Part of the Holistic Musician Academy

EPISODES

169
July 24, 2026

The perils of 'like' culture

How the relentless pursuit of "likes" ended up reshaping art. Read the article. Free Artist Training Coaching + courses
The perils of 'like' culture
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The perils of 'like' culture
168
July 16, 2026

Self-Loathing: The Signal We Misread

Self-loathing is a harsh word to acknowledge, but what it points to is real. And what it shows up as in our daily decisions are the buildings blocks of the pattern that threatens to pull us away from our own creative centre. Brought to you by: https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/ https://safeandsound.studio/ Read the article. Free Artist Training Coaching + courses
Self-Loathing: The Signal We Misread
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Self-Loathing: The Signal We Misread
167
July 9, 2026

The Full Fee: On Worth, Receiving, and Babysitting

I was a toddler when two women at a doorstep decided what I was worth. It took me decades to hear the lesson inside that deal. This one is about value decided, not discovered. About us waiting for circumstances to hand down a verdict that was never theirs to give. And about the harder half: receiving. Who taught you what you were worth? And have you been living by their estimate ever since? Brought to you by: https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/ https://safeandsound.studio/ Read the arti...
The Full Fee: On Worth, Receiving, and Babysitting
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The Full Fee: On Worth, Receiving, and Babysitting
166
July 2, 2026

Dirty Work: What Nobody Tells Creatives

Why a manager, team, assistant, audience or patron might be useless to us until we understand this first. Brought to you by: https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/ https://safeandsound.studio/ Read the article. Free Artist Training Coaching + courses
Dirty Work: What Nobody Tells Creatives
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Dirty Work: What Nobody Tells Creatives
165
June 25, 2026

From Rock Machine to Human Be w/ Uday Benegal

Uday Benegal is the founding vocalist of Indus Creed (formerly Rock Machine), the Bombay band that that arguably forced the rest of the world to acknowledge the existence of a culture that had always existed inside post-colonial India amidst the crossfire of an East and West not always as hypothetical as portrayed. Rock Music. Indus Creed navigated a global music industry with no label, no budget, and no precedent, and still managed to land an MTV Video Music Award at a time when public in...
Guest: Uday Benegal
From Rock Machine to Human Be w/ Uday Benegal
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From Rock Machine to Human Be w/ Uday Benegal
164
June 19, 2026

"Limiting Beliefs" — A Limiting Belief?

Most creatives know that beliefs are holding them back. Some can articulate them, analyse them, even replace them with supposedly empowering alternatives. Yet the behaviour often remains unchanged, and the resistance stubbornly intact. What comes up: Why "limiting belief" might be the inaccurate terminology What self-sabotage is actually trying to do The question I used to ask, and the one I ask now Why knowing the pattern doesn't always break it The beliefs you never chose Read the art...
"Limiting Beliefs" — A Limiting Belief?
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"Limiting Beliefs" — A Limiting Belief?
163
June 12, 2026

Familiarity is not safety

The brain mistakes repetition for safety, comfort for understanding, and endurance for choice. This confusion runs deeper than personal relationships; it shapes entire careers, industries, and the inherited scripts we mistake for our own lives. What comes up: Why the decisions that change your life rarely feel safe at the time Why the brain is a prediction machine, not a happiness machine Liking things simply because we've seen them before The known wound vs. the unknown opening The music...
Familiarity is not safety
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Familiarity is not safety
162
June 4, 2026

Saying 'No'

Saying no sounds simple. It isn't, and not for the reasons most people think. In this episode I unpack why the word itself was never really the problem, what's actually happening when we can't hold a line, and why the emotional aftermath of a boundary is harder than the boundary itself. Drawn from real situations — a collaboration that needed a hard conversation, a coaching relationship that got uncomfortably accurate, and years of running a business through someone else's framework, this one ...
Saying 'No'
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Saying 'No'
161
May 28, 2026

The Lost History of Indian Jazz w/ Sandhya Sanjana

There is an entire chapter of Indian music history that has shaped global music in unknown ways remains preserved only in the human memory of a select few. Sandhya Sanjana is one of those humans. Long before "world music" became a marketing category, she was part of a generation of home-grown South-Asian artists blurring the edges of jazz, global and Indian classical music by a trial and error met with genuine curiosity, rather than novelty. Co-founder one of India's earliest internatio...
The Lost History of Indian Jazz w/ Sandhya Sanjana
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The Lost History of Indian Jazz w/ Sandhya Sanjana
160
May 22, 2026

Gift Economy vs Transactional Economy

In this episode, I unpack two economic philosophies that sound academic but are anything but. The gift economy and the transactional economy. What they actually mean, where they came from, why the gift economy keeps surfacing as an alternative to the chaos of how power and wealth get distributed and why, in the creative industries specifically, the romance of giving freely has been one of the most expensive ideas we never agreed to. Read the article. Free Artist Training Coaching + courses
Gift Economy vs Transactional Economy
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Gift Economy vs Transactional Economy
159
May 14, 2026

The Pain of Not Being Seen

The fear of invisibility haunts nearly every one of us, especially creatives. We're quick to blame the algorithm, the platform, the saturated market, and AI. But what if the real source of that pain runs much deeper? Rooted not in metrics, but in older wounds we're carrying? This piece traces the invisible thread between childhood experiences of being unseen and the desperate urgency many of us bring to our art, asking whether the visibility we're chasing is really about being heard, or whethe...
The Pain of Not Being Seen
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The Pain of Not Being Seen
158
April 18, 2026

Capacity vs Capability

In an era obsessed with relentless output, we often make the subtle but dangerous mistake of confusing our outward capabilities with our internal space. While modern hustle culture demands flashy performances, new skills, and louder opinions, the profound art of truly "holding space" is quietly slipping away from our daily lives. Read the article. Free Artist Training Coaching + courses Music and Audio Production: www.everynowheremusic.com
Capacity vs Capability
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Capacity vs Capability
157
April 12, 2026

The Myth of Accessibility

What does “accessibility” really mean when the door looks open, but power still decides who gets in? Using the music world as a revealing lens, this episode discusses how current culture turns openness, authenticity, and even vulnerability into branding tools that can mask exclusion, exploitation, and control. Read the article. Free Artist Training Coaching + courses Music and Audio Production: www.everynowheremusic.com Episode Notes / Text : www.tlwrites.com Music and Audio Production: www.ev...
The Myth of Accessibility
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The Myth of Accessibility
156
April 2, 2026

The Neuroscience Behind Narrow-mindedness

What if creativity is not just an abstract concept, but a vital physiological necessity rooted deeply within the human brain? What if creative freedom isn’t a luxury at all, but a biological requirement for humanity? The striking connection between stress, brain function, and creativity reveals how judgment, control, and poorly-curated environments can push the mind into survival mode and shut down the very capacity art depends on. And the implications of flipping that dynamic are fascinating...
The Neuroscience Behind Narrow-mindedness
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The Neuroscience Behind Narrow-mindedness
155
March 21, 2026

Confirmation Bias and the Law of Attraction

Pop psychology can often flatten complex neurological phenomena into simplistic manifestation slogans. But the actual mechanics behind how our brains organize reality is far more fascinating. Read the article. Free Artist Training Coaching + courses
Confirmation Bias and the Law of Attraction
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Confirmation Bias and the Law of Attraction
154
March 12, 2026

Safety, Trust and the Piano w/ Pallavi Mahidhara

(Rec. 23rd Oct 2025) Photo: © Peter Pavlov When a serendipitous turn of events resulted in Mahidhara's international debut being on one of the most visible stages of the world, the cascade of events that followed leading to an illustrious career that breaks multiple stereotypes in the arts industry by default, was not on a premeditated agenda, but a natural bi-product of a passionate and tenacious work ethic amply apparent even in her earlier formative years. We dig deeper to trace t...
Safety, Trust and the Piano w/ Pallavi Mahidhara
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Safety, Trust and the Piano w/ Pallavi Mahidhara
153
March 5, 2026

What is 'Emotional Labour'? (Why We Need to Know)

Ever wondered why those heartfelt conversations with friends leave us drained, even when no one's keeping score? Emotional labour is one of those terms that's either completely unknown or been flattened by overuse. It shows up insidiously in wellness content, relationship advice, and workplace conversations, usually in the form of a complaint. That's a shame, because the original concept is genuinely rich. And understanding it properly changes how we move through professional and personal lif...
What is 'Emotional Labour'? (Why We Need to Know)
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What is 'Emotional Labour'? (Why We Need to Know)
152
Feb. 26, 2026

'Outsourcing' our voice.

A single offhand line in a hotel café, (“Get someone else to sing it”) can crack open a much bigger question: who gets to decide whether our voice belongs? This personal anecdote dives into my experience of being pushed into a category, and the deeper truth that creativity isn’t just craft or market fit. It’s intimacy, consent, and identity. Read the blog post Download the album I'm talking about. Explore coaching + courses for independent creatives: holisticmusicianacademy.com Music and A...
'Outsourcing' our voice.
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'Outsourcing' our voice.
151
Feb. 19, 2026

Performing vs Being Performative

What if the biggest challenge for us isn’t learning how to perform well, but discerning true expression from a hunger for approval? Read the full blog post: https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/blog/performing-versus-being-performative Explore coaching + courses for independent creatives: holisticmusicianacademy.com ––– Work with me: → C.I.A.R. self-paced course: https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/ciar → HMA group coaching & 1:1 mentorships https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/...
Performing vs Being Performative
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Performing vs Being Performative
150
Feb. 13, 2026

Identity: First Step Last — Live Q&A @ Pianist Academy

This episode is a live Q&A session from my Workshop 'Identity: First Step Last', delivered at the Pianist Academy, founded by award-winning pianist Charles Szczepanek. Although the workshop was conducted for pianists, the conversation quickly moves beyond music into larger questions of authorship, vocation, and identity: who we believe ourselves to be, how that belief shapes our lives, and what shifts when we begin to treat life itself as a work of art rather than a moving part within an indust...
Identity: First Step Last — Live Q&A @ Pianist Academy
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Identity: First Step Last — Live Q&A @ Pianist Academy
149
Feb. 5, 2026

Exhaustion vs Burnout: (Why They’re Not the Same Thing)

Is Your Tiredness Actually Burnout? The Distinction That Could Change Everything Feeling exhausted while simultaneously experiencing some of your most creative and meaningful work might seem like a paradox—but it's far more common (and far less alarming) than you think. While exhaustion and burnout are often collapsed into the same conclusion, they are fundamentally different states that demand entirely different responses. Read the full blog post (with academic references): https://holisticm...
Exhaustion vs Burnout: (Why They’re Not the Same Thing)
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Exhaustion vs Burnout: (Why They’re Not the Same Thing)
148
Jan. 29, 2026

Freedom, Love and Identity w/ Peter Crone

For over twenty years, Peter Crone (‘’The Mind Architect’’, ‘’Human Ayahuasca’’), has worked with some of the world’s most elite athletes, CEOs, artists, and Hollywood icons, helping them dissolve the mental constructs that create limitation and suffering. His approach doesn't attempt to offer behavioural fixes or quick-fix strategies, but goes where generic self-help tends to tiptoe around: dismantling the core beliefs underneath accepted constraints in the first place. Recorded with a li...
Freedom, Love and Identity w/ Peter Crone
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Freedom, Love and Identity w/ Peter Crone
147
Jan. 23, 2026

'Online Education' is Dead

When medium gets confused with memory, and quality gets buried under endless content, it’s easy to blame the screen instead of the real culprits: unprocessed pandemic associations, collapsed discernment, and marketing masquerading as teaching. Read the full blog post (with academic references): https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/blog/online-education-is-dead Explore coaching + courses for independent creatives: holisticmusicianacademy.com ––– Work with me: → C.I.A.R. self-paced course: h...
'Online Education' is Dead
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'Online Education' is Dead
146
Jan. 13, 2026

Intentionality vs Awareness

Join the Peter Crone Live Podcast Taping RSVP here Read the full blog post (with academic references): https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/blog/intentionality-vs-awareness Explore coaching + courses for independent artists: holisticmusicianacademy.com ––– Work with me: → C.I.A.R. self-paced course: https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/ciar → HMA group coaching & 1:1 mentorships https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/coaching Join the newsletter: → holisticmusicianacademy.com/ne...
Intentionality vs Awareness
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Intentionality vs Awareness