Day 44: Jason Parker

November 13, 2009 at 12:01 am, Category: Featured, Inspiration

“My potential, I’m 100% certain, lies in being in that present moment, because when I’m worried about the past I’m not living up to my potential.  When I’m worrying about the future, I’m not living up to my potential.  These things can be weights that drag you down, drag me down.  So it’s getting to that moment that really allows me to open up, and I feel like when I’m open that’s when the potential is there to live my best life.”

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Jason, for agreeing to do this interview with us, and before we get into the questions, can you please introduce yourself?

Jason Parker: Absolutely, and thanks for having me.  My name is Jason Parker, and I am a professional musician, jazz trumpet player from Seattle, Washington.

Toni: Fantastic!  So Jason, when you think of the word inspiration and what that means, who do you think you might inspire and how would you do that?

Jason: Well, you know, that’s a tough question to answer, and I’m not sure it’s for me to say who I inspire.  But I can say that my goal is to live my life purposefully and joyfully with intention and always in service of my passions and something a little bit larger than me, I guess.  And if that ends up inspiring people, I think that’s fantastic.

It’s easier for me to talk about what inspires me, and I think that answer is also maybe part of the answer to your question, because I like to think that whatever I take in as inspiration I can maybe turn around and send back out into the world.  So I always look to surround myself with people who are passionate and creative and living the life they want to live and living joyfully interested in communication and collaboration, which is something that then forms my art from the core.

I mean, that’s what it is to be a jazz musician is to try to communicate something in a collaborative way with band members, try to communicate between the band members and also try to communicate something out to the audience that’s listening.  So that’s what inspires me.  Musically, when we’re onstage and everybody is focused on the moment and focused on each other and sending off that vibe into the audience, that’s what gets me most inspired professionally.  And personally, I think that it’s just people who are living that life that I described earlier that I strive to live as well.

Toni: Well let me just ask you this.  If you are … Being a musician, I would believe that your music would have an intention to possibly inspire others.  Have you ever been given that feedback, or would you hope that your music would inspire others?

Jason: Sure.  You know, I think in all art forms what you’re trying to do is communicate something of your own emotions to your audience and that can take many forms, inspiration certainly being one of them.  We do get feedback on a regular basis.  My band, in particularly, really brings everything they’ve got to the performances.  And it’s not only a musical experience, it’s a visual experience, and it’s an emotional experience as well.  And in that sense, I think that we do inspire other musicians to sort of bring that kind of passion and joy to their performances, and I think we inspire the non-musicians just by the mere fact that we kind of hit them hard emotionally.

I think one thing … I always say this about myself; all artists are self-deprecating — and so take this with that in mind — but I’m certainly not the best trumpet player in the world.  I strive to be the best trumpet player that I can be, but by no means am I the best in the world.  But I think what I’m particularly good at is putting together a band that shares that common passion and the desire to put that passion out there for all the world to see 100% of the time.  That’s what we hope to bring to each and every performance, just putting that out there and letting people see it; not only letting people hear it, but letting people see it and letting people feel it in as many different ways as we possibly can.  We’re hooting and hollering and egging each other on and smiling and laughing, and that kind of display of joy and passion is what I’m after at all times, and that does inspire people, both musicians and non-musicians.

Toni: Well that takes me into the next question, which is how do you think that that inspiration might help explore potential in others?  And you know, at the beginning you thought “Well maybe I’m not sure that I inspire”, but listening to you, there’s a lot of inspiration going on and a lot of creating an experience for not only the people in your audience but fellow musicians.  And by experiencing that focus and that passion and that joy, I would imagine that that also translates into helping others explore their potential in that music industry.  Would you agree?

Jason: Yeah, absolutely.  I mean, we play very often at a club that is near the University of Washington, and so we get a lot of students coming out.  And I really love the fact that this club is sort of tied into the University in some ways because it allows us to bring our experience and what we’ve learned and what we feel is important to the stage and let the young guys see it and feel it and experience it.  I’m aware of that when we play, for sure.  I think we’re all aware of that.

And my band as a trio leads a jam session there that’s sort of a nontraditional jazz jam in that they don’t really call standard tunes.  They are not playing “Autumn Leaves” and “Bye, Bye Blackbird.”  They just get up and play from their hearts and they play with their passion.  And it’s great, because you see these 19-year-old music students come in with their horns, and they’re ready to play their song that they’ve worked on, and they sort of sit in the back with their jaws open, watching this band just making music out of nothing.  They may not get up that night and they may not get up the next night, but maybe the third time they come back they’ll get up on stage and blow a few tentative notes.

And then, you know, over the course of weeks or months, we can see these people sort of getting the idea and being inspired by this kind of playing, because it’s not the kind of playing that they’re being taught in their school.  It’s more of a playing from your gut, and that’s something that takes most people a lifetime to learn, and we’re all still trying to get to that point.  But it’s fun to see these young cats come in and sort of get their minds turned around to this kind of way of playing.  It’s exceptional to see that.

And not only that, but I think that the way that I run my business as a business.  You know, a lot of musicians are so concerned with the artistic side of things that they neglect the business side of things, which is why there are business managers and lawyers and whatnot.  But these days, I think a lot more people are sort of tuning into the fact that you’ve got to run your own career and you’ve got to run your own business, because the days of the major labels throwing giant amounts of money at bands are pretty much over.  It’s time that we need to step up, and that’s one thing that …

Another way I sort of, I guess, try to lead by example is by showing people that it can be done.  I mean, I’m just one person running a business.  I’m making music, but I’m also running a business.  And it’s become a very successful business, and I hope that particularly the young people, as well, they see how we go about promoting and marketing ourselves, how we go about being professionals and doing everything that it takes to be a professional.  And then that way maybe we can get some of these guys coming up the ranks thinking about the other side of the music business.

Toni: Well, I’m hearing a whole lot of exploration here and whole lot of inspiration that you’re providing to the fellow musicians, to the students.  And I’m hearing that you’re also not just inspiring those students, particularly that are sitting in the back of the room, to think “I can do it” as well, but you’re also showing them by example the bricks and mortar that it takes to run that business, not just get up and play.

Jason: Yeah.  There’s a lot of people who can play their instruments in the world.  We all know super, super talented artists who are not making a living with their art.  And there’s certainly a number of different reasons why that doesn’t happen, but I think one of the big ones is that artists oftentimes sort of feel put out by having to concern themselves with the finances and the business end of things.  And I’m happy to see that more and more that’s changing and that there’s so many artists out there who are trying to teach and inspire other artists to spend at least some, if not equal, amounts of time on that side.

I mean, I think there’s times in my career where I’ve spent much more time on that side and much less time practicing my art, but that’s what’s gotten me to the point where I am now.  I’m an artist who’s making a living, and I don’t take that lightly.  And I feel very fortunate that I’ve been able to do that, but I don’t feel lucky because I feel like I’ve put in an incredible amount of work to get to that point; and it’s been work on my instrument, and it’s been work off my instrument; and that’s the new model.

There’s a lot of talk these days on the internet in the music blog world about how the music industry has changed and there are all of these different models, and everybody is trying to figure it out.  We’re sort of in this Wild West phase of the music business where there is no one model anymore.  And everybody’s trying everything they can, particularly using the internet and finding ways to connect with other artists, finding ways to connect with potential audience people, finding ways to do things for ourselves.  It’s like we’ve taken it back from the Music Industry with capital M and capital I.  And you know, I think that’s only good for musicians, and it’s only good for music lovers because now we’re making our own decisions.  It’s a beautiful time.

There’s a lot of people out there who tend to look at it sort of negatively and like “Well, I don’t know I can do this.  There’s too much work, and without the labels I don’t know how I can get tour support and marketing support and all this kind of stuff”, when all the tools are there and it’s changing every single day.  I would say literally four to five times a week I come across a new model that I’ve never seen before that somebody is doing and make it work.  Whether it’s broadcasting live concerts from their studio via UStream, or putting free music out there via Bandcamp, or setting up tours completely on the internet, getting sponsorships.  It’s just incredible the amount of resources and the amount of different methods that are available to us right now.

To me, it’s like the best time in the world to be a musician.  I see nothing negative going on right now, because we have complete control over our careers, and we have complete control over our lives; and I don’t see how that could be a bad thing.

Toni: No, it doesn’t sound that way, and also, other musicians that have been in the game for a while can benefit, and those that are coming into the game are going to benefit from that.  You’ve touched on it briefly as far as what inspires you, which is the creativity, people living to their passion and really getting that passion and experiencing it.  But are there certain tools that you seek out when you need to be inspired?  What do you reach for?  What do you do when you need to be inspired?

Jason: Yeah, there’s a couple things I’ll do.  I’m a trumpet player, so I spend a lot of time playing the trumpet obviously, and sometimes I get stuck in ruts and I need some sort of non-trumpet inspiration.  So musically, I’ll turn to the piano, and I’ll play piano for a while or I’ll play some guitar, because just the act of making music on a different instrument makes you think different ways and makes you do different things.  All that stuff helps.

I tell my students all the time that any musical experience you can have will benefit you as a musician.  So you know, I love to play the drums, even though I’m terrible at it.  I can’t play the drums, but I sit down at the drums, and I bang around for a little while or I’ll play some stuff on the piano.  So musically, just sort of getting out of the trumpet and getting onto other instruments really helps a lot.  I tend to listen to incredible amounts of music, and that’s always very inspiring.

And sometimes I just need inspiration that doesn’t come from music, and I’ll take a walk around my neighborhood, or I’ll go to Green Lake and sit by the water and just stare at the ripples in the water.  I read a lot of nonfiction books, a lot of music stuff.  I’m a little bit obsessed.  At any given time, I’ll be reading a book about a French horn player and John Coltrane and Dan Levitan’s books about music and the brain, or I’ll turn to the great of teachers in the world like Thich Nhat Hahn or Pema Chodron or Byron Katie.

I love to just soak up other people’s thoughts about inspiration and other’s people’s thoughts about how to live an authentic life and be in the present moment.  I think that’s what it is.  When I’m most inspired, it’s when I’m not thinking about the past and I’m not thinking about the future, and I’m firmly rooted in the present.  Any activity that can bring that sort of presence to me is what’s going to ultimately lead to the inspiration that I need.

Toni: The final question then for you would be using all of these tools and the music you reach for or the books that you read and being in that present moment, really working hard at that, how would that help you explore your own potential?

Jason: Wow … you know, again, I think that it’s really … My potential, I’m 100% certain, lies in being in that present moment, because when I’m worried about the past I’m not living up to my potential.  When I’m worrying about the future, I’m not living up to my potential.  These things can be weights that drag you down, drag me down.  So it’s getting to that moment that really allows me to open up, and I feel like when I’m open that’s when the potential is there to live my best life.

And so, I think that’s why I gravitated to music at such a young age because it’s such an act of the moment.  Certainly there are times when I’m playing the trumpet and my mind is wandering.  And I’ve recently had quite an epiphany about that after not playing my horn for a few weeks and coming back to it and really getting immersed in the sound, which of course then immerses me in the present moment.

When I’m really focused on the sound that I’m making and the sound that’s coming out of the horn, I can’t possibly be thinking about anything else.  And that’s what drew me into music I think originally, was just that it blocks out all those other things in life, and it allows me to be in that space where everything opens up.  And it’s only when I’m open and I’m allowing things in that I’m able to put things out, and that to me is where the inspiration is and where I can get to my fullest potential is when it’s coming in and going out in a big circle.

Toni: I think that is a phenomenal way to put that.  I love that; allowing things in, in order to put things out, and that music is an act of the moment.  That is absolutely fantastic!  The wisdom that you have put forth in this interview with your experience as a musician,  how that’s impacted your life and you’re impacting others – students, fellow band members, musicians, and the audience – has come full circle in this interview and I know there’s going to be many people who are going to learn and benefit by this, and for that I thank you.  Thank you very much for giving us this time today.

Jason: Thanks, Toni.  It’s great to talk about these things and, you know, just finding new ways to express them is always a wonderful thing too, so I appreciate the opportunity.

Toni: Well thank you so much, Jason, and hopefully we’ll speak again soon.

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For more information about Jason Parker:  oneworkingmusician.com

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