Never Give Up On Your Passion

Rich Chambers - Songwriter/Producer/Musician/Singer

Does anyone still use the term "rock n' roll" anymore? Rich Chambers certainly does. In fact, he specializes in it, bringing us all the fun, excitement, and energy from the early days of rock n' roll in a uniquely fresh way built specifically for the 2020s.

Starting with the 2019 release of his Christmas album, “Santa’s Rockin’ Band,” Rich has been on a roll. His Christmas album produced one single, “the Snow Miser vs. Heat Miser,” which has been streamed more than one million times on Spotify to date. Following this has been six single releases beginning in January 2021, including his film festival award-winning video for his rock original, "I'm So Tired,” which has received accolades in over 50 film festivals across the globe for its hard-hitting social commentary. His most recent release is his guitar-driven version of the Beatles, “I Saw Her Standing There,” which debuted in March 2022 to high critical acclaim.

Rich’s music videos have received a combined total of well over 500,000 views, and his Spotify streaming is clocking in at approximately 25,000 listeners a month and growing. With more single and album releases planned for 2022, Chambers is making his mark as a rock n’ roll artist to watch for. As one music journalist recently said in the FLEX music blog about Chambers, who hails from Langley, British Columbia: "One of Canada's best-kept secrets, Rich Chambers could easily become a household name in a matter of months!"

With bombastic guitars and a vocal style that oozes rock n’ roll. Rich Chambers is giving us something that rock n’ roll has not seen in quite some time—energy and fun. It’s Rock n’ Roll Reimagined.

https://richchambers.com/

https://www.facebook.com/richchambersrocknroll

https://www.instagram.com/richchambersrocknroll/

https://www.youtube.com/c/RichChambers

www.marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcription : Vision In Word

Marlana

Does anyone still use the term rock and roll anymore, or chamber certainly does. In fact, he specializes in it bringing us all the fun excitement and energy from the early days of rock and roll in a uniquely fresh way built specifically for today, which is a songwriter, producer, musician and singer, whose music videos have received well over half a million views and his Spotify at approximately 25,000 listeners a month and growing with more single and album releases planned for 2022 chambers is making his mark as a rock and roll artist to watch for. Welcome Rich!

Rich

Hey! Thanks for that. That's a cool introduction. I like that. Thank you.

Marlana

What makes your story a bit unique is that you're actually circling back around to a passion that you couldn't let go of. So, talk to us a little bit about that.

Rich

Correct. I mean, I'm a middle-aged rocker. And it's like most musicians, I've been doing this since I was a little kid, I picked up the guitar at 10 and started writing songs of fourteen. And that's where I got absolutely hooked, songwriting was what did it for me. If it weren’t for songwriting, I would just be a hobbyist guitar player and singer, but you put songwriting in the mix, and I went nuts with it. And that's been one of my huge passions is but like many, you know, life journeys, things happen. And when I got out of high school, I was going to be the next rock star. A few cheesy days later, and about a year into that I realize, oh, this is going nowhere. I didn't want the smartest things I could have ever done when I went back to school. And then I pursued went further on as a kid very barely passed high school, I finished a bachelor's degree, a master's degree in it for a while was actually toying with PhD work. And it's pretty good considering I barely finished high school. So, I’m a huge massive advocate of education.

Along the way, I played in bands, I had one band and we together for 15 years, start a family, all that kind of thing. And then I got to that point where most people are starting to ramp up for retirement. You know, I'm looking in the mirror and I'm saying to myself rich, this is your passion and this your entire life. But you've never really gone full bore into it. Why aren't you doing that? And I didn't have an answer for myself. So, at that point, I decided right then and there, I'm going to go full in. I'm going to give it all I've got. So, I often laugh, you know, when people hit their midlife crisis, the stereotypical image is the guy who you know, gets the young girlfriend and the convertible. Well, I bought the guitar and started singing songs. So that's how I sort of come full circle. My big thing, Marlana, is I sort of looked in that proverbial metaphorical mirror, we always look at and say, What am I doing with my life? And I said, I don't want to grow old with regrets, you know, so I figured what am I got to lose chasing my passion? Regrets The only thing I had to lose? Who wants regret anyway?

Marlana

Yeah, let me ask you this, because I was recently having a conversation with a musician who is in her early twenties. And she said that someone had said to her, Well, what's your plan B? And I said to her, tell them that you don't have one, because if you have a plan B in the back of your head, then there's always that default though, there's always that what if I don't make it? But if there is no plan B, and this is all there is, then you have to go forward, and you have to make it work. What are your thoughts on having a plan B or not?

Rich

Alright, it's a great question when I just think every musician has it. Because I was faced with that to an interesting story. I had a high school counselor. Like I said, I barely passed High School. I remember seeing my high school counselor’s mandatory all season. And she said, What do you wanna do with your life? Music? That was my answer. And she said exactly what you just said, Well, what's your backup plan? Music, she said, You have to have a backup plan. And then she went on to explain why you should do this and do that and everything else. And I thought, I don't want to listen to this woman. I was out there. And I thought, so we're seeing a high school counselor could have said, and it's the irony is that later in my working career, I became an academic advisor at University where I advise students on career choices. And one of the things I always said as a go after your passions, and I said, whether it's drama, music, engineering, computer science, chemistry, there will be a job for you. Go after your passions and make your passions define your career by what you want to do. Don't let a career define you.

That's the sort of route everybody gets into. And that's where this plan B comes from. People say all musicians don't make money. Lots don't have lots do and the ones that have a plan to be a musician, make money. There's no two ways about it. I mean, people can say, well, rich, you're sort of a bit of a walking orcs oxymoron because you have a regular job at a university right now and you're pursuing this music thing. But what is my true career? I have a job and I have a passionate career. So that's how I look at it. So, your plan B isn't necessarily a Plan B, a plan your plan A is I want to do music. And what people call Plan B actually is maybe it's in my case, it's a job. It's not a plan B, it's just what I do for a work on a day-to-day basis to pay the bills while I pursue the music. So, you're absolutely right, I totally agree. Because as soon as you put a plan B mindset in your head, it becomes a default becomes easy to fall back on that you're not going for it.

Marlana

And I think sometimes, you know, you do the things that you have to do to do the things that you want to do.

Rich

Absolutely!

Marlana

But also, it's interesting to me, because as somebody who also works in one of the arts, when we talk to people, and they say, oh, I want to be a computer scientist, or I want to be a doctor, or they're never usually asked, What's your plan B, it's the people in the arts that are usually asked What's…

Rich

Your right, you know, it's interesting to be a doctor, I work in education, I know what it takes to be a doctor. Oh, my goodness, you have to be the creme de la creme of your students. To get there. You have to be an amazing student. Most people can't do it. But yet, you're absolutely right. If somebody says I want to be a doctor, they can be a C student, I'll tell you the actual fact of a C student want to be a doctor. Sorry, right now, you're not going to make it. That's the reality. But people don't say that. They say, Oh, good for you go for it. Well, you know, so it, people miss it. And we come I come back to what I say often is, like I said, my years of academic advising, helping students and people figure out career paths. Don't define yourself by your career, you define your career. So, you don't want to be a doctor or a lawyer. You want to do what your passion is. And most people don't know there's so many different careers out what often a bit of a tangent, but it's so important in development and plans and goal making.

There are so many careers out there. For instance, I used to tell students, okay, look at the there's the Bank Tower, and Canada's huge bank is like the RBC or Scotia Bank. These are big banks, I say, look at the Scotiabank tower in Vancouver where I live. And it's you know, twenty stories, and thousands of people work there and say, who works at what careers are there, the students will look at me say banker. So that's one career. You're not looking at the accountant, you're not looking at the ITP you're not looking at the project managers. And Phyllis goes on and on and on. And people don't realize that there are so many different jobs out there. So, the worst thing anybody can do is I want to be this no, do what go after your passion. If your passion happens to be medicine, as a lot more than just doctor you can be if you're passionate actors of your writing, there's a lot more than just a novel writer you can be if your passion happens to be music, there's lots more than just a musician you can be you define it. And that comes back to your plan B thing. There is no plan B, your plan A is I love music. I'm going down music path. I love planning.

Marlana

So how do you manage the two things that you're doing? Because you do work a full-time job right now. And you are following this passion? So how do you? How do you do both?

Rich

Whoa, crazy. Well, that's partly why I'm doing it now. Because if you go back 15 years, when I had toddlers at home, there's no way I could have done it. I mean, and I was also pursuing a master's degree, doing a master's thesis while working full time and two young kids at home. So that was the choices I made at that point in my life. I kept it’s all about choices, career goals and paths in life, things are all about choices. And I chose to do that. And no regrets whatsoever because I raised two wonderful young boys. And you know, I got cheap, the master's degree, which was put on the bucket list. And I'm so happy and proud of that. But now I have more time open and it's time to make a different decision. And you know, I get frustrated with people. And once people do it, I mean, I get it, you get stuck in a rut, you say, Oh, I can't do that. I need that. All you need is a drive determination and a plan. Do it in some ways. It's that simple.

Marlana

Yeah. So how are you getting traction for your music?

Rich

That's the interesting thing. Boy is it takes a lot of work. Wow. It's one of those things where I started. I mean, I started with just a bit somewhat just a pipe dream, my guitar, and some songs. And I always had full belief in my songwriting, not necessarily some of my production levels, and my singing and guitar playing has taken a lot of years to work at it. But when I was a young boy and I first started writing songs at full belief, and I come back to I haven't said this yet, but having belief in yourself is massive, because in any career endeavor, no matter what it is, you're going to come up with roadblocks and you got to have that belief in yourself to get over around those roadblocks. So, when I started this huge music push you know as a hugely, I was definitely a neophyte I'm What am I doing? I went on and checked all the Google boards and Reddit and everything else. What's everybody saying? How do you do this and how do you do that? And I started by basically releasing a Christmas single Christmas song. And part of that and by logic there was Christmas sells itself. So, you know if you do a good version or Frosty the Snowman that helps you right there, which actually ended up being a smart move on my part. So, I've won a Christmas song up to 1.2 million streams and Spotify last three years.

So that's pretty cool. And that's because of Christmas. And people familiar with the song. I didn't write it though. So, I My goal was to be original music. So, I piggyback use Christmas to start, and I love Christmas too. So, it wasn't really that big. So unfortunately.

And so, I started Christmas. And then from there I by pure Fluke Marlana. It was two years ago, January 2020, through the middle of the pandemic. And I'd written a song over the Christmas holidays after I released my Christmas album, called I'm so tired, and all sent January 6 hit and I finished a song two or three days before January 6, and people storming Capitol Hill, I'm sitting watching TV that most people can't believe what I'm seeing is this actually happening in our backyard. And I realized I finished writing, producing a song five days earlier called I'm so tired. And it was it was, and I realized how prophetic And how fitting the song was to what's actually happening. In our culture, there maybe you know, maybe it's tapping in some subconscious thing or something. But at that point, I decided I'm going to release the song, but I want to I want to put my statement and what I feel is going on. So, I made a social video, I went on to social media, when the Facebook, YouTube everywhere else upload these clips from all the unrest and going on the protests and what happened in Portland, all the protests in Washington and people protesting in the streets are so many different protests, and I dove in a company how much stuff was out there. And I made this what I call a social video, called I'm so tired with all these clips.

I'm super proud because in the last two years since at least I've received accolades from over fifty film festivals on this video, because it's so socially cutting and hitting. And the amount of feedback I got when I released that in January of 2020. I was like, Wow, maybe I'm onto something, you know, I plan to release a Christmas album. And my initial plan was a year later releasing another album, and I thought I'm gonna start releasing singles. So that started in like any plant, it's evolved, it's changed as I've gone, it has to because you have to be ready to change on anytime and adapt to the environment that's happening around you. So, I start releasing singles. And I started making contacts and some radio airplay, and it started and I through trial and error, you find who the good promoters or the bad promoters are. And I think a lot of artists, I have promoters that were getting me robot plays on Spotify and YouTube and you trash them, and you go for the ones that get you legitimate place trial and error. And now I have a network of writers that enjoy my music, and they'll write for me, I have a network of promoters that will throw it on Spotify and YouTube. I have radio people are starting to play me. And it's just building up your contacts. And I also decided it was a smart move, boy ended up being a smart move. And when I released, I'm So Tired. I thought every two or three months I have to get a new single. And that's exactly what I've done.

So, every time by start learning I've ramped it up again. And in the last four months, I've really started working on Instagram and Facebook and really kind of pushing my presence on there. And I'm oddly enough, I wrote in March, I released the Beatles cover up I saw her standing there. I always loved the song. And it took off in parts of Mexico. And suddenly now I have a huge following of Mexican fans, which is great. I'm also learning my Spanish. Because I'm doing Google Thank goodness for Google Translator My goodness, because I'm getting messages and a little side thing around, I had about a month ago I had this woman in Mexico 75-year-old lady, email me and she said rich in Mexico, Google, Google Translator you rich, I love what you're doing. So, what are my six- and four-year-old grandsons? And she sent me a picture of her and her six-year-old, four-year-old grandson dancing to my saw. And I thought to myself, Wow, I'm doing something right. And I've also realized that my music is such that I'm spanning demographics, which is the price that hell out of me. When I first started, I thought I'm gonna hit my demographic 35 to 55 or less, who's gonna follow me? And I do, but I'm surprised because your Spotify YouTube and Google Analytics can tell you exactly who's listening to you how old they are, where they're from, and that sort of thing. I realized that many 18-year-olds are listening to me a 75-year-old, and I have a little spike at around 45 But pretty much I'm just straight across the board, every demographic. And that is huge. And I'm so proud of that scenario. That's great.

Marlana

So why do you think that is?

Rich

My appeal is wide. And I think it's the same reason I'm actually having a hard time within the industry. Because the industry over the year many years I mean, I'll go back say the late 60s As an example I often talk about late sixties. If you look at the top forty charts, top 40 There was no top 40 This top three that top 40 There's top 40 Then you have Aretha Franklin on there. You're gonna have Dean Martin on there you can have the Rolling Stones on or the Beatles on that you're going to have the Statler brothers on there are you know it every type of music you think of was on the top forty. And that happens in the seventies, a little bit through the eighties. And it started dying. Now we genre fight is so heavily. Here's the r&b top 40 Here's the hip hop top 40 Here's the country top 40 And nobody crosses over anymore. And it's a shame. And that's where I come in and people and I've had a hell of a time getting radio airplay, because I'll send to a rock station, they'll look at me, I'll say you're too vintage. I'll send you a video station or you're too modern. And then I'll send to a country station or to rock and country stations, rocks, and it's disabled to you to country. I send the blue stations to rocks. I'm blue station rock stations, so your two blues.

So, I literally sit in the middle. If somebody said, What's your genre? I'd say rock slash country slash pop. That's what I am. No, you must be what normal. And that's why I'm so appealing to such a wide demographic. I mean, it takes a stick an artist like Billy Eilish. And don't get me wrong, that is awesome. But you're not going to have many over 35 years. Listen to her. That's just the reality. Whereas me, I'm hitting every demographic and surprise, and I love it. I absolutely love it. It's it, but it's creating problems within the industry. But it's not creating problems will go directly to Spotify, YouTube and Tik Tok, and rich people. They don't care music is music. And that's what in my opinion, that's what the industry's forgotten. The average person doesn't give a crap what kind of music is do they like it or not? That's all they care about.

Marlana

Let me ask you this because they're obviously doing something right. Do you have to be in a certain headspace to write a song? Do you have to have certain like, do you have to be sad to write a sad song or any of those kinds of things?

Rich

Great question! I love that question! I feel extremely fortunate, I can write on a dime. If I decide like, I'm gonna sit down and write tonight, I can do it. And I sit down and say what type of song don't want to write, like I say, it's gonna be a sad song. So, I'll play the guitar and try and get myself kind of sad. And then, and I have moments where I sit down, I'm feeling a certain way, and that mood will come out too, but I can create that mood as well. So, I feel extremely fortunate that I can write at a dime, anytime, anyplace anywhere and I love it. I'm so thankful I can do that because I've talked to many writers, artists, you name it, any artistic endeavor, and they have to be in certain spaces. I don't, I can create my headspace whenever and maybe that comes with, you know, in my twenties working two jobs, I went to university during a master's degree with a young family at home and working full time. I couldn't wait to when I felt a certain way I had the time, I had to make it happen when I had that time. And it's created a very efficient songwriting sort of machinery within me, and I'm so thankful for it.

Marlana

What do you get out of the writing versus the performing?

Rich

Oh, that's a great question, Marlana good questions, two completely different things, I'll be at two very similar things, which is kind of odd. It's a bit of a paradox. But from the writing, for me, writing as can be very, very internal, writing allows me to sort of get into certain head spaces. If I want to write about a certain arm Mikus for instance, when I wrote I'm So Tired about January 6, I was in that mode, where I'm just fed-up fatigue, what am I tired about? I don't really know. But I'm going to express how I'm feeling ended up being I was, you know, basically just we all get tired, but I was tired. It was the middle of COVID I was tired of turning on the news and seeing all the COVID stuff, I started seeing the protests and then, you know, that created a mood within me that created a song and as very internalized and responding to the environment around me, or is when I perform, I take what I've got and I throw it out to everybody.

You know, here's my passion, here's my guts, I'm flying, I'm gonna give you everything I've got. And that's how I love to perform and allows me to just that sort of all US musicians are somewhat manic, somewhat obsessive compulsive and that sort of thing. But it allows me to take all that energy that bottled up and just throw it out physically. Whereas when I'm writing it's more of a mental energy I get out, yet they're very similar. They complement each other, no question.

Marlana

So, when you write Do you write for you, or do you write for everyone?

Rich

It all depends, the personal songs are usually for me. When I sit down to create a headspace, it's usually for an audience, and they both come up with very different responses. I wrote one song which will be released next year on another album called An Ode to Rochelle. It's about a single mother trying to make it work. She comes from an abusive background, runs away from an abusive stepfather, jumps into a relationship, looking for the wrong place, the wrong kind of the wrong places for the wrong things ends up pregnant and on her own. And the guy says, I'm out of here, see it gone. I'm super proud of the fact that three minutes and 20 seconds I was able to pull that message in and make it work. And I was able to do that because I sat down And I thought about that situation, I thought, What's the toughest thing that a single mother has to deal with. And I started imagining what goes on to make it happen. That was writing for an audience, it wasn't internal.

Whereas I can think of a very, very internal song when my mother passed away, you know, when I was thirty, so it's kind of young to lose a parent. And you know, at first, I was sort of in shock, but most people do have a loved one passed away suddenly. And about three weeks after her passing, I sat down, and I wrote the song called I Love Your Mom, extremely, extremely internal, completely my message migrating my saying goodbye, it was for me. Yet as I played it, I don't play a lot. But when I used to play it a bit, people go, Wow, that's something else. So that internal message resonated with them as well, which is, when that happens, I think, wow, I've really done something good. I've written some for me, and it resonates with others as well.

Marlana

And, you know, I'm going to ask this, because you and I had this conversation at one point. What are your thoughts on the way the music industry is? So many people seem to be so reliant on electronics? And are you more of a purist, or when it comes to…

Rich

Yeah, you know, that's probably a simple way of putting it, I appreciate all types of music. Don't get me wrong, I listen to an EDM, and I love some of what's going on. But for me, a musician is somebody who picks up an instrument either blow it, plays it, bangs it, that's a musician, not somebody say on a computer programming. But yet, it's all music as well, the one thing I'm not a big DJ fan.

I know DJs have been elevated to the point where their acts and performers. Big deal. You spin music, I know there's these other Mattamy right now, but I'm sorry. While you're looking at a guitar player has spent 40 years crafting, you look at DJ spent four months putting things together, there's no comparison, in my opinion, not to take away from what DJs do, because they're awesome what they do, but they're not musicians. I don't know why we sort of Herald them as musicians. I like using real instruments. And I think that's another thing that resonates about my music is that I'm not a drummer. And this is the irony, people say, Oh, my goodness, you're here a bit of a paradox here, because I really use sample drums, but they're real players.

I'm not a drummer, I'm a rudimentary drummer, and genres are so hard to record. And when you're in home studio, you can't record a drum. So, I take spits of live players, and I put real samples into my music of somebody else. So, it's still a real drummer, that's where I'm sort of using the advantage of the technology. And lots of people do it, you know, they make zoom connections, and they record their record across the planet and the recording back and forth. So, I'm using that technology to my advantage, but I definitely do not want to abuse it.

Marlana

Yeah, and I understand that because, for me, you know, I come from the film era, and you got it right in camera. And don't get me wrong, I love Photoshop. It has saved my butt, butt on numerous occasions. It is mine. But the thing is, I'm still of the mindset that it you use it to enhance, you don't use it to Yes, playmakers free everything.

Rich

Yeah, and I totally agree. Because I mean, I use the technology to one of the things I use auto tune like all musicians do. I auto tune some live voice every now and then. But at the same time, Marlana, I've often used left mistakes in. And sometimes I've sang a note flat, I think myself, but man it has that passion has that eggs, and humans aren't perfect. I'm gonna leave it flat because that's what's perfect for that moment. And, you know, I think one of the detriments to any technology is that it can be overused.

I've heard this in the film industry too. I've heard people talk about, you know, what George Lucas did with a lot of Star Wars films when he went back and re-edited all the original three from the 70s and 80s. And he added all these new effects. And let's be what, no, don't just because it's technology, don't use it. What was made then was perfect, don't change it. So, in my opinion, there's some of that where sometimes know the technology, it's so tempting to use it. I don't want to have had sat there and I thought, No, I won't, because it's not what I'm trying to achieve with this particular song or this particular work.

Marlana

Right! So, what if you could close your eyes and open them and be where you want it to be? Where would you be music wise and career wise?

Rich

Two answers to that question. One is I'm super happy and proud of where I am right now. There's no question I think in that anybody's journey, you have to be happy and proud of where you're at, but also ready to still keep going to where you're going. So, I got a mountain. I'm climbing a mountain and I'm very proud that I'm halfway up that mountain, but there's no more to go.

Marlana

And let me just stop you right there for one second to interject this because I think that's so important, that people are always so focused on the end result that they don't take the time to stop and appreciate where they are, and celebrate where they are and how far they've come.

Rich

Yeah, completely. I mean, are my other passions. I'm a writer too. And I've actually authored a novel A few years ago, and I got to publish, it was on my bucket list, write a novel. And I got that done a small online publisher. But in the first chapter of my novel, I made a call to vote. If life was a boat and goals, then all just take our own lives right now. Because that's the end goal of life, we're all gonna die. That's the reality. No, life is a process and celebrate the process. That's what it's all about, in any journey is a process, and there's so many things to learn along the process.

I once read an interview with John Lennon, where he talked about his most wonderful days, where the Hamburg Germany did Germany days when they were striving. And movie says, once they got there, he was like, that the journey up was what he loved. And I get it, you know, the journey is so important. So, people need to stop. Another thing I found quite funny, this is funny, my son and I, this is years ago, we had a family trip to New York. And we're sitting at Rockefeller Plaza on top of the building, and everybody's looking at the sunset. And there's a huge group, everybody's thrown to the edge of the the observation deck. And my son looked, he looked at, look what they're doing. And I looked, and there's 150 people with their phones up in the air. And to both of us they're laughing. They're so busy recording the sunset, that they're not living the sunset with the frickin phone down and live the moment don't record it. And we need to be more within the process. Why when he asked me that question, first, he said, I love what I'm doing. Absolutely love it. Yet, I still want to do more. So, I have goals to achieve more.

Directly answer your question, Where do I see myself, always making the journey always moving forward, I'll be extremely happy one day, as much as I love my job and posek education, I'll be happy when I can leave it behind. And music becomes my full-time gig. And I can you know, work with other artists all across the planet, because I've now created more of a network for myself. And that's when I'll really be holy cow is the great stuff. But I'm still enjoying it now.

Marlana

Yeah. So, what would be the advice you would give to anyone who has that passion that either they're starting off or  they have pushed aside for a long time? What would be your advice to them?

Rich

Well, there's many things I like to say. I mean, the first thing is I talked about earlier, I would say, you know, what's stopping you from going after it? You know, what's stopping you? And I'd often say to people be very, very careful when you answer that question yourself. Because excuses and reasons are two different things. And the majority of people come up with excuses. reasons and excuses are totally different. For instance, if I was to say this, if somebody asked me, I said I want to be a professional, NBA basketball player, there's reasons why I can't be; my age, my height, my skill level, there's reasons why I can't be. But if I were to say, I want to write a novel, let's just throw that out there. There's no reasons why I can't do it. There are excuses because I can't do it. I come with all these excuses. I have simpler to offer. People say I want to get more shape because I'm big into fitness. And I'll say well, okay, why don't you join a gym? Right? Well, you know, my son picks, I have to pick them up with such and such time, and I got this problem with my knees and all these excuses come up, like, no, those aren't reasons, those are excuses, find a way you can get a knee brace, find somebody else to pick up your sons, just direct examples, all kinds of other things you can do. So that's one huge piece of advice I say to the people starting out.

Another one is, be prepared to hear no, no matter what your endeavor is be prepared for the nose. Because once you go out of your circle, and this is what all artists find, I mean, you know, like, when I was a kid and playing my music, I played a family and friends, you can be terrible, and you know, playing singing my song at 10 years old, and all the family plot all you did great. But if I went out and did that to somebody who doesn't know me to be like, get the hell out of your kid. That's awful. So, when you leave your family and friends network and you get out into the real world, people are sometimes going to say no, that's not very good. And you got to be ready for that and just say, okay, heck with you, I'm going to keep moving forward. Some people be awesome, and they'll give you good criticism and say, Well, you know, you should try learning this line that listen to those people. But the people say, Oh, good, forget it. Screw them. Just throw them out the door and keep moving forward.

Realize that, you know, there's still a path to where you want to go. It's just not through them. Because I'm still getting that now. I'm getting people that you know, I'm getting like, I had one guy said and using this as like two months ago, using bad words. I don't want to repeat what the ad Hey, how are you doing copying a Beatle song? This suck. You're useless. He said, he messaged me that, so I messaged him back and I thought, okay, rich, what am I party said to hell, this guy party messaging backwards BBQ, you son of a bitch. And I say no, I actually sat down and told him why I'm doing this. He comes back says, Oh, that makes sense. Why don't you listen to my stuff and like get lost, you idiot. He could apologize to me. I got my point across. And there's many times that I faced some of the you ain't got a kid. You know, look for another career all this good. You shouldn't be singer. I've heard it so many times. And the scary thing is sometimes you start believing it. And that's you have to sit down, dig your heels in and say no, here's my goal. Here's my passion. I'm not wavering on this and keep going.

Marlana

Yeah. And you know, there's an old saying, don't take no from someone who doesn't have the power to say yes,

Rich

that's good! Well, I've heard that one. That's very good one, I like it. I got to copy that one down. Actually, that's a good one.

Marlana

So, it's always a matter of evaluating where the criticism is coming from, where the know is coming from, any of those kinds of things. Because some, like you said, not all criticism is bad.

Rich

No, some is good. I've had some great criticisms that I've learned from they move forward. But those are people actually care. And they're considered in the respectful and they realize, okay, you know, they, they're thinking, this guy has a passion, I respect that. There's some talent there. But if he fixes this, this, he'd be that much better. And every time I've gotten one of those, I've listened and done that. And I, they were right, I became better at whatever it was that I was lacking. So those that listen, people you can't You gotta listen to, because it made people hear any kind of criticism, and I sound I have, you know, there's somewhat right. And you can't be that you got it, you got to listen to when there's a no, you got to be able to accept when you're not hitting the target, or you're not doing what you need to do and fix it.

Marlana

Absolutely! And so, with that, Rich, I just have four final questions for you, because that leads right into the first one. What's the best piece of advice you were ever given?

Rich

Many pieces Marlana. But I think I gotta come down to it as a general advice. This was my first-year college, I started out, and music school, my first two years and I transferred to get my English degree Bachelor of Arts, so hence the radio side of me. But I remember sitting in class, with the structure. Professor Kittson was a name, I still remember had a lot of respect for the guy. And when the students were talking about Mozart Sonatas and Mozart's composition techniques, and one of the students put his hand up and said, You know, I don't understand these great composers. He said, Why did they did why do they have to follow these rules? I mean, it when you create, don't you just create and make something great? I'll never forget what he said. And I've always used it every endeavor I've ever done at all, as a student, anyone through the classroom, he said, to do anything? Well, you have to learn all the rules before you break up. Wow, brilliant, that resonated with me. And it still resonates me with me now. So, you know, you take any piece, that piece of advice tells me that you got to learn everything you possibly can before you can really have the tools to create and step out of the box and make that impact. You know, you got to learn everything else first.

Marlana

Yeah. Because you know, with that, I remember from art school, Picasso, his Cubism, and all that. If you look at his early drawings, he knew how to draw. And he knew what the rules were commercial, he was able to break them so successfully,

Rich

of course, because he knew exactly, he was so purposely doing it. Every now and then somebody folks, and they break a rule, they hit a moment, but it doesn't stay. Because they didn't. They had no idea how they got there. They just flipped out. But the real greats, the composers, the artists, the filmmakers, the doctors, the lawyers, the scientists, they know what they're doing when they start breaking those rules, because they knew every rule and method that got them there in the first place.

Marlana

Share with us one thing on your bucket list. Well,

Rich

there are two things I've already accomplished. And one was to write a novel. I always, always want to write a novel. And I completed one about seven eight years ago. And I started number two levels lit on the backburner by about 60,000 words in and I'll keep going. So, I always been a writer to was doing what I'm doing on the music side. I'm living my bucket list. Absolutely loving it. So, I love you know, it's a great question. So, I'm living the bucket list it on a more sort of superficial scale, I can say because those are the internal things that really meant a lot to me and I'm so proud to say I'm doing I would love to be able to play in Vancouver we have this big park. Open uses Vancouver's version of Central Park from New York at Stanley Park. I'd love to have a live gig in Stanley Park with 1000s people watching me that's you know, that's the bucket list. And that's at the top of the mountain I'm climbing for. I'll get there one day. But the real bucket list I'm living on right now. I'm super proud to say that.

Marlana

Love it. So, when the toy companies finally get around to making an action figure if you, what two accessories will it come with?

Rich

okay. It'll be me smiling and saying guitar for sure. It's gonna have a guitar. It's gonna have a guitar, a microphone, and pen and paper. And then I'll throw a hockey stick in there because I'm, I've always been a massive sports fan. And there's one point when I was a kid, or actually was good enough to potentially pursue a path of hockey, I had people really pushing me like rich. Thankfully, I was 14 years old, and I was the same size I am now which is five, nine, I didn't grow after 14, which would have been a problem. At the time, too, I was into guitar. And so, hockey was something I still play hockey because I love it. But guitar was my passion. I knew it then in there. But still get my get my action figure a hockey stick, because it's still something I've always loved.

Marlana

Love it. And last one, how do people find you? How do people find your videos, your songs, all those kinds of things.

Rich

I think Google Rich Chambers, I've worked my butt off for two years to have the algorithm recognize my name. And you'll see all kinds of things come up, which I'm proud of. But Rich Chambers Rock'n'roll is my Facebook and Twitter handle, or just type in, you know, #richchambers, richchambers.com. So, I really tried to brand My name Rich Chambers as much as I possibly can. And same with the YouTube type/search Rich Chambers, that'll come up and all my videos are there. So, please check them out. I'd love people to check them out, leave comments, and tell them what they think

Marlana

Love it. Thank you so much for being here.

Rich

I really appreciate! Thank you for having me.