types with a voice that is actually all of you. Um, but specifically vocalists recording artists, voice actors, speakers, or shouters. If you're a director or a first assistant director, um, people with a voice all across the globe, this episode goes out to you. It goes out specifically. It goes out to anyone interested in using their voice and using it for a long time. The timing of this episode is absolutely perfect for me because just last week in my interview with Martha Nichols, we talked about my vocal nodules and my absolute awe of people who can sing. Um, and by the way, that includes Martha and almost all of the people that I work with all of the time. So I, in, in my life and my creative life, I feel a little bit like a black sheep, um, on the vocal front. And it is a huge point of insecurity for me. Um, my inability to sing or even in most cases hum the melody that I'm choreographing to, uh, anyways, well, we'll talk about it later. I don't want to spend so much time on the woe is me, but I do want to tell you that I am shifting my thoughts about my voice after this conversation with RAab and you might as well. So whether you are a super pro songstress or a person who is interested in becoming a song person, a songbird, this episode is absolutely for you. So go grab some tea with honey. He will tell you what kind of honey, by the way. So listen up for that, um, and grab a cup of water and a straw. If you would like and get ready to meet Rob Stevenson and get ready to meet your new and improved voice. Enjoy.
**cup bubbles**
RAab: Hey, somebody has been practicing.
Dana: Do I sound like butter? Thank you, RAab. Thank you! Gentle, easy-peasy okay. Everybody. I am so excited today. I cannot explain my enthusiasm and my history with this individual. My guest today is RAab Stevenson. I am thrilled, RAab, thank you so much for being here. Um, so it's par for the course on the podcast. All of my guests always introduce themselves. RAab, what would you like us to know about you?
RAab: Um, my name is Robert Stevenson. Um, my artist's name when I was recording and putting out music myself, we called me RAab. Some people call it Ray-ab, uh, R with two As one B and the quick story behind that, we was just trying to find something to be cool. And one day we had a friend who was acting as a personal manager for me at the time Mike Berry, we were sitting behind a car that's named a Saab and I was like, Hey man, how do you pronounce that car's name? He said, Oh, that's a saab. I was like, that's it Rob Saab Raab. So I got back with the label and I was like, look, everyone just called myself. RAab was like, no, that's not, that's not deep enough. I like, no he's gonna spell it. R A A B. And then the guys that the label, they were, um, part of the nation of Islam, it's like, Oh man, we've got to keep the Quran and get deep with this thing. And I was like, we don't have to. And that's how the spelling came Large R Large A lower case a lower case b. So they put all that together.
Dana: Like you think, you know, somebody and then you find out where their name came from. That's so cool. Um, all right. So Rob, we met on my first world tour. Uh, it was Justin Timberlake's Future Sex Love Show tour way back in 2007,
RAab: 2006.
Dana: Whoa. So I was, I was either 19 or 20 when we met. And you were a background vocalist on that tour code a shorthand for a background vocalist. We co we affectionately call them BVs. So you were a BV on that tour. Um, the show was in the round. You can watch it on HBO shameless plug. It was beautiful. And y'all BVs were all over that stage.
RAab: We were dancing. Yeah. Yeah. It's um, it was crazy. You guys had us all over the place as background singers. You normally don't get that much attention. We're normally stricken by just wearing all black sit in the background, basically seeing behind the curtain don't get in the way that the artists do whatever they want to, but then you guys y'all show up. You Dane, you Dana AAJ, Marty, you know, comes coming to picture. It's like, no, y'all got to be, get down everywhere. And sure enough, we went from one end of the stage to the other underneath the stage, singing and dancing, popping out, doing all the cool stuff. We were heavily involved in that. And, um, the thing that was really crazy is that which really helped us and, um, was, um, uh, the other vocalist Denosh Bennett. You know, she came from the world of, um, you know, broadway and, and dancing heavily and performing in music videos from Mystica to mystical, to Aliyah she's she was heavily involved in that and she transitioned it to being a vocalist on that tour. So she was constantly in the background helping us out when you guys were out doing your thing with the artists, Justin as well. So it was really a big help. And, and what was crazy is that on the first tour Justified Tour that's where I met Robin Wiley. She was a voice coach for Justin Timberlake, as well as the kids on a Mickey Mouse club. And, um, I would always ask her because we would have asked her, could I come to her hotel room, which was where we were staying at and we would have, um, vocal rehearsals there. Could I come in, just ask her a bunch of questions about the voice, never trying to be a voice coach, but just trying to be a better singer for the gig, you know? So I would be able to last and keep my job basically. Yeah. So she, she, um, after that tour, it was a success after that tour, leading in the Future Sex Love Show Tour, we had the promotional tour where we was doing all the club shows and stuff like that to kick before kicking off the arena tour. And, um, she fell ill and I was teaching people off of the CD that she gave me to warm up Justin or myself or the other singers when she wasn't around. And I still carry that in my backpack in honor of her. So anytime I feel like I'm not good enough, or I need help, I'll just put that in and I'll listen. And she's still giving me these little nuggets, you know, over the years. And that's been since 2006, which is amazing. And, um, you know, at that point she fell ill. And one day we was here doing the club show here in Atlanta, believe it or not, which is where I live at the Tabernacle. And my friends were coming to the show. I was so excited and I'm outside hanging with my friends and, and, uh, Big-E, Eric, Eric Burrows, I'm the head of security for Justin. He calls me, he said, Hey, what are you doing? And I was like, ah, my friends I'm getting, you know, bringing them into the show. And he was like, J needs you. I was like, is everything okay? He was like, yeah, he needs you to warm him up. And that was the very first time I started warming Justin up and I winded up, warming him up every single night for that whole tour. That was my job.
Dana: I did not know that's how that all went down. It seemed like such a natural progression to me. Um, and I suppose it may be, I mean, you, you alluded a little bit to trying to keep the gig. And I would imagine that for vocalists, like for dancers booking a tour is like kind of winning the lottery and they, there aren't there aren't 45 BVS on a tour. There are four or two. So it seems it must be a pretty competitive, um,
RAab: It's a, it's an extremely competitive gig. And not only, not only just booking it, you have to be pretty, pretty, pretty talented to be able to sing multiple parts. You know, you gotta be able to sing a Soprano or Alto or Tenor. You gotta be really dynamic as a vocalist to be able to book a gig and really keep it. And in that case, it wasn't like I was trying to be a brown nose or anything like that. I just wanted to do whatever it took to help because, you know, Darrell Diesel, who, unfortunately we lost this year, he passed in February. And, uh, he was how I got hired on that gig. I was in Atlanta and most people that get hired from gigs in LA, you normally have to be there in LA when you get the cattle call or, or a music director is looking for singers, dah, dah, dah, dah. And it's a small window, you know, and just so happened. Justin was in Virginia Beach, finishing up the album with Pharrell and Chad and the engineered new diesel, you know, had them come by. They took them out to dinner and then that's how he got hired. And then Justin had him to call and find the other guy. And when he called me, I was in a whole different space. I wouldn't even thinking about coming on tour with anybody. I was trying to get back into the music industry, but my journey back in there, I had rededicated my life to Christ to God. And I was trying to move back to Orlando, which is where I'm from. So when he called, he was like, Hey man, you know, you'll never believe who I'm working with. He was like, Justin Timberlake. And I was like, ‘Oh man, that's amazing. I'm so happy for you.’ And he was like, I was, I, my response to him was like, Hey, if you see his manager, Johnny Wright, let him know. I'm getting ready to move back to Orlando. And if I have to take out the trash at the compound, I'll do that to get back in the game, you know, with, um, with that being said, he didn't see Johnny Wright. But he, he asked me, he said, Hey man, but the guy, you know, Justin asked me to find the other guy to come on tour with him. And I was like, Oh my gosh, that's amazing. Who are you going to call? And he was like, you, you big dummy.
I'm calling you. This is the call.
Nine days later. We were in LA on the microphone singing. Like I Love You get ready to do a promo run that we got there that Tuesday, Wednesday had a, uh, a single release party. It was Jay Leno. We did his show. It was, it was-you know how it works. It was pandemonium. It was crazy.
Okay. So, so obviously that was a long time ago. A lot has changed since then.
2002
Oh my goodness. So, okay. I know this is a tough question. I'm sorry to do this to you, but what would be, what would you say are the biggest changes in your life since then?
Well, one of the biggest changes was on that particular tour. I was doing some really crazy stuff with the money I was making off of that tour. Like a lot of people that get on the tour, the first time I was buying all these shoes, I had a suitcase just full of shoes and another suitcase. At that time, they would let you have 70 pounds in a suitcase. And the other one had an outfit to match every single out, you know, a pair of shoes and I was getting money and I was just giving it away. I had nothing to show for it. That changed on after- on the future sex love show to them, you know? And I was like, okay, something's gotta be different. That was one. When I met my wife, you know, when we was doing the I'm Loving It, promo tour over in Australia. So working with Justin, I met my wife, we had a baby, you know, it's been a blessing. Yeah. So with all of that being said, um, that changed, um, by me working on that first tour and following Robin Wiley around, I would not be where I am today as a voice coach. During this pandemic. And I feel really bad for a lot of my friends that are in the industry and I constantly get other opportunities and pass them on to other people to help them out because I know it's not easy right now, but had it not been for the stuff I did with Robin, it wouldn't have led me down this path of being a voice coach where I've been able to work with a lot of big artists, you know, and young artists, new artists, and, um, un-signed artists, you know, COVID hits and we're all stuck at home, but because of my business and because people are, you know, in this creative space where they're writing and working on albums, I'm still able to coach.
But you do more than just coach. I think this is unique. And I want to ask you about this, um, because you also develop artists, you're working with a couple, couple artists on the come up. Um, and I'm curious about what artists development looks like to you. How does that, how does that look to you?
Uh, for me as an artist, when I was doing the artist thing, I was 18, 19 writing songs. You know, I was given an opportunity by a guy that saw me outside practicing dance moves for a talent show. And I was just grabbed some guys that I thought could move this guy named Tyrone Wilson. He pulled over and saw us practicing. And he was like, Hey man, um, I see you guys are in a group, but we would like to, you know, um, you know, basically they were auditioning us right there on the side, asked us to sing something. And I was like feeling bad because I knew my group. We couldn't do, they couldn't harmonize. And they asked me to sing. And then at that point they asked me to be in their group, the two older guys, but they took me under their wings, developed me as a songwriter, um, a ranger and all of that stuff, um, gave me my first opportunity in a recording studio. And that changed my life. It really did. And so what does artist development look like for me is, is that a lot of times artists, you know, artists, they feel like once they get a manager, the manager or the label should do all this work, things have changed in so many ways. And I feel like for me, the artists is responsible for their career. If you're waiting on somebody to do all that stuff for you, shame on you, shame on you. You're only setting yourself up for one failure to let in your own self doubt, putting your career in the hands of somebody else to do what they want with it. Only for it to not work out. And you blame them for it. No, it's your fault. You did it. You gave them the keys to your porche and they wrecked it. So I get artists that comes, that'll come to me and talk to me about managing. And I'm like, I will not manage because I understand the challenges of management, you know, the frustrations of management and sometimes the artists and management, they have good intentions, but then a lot of times they're bumping heads because they're so different from each other, you know, and have different perspectives on how that particular artist needs to conduct their career. Now, I'm not saying they don't need each other, but sometimes at the early stages, I feel like the artists can learn so much. If they, they, they get good counsel from someone. And for me, I just, I just say, okay, these are the things you need because I'm in these meetings a lot of times with the artists that they aspire to be like. You know, they welcoming in a lot of times, I'm in a room getting ready to warm them up. And then what do you think RAab? I'm like, man, don't be asking me none of that. No, but seriously, what do you think? So I have those moments as well. And then I'm like, this is great information and great advice that I can pass down to a lot of these newer artists or artists that are signed, that are making, you know, really crazy decisions regarding their career. It's just like, if you're performing and you want to be like a Justin or a Rihanna or, or any of these artists that sing and dance, you need to start building a team around you that does those things. You know, we're working with one right now, Dana, you know, and she’s amazing. And she's a hard worker, but I would not have ever introduced her to y'all if I didn't think she had what it took to do those things. And the funny thing is what sold me on her was that we were finishing up the, um, uh, Man of the Woods tour last year. And I got a phone call from a friend saying that dah, dah, dah, here's this girl she's talented. Me and her talk. I had to look at her in the eyes on, on the camera, like, ‘Hey, what's up,’ you sure about this. You really want to do this. All right. I'm at this show right here. This weekend. If you can get here for me, it'll show me how serious you are. Her and her mom was on the next plane. Next flight out met me there. We worked during the day, came to the show, saw y'all and it's crazy. A year later working with you guys.
Yep. I'll say, okay. So Rob is talking about a young up-and-coming recording artist named Liv. I started with, I started working with live in January of 2020, I think. And let me tell you the moment that I knew other than she already has a good team around her, which, you know, the co-sign comes a little easier when you see the, the people that are surrounding her, but uh, come lockdown. She stuck that out the entire time, the entire lockdown, definitely a committed person. It's inspiring to see that. And it's so it sounds like you're like me on the subject of movement coaching. I simply love sharing the information I've learned. Like, what good is it if I just keep it for myself.
Right, right, right, right, right.
Yeah. It's part of why I started a podcast is part of why I love movement coaching so much is, you know, simply sharing. I do believe sharing is caring and I care about, I care about those people with the people that I work with. Um, okay. Question for you now on the, on the kind of relating what I do and what you do, one of the ways, but not the only way that I can tell a good dancer from a phenomenal dancer is their ability to multitask. Like in the moment they could be dancing Like I Love You and cracking jokes with JT on the side, like mid chorus, or they could be having a conversation during rehearsal while reviewing the steps it's like happening almost in the background, um, versus somebody who's new to dance or not quite to that level yet it would require 100% of their attention to do. Like, I Love You top to bottom without messing up. I think I could probably do, like, I love you bottom to top or without messing up while having a conversation. That's partially because I've done it 4,000 times and because it's my favorite, but, um, you know, that's, that's one of the things for me that tells the difference between good and great. Is there a tell for you and a vocalist? How do you, how do you tell good from great.
You know what? Work ethic, Work ethic every time I've, I've been blessed to work with some of the most talented vocalist in the game. And the sad part about it is some of them that don't have that work ethic, then they just go straight off of their talent. Like I've got this.
So what happens then? What happens?
They're like, I'm good. And then they crash and hit it real hard. And then they're quick to blame everybody else around them. And a lot of times, um, artists, they they're like, Oh, why are you so you just blatantly honest with me and I'm like, I, how else should I be with you? You want me to sugar coat and lie to you? And I do it with a smile on my face. I'm not going to be angry. Now when you don't practice it, do what you're supposed to do. I get upset, but I have to do that. I have to tell you, this is you. These are your goals. These aren't my goals. You know, I know what to do, but these are your goals if you want to be better. And so when I see an artist, it can be an artist that's not a strong singer at all, but I've seen, I've had a kid from Australia. Parents found me, his name is Ky. They found me from Australia. The was on, America's got talent and he's a dancer tap dancer. Incredible. But he wants to sing. The mom calls me, Oh my gosh, we were talking to RAab Stevens about it. I was like, why are y'all fanning out? I'm just Raab. It's all good. And she was like, Oh my gosh, we didn't think you would answer it. And I was like, yes, this is my business. I haven't gone to it. And it was like, Oh my gosh, my son he's the, he was number five. And uh, Australia's got talent, all this other stuff. And she was like, uh, well, my son wants to sing. We want to work with you. And I said, Oh, I said, okay. She said, well, he's terrible. The mom is so honest too. And I was like, okay, you know what, let me talk to him. I don't want to talk to you not being disrespectful, but I need to talk to him and see how, if he's focused to be able to do this kind of thing, because I'm going to not, I'm not going to treat him any different. I'm going to push them. Just like I would, if I was in front of a superstar, I'm like, because I want him to be that. Or then some, you know, and the kid was so focused and he did everything I asked him, if you hear this kid sing, now you'd be like, Oh, he always had that. No he didn’t.
Um, I really dig that approach to a decision about taking someone on, not being about where they are, but about where they want to be and their determination to get there. Um, I've, I've, I've worked with actually, some of my favorite people to work with are people that have zero dance experience and they are a blank canvas and they're here and they're hungry. They don't have any bad habits I'm telling you. It is such a sweet spot. Um, actually, maybe we stick on that topic for a second. If somebody with no experience came to me and asked, can I teach them or will you teach me to dance in one week? I would probably laugh at them. But then I would like, there are drills and techniques and there is, there are some building blocks. There are tools that I would give them a place to start that in one week could probably do a lot of good. Um, is there something similar in your realm? Like, is there like a crash course to using your voice?
Do you know what, I think it's so funny when, um, when record labels or management, they'll come to me and they'll say, yo, we heard about you. We want to do this and get our artists this way. Blah, blah, blah. No, they're like, yeah. I'm like, when's the show? Uh it's tomorrow. Oh, I've had that. I've had the shows next week. How, how many sessions do you think it's going to take? The tour is in a week and a half from now. Why are y'all waiting? Why are y'all waiting now? What are y'all doing? Yeah. And then it's like, I'm like, yeah, for what we do for a living, this is a ongoing regimen. It's almost like saying, and I'll give them, uh, you know, my LeBron James thing, I was like, okay, so you think LeBron's high school coach was all he needed in order to sustain him in it, to win this many championships, let alone go to nine NBA finals, you know? And I'm like, no, his coach, he set him up for excellence in high school, but somebody else had to pick up the ball when he got into the NBA. And that's what it is. But I'm just saying, so it's the work ethic, you know, preparation, all of that stuff. So I've had artists that are really talented and they, they do, they're focused and they're driven, you know, you know, like the artist I just told you, I just finished working with, I mean, she ain't touring right now, but me and her in here three days a week and she's killing it, you know, along with other artists, they're recording, they're putting out new material, you know? So that stuff inspires me. It really does. It gets me going as well.
Um, the, the, the training conversation reminds me of a quote. It's been attributed to several different people, um, like an anonymous Navy seal, and then like Aristotle or someone, I don't know where this actually comes from. But the sentiment is that you will not rise to the occasion, you will fall to your level of training. And when you train all the time, you don't need to worry about falling you're there. Right. And I think that that's, you know, one of the other things I love about being a coach, especially with somebody who's willing to go in multiple days a week, because that's when you really start seeing benefits. Not, not one week for two days a week, not, not one month, every like once a week, but I mean, we're talking long game and it's so, so rewarding to see those, to see that improvement.
It is. Yeah. So when I see that it inspires me because I was that kid that when I stayed with my mom, my sister, or the Bixler’s, who is this family that took me in, when I left home at an early age. I was constantly practicing. Always some allowed me to do my thing. Some was like, RAab, could you just please just give us a minute. Could you please just take the night off? And at that point, I always tell my kids, if your parents aren't complaining about you practicing all the time, you're not practicing enough.
Oh, I love that metric.
They should be like, please shut up, give us a break. I mean, we love you. We love you. You’re super talented. I love you so bad, but can you just give mommy or daddy a little break for now? Can you go in the basement basement and close all the doors behind you, but that's when you know, they're they want it. Yeah. And I think that the depressing side of things is when I work with artists, that I have to constantly push and try and motivate and inspire them. And they really don't want to do that. They'd rather just be in a studio and write and call that a day.
Oh, I'm glad that you mentioned that because I said a second ago that if somebody asked me if I could teach them how to dance in a week, I would laugh. I would, I would laugh first. But the truth is, if you don't want to, then the answer is no, no matter what, this is really something you have to have a desire to do. Um, and then also the desire, not, not the desire necessarily, but, um, uh, a pleasure or a joy for music. I know a lot of people that tell me, I have no rhythm. I have no rhythm. I, I can't even find the downbeat. And I'm like, but do you like music? And if the answer is yes, then I'll tell them. And now it will be telling the truth that yes, I can teach you how to dance. You want it, if you, if you want it and you enjoy listening to music, absolutely. I love it. Um, okay. I want to segue a little bit. Um, I want to talk about before we get into some myths, some common misconceptions about the voice. Uh, I want to talk about like overall health, because I've been finding, especially lately it's odd. And some people might be surprised by this, but I know a lot of dancers with very unhealthy lifestyle. Dancers in general, we like to party. We like late nights. Um, drugs and alcohol are not uncommon in the dance space.
And the singing world
Okay. Okay. So we share that. Um, and I, I wonder, like, what would you say is the role of fitness and a healthy lifestyle for a vocalist?
Well, it's funny. I always have this thing saying when I'm around, especially my male, um, clients, like what's happening, good doctor, how you doing? And they all start laughing and uh, every now and then they'll ask me why you always call me the doctor. I'm like, cause you got the medicine for other people. They look confused. I'm like, yeah, your lyrics, your song, it's ministry. You don't have to be in the church to minister to somebody. You know what I'm saying? So if you can't get up there and do your job, you're not going to be a minister. You're not going to be able to save somebody's life. Because I got trust me every night when I'm working in the, in the arena and the artist is on stage and I'm walking around the arena, taking notes on my iPad. I always find those, those, those, those, those people that are being drugged to the concert with their friends and don't want to be there. And when you sit down and talk with them, they're like, yo, I'm glad I came. I was thinking about committing suicide tonight. Really it's very powerful and it was somebody that was, uh, it could have been a dancer. I ran into it to dance dancers, people that, you know, either got injured and can't do it perform anymore. But by them watching dancers on stage, move the way they do it just took them back and brought joy back in. You know what I'm saying? So I see those things. So when I say the ministry of what singing does for people, you know, I try and remind artists that, that.
Okay, so that's so, so what we do, what we, and now when I say we, I mean performers. What we do. I mean, yes, I've heard, you know, we've all heard dance saves lives or music saved my life. And I think that that, yes, in some cases, that is absolutely true. Um, but what would you suggest for, for us entertainers? How do we save our own life?
So a lot of times when I come out and I know certain artists like to drink or like to do drugs, like the party and I come in and I, the same thing, you know, good doctor or I'll say, Hey mama, how you doing? What's happening, mama, why you keep calling me mama? Ain't got no kids. I'm like, yes, you do. You have 135 people on staff. Don't you, you're their mother. You're responsible for all of their households, not how they do, not how they conduct their households. But if you get sick and you go down, are you going to pay them their full salaries when they're down? And a lot of people don't want to hear that. Especially the people that are close to that circle, you can't talk to them that way. I'm like, no, you shouldn't party with them that way you shouldn't do it because you're contributing to the whole problem. You know what I'm saying? I'm not saying the person can't celebrate and have fun, but at what cost, what is it going to cost you? Because logistically speaking and having to reschedule a show and come back months later, if they do it, that's month, that's the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Maybe even millions. It's a lot of money to deal with that. When you could save that, if you're going to do a little bit of a party, if you like to drink, just understand what drinking is going to do for you. You know, drinking is alcohol. It's going to dry you out. Well, does it reach the vocal folds? All right. You sit there and you inhale alcohol through your mouth all day long. Those vapors get on the vocal folds and it's going to dry it out. Oh my gosh. I'm so dry. You in Florida. It's humid down here. What you've been doing?
Okay. This is, this is a perfect segue. Then let's talk about these misconceptions because a few years ago, I, I lost my voice for several days in a row. I didn't have a voice for seven days. This came after a stint of, uh, uh, I think it was two or three days and I taught 16 classes. So throwing my voice over loud music while moving, being exerted. And I, I suppose I never learned exactly how to do that properly. Um, so I, I learned that I have some damage, some vocal, I have a vocal nodules. Uh, I got a voice pathologist. I got a vocal coach and I started working on, well, number one, just awareness. Like not speaking my sentences all the way out in the end until I have no breath. And now I'm straightening and I'm still talking. I've started keeping an eye on that. Um, I drink warm water all the time. I've definitely tampered my alcohol intake. Um, okay. So here is my list of myths that I would like to be busted, or I guess some of them are just kind of questions. Um, is coffee bad for your voice?
Coffee is a natural diuretic. It will dry you out. It'll give you a boost of energy, but for every cup of coffee, you have to have three bottles of water to dilute it. There you go.
Love it. Um, okay. Is Tea I mean, some teas are natural diuretics as well, I guess, but is there a kind of tea that is better or worse for your voice?
Uh, I liked throat coat tea. I like, um, throat comfort tea. I like putting menuca honey, not the one from whole foods, but menuca 5-50. They have a 5-60 plus I like using that from New Zealand. Take scoop of that and put that into the tub, the tea, if the singer is still dry while singing that put a little, a few drops of licorice root oil in there, and drink that
You crushed one of my other ones. So honey does help or certain types of honey.
So I like certain types of honey. If you dealing with like severe allergies and certain regions during spring and fall, you know what I'm saying? So if you're dealing with that, I will use localized honey because a lot of times that's the remedy for whatever is setting off your allergies in that area.
The bees are the secret. Yep. As always, uh, okay. This one. Oh, my fingers are crossed about the answer to this question. I think I already know is dairy bad for your voice?
All right. So dairy, here's the deal with dairy? I used to always think, man, every time I drink dairy, it messes up my voice, especially because I'm lactose intolerant. So that's a bigger effect on, you know, for those that deal with that. But dairy, believe it or not, ladies and gentlemen, dairy the particles are too big to get to the vocal folds. They never touch the vocal folds if they do, you're choking on it,
Which is bad for your voice, by the way, don't be choking. Okay. This is excellent news
Now. So you'll have, you'll have phlegm in the back of your throat as a result of it. And one way to get rid of that is, uh, get some salt water, warm water, and gargle with that. And then it's out.
Thank you, doctor. Okay. A few others, um, cold water superior to warm water. I think this one's obvious, but
Alright so cold water. I love cold water. I do. When I'm working out, do not give me room temperature, water. Uh, yeah, but um, anytime you're performing, room temperature is always best because it takes your body more work to heat the water up to your body's temperature. So you don't want to have to deal with that. You got it.
Hm. Okay. Interesting. I love it. I've since working with a voice pathologists, I started drinking warm water and I love it. I don't ever want to stop. I love it. It's my favorite thing. Um, oddly, okay, so we talked a little bit about honey question about cough drops. Do they work? I know you have a favorite.
Okay. So, um, when you're dealing with cough drops, you gotta be really careful. I mean, you know, let me, let me go down my little list. So let's say for instance, like if singers are dealing with congestion or, you know, um, huge congestion in the nose, of course you want to consult with your doctor, but what I've always found that work is Mucinex sometimes Tylenol Severe Sinus. You know, it has a little bit of Mucinex then it has a four hour release in it. You take two of those and, um, I have this stuff, um, you, if anybody knows anything about doTERRA products. Yeah. So doTERRA has this oil, this little blend, and it's a respiratory blend, which is really cool. And, um, it has Melaleuca in it. So like when you use you eustachian tubes by your ears, get impacted with mucus, from blowing your nose too hard. I always have singers put that around their ears. Uh, my mom, as a kid used to put what do you call it.. Vicks! Oh my gosh. Put it all on my nose, on my chin, on my neck and my chest,
Uh, that lights you on icy fire.
I know, right? Yeah. I have oil all over my face, but, um, that's all, she, she, she knew at the time, but this has peppermint oil. Eucalyptus and all that other good stuff. You put it on your ears. And then, um, there's a particular gum that, um, you know, I was put on to, by another friend of mine, um, from the UK, they sell it in the UK and all over Europe, but not here in America, coincidentally, and it's called airwaves. And you can order it through Amazon. It takes about a week to two weeks to get to you, but you'll chew on two pieces of that and that'll open up your sinuses like that, like really causing the drain. Yeah. But don't do the sniffles, just let it fall forward and then slightly blow
Okay. Thank you, Rob. Those are all my, my myths. Did I, did I miss anything? Oh, I do know that. I do know that whispering is bad for your voice.
Whispering is bad for your voice. It dries out the vocal folds and causes voice to fatigue really quickly.
That is a good one, especially when you're losing your voice. Don’t whisper
Yeah. And for singers and dancers that like to eat after show food, laying down after eating cause you're tired, you did a lot of work and you'd to get on their lap and laugh and laugh and laughing. If you fall asleep under three hours and you find yourself with heartburn or anything like that, try not to do that. Try and wait at least three hours or limit the amount of after show food. You eat, especially pizza. And there's some tourists that are just give this the people, you know, singers the crew, Hey, just eat this pizza and call it a day and you're hungry and you'll eat it. But the tomato sauce and the pizza will trigger the reflux as well. So just be careful.
I think that's important. You mentioned that the amount of hours between eating and resting, but also the quantity over eating anything. Even if you're eating good food, natural foods, not, not tomato, crazy sauce or anything like that, any time when you're overdoing it, that reflux will kick up. For sure.
It will definitely get you.
Oh my gosh. You didn't know you were getting into it like a health health lesson today. Um, okay. Rob, I know you keep a tight calendar, super tight schedule. So I just want to finish off by asking if you have any words of wisdom or thoughts, thoughts for aspiring vocalists out there. Um, eh, any last remarks,
Listen, if you're going to be in this music industry as a dancer or a singer, don't wait for somebody to invest in you to do it, figure out a way to invest in your own self. And also don't just get into industry because you want to be the star. You know, you want to get into industry, I'm going to be this star. Uh, you set yourself up, you know, and I'm not telling you this, a perfect opportunity to have a plan B. Go in there because you are, you love the industry. You want to be a part of that. If you're going to be on broadway, you go all out and study all the great don't just study your favorite study. The ones that have been, you know, in West Side Story for all these years and why they've had continual success, you know, don't just study w just wicked that comes through your town, find out the history of all of them. You know, you know, Disney is good about doing stuff like that, but you know, you just gotta be a student of the craft of singing. And one way to do that is to invest in your own self. If you want to work with an artist or work with a coach like Dana or myself, you know? Yeah. The rates may be a little higher in your eyes, in my eyes. I try and keep my rates at a certain way, you know, to where everybody can afford it. But in that particular instance, it's worth the investment. You're not only going to get good coaching, but you're going to get the same type of coaching that you see these other artists that are out there, the same type of attention, the same type of love, you know, that's going to be poored into you. Why not spoil yourself with that? You know, that's important, you know, so that's, that's what I got. Keep God first. Definitely. Yeah.
Thank you so much. That was brilliant and beautiful. And I'm inspired to go do some more cup bubbles. It's honestly, it's a part of my daily routine. I love the way my voice feels afterwards. It's amazing. Um, okay. Thank you so much. I will absolutely be linking to you and all of your amazing work in the show notes of this episode. So go find RAab, RAab, thank you so much again for being here. Um, I have, I get to talk to you again soon.
Thank you. Good to see you, Dana. All right.
OKay. That is RAab. And that is one of the most talented and kind people that I, that I think I know I'm so happy to have introduced you to RAab and so hopeful that you will be becoming introduced to your new and improved voice. I really think that this man has so much to teach and that we all have so much to gain from taking care of ourselves in our voice. So I hope you're as inspired as I am to take care of yourself. Um, your audience depends on it and I will be linking to RAab's business in the show notes of this episode. Should you be so inspired that you decided to, uh, find him and seek him out for some coaching. Oh, and if you are at all interested in coaching with me on the movement front or otherwise, I have some very special news come 2021, which is not that far away. You will be able to do exactly that in a number of different ways. So stay tuned for more updates on the Words that Move Me Membership front. And of course keep it funky. I'll talk to you soon, everybody.
Thought you were done. No. Now I'm here to remind you that all of the important people, places and things mentioned in this episode can be found on my website theDanawilson.com/podcast Finally, and most importantly, now you have a way to become a words that move me member. So kickball changeover to patreon.com/WTMMpodcast to learn more and join. All right, everybody. Now I'm really done. Thanks so much for listening. I'll talk to you soon.
