Mavericks on the Mic
Mavericks move differently. They are known for disrupting the status quo and rewriting the script. Mavericks on the Mic uncovers the “Maverick Moments” that have shaped the lives of our guests. From personal stories of risk, unexpected pivots to moments of faith and resilience, these stories will inspire you to see your own Maverick Moment — the one that changed everything, even if no one else knows about it.
Mavericks on the Mic
Connor Price: Owning His Music, Finding His Faith
Connor Price is proving you don’t need a label to win in music. The independent artist has built a movement on his own terms—viral hits around the globe and a fanbase that keeps growing. But while he’s in full control of his music career, there’s one thing he’s still figuring out: faith.
In this conversation, Connor opens up about navigating success without the machine, his viral Spin the Globe series, and how staying independent isn’t just a business move—it’s personal. But when it comes to faith, things aren’t so clear-cut. After years of keeping religion at a distance, he’s asking bigger questions, sitting with the uncertainty, and wondering what it really means to believe.
Connor is breaking down what independence truly costs, this episode is a rare look at an artist who’s owning everything—except the answers.
00:00 - Intro: The Arena Show, Songwriting, and Staying Independent
02:44 - First Time Performing in an Arena
03:33 - Does He Still Get Nervous?
04:24 - Acting to Music: The Unexpected Career Shift
06:45 - Keeping a Foot in Hollywood
09:37 - Building His Career with His Wife
11:51 - Why Labels Keep Calling—And Why He Says No
14:51 - The Real Power of Social Media for Artists
19:11 - Passive vs. Active Listeners: How He Really Moves Fans
20:03 - The Birth of “Spin the Globe” and Virality
25:30 - The DM That Changed Everything
27:14 - Buying a Bible, but Not Knowing Where to Start
29:45 - The Pressure to “Pick a Side” in Faith
35:19 - Writing "I Need Help" and Being Honest About Doubt
39:19 - Faith as a Journey, Not a Destination
42:16 - How Growing Up Without Religion Shapes His View
46:00 - Reading the Bible for the First Time—And Getting Stuck
50:13 - What Comes Next: Music, Content, and Long-Form Storytelling
#maverickcitymusic #maverickcity #maverickpodcast #ConnorPrice #IndependentArtist #INeedHelp #FaithJourney #MusicIndustry #SpinTheGlobe #MusicMarketing #Christianity #FindingFaith #MusicBusiness #StayIndependent #MusicAndFaith #ViralMusic #UnsignedArtist #FaithInMusic
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Because we connected what like two months ago. Yeah, In that time. We've written a song, we've released a song, made a bunch of content. I performed at an arena for the first time last night, popping out with you guys. It was crazy, man. I've never been in a space like that Like my experience performing has been at the most, 2,500 people, me and a DJ on stage, let alone like having a full band.
Speaker 3:And basically making a decision to say, hey, we're going to stay independent. What fosters that? Outside of the percentage, is there some pride you take in?
Speaker 1:it. No, I'm really big on collaborating organically with people. I don't want to just be put in a room with someone because some A&R felt like, oh, he might work well with him. I did the Spin the Globe series, where I would spin a globe, land on a country, find an independent up-and-coming artist from that country and we'd collaborate together. So cool. And when we did the song he had less than 1,000 monthly listeners and at the peak of the song he had 2 million. But I was just being neutral. I was like I don't want to be neutral, I want to know where I'm at and where I stand. And I literally just bought a Bible on Amazon and opened it and I didn't tell her I had. And she's like did you buy a Bible? What's going on? I was like I was like everything's good, I'm just figuring stuff out.
Speaker 2:Let me let me just read this. This is what I love about the moment that we got to do with I Need Help. Was you're on a journey and everyone's on a journey at some point? Right, what's up, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Mavericks on the Mic. I'm JJ, I'm Norman.
Speaker 3:I'm Norman, and today we have a very special guest, the one and only.
Speaker 1:Connor Price what's up you guys? How you doing? What up man? Thanks for having me. This is cool. I love that we're dressed all black too. We got the memo Like an omen.
Speaker 3:It's a Jay-Z rap line. For those of you who don't know. You know I don't listen to a lot of jay-z now, but I used to, actually maybe sometime. I love jay-z, I like him too. What up, what we? What is? What are we doing here having this conversation with conor branks?
Speaker 1:hey, man, this is, this is cool. I feel like it's it's so much has happened in the last uh, because we connected what like two months ago. Yeah, in that time we've we've written a song, we've released the song, made a bunch of content. I performed at an arena for the first time last night, popping out with you guys, uh, and now we're doing a podcast. How did that feel? It was crazy, man, I've never been in a space like that.
Speaker 1:Like my experience performing has been at the most, 2500 people, me and a dj on stage, let alone like having a full band. That was really cool because I'm used to in the in-ears hearing just like the mp3 of the song, so to hear, you know, almost a different rendition of it. Like it's different when you got live bass and live drums, it hits different. You feel it behind you. Um, it gives it a completely and people who are there watching it and experiencing the song almost get to experience it in a new way because they're hearing it differently and it made me perform it differently. It was, it was cool. I didn't expect that. Um, yeah, it wasn't as intimidating as I thought because, luckily, the way you guys lit that song was like spotlight so I couldn't really see the crowd, which is probably a good thing, because that's a lot of people.
Speaker 1:Man, I was trying to like look out at people. I just saw like a sea of black, which was probably a good thing, cause it may have freaked me out. But yeah, it was a really cool moment.
Speaker 3:Do you get nervous before?
Speaker 1:you perform Always, but even prior to music. I've done acting for a really long time and I always get nervous before auditions. But I think that anxiety I just sort of try to channel into excitement. Like you know, you can either make it hinder you or you can use it to your advantage. So I always. I think it's a good thing because it just means you care, and so I try to just use that anxiety and energy into the performance. But yeah, I always get nervous.
Speaker 2:We're going to talk a little bit about. I Need Help, obviously, and the song and the moment, but I'd love to talk about where you're from, how you got started. I mean, you kind of, in a lot of people's eyes, are like the stalwart of indie music and releasing songs successfully with not having a label team behind you, and so I'd love to start there, like how you got started in music, how you got started in acting. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, cool. I grew up in Markham, ontario, which is a suburb like 30 minutes northeast of Toronto in Canada. So I grew up in Canada Mom's American, dad's Canadian when I was six years old I'm one of five kids, I'm the middle of five when I was six years old, my mom met this woman who started Twins Talent Agency in Toronto, and my younger brothers are twins, and so she encouraged my mom to maybe get them into acting. And twins work a lot as actors, especially as kids with the whole. You know Dylan's Cole, sprouse, mary-kate and Ashley and the reason for that is there's rules on how long kid actors can work, but when they're identical they can play the same character and you get a full day out of using both of them. So producers love hiring identical twins for child actor roles and so t and tamara.
Speaker 1:There you go. Yeah, another great example I think they're fraternal.
Speaker 3:They were never playing the same character. I don't think that they're identical twins.
Speaker 2:Actually, you might be right I don't, I can't remember somebody in here knows, are they okay?
Speaker 3:actually are also fraternal.
Speaker 1:Okay, sorry, yeah, but I do know they were playing the same character on Full House.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure, I'm just making up. It's unnecessary. What do they call them Me? I'm very explicit or specific, specific On facts. That's it. That's it Interesting nugget.
Speaker 1:You're just the fact checker on the side here, I guess you know, and your specialty is twins. Wait, are they?
Speaker 3:fraternal. I'm pretty sure they are. Both are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm pretty sure they both are. Well, my little brothers are identical Eight minutes apart and especially when they were young, they looked identical and so, yeah, so they started acting, doing commercials, got into TV and film. I saw that they were having a lot of fun going to these auditions. I was like, let me try this. And so when I was six years old, they were four, I was six, we're two years apart. I started doing commercials when I was 10, I did a movie called Cinderella man, which was a boxing film directed by Ron Howard. I played the son of Russell Crowe in that film. That was the first time I was a part of like a big production and went to LA for the premiere, signed with an agent out there and then started, just yeah, doing TV and film throughout my childhood and high school and still went to public school and never homeschooled or anything like that Split my time between Toronto and LA. And, yeah, acting was my life.
Speaker 3:You were recently on like Chicago Med right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did a bunch of guest stars, chicago Med. I got an episode of Tracker coming out in a few weeks, wow, yeah, yeah, a few things. I'm still trying to keep my foot in that door. Music has really taken over. But yeah, the acting thing my heroes are the Idris Elba like Donald Glover, these guys that are multifaceted in music and acting and directing and stand-up Not that I do standup, but just people who are doing a bunch of stuff, and so that's. That's my kind of dream career.
Speaker 2:I remember giving an update to somebody, like they were asking where the mix was like, for I need help or whatever, and I was like, yeah, you know, connor's on set right now. So it'll be, it'll be a few days. Even then, I'm still trying to you know I like multitasking.
Speaker 1:My wife will tell me I'm awful at multitasking which I am but I like having a lot to do and I like being able to explore different mediums, even with like my content, I still edit my content. Like I like knowing how everything works and when I have the opportunity to get good at something or learn something, I like just narrow in and I want to get really good at it.
Speaker 3:How is that you mentioned your wife? She manages you correct.
Speaker 1:She does, yeah, yeah, I mean, we've known each other forever. So, even going back to the acting stuff, so when I first started acting as a kid, the first time I went to LA, I was 10 years old and Brianna, her little sister, chloe, was a child actor as well, and so our families, they're from Chicago, we're from Toronto. We both went to LA at the same time, on the same year, and stayed in the same apartment complex and that's how we met. We were just these kids running around this apartment complex playing volleyball, yeah, one year apart, and we like stayed in touch after that trip and every time we were in LA we'd like reconnect. And yeah, long story short, yeah, we've been married for almost eight years now. We have a two and a half year old one on the way in December. Yeah, yeah, thank you. So, yeah, we've known each other forever. So she's known me through all the acting stuff.
Speaker 1:And then the transition to music happened around COVID, when all the acting stuff shut down and music was something I always had a passion for and at that point I had like put a few freestyles on YouTube, like it was something people sort of knew I liked doing, but I was never pursuing it seriously. And then, yeah, when COVID happened and there was no auditions and acting completely shut down, brianna was the one who encouraged me to be like, hey, maybe we should like try going all in on this music thing. Like this is something you clearly have a passion for. People do respond well to it. Let's give it a shot. And that was also luckily around the time when, like TikTok and music discovery on TikTok was huge and I on TikTok was huge and I love making content.
Speaker 1:And so just the combination of that timing and how we presented the music with like skits and stuff like that, it just like worked like immediately and it almost which was crazy because acting has been such a like a grind for me to get from here to here and music felt like overnight with COVID and TikTok and putting out a bunch of songs following the Russ method of just like constant releases, and it just really kind of took off and yeah, and then she at the time was working as a uh, she was the um creative director at a pet company and she was managing that and then also helping me with my stuff and my stuff just became so much that she ended up quitting her job and full-time.
Speaker 1:We're just doing the music stuff together and to this day still doing that, and we've met with every label and at the end of every call we just look at, look at each other, like we can do this by ourselves and not give up. However much percentage like let's, let's just keep grinding this independent thing and I will say y'all are an amazing team together.
Speaker 2:Thank you, you know what I mean. There's it was I told I remember telling brianna this like it was kind of a conviction to me, like because I was, I was looking at the way y'all work together and do life, do business. I was like, man, y'all are amazing, like as a couple, obviously, but also like in the like you understand what you guys are doing. She does the marketing, you do the content. Like it's just like the music and it's just it's a perfect marriage. And pun intended for sure.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that and it's also been like the hardest part of our marriage, like working together and you get to situations where you're disagreeing on certain like. It's definitely tested us. So it's made the best moments in our relationship and the worst, but even the worst is great because we get to work through so much and communication is so important. Yeah, communication has been huge and that's really taught that to us with working together and it's helped our relationship in so many ways.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of articles that have come out recently about just the change in music, right, and how distribution or distribution deals are now all the rage, right, everyone has a distribution. People have gone from artist deals to now primarily doing distro deals. I think they mentioned I think the group is called NYLA or maybe it's pronounced differently. Oh, laney, it's called Laney. Yeah, you're right, l-a-e-y. Sorry, I got it Turned around Laney Specific, but what they were talking about was how Laney was signed to. I can't remember what label they were signed to, but recently there was a bidding war for their distribution deal and you being independent, how is that? You know, how do you look at those conversations? Because I'm sure it's going to be a lot of independent artists catch this and you and Brianna are basically making a decision to say, hey, we're going to stay independent. What fosters that outside of the percentage? Is there some pride you take in it? Is there something you notice in those meetings that just doesn't? Even if they were able to do this, it's not worth giving up our independence.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean there's every time we have those calls like the main thing I want to do is be like ask, like what, what can you guys do that you don't think we could do on our own? And a lot of that might be stuff like uh, oh, we'll, we'll connect you with these producers and these big artists and I'm like I don't really I don't, I don't know I'm. I'm really big on collaborating organically with people. I don't want to just be put in a room with someone because someone, some A&R felt like oh, he might work well with him and I've got my producers I work well with. The business is set up right, we don't have to deal with the headaches of not working with someone new and because there's a label involved, there's just becomes all these other logistics. That makes it not fun.
Speaker 1:And like my favorite collab so far and my biggest collabs have been with smaller artists like like, um, I did the spin the globe series where I would spin a globe, land on a country, find an independent, up-and-coming artist from that country and we'd collaborate together. So cool, yeah, and these would be guys like man. The second no, the first one I did uh was with this artist named killa from zambia and when we did the song he had less than a thousand monthly listeners and at the peak of the song he had 2 million and that song went nuts because of the content and people wanted to support the underdog and I was like that's me, that's my brand. I don't need to be the guy who's trying to be the next Drake or the next Jack Harlow. I don't see that for myself. I don't even want that for myself. I want to be the champion for independent artists that's giving a spotlight to underappreciated artists, that living in countries that you may never have heard of. Like that's where I'm happiest. I don't need to be in the room with these big producers and these big artists. So that happens when they organically great.
Speaker 1:But I don't want that to be because some label guy is like, hey, let's get these guys in the studio, like I want to organ, not having anybody be able to tell us like, hey, this has to happen. Or oh, you've got this writer session with so and so and yeah, and then also, just, you know, control on the percentage side of things and ownership is really important to us and yeah, distro deals especially, I've never understood because I'm like man giving up a percentage of the song for someone really just to like hit upload. I'm like I got DistroKid, like that's what I've been using and they they've been great. And you know people are like, oh yeah, you won't get playlists. I'm like I have done songs with other artists and use their distribution and they've got the big distribution and we get a few playlists. And then I do DistroKid. I upload it five days before the song comes out, where they're like it's impossible, you'll never get a playlist and I get massive playlists. I get new music Friday.
Speaker 1:It's like people don't realize how that it's possible to do it on your own, the independent way. You just need to have the fan base there and doing that is just releasing, consistently, engaging with your fan base and it's there. Yeah, I think there's a lot of kind of misinformation out there as far as, like, the paths you have to take to get certain things, but but at the end of the day, everyone can be told no, labels can be told no from playlist curators, and so I've always just found I feel most at peace and the records of mine that have done the best and performed the best aren't because of someone huge being involved or a big distributor being involved or a big label being involved. It's all just because of the organic nature of how the song came up, whether it was through content, through a cool collaboration. So, yeah, those have always done the best and make us feel the best, so we focused on those things. Yeah, I hope that made sense.
Speaker 2:Y'all are like really tapped into to the social side of things. Yeah, for sure, I know that's something that's like kind of the heartbeat of a lot of things that we do on the Maverick City side. It'd be great for you to talk through like the content right, the intentionality around the skits, the engagement. I know that's, I know for you when we were rolling on. I need help. I know that was like where your mind was going. We were having playlist conversations and like where it would land, but you were thinking about content and marketing and social. Maybe talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean that was the foundation for me when I was talking about how during COVID there's just this huge like like TikTok hasn't really felt the same since, but there was like a moment where people just were hungry to discover new music on TikTok and if you were doing something new and interesting to promote your music it would catch on. And for me, skits did really well and I think a reason for that was primarily because of my background with acting and so like getting to play me and then the producer and the weird brother, like just introducing all these characters, was just fun for me to do. I liked filming it and I would film them all myself. I would film front facing iPhone, I'd set up the shot, hit record, run to my desk, say the line a few times, dress up as a new character, I just film it all, edit it myself and I enjoyed that process a lot and put it out there and, yeah, people really seemed to respond to that was sort of like creating a story around the song and then leading into it because people don't like being sold to, they don't want to.
Speaker 1:If you, if you start your video with hey, check out my new song, it's like, not like. But if you find an engaging way to hook them which I would do with these skits and kind of set it up, and then all of a sudden the song is playing and you're like already halfway through the video, so you're like, all right, let me hear the song, and then the song is good enough and it catches them, then they're like I'm sharing this, I'm liking this, I'm gonna go find him on spotify, and so it creates like a fan, because they see you're putting effort in and you're really trying to uh, give value by entertaining, not just being like, hey, listen to my song. And so I always view content as like how can I, how can I bring value? And usually that's through the form of entertainment. So it could be a skit, it could be an interesting transition video, it could be a day in the life, whatever that might be. And I found that that just converts really well to not only making people a fan of the song but a fan of me or a fan of Mav and what we're doing and the story behind the song. And so, yeah, content I have felt is just like converted so well to getting new fans, having current fans be excited about what I'm working on because they see a new skit and they like my skits and it's like, oh, what's this skit about? No-transcript my songs, with a huge emphasis on like, yeah, like I'll finish a song and brianna and I will sit and talk about like interesting content, ideas and what's. What's an interesting way to promote this and, um, yeah, so that's sort of the world that we look at, because that's what's worked so well for us.
Speaker 1:And I find, even like on the playlisting side, obviously there's like a few playlists that you get on and it's like it does crazy stuff for you, but I found, for the most part, a lot of playlists are just passive listening. It's like people in the car or it's on at the gym and so it technically gets a stream, but it's a passive listen and that's not somebody who is likely going to be like oh, who's this guy, it's just sort of on. And so I would much rather, yeah, focus on the people we can make core fans who are not only going to listen to this one, but click, follow and then now be aware of the next release, you know. So I really kind of focus on engaging with that. I respond to as many comments as I can?
Speaker 1:I'm big on that some days, like if I'm on an airplane and I have wi-fi on the plane, I'll go through my dms and I'll just click random ones and leave voice notes, just just to make it personal. Be like yo and I'll see. I'll go to their page. See, their name is taylor, so I can be like yo, tay Taylor. What's up? Appreciate the love. Thanks for listening. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that goes a long way.
Speaker 2:That goes a long way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so I spent a lot of time on just creating that community.
Speaker 3:You talked about something that's really. It's really I wouldn't call it technical, but it's really like intuitive and that's the difference between a passive and active listener and the importance of that right, and so we call it. Sometimes executives lean back versus lean forward. Oh cool, which is essentially a programmed listener means that someone is on a playlist. It's basically like turning on the radio right, you can't control what comes on. Next Song comes on. You're listening to what someone has programmed you to listen to, versus you going to their profile, clicking their profile or searching for the song specifically to listen to, which is active. That's lean forward. Lean back means someone's presenting them music. Lean forward means they're going to search and hunt music.
Speaker 3:And the difference between those two is really important, especially for independent artists, because when you're talking about getting on those playlists, when you're talking about having an audience ready to receive your music, those lean forward listeners are the ones that are going to search it out. And so how have you seen your audience grow and how have you been able to grow an artist? You talked about some of the social media ways, but from is it style of music? Do you believe it's through the collaboration, like what's been your modus operandi? Shall I say?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's been a multitude of things. I definitely think that Spin the Globe series was like my first huge, like really viral moment that got a lot of people paying attention.
Speaker 2:What an amazing well, back up for a second Sure. Explain what an amazing. Well, back up for a second. Explain. Spin the Gophers. It's amazing, Sure, and it was Brianna's idea. I'm giving her full credit.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I'll give you the story of how it all came together, because it was kind of like a fluke. So I at one point was asked to work on a song for Fast and the Furious. It was like Fast 10. It was one of the I don of the fast and the furious and I was working on the song which, which eventually would be violet, which is the first episode. It's been the glow, but anyway, so I'm working on the song.
Speaker 1:It gets to a point where they're like uh, we're gonna go with another song. So now I have this like half done song that I really liked. And and then brianna was like hey, do you remember when you like, connected with that one artist killer from zambia? I feel like he'd sound great on this. And he was this guy who, like, reached out over Instagram early back and we connected. I thought he was really talented. She's like, I think he'd sound good on this. So I sent it to him. He did a verse, crushed it. And then now we did our meeting where we're like how do we promote this? And she's like all right, what are the interesting elements of the like? What, if you like, spin a globe and you land on Zambia and then you say you're going to find an artist, and I was like, yeah, so she basically just like express the idea of spin the globe, and I was like that's amazing. And so I filmed that.
Speaker 1:So the the the first one sorry to to to break the illusion, but like the first episode was, like you know, we like forced the pick on Zambia to make the song happen and it was sort of a throwaway piece of content. We didn't expect anything, because everything up to that point was that perform well with skits, and so this was something brand new that we had never seen and never tried or experimented with. And so we just put it out there and it like immediately was one of those ones where, like by the end of the night was at a million views, woke up the next morning, 7 million views, were like this is going nuts, and it ended up at this point like 70 million on Tik TOK, 70 million on YouTube shorts, like just perform well everywhere. But it was immediately like spin the globe episode two When's it happening? Like people were just demanding something next, and so what that did, which was really cool, was we sort of created a series and that really caught people to follow on, because they wanted to hit follow to see what the next episode was.
Speaker 1:What country is he going to land on next? What are they going to look like, what are they going to sound like, what language are they going to be rapping in? And so it created this like fan base of people who wanted to see who I was going to collaborate with. Collaborate with next people from that country, from Zambia, getting a moment to have this viral moment, you know, to have one of their artists spotlighted was was crazy. And so now, like this Zambia fan base is coming, and now people from Germany, like yo, land on Germany next, and Austria, like yo, land on our country next.
Speaker 1:And so all these like global listeners who all like love hip hop. And the amazing thing about hip hop is it's so universal, like good flow is universal. You don't have to understand that the language to be like this guy goes crazy or this girl goes crazy, and so, uh, it was like the perfect marriage of that genre and collaborate, collaborating internationally um, that people would just like really got caught onto. And so, yeah, they they were like we're like we want an episode two, and we just like we're like, all right, well, let's do it again. Let's now spin the globe land somewhere. And then the next one was the Netherlands. We found this guy named Ben's and then we did spin in, which to this day went on to be my biggest song. Just found out recently it's uh gold in the in the us, my first plaques.
Speaker 1:That's kind of cool yeah thank you, thank you, um, and that's with yeah, this guy, this 19 year old artist from the netherlands who was like, yeah, at the time, I think, 30 000 monthly listeners and now over 2 million just off the song, so that's just awesome. And then the first time I ever performed was in europe, and I performed in amsterdam and then we got to perform the song together. It was the first time we ever met. So now we're performing that song in his hometown. It was just like it's, it's led to so many cool moments and I think people just really like, uh, yeah, an artist having the opportunity to put on for, and you even say that now, like the, the globalness of music, now, whether it's like Spanish music and with k-pop, like it's so much more, I feel like um, not accepted, it's always been accepted, but people are hungry for it, and it's like accessible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the the internet democratized music, right socials and the internet like it kind of makes it sure. It's like it's what you were talking about earlier, about the whole label thing. It's like and I could just dm a producer that I wanted to work with rather than like signing a deal, a deal with a label, by the way, we might have to borrow the Spin the Globe.
Speaker 1:It's kind of an amazing idea A lot of people have and a lot of artists, unfortunately, have stolen the idea and not credited me Word for word, copying my script and my shots. It's been brutal.
Speaker 3:I've had some, some conversations yeah, even trademark it as you. You originated it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we should market, yeah but we'll, if we, if we do borrow the idea, we'll definitely give you credit. Some people have no pun intended.
Speaker 1:some people have put their own spin on it, which is cool, um. But but people who are just like literally copying my shots and the way that I edit it, same sound effects, and that that bothers me, especially when they don't give credit. But yeah, I'm all for it. Yeah, if you're inspired by it in some way, and yeah.
Speaker 3:We had talked about it a while ago, just differently. We were doing tribal albums in the different countries.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we were thinking about taking, like we had this idea to take, like top worship songs in different countries and then fly the big worship leaders over from each of those different countries. That's cool, do them in their language and translate them. I think it's a great idea. I think it's a great idea, absolutely. You guys got to do that for sure. Yeah, let's talk about I Need Help. Let's talk about this collaboration. I think we kind of had an interesting moment because I dm'd you like in may, yeah, and you kind of ghosted me. Well, I definitely didn't leave you on read, I just didn't see it, I didn't see it.
Speaker 1:And then I also do have such a bad habit of not uh um, going through the like hidden dm part and going to maybe like the verified, like other partnership messages. Yeah, yeah, right, and so, and, but Brianna does that. And so one day she was like, do you know Maverick city DMG? But she, she's a huge fan and she's been aware of you guys for a long time and she's like we need to hit them back. I'm like, all right, let's do it. And then we connected. Do you mind if I share the story?
Speaker 1:I would love for you to share Because it was really cool because, you know, because I had done the song Up with Forrest Frank and this was big in the Christian space and that was my first time collaborating with a Christian artist. And after we had put that song out, I had a lot of Christian artists and Christian bands reaching out to me with like demos and stuff like that and they were sending me these incredible songs but they were very worship heavy in a way that where I was at in my faith which was like brand new, like ground zero, like I say in the song, I had bought a Bible. I hadn't opened it yet, so I knew it was something I wanted to explore, but I didn't know where I was at. And so they were sending me these great songs and I was like it wouldn't be authentic for me to be on this because I'm just not there yet. And that was the conversation I had with you, because I remember the first demo you sent me I think it was a song called God's Not Done, god's.
Speaker 2:Not.
Speaker 1:Done and it was really cool. It was like like this hype moment and I was just like I don't know if I'm there, because even on the Forest song, the only reference I made was mind your business now, who I worship, that's like the only thing in the line. Because I was like if I'm collaborating with Forest, everyone's gonna be like, oh, connor's a Christian artist now and dah, dah, dah. And I was like, let me just like I'm still figuring it out. You know, and I and I told that to you you were very honest. But what I loved about your response cause I would tell all these other artists that where I'm at sorry, I don't feel like I'm authentically in a place to be on this and represent you know that what the song is speaking on it was sort of one who said, all right, then tell me where you're at.
Speaker 1:And I was like, all right, well, I bought a Bible because a lot of people I look up to whether it's podcasts I listen to or whatever are, you know, talking about God or referencing the Bible and I want to be able to know what they're talking about and there's got to be something here. I don't like the fact that I'm like engaged in the conversation and sort of. But then if I talk to someone who's like atheist, I'm sort of like I was not playing both sides, but I was just being neutral. I was like I don't want to be neutral, I want to know where I'm at and where I stand. And I got to give myself a chance to figure that out.
Speaker 1:So I literally just like bought a Bible on Amazon and I remember my's going on. I was like I was like everything's good, I'm just figuring stuff out. Let me, let me, let me just read this. Yeah and uh, and then and then all the timing was weird. Like three days after I ordered it. That's when Forrest DM me. I was like, okay, this timing is kind of crazy. We did the song. It went crazy. I was like, yeah, I bought it, I haven't even opened it, I haven't read it, I don't know where to start.
Speaker 2:We talked about that. Yeah, I know, we talked about like where to start in the Bible Totally, which honestly, it was so cool for me because I remember FaceTiming you thinking like okay, getting ready to have a business conversation, like get the song done, done, and it just flipped to this yeah, really real remember. Yeah, like, hey, dude, I like you. I think you asked me like hey, like I just bought a bible, like where should I start?
Speaker 1:yeah, and I tried starting in genesis and I was so overwhelmed I was like this is a lot my heart for you, just was dude, I've, I was like dude.
Speaker 2:I don't know why, but I feel like we got to figure out how to stay tight in relationship and do this together like, yeah, find a song that works, keep talking. Because what you were saying to me in that moment and this is what I love about the moment that we got to do with I Need Help was you're on a journey and everyone's on a journey at some point. Right, and what I was like, what I was thinking in my head, was like this is a great opportunity for me and for Norman and for what we do, to be sort of like a representative of who we believe Jesus is in our lives and to share that with you, but not in a preachy way, but just in a real like. And I would say like the coolest part about the I need help thing is the relationship that we built with you and your wife and getting to kind of see you. You guys are move way closer to us now. Yeah, that to me means more than the song, and I know that sounds weird to say no.
Speaker 1:No, I get it absolutely yeah, all my collabs, even the spin the globe stuff, I'm still in like whatsapp group chats with them. We keep in touch, like just touching on what you're saying. As far as, like, um, the collaboration, the, the, the friendship that I make with that person and everything around the song, yeah, is always really important.
Speaker 3:I think the beautiful thing you guys are highlighting is that oftentimes, you know, especially in the Christian community, it's like you meet an artist. They say I don't know where I'm on my journey and it's like oh, you got to hit them with this Hellfire and Brimstone right. And what I often tell people is because I didn't. You know, my parents are pastors, but I didn't necessarily grow up in church. My dad ended up moving to Africa, my parents got divorced, and so I came back to church at 31. You know what I mean?
Speaker 3:I didn't go to church and college once my sister evangelized all over the world, but for me it was a journey too, and I remember, uh, the thing that got me back in the church and really, you know, living, uh, my living out, my faith, was relationship, it's like, you know, my brother and sister although they were, you know, they were in it, they didn't like shun me because you know norman's being norman, right, it was more so, like, all right, where are you? Why do you think that? What do you think about these things? Now, there's this patent story they were getting ready to plant a church and there's this book called Martyrs for Christ. There's this book called Martyrs for Christ. So, if you know about church planting, which you probably don't clearly, but there's something called like the initial group.
Speaker 2:It's like the planning group, but it's very important to the life of like like. These people have to be so bought in yes, right, because you're about to play the church. So that's the context. Like your brother and sister-in-law or your sister and brother-in-law have gathered a group of people that are like hunkering down and saying like we are connecting, we're moving to, we're uprooting our life we're moving to. Columbus South.
Speaker 3:Carolina.
Speaker 1:Here comes.
Speaker 3:Norman.
Speaker 2:We're screwing our jobs.
Speaker 3:everything you know like Jesus told Richard R Ruler sell all your goods and come and follow me. It's that time. That's the church plant room, so we're sitting in the living room in Columbia, south Carolina. Everybody's talking, and they're talking about this book, martyrs for Christ. One thing about me is I am a very practical guy and I'm going to ask the question that nobody's going to ask. So my pastor goes. You know they're in in Asia where they're persecuting Christians, so the government comes into the house and he asks them you know, do you believe in Jesus?
Speaker 3:If you say you do, they're going to shoot you in the head Like right there, you're dead. Right, that's pretty graphic, but that's what they're doing, sure. And so I say, of course, I would say no.
Speaker 1:Like why am I going to die and lose my own family? God know I believe in him.
Speaker 3:Got to prove it to this guy. It's clear that I should be here for my family.
Speaker 2:That would be most important. Tell him I'm not going to admit. I love Jesus. He says this in a group, in a group of people that are selling everything they got.
Speaker 3:And no, no, this is the worst part the pastor is my sister. Like it's not, I'm not at some random person, so it's probably like what kind of church is this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, like what?
Speaker 3:So now I just didn't have that revelation. And that's the thing, like the cool thing about it and I often tell people especially people that get to do what we do is that the relationships you build with people in journey help. Like one of the coolest things about my brothers and sisters being pastors and me kind of coming up and having a different life is that I often can you know, I often give them context for what they're dealing with with someone in the church.
Speaker 2:That's good you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:And there's different things, whether it's like you don't have to have and this is cool. This is the thing I often tell them is that everyone's different and the people that you're drawing to you on this journey that you're going on with I Need Help. There's tons of them. There's tons of kids that just grew up. It kids that just grew up. It's not that they were bad people, it's not. You know, there's some huge sin nature out there. I mean, as far as I know, I've never heard Connor Curse. I've never heard Curse is not sending anyone to hell, guys, by the way, but I've never seen. You're a great person. You grew up in a great family.
Speaker 3:I think that we misunderstand that just some. They just haven't had the introduction, just haven't had the introduction, and or they have a different intellectual perspective on religion, right, and so I think what you and JJ are talking about in relationship, as you guys have, as we're building this bond, and I talk to Brianna about everything under the sun, business wise, whether it be your mulch, to us and our kids it's like. Relationship is how people get drawn closer to Christ. Relationship is how people get drawn closer to knowing him and finding their way and finding their journey, and shunning people simply because they aren't where you are.
Speaker 1:I think sometimes does us a bigger disservice than a service?
Speaker 3:Sure, sure, that's what I was going to ask you, I think sometimes does us a bigger disservice than a service.
Speaker 1:Sure, sure, well, have you had? And that's what I was going to ask you is how have you had?
Speaker 3:experience with it, Cause I'm sure, like when you put out that first song with with with Forrest, and then now this song with us. Forrest is even a higher state transition than the Christian music recently, like I don't know what maybe people would say, because we're more overtly a worship group. How has that?
Speaker 1:been Like people asking you questions. Honestly. Everyone has been like incredibly supportive and in the mindset of like this, like thank you for being authentic. Because that was my worry was when we had that conversation and I told you like this is where I'm at and props to you, because you were the only one who said then let's write that song, and I was like are you sure? Because I'm going to props to you, because you were the only one who said then let's write that song, and I was like are you sure? Because I'm going to be saying things like I bought a bible I haven't opened yet, I don't pray yet, I don't know where to start.
Speaker 1:You're like a lot of people are there on that journey and I think that story is worth telling. And then, after we got off the phone, the first demo you sent me was the Taylor Hills, I Need Help idea and I was like this is it? And then that night I wrote those two verses, sent them back and it was like this is it, this is the song. And so, yeah, it was. I didn't know how people would respond, but it's been incredible because everyone, like every comment I see, every DM I see, is either like how much the song is like maybe they were in a certain place in life and they needed to hear something like that. Or it's just like we're so excited for you to be on this journey. Like like it isn't any judgment. It isn't any judgment, it isn't any expectation, or like it's just it's been actually overwhelmingly positive, which is great.
Speaker 1:I didn't necessarily expect that just because I'm I know what the internet can be like especially in the comment section for someone making music and it's been so far. It's been incredible. Everyone's very supportive and understanding of the fact that it is a journey, which is great. Cause that was my worries that I put out a song with someone like Forrest or Mav City and they stamp me as oh, he's a Christian artist. So now there's this expectation that he has to be this, this, this and can't do this, this and that.
Speaker 1:But it seems like they're very understanding people who listen to the song of like cool, he's on a journey too, if they're in that space, or they knew that they were on a journey at one point, so they know what that is. And there isn't some expectation of like what I can or can't do. It's just like they're they're wishing me the best and excited to see what happens next. And I'm excited to see what happens next for myself and as I continue to read the Bible now, and, and, and learn where I'm at and where I want to be at, and even talking to my wife about it. Religion was something we never talked about and she, she's Christian.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was, that was one of figuring things out and I just, I don't know, I just felt so much love for you, just kind of where you were at and the transition with acting music and kind of where you were at spiritually. I was like man, we got to figure out a way to write a song that embodies where you are, because I think my sense is like a lot of people are where you are, even people that profess to be Christian. Sure, you know, sure that like haven't opened their Bible in a while and don't know how to say that they need help, right, right, I think that's a real place to be Risking being vulnerable Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Because I feel like, especially that kind of is the thing where it seems like you're either at point zero or point 100. Like at point zero or point 100, like this in between is sort of like, yeah, there's sort of judgment of like well, are you fully committed or are you not? And so I don't often see, especially in music, like somebody who is speaking on that part of the story. So it's cool, we got to have a moment to to express that part of the story yeah, there's a term in church we call or use.
Speaker 2:It's called sanctification and it's like the process of like. When someone actually professes to know Jesus, there's a process of becoming like him daily. We don't say that when you accept Jesus, everything changes.
Speaker 1:There is no point, you're always moving closer.
Speaker 2:I like that, yeah, and I think when we think about it like that, it kind of takes the oh yeah of course, technically, everyone's on a journey.
Speaker 1:Everyone's on a journey. What part of it are you at? Everyone's on a journey.
Speaker 2:Everyone's on a journey. What part of it are you at? Everyone's on a journey and the really cool thing about Maverick and this is one thing that I we've really been intentional about is we're not a church, but we're also not people who put themselves out there to be this perfect, like we've made mistakes, we've done things that we shouldn't have done. We have our own journey and we bring that to the songs we write, to the expression that you got to be a part of last night, and so I think the vulnerability, authenticity that we've kind of held but also like a lot of what you're saying about how you're connected and you feel like you've been authentic with your fans, bringing them along on this journey felt like it just made a powerhouse collaboration. That feels really honest Totally.
Speaker 1:And I've also been seeing some comments which is really cool of like, hey, I'm I'm not a christian, but this song resonated with me and that's been really cool too, because I also think there's just this overall theme of of the importance, especially now that I'm like a dad and I have a two-year-old, and I think it's really important to set an example of being vulnerable, even when it might not be popular to and, yeah, the kind of overarching idea of it being okay to ask for help, whether it's, hey, I don't know where to start on this Bible. I feel overwhelmed. I don't like, where do I start? How do I do this?
Speaker 1:And for me personally, like up to this point in my life, I've always been one to like if there's an issue, okay, I'll figure it out. I'll figure that out on my own. I don't know if that's part of being middle child. I was just sort of I've always been quite independent and lived on my own pretty early on and with the acting stuff, just I've always just been very independent, and so it's like if there's an issue, I'll just deal with it, and so to give the opportunity to now express that in a song and kind of set that example for my son, who I touch on at the end of the second verse, I think is really important.
Speaker 3:One thing we don't often see, and especially in the African-American community, is men saying that they need help. You know, I think that was one thing that really sat with me was one successful people don't ask for help a lot, that's just. That's the thing. We're very insulated. Second part is men don't ask for help a lot. Right, that's the thing. We're very insulated. Second part is men don't ask for help a lot.
Speaker 3:And then, most importantly, non-christian artists don't generally talk about their faith or wanting to talk about their faith, because it does put you in this box of what you mentioned, someone that's not always a Christian. It's not that he's a Christian artist. I don't believe. And especially post-Spin the Globe, because you collab with so many different type of artists who you know, it was clear they had all kind of a diverse group of religious beliefs and backgrounds and ethnicities. And as you were talking, something I was thinking about, jj, you touched on it was that as I sit and I thought and I think through, I think for some people Christianity is more than ethnicity, than it is even a religious belief, especially in the deep south.
Speaker 1:You get what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:Touching on the conversation we were having in the dressing room yesterday is that some people just grow up in church. It's not even something that they, like you know, it's a part of the culture that they grew up in. You know, they grew up seeing it, but they never even began the journey of moving or getting close to God in a real sense. They did it more so, from a sense, that's what my mom did, that's what I saw my dad do, and there's some good in that. But there's also where you see some what we call talk about confusion, where what I see in you is someone that genuinely, when you say I believe this, it's going to be something you decide you do.
Speaker 1:Whereas in a lot of especially Southern households.
Speaker 3:It's not a choice. You know what I mean. There is no you're going to you believe in, it's like. Not that it's forced on, but it's a part of the culture, the ethnicity, of what we grow up in, especially in the deep South and in America.
Speaker 1:What was the turning point for you? Because I know, obviously you were somebody who grew up in it. You were sort of the example of someone who would have been like, not forced, but like, just like, lived into it. But you went the other way. What made you, on your own, decide to pursue it?
Speaker 3:You know I think they talk about there's this it says bring up a child in the way they should go and they'll never depart from it. I think because of because of how I was raised, so my mom didn't really, you know, sorry for saying this, mom, my mom didn't really go to church when I was growing up you know.
Speaker 3:But she always had this peace, or shall I say, a confidence in God. You know, it was just one of. She always prayed. She had this confidence, no matter what our life looked like, right. So her and my dad are divorced. She's working at Nice. We're living with our grandparents, you know, and I can't complain. Both my parents were doctors, pharmacists, whatever you want to call it. So I had a great financial life right. Growing up, I think the thing for me was there's always. There's always this sense inside of me that something is missing, right, and I could never get a discernible piece. That always felt like I was on quicksand. So it's like, no matter how good things were, I always felt like I always had this feeling of, oh, when is that hammer gonna drop?
Speaker 1:when is this hammer? You get what I mean. When is?
Speaker 3:that hammer gonna drop. And until I literally made the I understand, when is that hammer going to drop? And until I literally made the decision. I was in the shower once when I was working we were living around the corner in Atlanta and I felt I heard the audible voice of God tell me to quit my job and to go serve back at that church that I had said that to because they kicked us. And that core group thing was you know, you guys are clearly not ready. And so I called my brother-in-law and, lo and behold, they were starting the church the next week, like it was their first service. And so we drove three and a half hours down and I quit my job and I started serving at the church for free and doing whatever my brother and sister needed, just through relationship.
Speaker 3:Over time I begin. You get what I'll say about life transformation. Is that that's the proof to me God is real Like there's? No. I've never sat or watched any YouTube videos of anybody debating and said, oh, he got the better point than that guy debating and said, oh, he got the better point than that guy. I've never you know, he hasn't presented himself to me in the flesh that I can touch him and say hey, man, I'm God. You hear what I mean? There is no other way to explain someone's life, going from complete and utter shambles to one that is just overwhelmingly positive and beautiful, aside from the presence of God, and that's my testimony. So for me it was man, you know, I had whatever, you know, I was kicking it, clubbing, drinking, you name it and God, one day I was at church, arrested my heart and you know, I felt his presence personally, you know, and through relationship, like what you you know, your conversation with jay there, with my brothers. I just asked him every question that I had yeah, you know what I mean, like why this?
Speaker 1:I'm finally reading the bible and I can't get one sentence without because, so like if I I'm the type where if I'm reading something and something's not connecting, I'll keep autopilot reading but I'm not connecting at all. And so I'm trying to intentionally read and every sentence there's either a word I don't understand, a name I'm trying to be like what does this mean? Or like a phrase and I'm like what do they mean by that? And I'm constantly having to stop, do like 20 minutes of research and it's taking me so long, but maybe that's the point. There's this Bible called Commentary Bibles.
Speaker 1:It's a lot easier.
Speaker 3:Maybe I need that so they explain kind of the etymology of words like what this means in context of that time. This is a classic story of the woman at the well right and without the context of that time. This is a classic story of the woman at the well right and without the context of what's happening there. Jesus walks through a place that they don't normally go, which is Samaritan, samaria. They were seen as like you can't, it's like going to, I guess think about a strip club, I'd imagine, samaritan, you cannot go there, right so? But Jesus is going through this area and his disciples are saying to him you know, right, bro, we don't go to Samaria, I have to go and meet someone. And so the context of that time is he's meeting with they're not even supposed to be talking like a Samarian woman, samaritan woman and he's Jewish. They don't mix, they don't talk to each other, they don't go around each other, they don't do any of that. And so when you think about that in context, and what he's saying through this scripture is that everyone's worthy of my time, regardless of where they are, she's clearly not at this point, she's clearly not Jewish, she clearly doesn't believe. But he thought it was so important for that entire country. She goes back and saves the whole country.
Speaker 3:And this woman she has multiple husbands in that time and she's sleeping with multiple men. She's not some preacher or some evangelical, she's a normal lady in her community and she goes back and back. Then you, you remember, women couldn't preach. So this is. He chose a woman to go back to save her entire country. So the context is what you're talking about. That commentary writer, you know that makes that story come alive, sure, sure it gives us like in modern day context. Imagine a pastor deciding to go to the strip club and get a stripper and say, hey, you're gonna be the woman'm going to use to go and save all of Atlanta, right?
Speaker 1:No, that's what it is.
Speaker 3:And so that's why the Bible, the beauty of it, the stories in the Bible are better than any reality TV we watch. They really are Any reality. Like you are going to go through these things You're going to be like what. You've heard of David in the Bible. Have you ever heard of David, David and Goliath? When you get through the story of David, let's talk David. I'm going to spoil it. He killed his best friend, took his wife and had kids with her. I didn't know that part of the story.
Speaker 2:Yes, and this is the man after God's own heart. The Bible says that he was a man after God's own heart. After that, yeah, all right, we'll be talking. I think if I could just say humbly, like as you read through it, one thing I and I've got some books that I'll send you but one thing I would just say is to, like, there is a through line you can pull it at any point, no matter where you're in the Bible of God being a God of redemption, of God being a God who meets people where they are. That's constantly through there and that you know as you look at the backdrop, obviously you get to the New Testament and Jesus arrives.
Speaker 2:I would say for us and I think this is kind of one of the reasons why I was even so motivated to be like bro.
Speaker 2:Of course we can figure out a way to do a song together, because it's like I want my life to be and I feel like and I hope it is, but I know Norman feels the same way it was like we want our lives to be exemplary of what God has done in our lives and how he changed us and made us new, and you know, it's like doing life with Jesus is so much different than than doing it any other kind of way, and I think, hopefully, and as we continue relationship, hopefully you've been able to see that and hope you will, hopefully you'll be able to continue to see that and that's.
Speaker 2:I think that's really it. It's like that should. That's a great starting point to say, and I don't know about all this Jesus stuff, but let's start here. Yeah, let's see how, let's hear about what he's done in your life, and I think that's yeah. I mean, I'm hopeful, I'm excited for you. I think you're in a really, and I just want to say too, you being as vulnerable as you were to even tell me that, because you didn't have to say it the way you did, you were just really honest and I just I don't know, I just wanted to honor that.
Speaker 1:Just be like honor, that just feel like bro, that was really special. I appreciate that. Thank you for thanks for being open to it. Like I said, yeah, because a lot of other people might have been like, oh, good luck on your journey, like you know, but you kind of yeah, you, I think you, you asked a lot of good questions and gave me the opportunity to open up about that. So, yeah, it goes both ways.
Speaker 2:Appreciate it absolutely um, I want to talk about like kind of this wave really quickly, of like indie artists like that we're seeing. I was telling Brianna the other day. I was like I feel like y'all are the mother and the father of these, you know what I mean. It's like this kind of this new wave. We see it. You know you got the Forest, you've kind of emerged. You got you and Nick D oh, he's up there, yeah. But I just I see you guys, graham, jay, yeah, I see you guys as kind of like a new wave and I don't know if there's anything you want to say. Is there like a genre that you guys call yourselves Like? Is that?
Speaker 2:No it just seems like super independent, really great at socials and really fast with putting out music.
Speaker 1:I mean, for me, like my blueprint, my North Star was always Russ. Like I got to shout out Russ, because to me that's like the godfather of like just that independent lane. He was the first one to really popularize the like putting a song out every week, and when he was doing it it was on SoundCloud, you know, and so I've been following kind of a lot of his methods and his emphasis on independence. I got to kind of connect with him recently, which was cool, his first. I guess maybe I should, maybe I'll keep that private, but he w he was very adamant on being like yo, I see what you're doing, stay independent, trust me. I was like that's the plan, that's, that's the legacy I see for myself, um, but so it's been really cool to kind of get that look from him and um, but yeah, I think the extra element that I've added to it um is the content thing, and that was really just like I said, it was a timing thing of like around covid, everyone was just sort of on their phones and on the internet and content. There's this big wave of content and, uh, people just really like the content. The content converted really well to the songs.
Speaker 1:Like whenever I had a video go viral on tiktok the very next day, every time my spotify would jump. I'd see the graph go up for that song that I was promoting. I was like, oh, this is, this is working. People are entertained by the content and if there's a song in it that they like it, they're going off of TikTok and going to Spotify to listen to it. This is working, let's keep doing that. And then you kind of catch these waves and if you're lucky enough, like I had to have a moment of spin the globe, which was a series Now people are like waiting for the next episode and they're in this algorithm. So every time I posted a globe video immediately, it was just like people knew what to expect. The format worked and I could do it, you know, like episode or season one of spin the globe.
Speaker 1:We did it eight times, eight different artists, and each time it was so yeah, we don't really have a name for it, but I was inspired by someone like Russ as far as the independent mindset and the releasing consistently, and then very inspired by someone like Nick D, who was really like one of the first to really go crazy with the content side of things and following in his footsteps and I'll never forget that. He reached out to me or I reached out to him, and then he like immediately responded with his phone number, just said, call me. And we FaceTimed for like sort of like we did where we just like connected right away. I FaceTimed, had a long call, same with him.
Speaker 1:I called him just thought it'd be like hey, what's up, and we just talked for like two hours and he told me like everything that he thinks I should be doing differently or try more of this, and just like followed in his footsteps and was able to kind of, uh, yeah, take, take what the advice from him? And yeah, he's, he's been. He's one of the biggest reasons I'm where I'm at because of how much game he gave me early on and just immediately wanted to help shout out Nick D, shout out Nick D.
Speaker 2:I remember when we first, when we kind of came on the scene in the Christian music industry, it was like this, you know, and it seems like a so long ago, but it really wasn't. It was like artists would take, you know, you put an album out and then you wait a year, put another album out, and I remember we dropped like probably 10 albums in a year. You know what I mean Just crazy content. I remember, um, the feeling that that like created in the industry. It's like now you have all these artists that are dropping all these songs and I just I love the way that y'all are doing that. It just feels so fresh. It feels like you're owning your lane. Y'all are so connected to the fans, which I also love, something that we are really being on as well. So, man, kudos to you.
Speaker 1:I think another thing it really did is gives me the opportunity to be, to have like a variety of music be what's the word I'm looking for. But just like, because I'm putting out so much, I could one week maybe put out a more rap focused song, next week put out something more pop, r&b. I could do something like I Need Help and not feel like I'm the type of artist that only puts one song out every month and it has to stay in a certain lane, like I feel a lot of freedom when I post so consistently and put out so much stuff and I'm not holding onto all these demos. I'm just like I feel good about something. I'm going to put it out. It gives me the freedom to be.
Speaker 1:Versatile is what I was looking for, and now my audience expects that they're they're. They're not thrown off when one week it's a hip hop song and the next week it might be something like I need help, and so it's cool that I've been able to have and develop a fan base that knows that I'm going to do what feels right in the moment and it might be a vulnerable song about where I'm at in my faith, and then it might be me and Nick D having fun doing some EDM. You know rap bop, it was just like I like that. I've kind of set myself up in a way for them to expect the unexpected and get to do a bunch of stuff. So super cool man. Yeah, super cool.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. So we were coming down, you and I, we were just talking about life and where we came from and all of that, and we've kind of hit on that as it pertains to you. What do you see happening in the future, like, what are some things that people can expect from you, that they may not expect? And then you know, sure, the normal yeah, I want to do.
Speaker 1:I want to do a lot more long form content, like I've. You know, short form is is great, but I think I think one thing short form does really well is casting a wide net of audience, of like getting new people to listen, and I think long form content is what keeps those engaged, like really feeling connected to you, and so so, like YouTube specifically like Bree and I recently were talking about, because we've done Spin the Globe season one and two, and if we were to do a season three, I'd want it to be different, and I think the way I can make it different is by, instead of filming it vertically for TikTok and it's like a 60 second like highlight clip of like Spin the Globe, find the artist. It's like this quick thing is how cool it would be if, like it's it's it's in the style of you know those like netflix food travel shows where they go to the country and they show, you know, the culture of the area. How cool it would be if I did an expanded version for youtube where it's like a 10 minute long video where, let's say and this will be hard logistically now having yet, you know, a two-year-old and one on the way to have to, like, maybe go out to Africa or Europe, but maybe I can keep it more. You know, maybe it's spin the globe USA edition, where I'm just focused on different states, but I can go to that state, vlog it, show myself traveling there, show myself connecting with the artists, seeing where they record what their setups like, what the music scene is like there, film a music video in their city, use a videographer from that city, like just show the whole process and make it more of like this documentary style thing where I'm still collaborating with these other artists, and make it more long form. And so that's sort of the direction I think my content is going, which I'm excited about.
Speaker 1:And, yeah, giving people the opportunity, even like this, like I never really do podcasts, but more like longer form, like uncut, like more of me, instead of just this perfect 60 second I'm going to spend this globe and wherever my finger lands, it's just very like scripted and quick and people don't really get the opportunity to know me, you know, beyond these perfect edits, and so I want to do more, more just like longer form, looser stuff that gives people more of an idea of who I am, cause I think that's what's important is, instead of trying to cast the net so wide which I'll obviously continue to do, because short form is still going to be a part of that but also focus more on doing longer form stuff that lets people know more about who I am, even outside of the music, to watch me travel to these places and interview the artists when I'm with them in their studio. Yeah, yeah, so that's sort of where my head's at as far as content Dream collab, dream collab.
Speaker 3:So that's sort of where my head's at as far as content Dream collab.
Speaker 1:Dream collab. Dream collab, gosh. That's a good question. There's like Charles Gambino, donald Glover is sort of like, but I don't know if that collab would work, like our audiences and our brands are kind of different, but just the opportunity to like sit with him and talk to him, that would be like like anyone I could just sit down and have dinner with, would be him for sure, because he's, you know, excels so much on the acting side, the directing side. He's created shows, of course, music, um. So yeah, he's like a huge I'm a huge fan of his, so that that would be amazing.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, other artists wise, I'd have to. I'd have to think on that, um, because I feel like, weirdly enough, some of my favorite like dream collabs wouldn't be music artists, they'd be content creators Doing something with Mr Beast. I don't know what that would be, but our fan bases would mesh up well and I just love content. So I don't know what that would look like, but a lot of times when I think of dream collabs, it's content creators. He has mastered content, mr Beast. Oh, of course, of course.
Speaker 2:He's doing it at a level that no one is Bro. I just have to say this you are like the exemplary image of what an artist, a successful artist, is. Right. Like you master the content thing, you do the social as well. You put music out frequently. I don't know. I'm sure people obviously out there who are kind of getting to know you. I'm just like kind of putting them on game. Like Connor is the guy to watch, like great model of how to release music and be an artist. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1:I think another thing I'm really trying to do more is it's it's pretty, you know when, when I was early on and trying to like catch that wave with spin the globe and like, especially with the first episode, and it did so well. Now I'm sort of like quickly putting out two and three, and I've created this sort of expectation of putting out music consistently. There is a level sometimes where I feel like I'm prioritizing the speed over taking my time to make sure the song is as incredible as it can be. So one thing I also am doing, in addition to the kind of longer form content stuff I was talking about, is with these songs, is I don't necessarily feel like I'm in a space where I need to be putting out a new song every week now, and so that gives me more times to more time to sit with these songs, even little things, like I used to when I found a course that I liked and I had a good vocal take, I would just copy and paste it three times. Now I'm like I'm actually going to like re-record the second chorus and maybe add something, just so that there's there's flow and there's something different, and I sometimes got caught in this like formula.
Speaker 1:It's like the spin the globe formula works. This type of song works. Verse course, verse. Let's just copy paste this, you know. And so I'm trying to get out of my head of like following formulas and yeah, try different things, which we did really cool with. I need help as far as, like you adding the choir and you sending me those stems, and now I get to work with christian, my brother-in-law, who mixed the song and figure out the moments. Or or with nick, like adding these vocal chops and like like just having more to work with and the song like goes somewhere. We introduced the choir later to give it like a layer.
Speaker 2:Like that was fun for me, what you were trying to say earlier was like I, it's something I feel like we were pretty good at. It's like it's that marriage between being a tactician and creative, yes, and like trying to find, like where the perfect overlap and intersections are, because it is like there is a lot of strategy that goes into releasing a song. Yeah, we were. I mean, it's funny the things that, like last night, we had a moment last night where it's like you know, we're thinking about man, we need this song to be done so we can get this content to release it. For you know, and it's just like there is like this ebb and flow, and I think that's the battle you're talking about Like how do I follow the what's worked, but also how do I like let creativity speak into?
Speaker 1:And I think this song making it was a perfect example of that, cause you I love to how involved you were, cause you could easily have been like I could have sent you the first mix or the first ideas or whatever and you could have been like great, like cause the song technically was done, but you were like the second verse as far as like when we would introduce the choir, having Nick like record a bunch of stuff and us picking through the best moments and him throwing ad libs through my verse and picking the best ones. Like you were very adamant on making sure that things could be better in certain sections and and that made us take more time with the song and yeah, I couldn't be more proud of like how it, how it sounds great you, you getting that choir together was like like yeah it's yeah, it's great.
Speaker 2:No, we, it's a great, great, great marriage. And it's like I've learned something about collaboration. It's like cause I know you said something about I don't know how this would work I think collaboration at its highest form and from what I've experienced, like my when I've gone into it with a I don't know how this is going to work and you just get in there and it works. I don't know. You know there have been some collaborations that we've done where I'm like is this gonna work right? And then, low and bold, you get in there and it works and I just think I don't know. There's something really cool about the magic of bringing people together that don't that do different things, yeah, yeah, and seeing what you can come up with, that feels universal yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I think I think we definitely did that with this one.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:We generally ask all of our guests about their Maverick moment, and so that's like. So, as Mavericks we're known for, like being independent, unorthodox, kind of breaking away from the herd, doing our own thing and bringing something new, fresh, to something. In our example, what JJ loves to use democratized worship Worship was seen as this white space where this small group of collect few artists and writing rooms got together and made music. And now that's brought into you, mean you got worship collectives at every church, basically under the sun. At this point, what do you feel like was your maverick moment? Like, what was that moment? You knew all right, I'm on to something. I'm starting like I am building something that is going to leave a legacy.
Speaker 1:My first tour. Okay, and the reason I say that was everything up to my first tour as far as, like, the attention I was getting, the streams that I was seeing, the views on the music videos were all just numbers and comments on the internet. It didn't feel real. It didn't feel real at all. And the moment I put out my first tour luckily it sold out and then seeing them for real and a big thing that I also didn't touch on earlier, when you were asking about like cultivating that fan base and why I feel like people were really attaching themselves to this music, was I also keep all my music clean and what I noticed is, at the show, so many families would come.
Speaker 1:Parents would be there with their kids and they're both singing the songs, and I would meet a lot of them at meet and greets or after the shows and they would always say like, hey, I bond with my son or daughter because we listened to your music on the way to school, we listened on the way to soccer practice, and so it's our thing together and so now we come to the shows together and so that that to me, was like when it felt real, like sort of like we were talking earlier. I'm like, have you ever have a moment where you stop and like take it in? You're like, not really, I'm not there yet and I struggle with that too. But that was a moment out of that first show where I was like, whoa, we did it and I'm Brie was side stage, my brother was doing merch, my brother-in-law, christian, who makes his master's, is that front of house like the family?
Speaker 3:was there and they all had jobs and we're all like supporting each other and that was like that was my, my magic. That's beautiful man. We did talk about that and it was just like that's something we would definitely have to get better at. It's like you sit back. You've been working this hard. You know we. You know how, you know the grind. You know you know how it is. You're up all night just sitting back and taking it in Like man.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:What we've done and what God has allowed us to do and assisted us in doing man.
Speaker 1:Look at last night. You guys, you guys did that man. That's crazy. You guys filled up an arena, yeah, I know. And they're all singing the words like loud. And they're emotional yeah.
Speaker 3:I don't know that we take, I mean, the craziest thing man is and someone asked me this last night. It's like is it? Is it? It's not that it gets common. That's not what I would say. It's that I'm so focused on the next show, the next tour. All I thought about last night was what's the next tour?
Speaker 2:I get it. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:The next song. The next song. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm talking to him about how we can set up the song that follows.
Speaker 1:I Need Help and you know we need to get this content.
Speaker 3:It's like I do think we have to figure out how to slow down and say yeah look at what he's doing right now yeah, I mean yeah because if not, you'll always be chasing that next. And the reality is, if you sat in the now yeah, then the net, the net you'll appreciate the next a lot more totally.
Speaker 1:I think there's definitely a balance we can find, because you obviously you sit too much in the now, you get content and then you miss out. You you think too much in the future. You're like, well then what was the point of what I was working if I didn't enjoy it? Yeah, I think my son has taught me that a lot because, like he kind of forced my you know, they kids force you to slow down and and you realize how quickly they're growing up. So that's something I've been trying to work on. It's just just be present in that moment and you know there's the moment to be present and then the moment to be like all right, let's focus on that next thing. Finding that balance is tough, easier said than done.
Speaker 3:There was something that came to me when I thought about it it's so real because I think I've dealt with it this year is that when things are good, you're generally chasing the next good thing. That's right, and what ends up happening. I think the reason why because of Mental Health Awareness Month I think the reason why so many artists, so many successful people, they fall into these deep depressions is because we generally don't slow down until we're not successful anymore and then you're forced to deal with the now. You're forced to live in the now, right, right, because things aren't moving anymore. And when things were moving, you were chasing the next moment that by the time you're forced to slow down, the moments aren't there anymore, and so it's like, man, if I could just go back to, I would have loved If I could just go back to an arena full of people and sit there and appreciate what's going on. When you slow down and you and now no one wants to show up it's like wow, yeah, how do we, how do we get so far away from?
Speaker 2:that it's the sadness or two like man, I've missed it. Yeah, I didn't get to enjoy it, you know, yeah, the whole good old days kind of. Yeah, that's that. I mean, that's a lot of my motivation of like, that's why I want to enjoy it, because I don want to enjoy it when you walk away from it. You want to be able to be like man. I lived that, I experienced it and I'm good. Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely, something I'm working on for sure.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, we all are. Did you have any questions for us? You want to ask anything?
Speaker 1:Gosh, what's next for you guys as far as, like, how I was looking at content, being different, how I'm looking at songs and balancing, you know, making sure the quality is, or the quantity is there, but wanting to increase the quality all the time. And what's what? How do you guys view as far as maverick city as a collective, whether it's business or creative? What are you guys viewing as things you you want to improve, or what's next in that sense?
Speaker 3:that's good. That's that's really good. I think this is one of the things that was next for us. We didn't have a voice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which is crazy, because all my experience of working with you guys, the majority of it is talking to you guys. And then I'm like, following Maverick City, I'm like where is JT?
Speaker 2:and Norm. These are the dudes man.
Speaker 1:And they're like I've never seen them.
Speaker 3:That's really funny, you know, and so well we didn't have a voice. They were defining what Maverick City was, and so we want definitely, you know, do a podcast, get more content out. We just started a television film division earlier this year, so we are. We have a full on production company filming two films in Los Angeles right now.
Speaker 1:Wow, really.
Speaker 3:Wait, tell me about that so.
Speaker 3:Documentary yeah, wait tell me about that Documentary Scripted. No one is a movie and one is a Christmas movie and one is a scripted series. I believe that's awesome. Phil Thornton is our CEO of Three Diamonds Production company. Works with Trill. That's so cool, phil, aisha, aisha, so they do a good job over there. I mean, phil has tons of experience as an executive producer in television. Phil, yeah, it's one of the best man, um, but that's something that's really exciting because it's a vertical. It's just we want to really exist in our vertical. As I told you yesterday, we're really wide, yeah, and so what I'm, what I want to improve on, is us being agile, being focused on the things that we do well, and so I believe what's next for us is we're ramping up also pace. Again. You know, once you start winning Grammys and you get sucked into this thing of quality over quantity, when what really works and what has proven to work is that pace. Yeah, even though you want quality, you can get quality and maintain pace.
Speaker 3:we lost pace, sure okay, yeah so we're, we're picking back, like we've now had a release right now almost every week since, uh, september, september good for you guys.
Speaker 1:I, I love that. That's so cool.
Speaker 3:So that's the thing for us right now. It's television, film, pace and this podcast.
Speaker 1:I like that. I like that that's really cool about the television and film stuff, Because I think, like obviously the goal for that is to create long-form content with Christian values.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's across the board.
Speaker 3:Of course, with Christian values for sure, but I mean as a company in and of itself. We want to be, I believe in excellence, right, and so what I mean when I say that is that, yes, we're going to create excellent content with Christian Values. At the same token, just like we don't shy away from collaborations currently in music, which we get a lot of flack for Sure, I mean we want to take what we do throughout. So I think I don't want to tell too much about Phil's thing, but the current movie that he's working on it stars Marcy Martin, right, and so you know whether we are taking it into the mainstream and being great stewards and great partners for really big artists, or we're doing a really dope film on the life of Kirk Franklin or the story of Mavic city.
Speaker 1:That's cool, that sort of was like what I was saying earlier, as far as like having the freedom to be versatile, you're, you're having that with with with that as well where, uh, yeah, you're, you're, you're not forcing yourself into one box where you have to do one thing and people are, and people know to expect that they can get this or that they can get a Gorilla collab, a Conor Price collab or a Christmas album or whatever the case might be.
Speaker 3:So that's cool.
Speaker 1:That's the next one or a Christmas song with Doran Wells. Oh cool, yeah, yeah. So yeah, the versatility of content, and that's cool. I'm excited to see what you guys make. That's awesome.
Speaker 3:We may have to get Conor in a movie.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, that's not even a maybe, hey man.
Speaker 3:We may have to do it on Conor Well, all right, yo man, it was a pleasure having you. Conor man, yeah, thanks for having me. It was a pleasure having this conversation thing, man, we did it all.
Speaker 3:We ran it in the ground. Yo, thank you guys for catching mavericks on the mic. We just had a great conversation with our brother, connor price. Thanks for having me. Uh, if you haven't checked it out, I need help. It's out now everywhere. Video out now everywhere. Something cool that happened. What I need help is that you guys helped us both break our one day record on Spotify. Yeah, yeah, yeah. First day was crazy. Yeah, first day that we put this song out, you guys really went nuts and so we want to break that record again. Go and stream. I need help please need you and you need him.
Speaker 3:Thank you, bye.