WEBVTT - Shawn Mendes 0:00:15.316 --> 0:00:22.116 Pushkin, Are you ready to do a vocal lesson? I'm 0:00:22.116 --> 0:00:24.436 ready to do a vocal lesson. Why don't we start 0:00:24.436 --> 0:00:26.756 with a little me me me? Yeah, make me sing 0:00:26.956 --> 0:00:29.276 the one I'm most scared of, me me me me 0:00:29.276 --> 0:00:31.396 me me me me me. I guess it's that, but 0:00:31.436 --> 0:00:33.956 you would go all the way up right, Yeah, do 0:00:34.036 --> 0:00:36.916 that again? Me me me me me me me me 0:00:36.916 --> 0:00:39.356 me all right, I don't know what you're scared of, 0:00:39.396 --> 0:00:42.036 because you made that sound so easy. Me me me 0:00:42.036 --> 0:00:45.036 me me me me me me. Yeah. It's really hard 0:00:45.076 --> 0:00:48.316 to do though, because I'm hyper focused. I'm like hyper 0:00:48.316 --> 0:00:51.916 focused on being relaxed on a e vowel where I'm 0:00:51.956 --> 0:00:54.596 feeling like I'm less open. I start to kind of 0:00:54.596 --> 0:00:56.916 trip myself up even just doing it there. I had 0:00:56.956 --> 0:00:58.516 to be like, all right, we're gonna do this, but 0:00:58.556 --> 0:01:00.596 you gotta relax, man, you don't have to be so tight. 0:01:04.276 --> 0:01:12.116 This is backstage pass. I'm Eric Metro, and this podcast 0:01:12.236 --> 0:01:14.996 I'm inviting you into my studio to hear how some 0:01:15.036 --> 0:01:17.916 of the most successful and famous singers work on their craft, 0:01:18.196 --> 0:01:21.036 the art of singing. They also happened to be students 0:01:21.036 --> 0:01:22.956 of mine, so I have to say I know them 0:01:22.956 --> 0:01:27.116 pretty well. We'll talk about everything, their vocal process, their careers, 0:01:27.316 --> 0:01:30.276 how their emotional life affects their voice, and how it 0:01:30.476 --> 0:01:34.636 all intertwines with their lives. That was me talking with 0:01:34.676 --> 0:01:38.836 Shawn Mendez. He'll know his songs like Stitches, Mercy, treat 0:01:38.876 --> 0:01:41.716 you better If I can't have you, There's nothing holding 0:01:41.756 --> 0:01:45.556 me back Wonder and also Spotify's most dream song of 0:01:45.636 --> 0:01:50.956 twenty nineteen, his duet with his girlfriend Camila Cabeo called Senorita. 0:01:51.676 --> 0:01:54.836 Now don't worry, You'll get to hear from Camilla Cabeo 0:01:54.956 --> 0:01:59.196 in a future episode later this season. Sean's really close 0:01:59.276 --> 0:02:02.316 to his family. In fact, they were his earliest audience. 0:02:02.996 --> 0:02:05.716 I remember the first time I sang for my mom 0:02:05.756 --> 0:02:09.036 and my family. He was The Climb by Miley Sara. 0:02:09.596 --> 0:02:13.716 I went into my kitchen and I played the music 0:02:13.756 --> 0:02:15.636 and I was shaking because I was like singing in 0:02:15.636 --> 0:02:17.636 front of my mom and my aunts and my cousins, 0:02:18.196 --> 0:02:19.796 and I sang the whole song with my eye clothes 0:02:19.836 --> 0:02:21.356 and I opened up the eyes and I'm pretty sure 0:02:21.396 --> 0:02:23.196 my mom was crying and everyone was crying, and I 0:02:23.236 --> 0:02:27.036 was like, wow, it was really sweet. So she still 0:02:27.036 --> 0:02:28.596 tries to get me to do that in the kitchen. 0:02:28.636 --> 0:02:31.396 Sometimes some day you've got to record that for her 0:02:31.396 --> 0:02:33.636 as a gift. You know what I did from Mother's Day? 0:02:33.676 --> 0:02:36.596 I recorded her favorite song as Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. 0:02:37.316 --> 0:02:39.716 I was away because of the quarantine, so I recorded 0:02:39.756 --> 0:02:49.316 that for her. You've got a fast I've got a 0:02:49.356 --> 0:02:53.676 ticket to anywhere. Maybe we can make a change. I 0:02:53.716 --> 0:02:56.756 remember when I first started learning guitar. I picked up 0:02:56.756 --> 0:02:59.596 the guitar and she's like, just learned this song from me, please, 0:02:59.636 --> 0:03:01.956 And that was probably like the first or second song 0:03:01.996 --> 0:03:04.996 I ever learned on guitar. Too. It didn't take long 0:03:05.036 --> 0:03:07.956 for Sean to figure out what he needed to do now. 0:03:08.116 --> 0:03:10.996 Even though he got his and innovation and quite an 0:03:10.996 --> 0:03:14.836 emotional response from his kitchen audience, Young Sean decided to 0:03:14.836 --> 0:03:18.036 move his performances to a somewhat wider audience. On Buying 0:03:18.556 --> 0:03:20.876 Fine no longer exists, but for those of you who 0:03:20.916 --> 0:03:24.076 don't know or had forgotten, it was a platform where 0:03:24.076 --> 0:03:26.676 you could share six second long videos like this one 0:03:27.356 --> 0:03:34.436 Hallo from me or this one which got millions of 0:03:34.516 --> 0:03:41.196 views from every second other day and a Jeans Girl 0:03:41.876 --> 0:03:45.276 they were doing like a viner's meet up in downtown Toronto, 0:03:46.156 --> 0:03:48.836 and they asked me to come and just be there. 0:03:49.076 --> 0:03:50.876 So my parents were like, should we come? I said, no, 0:03:50.876 --> 0:03:52.556 no one's gonna know who I am there. I don't 0:03:52.596 --> 0:03:54.836 really think anyone's going to know me. And then when 0:03:54.876 --> 0:03:57.076 I got there, I kind of was walking up the 0:03:57.116 --> 0:04:00.516 subway to like the main area undonea square, and I 0:04:00.516 --> 0:04:03.716 remember just like Mayhem started and I finally found my 0:04:03.716 --> 0:04:06.196 way to this stage and got to perform for like 0:04:06.236 --> 0:04:08.236 a couple hundred people, just with a mic and an 0:04:08.236 --> 0:04:12.476 acoustic guitar, and I remember this feeling of like performing 0:04:12.996 --> 0:04:25.276 for people and with people they were singing along. I 0:04:25.356 --> 0:04:27.236 came home freaking out to my parents. I was like, 0:04:27.236 --> 0:04:29.396 you're not going to believe what happened, Like all these 0:04:29.396 --> 0:04:33.556 people were listening to me singing songs. And when I thought, okay, 0:04:33.596 --> 0:04:36.236 you know what, I want to be a performer. I 0:04:36.276 --> 0:04:38.996 want to be an artist. Was that very first time 0:04:39.116 --> 0:04:41.956 in Toronto, and I was lucky because I got to 0:04:41.996 --> 0:04:44.516 do it in front of people who knew who I 0:04:44.636 --> 0:04:47.276 was because of this social media platform, and it was 0:04:47.316 --> 0:04:50.196 this like such a great first experience for me. I 0:04:50.236 --> 0:04:52.756 guess like ever since that moment when I like really 0:04:53.636 --> 0:04:56.436 got to perform for people for the first time with 0:04:56.516 --> 0:04:59.236 no lights and no cameras and just an acoustic guitar. 0:04:59.676 --> 0:05:02.196 I was kind of in love right off the bat. 0:05:02.356 --> 0:05:04.876 And there's a couple hundred people cheering and they're super excited. 0:05:05.036 --> 0:05:08.236 There's this obviously this confidence boost you get and you're like, Okay, well, 0:05:08.476 --> 0:05:10.996 if a couple hundred people are liking this, than maybe 0:05:11.036 --> 0:05:12.956 a couple hundred thousand people will like this, and maybe 0:05:12.996 --> 0:05:15.276 a couple of million people will like this. And I 0:05:15.316 --> 0:05:17.756 think that it only takes a couple to kind of 0:05:17.796 --> 0:05:20.516 ignite that flame of I'm going to take this all 0:05:20.556 --> 0:05:23.836 the way. Did you feel that way right from the start? Yeah? 0:05:23.916 --> 0:05:27.276 I think I always had this grand vision of where 0:05:27.396 --> 0:05:29.436 things can go. And I owe a lot of that 0:05:29.476 --> 0:05:33.716 to my parents for being so you can do anything, 0:05:33.956 --> 0:05:36.636 you can do absolutely anything. And I feel really lucky 0:05:36.636 --> 0:05:38.396 and blessed because I know that a lot of people 0:05:38.796 --> 0:05:42.276 may not have the support that they necessarily need to 0:05:42.316 --> 0:05:45.556 go the distance. And I feel like more support than 0:05:45.596 --> 0:05:49.036 anyone even ever talks about or ever hears about, is 0:05:49.196 --> 0:05:52.596 necessary for success. I got to see Sean play at 0:05:52.596 --> 0:05:55.236 the Rodgers Center in Toronto. It's his home base, so 0:05:55.276 --> 0:06:02.476 of course it was a really special show. I ever 0:06:02.556 --> 0:06:19.636 see a person in this room. I watched the show 0:06:19.676 --> 0:06:22.196 with his family and his friends, and of course Camilla, 0:06:22.716 --> 0:06:25.116 his mother, was right in front of me. She looked 0:06:25.116 --> 0:06:28.756 like every other teenager in the crowd, singing along, dancing 0:06:28.876 --> 0:06:40.796 and enjoying the best concert of her life. I don't 0:06:40.796 --> 0:06:43.396 know if she could have ever imagined just how successful 0:06:43.436 --> 0:06:45.836 he was going to become, but I knew, and I 0:06:45.876 --> 0:06:49.436 think on some level, Sean always knew. My favorite story 0:06:49.516 --> 0:06:51.116 is when you said you used to walk around the 0:06:51.116 --> 0:06:53.036 house with the ball between your legs when you're into 0:06:53.076 --> 0:06:55.156 the soccer face. Yeah, I would have like a soccer 0:06:55.196 --> 0:06:57.516 ball between my feet all the time because I was like, 0:06:57.556 --> 0:06:59.196 this is either going to go to the World Cup 0:06:59.316 --> 0:07:02.636 or nowhere. And that's how you approached the singing. It 0:07:02.756 --> 0:07:06.196 was the same with the singing. When I say Sean's discipline, 0:07:06.276 --> 0:07:10.996 do I ever mean it? I'm already singing in the 0:07:11.076 --> 0:07:14.076 lesson ten minutes before we start a lesson. I'm doing 0:07:14.076 --> 0:07:18.996 my pre warm up warm up. I know. I love that, though, 0:07:19.396 --> 0:07:22.916 and that's just you right totally. I think the truth 0:07:23.196 --> 0:07:28.276 is like everybody has a different real like passion and 0:07:28.276 --> 0:07:31.596 a real desire within them and not everyone's going to be, 0:07:31.636 --> 0:07:34.196 you know, as obsessive about singing as I am, but 0:07:34.356 --> 0:07:36.836 they're going to have something. And I think the trick 0:07:36.996 --> 0:07:40.676 to success in your life is finding the thing that 0:07:40.716 --> 0:07:44.156 you really love and putting all of your energy into that, 0:07:44.356 --> 0:07:48.156 because that is when you're going to get real reward 0:07:48.276 --> 0:07:50.836 from what you do. The truth is, you have to 0:07:51.156 --> 0:07:54.116 practice really really hard, and you have to work really 0:07:54.156 --> 0:07:56.636 really hard, but you also have to be really really 0:07:56.676 --> 0:08:00.116 patient because things that are great take a long time. 0:08:00.516 --> 0:08:04.156 I think in every single profession there's so many times, 0:08:04.316 --> 0:08:08.316 especially when things get bigger, where it's really hard and 0:08:08.476 --> 0:08:12.716 really exhausting, but there's always this kind of flame that 0:08:12.956 --> 0:08:15.796 can't burn out for what you do and this love 0:08:15.836 --> 0:08:18.396 for what you do. And right right, well, I like 0:08:18.516 --> 0:08:20.916 the fact that you did have an obsession before singing, 0:08:20.956 --> 0:08:23.876 and that was with soccer only because it's showing that 0:08:23.916 --> 0:08:26.076 you really got to find the one thing that you 0:08:26.116 --> 0:08:28.796 really love and it might change along the way. Yeah. 0:08:28.836 --> 0:08:31.716 I mean I played soccer, and I played hockey, and 0:08:31.756 --> 0:08:35.636 I played baseball. I played a ton of sports and 0:08:36.036 --> 0:08:39.276 I even took like a drama like acting class where 0:08:39.316 --> 0:08:41.836 I was like I played Prince charming in a play 0:08:42.076 --> 0:08:45.196 when I was like thirteen and I was testing all 0:08:45.236 --> 0:08:49.196 of the waters out before singing and playing guitar came along. 0:08:49.236 --> 0:08:52.436 And there's a very clear difference between something that you 0:08:52.636 --> 0:08:55.076 like to do and something that is your passion, because 0:08:55.396 --> 0:08:58.156 when it's your passion, you start doing it and then 0:08:58.396 --> 0:09:00.836 four hours go buying and you wonder where the time went. 0:09:01.196 --> 0:09:03.316 I think that anyone who has a passion will know 0:09:03.556 --> 0:09:06.236 when I talk about this little tingly feeling that you 0:09:06.276 --> 0:09:08.036 get when you're doing the thing that you love to do. 0:09:08.516 --> 0:09:11.956 And even if you get five seconds of like euphoria 0:09:12.076 --> 0:09:14.836 through your body because you sang it one certain way 0:09:14.916 --> 0:09:17.156 or you played a chord a certain way, you're whatever 0:09:17.156 --> 0:09:19.956 you're doing, you're painting, you're doing anything. That little five 0:09:19.956 --> 0:09:24.036 seconds of euphoria makes a lifetime of work really exciting 0:09:24.156 --> 0:09:26.916 and desirable, you know what I mean. And I also 0:09:27.036 --> 0:09:29.636 think it's really important to say that if you feel 0:09:29.636 --> 0:09:32.916 like you haven't found your passion and you've tried a 0:09:32.916 --> 0:09:34.916 lot of things, it doesn't mean that one of those 0:09:34.956 --> 0:09:38.036 things won't end up being your passion because you kind 0:09:38.036 --> 0:09:40.116 of have to grow to figure out what it is 0:09:40.156 --> 0:09:43.116 that you do love to do. Sean's completely right about that. 0:09:43.596 --> 0:09:46.796 For me, it wasn't until I saw Ed Sheeran and 0:09:46.996 --> 0:09:49.876 him playing an acoustic guitar and him singing the way 0:09:49.916 --> 0:09:51.476 he did that I thought, you know what, I can 0:09:51.516 --> 0:09:53.756 do that. I never really thought I could be justin Bieberan. 0:09:53.756 --> 0:09:55.436 I never really thought I could dance like him and 0:09:55.516 --> 0:09:57.916 be like him. But I can play guitar and I 0:09:57.956 --> 0:10:00.916 can sing like that. Ed to me, was the most 0:10:00.956 --> 0:10:05.036 exciting musician there was because the guitar was his third 0:10:05.156 --> 0:10:07.316 arm and he was like using it as a real 0:10:07.396 --> 0:10:09.036 piece of him. And I love the way he played, 0:10:09.116 --> 0:10:11.556 I love the way he wrote songs and sang. He 0:10:11.636 --> 0:10:14.036 really inspired me. And sometimes it just takes a minute. 0:10:14.036 --> 0:10:15.916 It's waiting for the right time to kind of present 0:10:15.956 --> 0:10:18.836 itself to you. Ed was actually one of the first 0:10:18.996 --> 0:10:22.156 musicians who I ever met. And I flew out to 0:10:22.356 --> 0:10:26.036 la the first time with my mum and he was 0:10:26.076 --> 0:10:30.356 performing on a show called The Voice, and we went 0:10:30.396 --> 0:10:32.996 there to meet him and he was so kind. I 0:10:33.036 --> 0:10:35.956 was backstage with him and he said to me, look man, like, 0:10:35.996 --> 0:10:37.396 what do you want to do? And I said, well, 0:10:37.596 --> 0:10:39.116 I want to do what you do. I want to 0:10:39.116 --> 0:10:42.516 play guitar and sing and be a singer songwriter. And 0:10:42.596 --> 0:10:45.836 he was like, then, you have to put an insane 0:10:45.836 --> 0:10:48.316 amount of effort and work and love into what you do. 0:10:48.596 --> 0:10:50.836 And he's like, no matter who you meet, no matter 0:10:50.836 --> 0:10:52.756 how many people you meet, you have to show them 0:10:52.876 --> 0:10:54.996 so much love and you have to work really hard. 0:10:55.116 --> 0:10:57.916 And I think that his advice. I'll always remember. I 0:10:57.996 --> 0:11:01.796 met you in two fifteen, I believe. Do you remember 0:11:01.796 --> 0:11:04.516 where it was? I think it was at the Staples 0:11:04.516 --> 0:11:08.476 Center and Camilla introduced us. He's talking about Camilla Kabao, 0:11:08.556 --> 0:11:11.996 who was already one of my students. Yeah, we were backstage. 0:11:12.036 --> 0:11:14.356 I was talking to her. You came over. You were 0:11:14.476 --> 0:11:17.756 smiling this big smile, and she said, this is my 0:11:17.836 --> 0:11:20.956 voice teacher, Eric Vitrow, And do you know what you said? 0:11:21.116 --> 0:11:23.556 I don't remember. All right, Oh, okay, I got a 0:11:23.596 --> 0:11:27.756 few questions for you. He started asking me about voice immediately, 0:11:27.836 --> 0:11:30.236 and the whole time we stood backstage, that's how we 0:11:30.276 --> 0:11:33.396 did about it. Yeah. I remember thinking, Wow, he really 0:11:33.756 --> 0:11:37.316 is interested in being great, like he really desires to 0:11:37.316 --> 0:11:40.916 get better. Yeah, which was pretty impressive. And after all 0:11:40.956 --> 0:11:44.636 these years Sean's dedication, it's still impressive. I spend most 0:11:44.716 --> 0:11:47.316 of my time preparing myself to do vocal lessons with you, 0:11:47.516 --> 0:11:50.076 preparing myself to how I'm going to feel after a 0:11:50.156 --> 0:11:52.076 vocal lesson. Am I gonna have to meditate? Am I 0:11:52.116 --> 0:11:54.356 gonna have to meditate before? Am I gonna have to meditate? 0:11:54.356 --> 0:11:57.236 Somewhere in between? So I guess a lot of meditation 0:11:57.396 --> 0:12:00.316 really ranks high in your life, super high. But I 0:12:00.356 --> 0:12:04.756 need the meditation right right. Sometimes I need the meditation. 0:12:04.756 --> 0:12:08.396 Sometimes you have to meditate before our lessons. But Sean 0:12:08.476 --> 0:12:11.556 didn't always meditate in journal. When it actually started taking 0:12:11.556 --> 0:12:15.316 it seriously and discipline myself to meditate daily for ten 0:12:15.356 --> 0:12:18.956 minutes at least, that was life changing because it's not 0:12:19.036 --> 0:12:22.156 about the act of meditating for ten minutes. It's about 0:12:22.196 --> 0:12:25.356 the moment of being in the vocal lesson and being like, 0:12:26.156 --> 0:12:28.996 let me just take a deep breath. It's the attitude. 0:12:29.116 --> 0:12:33.756 It's the motto of meditation. You know. I wake up 0:12:33.756 --> 0:12:36.596 in the morning. Something that really helps me kind of 0:12:37.076 --> 0:12:39.876 not go into an anxious state of thinking right off 0:12:39.876 --> 0:12:42.116 the bat. Is like getting straight into a cold shower 0:12:42.116 --> 0:12:45.116 and breathing and feeling my body and being like, all right, 0:12:45.596 --> 0:12:47.436 here we are. I get out of the shower and 0:12:47.516 --> 0:12:50.836 I go downstairs or outside, I find myself to someone 0:12:50.876 --> 0:12:52.756 where there's some light and I can see this guy, 0:12:52.996 --> 0:12:55.076 or put my feet in the grass or something, and 0:12:55.196 --> 0:12:59.676 I do the Whimhoff breathing technique, and then maybe I'll meditate. 0:12:59.756 --> 0:13:02.156 Maybe I'll have a coffee. And even as I'm having 0:13:02.156 --> 0:13:05.476 my coffee, like I'm doing this all very mindfully, sitting 0:13:05.476 --> 0:13:08.116 there with the coffee, and I'm not letting myself check 0:13:08.156 --> 0:13:12.316 my emails or my Instagram or my Twitter, because this 0:13:12.356 --> 0:13:14.676 morning is for me, it's not for everyone else. And 0:13:14.876 --> 0:13:18.836 I think that that morning ritual of really letting myself 0:13:18.916 --> 0:13:22.316 be there and for myself really helps. And then I 0:13:22.316 --> 0:13:24.516 guess at some point later in the day, I'll find 0:13:24.556 --> 0:13:29.156 myself journaling and meditating and it's really helpful. Yeah, you 0:13:29.196 --> 0:13:31.436 know what I've never said to you. I thought it, 0:13:31.476 --> 0:13:33.116 but I've never said it. I've always been dying to 0:13:33.116 --> 0:13:34.756 stay as a joke, but I didn't want to put 0:13:34.756 --> 0:13:36.796 it in your head. But now you're so far beyond its. 0:13:36.836 --> 0:13:40.356 Like I told you someday this meditation thing would work out, 0:13:40.556 --> 0:13:42.156 because I used to say, and you remember what you 0:13:42.236 --> 0:13:44.276 used to say to me. I can't meditate. I can't 0:13:44.316 --> 0:13:46.596 do that. No, like you get really acting. Oh, I 0:13:46.716 --> 0:13:48.516 used to get so and used to tell me to journal. 0:13:48.676 --> 0:13:51.276 I journal every day. Now, yeah, did you journal today? 0:13:51.356 --> 0:13:53.476 I didn't, but I will, I will, I will do it, 0:13:53.476 --> 0:13:55.636 and I never did. And I could see that look 0:13:55.676 --> 0:13:57.636 in your eyes, like, ask me one more time, and 0:13:57.996 --> 0:14:01.636 I'm gonna you can be so anxious you can't meditate, Like, yeah, 0:14:01.676 --> 0:14:03.876 I get it, Oh my god. Yeah, but look at 0:14:03.996 --> 0:14:06.356 how far it's come. And you know you were You 0:14:06.396 --> 0:14:08.436 were telling me to meditate and journal the day I 0:14:08.476 --> 0:14:13.116 met you. Yeah, I was telling him from the day 0:14:13.156 --> 0:14:15.236 I met him. But I'm so glad now it's a 0:14:15.276 --> 0:14:17.836 part of his daily routine. Sometimes I feel like we're 0:14:17.836 --> 0:14:20.476 in lessons and I'll be sitting on the floor kind 0:14:20.516 --> 0:14:23.276 of closed eyes, cross legged and meditating for five minutes 0:14:23.276 --> 0:14:26.276 and you're just patiently waiting for me to come back 0:14:26.316 --> 0:14:28.796 to being human. But it's part of the process. And 0:14:28.836 --> 0:14:32.636 we've had tons of breakthroughs, and when we have a breakthrough, 0:14:32.676 --> 0:14:34.876 the most important thing to remember is that this will 0:14:34.916 --> 0:14:37.756 not be the last breakthrough. It's gonna come around, it's 0:14:37.756 --> 0:14:39.956 gonna happen again. You just have to be open to 0:14:40.036 --> 0:14:43.596 the fact that it's always changing and you can't do 0:14:43.636 --> 0:14:45.716 anything about that, and that's kind of the beauty of it. 0:14:46.596 --> 0:14:49.276 Comparing Sean from all those years ago when I first 0:14:49.316 --> 0:14:52.556 met him and knowing him now, I definitely see him 0:14:52.596 --> 0:14:55.716 as being much calmer and much more grounded. And I 0:14:55.796 --> 0:14:57.796 have to believe a lot of it has to do 0:14:57.876 --> 0:15:04.396 with the journaling and the meditation. I rest my case now, 0:15:04.476 --> 0:15:06.996 don't go anywhere. Sean and I have even more to 0:15:07.036 --> 0:15:18.436 talk about backstage. Pass will be right back. Welcome back. 0:15:18.796 --> 0:15:21.556 Let's keep going with Shawn Mendez. I think it's time 0:15:21.596 --> 0:15:26.316 to talk about his favorite vocal exercise, the bottle. Don't 0:15:26.316 --> 0:15:28.436 get me started about the bottle. You're gonna have to 0:15:28.436 --> 0:15:33.716 explain that it's not drinking the bottle. It's not whiskey 0:15:34.276 --> 0:15:38.796 or vodka. It's basically like a plastic water bottle with 0:15:38.836 --> 0:15:41.316 a straw attached to it, and you sing into the 0:15:41.356 --> 0:15:44.036 straw and you're blowing air through the straw, and you're 0:15:44.076 --> 0:15:47.236 kind of making bubbles in the bottom, and you're doing scales. 0:15:52.916 --> 0:15:55.036 And I think the reason I love the bottle so 0:15:55.116 --> 0:15:57.356 much it makes my voice feel better. But I think 0:15:57.436 --> 0:16:00.476 the bigger actual reason is because it frees me up 0:16:00.516 --> 0:16:02.996 from judgment and critique. At the beginning of the lesson. 0:16:03.036 --> 0:16:04.996 You know, I can't really hear myself very well because 0:16:04.996 --> 0:16:07.156 I'm being muffled through water. So I'm okay with it 0:16:07.196 --> 0:16:08.916 if I miss a couple of notes and it kind 0:16:08.956 --> 0:16:16.716 of frees you up. I think there's a lot of 0:16:17.516 --> 0:16:22.676 insecurity with singing when you have a lot of people watching. 0:16:23.116 --> 0:16:25.996 Sometimes I get so into it having to be perfect. 0:16:26.036 --> 0:16:29.236 I stopped hearing my voice and I start making up 0:16:29.276 --> 0:16:31.916 what I'm hearing, and I'm like, Eric, it sounds scratchy 0:16:31.956 --> 0:16:34.556 and it sounds bad, and I'm missing the notes. I 0:16:34.596 --> 0:16:37.636 have to sit down and kind of collect myself. Otherwise 0:16:37.716 --> 0:16:39.876 we're not going to be able to move forward with 0:16:39.956 --> 0:16:43.436 this stuff. So it's taken a lot of work. When 0:16:43.516 --> 0:16:45.916 I first started working with Sean, I used to worry 0:16:45.916 --> 0:16:51.076 about his anxiety and full disclosure his anxiety gave me 0:16:51.156 --> 0:16:54.556 a lot of anxiety, but not anymore after all these 0:16:54.636 --> 0:16:57.916 years of observing him, I now know he always pulls 0:16:57.916 --> 0:17:00.436 out of it. You know what's hard for me is 0:17:01.236 --> 0:17:04.756 doing mimes in a scale like really chill and really 0:17:04.836 --> 0:17:07.316 quietly just going up, even like at the beginning of 0:17:07.316 --> 0:17:13.916 the lesson, when you asked me to go m like 0:17:14.036 --> 0:17:16.756 doing that stuff I get so freaked out about doing 0:17:16.756 --> 0:17:19.036 because I'm like, well, if you crack on one of 0:17:19.036 --> 0:17:22.716 these little simple things, you just suck. That's the real truth. 0:17:22.996 --> 0:17:25.036 If you ask me what we do in those lessons. 0:17:25.116 --> 0:17:29.156 Sometimes I black out some days. It's really hard, literally 0:17:29.276 --> 0:17:31.676 word for word. I've said to Eric over and over again, 0:17:31.836 --> 0:17:34.756 I don't know why, but I can't sing, and it's 0:17:34.796 --> 0:17:38.036 a scary place to be. And I think this subject 0:17:38.036 --> 0:17:41.956 goes across hundreds and hundreds of different types and ways 0:17:42.116 --> 0:17:44.996 it could be for people, But for me, it's this 0:17:45.036 --> 0:17:47.636 feeling of like I've forgotten how to sing, or maybe 0:17:47.636 --> 0:17:49.676 I never even knew how to sing, or maybe I'm 0:17:49.716 --> 0:17:52.556 just getting away with this big trick. Maybe I'm not 0:17:52.596 --> 0:17:55.396 even a good musician at all. Sometimes I'm always like, 0:17:55.636 --> 0:17:57.356 if one day Eric was just like, I'm not doing 0:17:57.436 --> 0:18:00.356 lessons anymore, I'd be like, well, I can't sing anymore. 0:18:02.356 --> 0:18:05.996 And there's this big spiral that happens within the course 0:18:06.036 --> 0:18:09.836 of twenty seconds, and Eric sees it in is this 0:18:09.956 --> 0:18:15.796 they start to cross. Okay, So sometimes it is my 0:18:15.916 --> 0:18:18.556 job to get people out of their heads. Make that 0:18:18.716 --> 0:18:20.996 quite often my job is to get people out of 0:18:21.036 --> 0:18:24.956 their heads. It's an occupational hazard. Some singers find singing 0:18:24.996 --> 0:18:28.356 scales up and down or singing major arpeggio's really easy, 0:18:28.916 --> 0:18:31.316 So I'll throw in a minor one because when they 0:18:31.356 --> 0:18:34.636 start focusing on how to sing that unexpected minor note 0:18:34.636 --> 0:18:37.596 and tune, they can't pay attention as much to the 0:18:37.716 --> 0:18:40.956 quality of their singing voice, So then their voice can 0:18:40.956 --> 0:18:43.836 really open up. Or I'll have them do a variety 0:18:43.876 --> 0:18:46.916 of physical gestures so they completely forget about their voice 0:18:47.156 --> 0:18:49.196 because now all they can think about is all the 0:18:49.316 --> 0:18:52.316 ridiculous moves I'm making them do. Like for me, I 0:18:52.596 --> 0:18:54.116 go through this thing, I'm like, well, why can't I 0:18:54.156 --> 0:18:56.836 just sing because I can speak when I wake up? 0:18:57.196 --> 0:19:01.516 But you're doing vocal gymnastics and you really have to 0:19:01.516 --> 0:19:04.276 warm up otherwise you can really hurt yourself. But yeah, 0:19:04.356 --> 0:19:07.116 I still haven't learned that lesson. Well, yeah, because if 0:19:07.116 --> 0:19:10.796 you start listening to yourself with that afectionistic ear right 0:19:10.836 --> 0:19:12.876 from the very beginning of the warm up, it puts 0:19:12.876 --> 0:19:15.316 you at a disadvantage because you're not going to sound 0:19:15.356 --> 0:19:17.276 great at the beginning of a warm up. That's the 0:19:17.316 --> 0:19:20.516 whole purpose of warming up, and sometimes it doesn't even 0:19:20.556 --> 0:19:22.756 sound great at the end of the warm up. Sometimes 0:19:22.756 --> 0:19:25.316 it takes doing a vocal warm up and then even 0:19:25.436 --> 0:19:28.316 taking thirty minutes of like resting your voice, or thirty 0:19:28.356 --> 0:19:30.716 minutes of just eating some food or anything, and you 0:19:30.756 --> 0:19:32.956 come back and you're like, oh, wow, I am warmed up. 0:19:32.996 --> 0:19:36.116 It's just you're a little bit too inside of the practice. 0:19:36.836 --> 0:19:39.036 And I think the hardest part of singing is getting 0:19:39.036 --> 0:19:42.116 out of your own way, is dropping the ego and 0:19:42.156 --> 0:19:44.676 like just being a kid about it. Like when you're 0:19:44.716 --> 0:19:48.196 a kid, you just sing. When you're an adult, you're 0:19:48.236 --> 0:19:50.836 like singing, but at the same time also like critiquing 0:19:50.876 --> 0:19:53.476 and judging and like afraid. And one of the most 0:19:53.516 --> 0:19:58.716 amazing leaps we made as a duo was the day 0:19:59.196 --> 0:20:05.116 I was like realizing I was like not letting you 0:20:05.196 --> 0:20:08.756 tell me what the real objective thing was because I 0:20:08.796 --> 0:20:10.796 was so afraid and so anxious, and I was like 0:20:10.836 --> 0:20:12.116 no, no no, no, yeah, yeah, I don't want to hear that. 0:20:12.116 --> 0:20:14.236 I don't want to hear that. I wasn't listening to 0:20:14.396 --> 0:20:17.316 my teacher. I was like, I just have to get 0:20:17.316 --> 0:20:20.116 through it out of so much anxiety. And then you're like, 0:20:20.236 --> 0:20:22.836 I really think you should trust me. That was not 0:20:22.916 --> 0:20:25.996 long ago, and I feel like once I really like 0:20:26.116 --> 0:20:29.356 started to just like trust you and trust the process 0:20:29.396 --> 0:20:33.036 and trust me, my voice started to open up more. 0:20:33.796 --> 0:20:36.076 Not only your voice, but don't you feel better as 0:20:36.116 --> 0:20:39.116 a human being? I mean, like I said, it's parallel 0:20:39.236 --> 0:20:43.916 to like to life in general. I love when we 0:20:43.996 --> 0:20:48.836 are just like cruising, like I think for me, it's 0:20:48.916 --> 0:20:51.916 become a meditation too, because I put my phone down 0:20:52.116 --> 0:20:54.476 for an hour. I just basically have headphones and I 0:20:54.556 --> 0:20:57.596 can only hear you in the piano, and I can 0:20:57.636 --> 0:21:00.836 be so focused on just the notes and my breathing 0:21:00.836 --> 0:21:04.036 and very present in my body, and you and I 0:21:04.036 --> 0:21:08.476 are very just zoned in and calm. It's a beautiful experience. 0:21:08.556 --> 0:21:11.676 I find a lot of the time I end up 0:21:11.956 --> 0:21:15.116 leaving the vocal lesson calmer. The whole thing was a 0:21:15.236 --> 0:21:19.356 very zen moment, even in the silence when we're breathing. 0:21:19.476 --> 0:21:22.476 I love those moments because that feels like the only 0:21:22.636 --> 0:21:25.716 hour of the day where things move that slow and carefree. 0:21:26.156 --> 0:21:30.236 Oh wow. Yeah, when people can let go, it makes 0:21:30.316 --> 0:21:32.276 all the difference in the world. And like you said, 0:21:32.636 --> 0:21:35.156 be able to open your mind and go all right, 0:21:35.276 --> 0:21:38.076 So tell me what to do and I'll do it, 0:21:38.116 --> 0:21:40.356 and I'll trust it, because if you can't trust your teacher, 0:21:40.436 --> 0:21:43.156 then who can you really trust totally? I mean, I 0:21:43.156 --> 0:21:45.636 think singers are so emotionally attached to their voice that 0:21:46.076 --> 0:21:48.796 sometimes we'll be backstage at an award show. We'll spend 0:21:49.276 --> 0:21:52.076