Architecture, Mars, and VR . . . with Alfredo Muñoz

Architecture, Mars, and VR . . . with Alfredo Muñoz

Questions: How do we design for extreme conditions and resource challenges?  Is that for Mars or Earth?

Guest: Alfredo Muñoz, Architect; Founder; Onteco; Founder, ABIBOO Studio; Chair for Memberships of the Technical Committee of Space Architecture at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Digital twins?  Space architecture?  Alfredo Munoz combines astrophysics and architecture to let us pilot new ways of building in VR on Earth . . . as practice for Mars . . . to improve how we live on Earth.   He’ll share elements of a digital twin of a compound in Mars that you can engage with here on Earth to try out better ways of working, living, and creating.  He also shares his own journey through innovative architecture and bringing those skills and insights to connect with space architecture and collaborative virtual reality. 

 

Bio

Alfredo Muñoz is the founder of Onteco and ABIBOO Studio. He is also the Chair for Memberships of the Technical Committee of Space Architecture at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Mr. Muñoz has been considered the youngest among the most influential Spanish Architects and the youngest European Leaders (EYL40).

His clients range from Fortune Global 500 conglomerates to governments to private high-net-worth individuals on five continents.

Alfredo has been teaching and speaking at elite Universities, and his work has been featured in media outlets across the world.

He holds a Master’s in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and a Master’s of Advanced Studies in Architecture from BarcelonaTech.

 

Mentioned Links:

Out on a Limb   . . . .with Darryl Hurs

Out on a Limb   . . . .with Darryl Hurs

Question: How can you build a rich creative life based on referrals and going out on a limb?

Guest: Darryl Hurs, Owner/CEO, Indie Week; Managing Director, Downtown Canada; Director, Market Development, Canada, CD Baby; Educator, Harris Institute

In this episode, Darryl Hurs shares his journey from studying music, working in retail at HMV, and being in a band to building a dynamic life in digital arts and music business through the reach of the people he has met and putting himself out there, even if he was uncomfortable.  His work of getting and giving work to others launched his own early work for Live Nation in launching VIPNATION.  His life ever since has all been about referrals and reaching out.  He built Indie Week from booking venues and creating discovery opportunities for new music.  He threads together stories of expanded risk-taking from one group of skills and people to bigger opportunities — and how the referral is at the core of building his work in the world.

 

Bio

Darryl Hurs has a 25+ year history in the music business including launching and running Indie Week (one of Canada’s largest music showcase festivals and conferences). In the past two years, he has founded 3 new online conferences: Music Pro Summit, indie101 and SCREENxSCREEN.

Darryl recently has been hired as the Managing Director for Downtown Music in Canada heading the Canadian operations for FUGA, Songtrust, Adrev, Found.ee, and CD Baby.  His past positions include design and branding/marketing for Live Nation as a freelancer (projects included a corporate rebrand and logo design, launching VIPNATION.com, work for U2, Nickelback, Madonna, Beyonce, Jay-Z and Dave Matthews), retail buyer at HMV, and booker for one of Toronto’s top live music venues (The Rivoli).

 

Mentioned Links:

Music + India . . . .plus Ritnika Nayan

Music + India . . . .plus Ritnika Nayan

Question: How do you connect independent artists and music business in India as a young woman?

Guest: Ritnika Nayan, Managing Director, Downtown India; Owner: Music Gets Me High

Ritnika Nayan shares stories about her passion: helping indie artists succeed and make money through various avenues that they might have been neglecting.  She does that in her main role: Managing Director for Downtown India.  That passion also connects her early love of Broadway musicals to working on college concerts at Hofstra, music festivals in India, building her own company, wellness work, ukulele covers, and writing a book and teaching future music industry leaders in India.  

 

Bio

Ritnika Nayan is the Managing Director for Downtown India representing CD Baby, Fuga, Songtrust, Downtown Music Services, Found.ee, and Adrev in the country. She is also the owner of the company Music Gets Me High and the author of Indie 101 – The Ultimate Guide to the Independent Music Industry in India. 

Throughout her 21 years of experience in the music industry, she has worked with artists like Maroon 5, Nickelback, Guns & Roses, Manu Chao, Nucleya, Advaita, Jalebee Cartel and also consulted on festivals like Sula Fest, Ziro festival of Music, Wonderflip fest and more. Ritnika has also set up India’s first stand-alone Music Business Certification course at SACAC, Delhi and conducts workshops on various aspects of the Industry under MGMH Academy. She is an avid speaker at conferences globally including TEDx and has won various awards including the contribution to the creative industry award by University of Westminster, UK and the Young Music Entrepreneur runner up award by the British council and more.

 

Mentioned Links:

Building Campfires . . . with Arturo O’Farrill

Building Campfires . . . with Arturo O’Farrill

Question: How can you build campfires, mixing music and social activism? Guest: Arturo O’Farrill, Founder, Artistic Director, Afro Latin Jazz Alliance; Professor, Global Jazz Studies, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Arturo O’Farrill builds campfires and connects music, activism, and community to build momentum to change his areas of passion in the world — especially in New York. He shares with us the many projects he is working on, his Grammy-award winning music melding and digging beyond jazz and Latin music roots, his strong beliefs about Cuba and US foreign policy, and his new projects in housing and music in Spanish Harlem. He talks about the impacts on artists with the Virtual Birdland project, which garnered a Grammy nomination, and his work with Dr. Cornel West with Four Questions. He recalls his desires to conduct back at age 6 and breaking into his father’s record collection and finding Seven Steps to Heaven, locking in his passion for music. He states with bold examples how “Happiness is marrying your conviction with your art,” which frames most of his adult work. He speaks the vigor about the results of unbridled capitalism — and does not mince words.
Our Guest
Arturo O’Farrill, pianist, composer, and educator, was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. Arturo’s professional career began with the Carla Bley Band and continued as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Belafonte. In 2007, he founded the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the performance, education, and preservation of Afro Latin music. An avid supporter of all the Arts, Arturo has performed with Ballet Hispanico, Ron Brown’s EVIDENCE Dance company, and the Malpaso Dance Company, for whom he has written several ballets. Arturo’s well-reviewed and highly praised “Afro-Latin Jazz Suite” from the album CUBA: The Conversation Continues (Motéma) took the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition as well as the 2016 Latin Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Recording. In addition, his composition “Three Revolutions” from the album Familia-Tribute to Chico and Bebo also received the Best Instrumental Composition Grammy in 2018. Arturo’s 2020 album, “Four Questions” won yet another Grammy award in 2021. Arturo has been a Steinway Artist for many years and is now a Blue Note Records Recording Artist.   Mentioned Links   Timecodes
  • 00:03 Introduction and current work
  • 01:24 Hiring a new bass player with recordings – changing the system he was handed
  • 02:29 ALJA and Building Campfires
  • 04:18 Affordable Housing in Spanish Harlem
  • 07:42 2022 Grammy-nominated songs and their importance to him
  • 08:02 Virtual Birdland with 18 extraordinary artists
  • 09:29 Malpaso and his second Grammy nomination
  • 09:46 Cuba’s ongoing struggles
  • 10:30 Grammys as fuel for Foundation support
  • 11:01 Four Questions with Dr. Cornel West
  • 13:15 Getting Started – pretending to conduct an orchestra at age 6
  • 14:51 How his parents met and his early life
  • 16:32 Breaking into his father’s record collection and Seven Steps to Heaven
  • 17:24 Happiness is marrying your conviction with your art
  • 18:20 When Arturo started taking heartstances in the world
  • 18:50 The Drum and the Noise — drums as symbols of gentrification
  • 19:52 Ramarley Graham, Keith LaMar, and music in mass incarceration
  • 21:48 Getting in trouble: music reflecting back on the world – trouble and liberation
  • 22:13 “You don’t have a right to say this”
  • 26:34 More on Cuba
  • 30:08 Hard decisions and being an administrator
  • 31:31 You need to learn to say no
  • 32:16 His songs – extraordinary musicians — and Accepting Chaos
  • 34:33 Succession and the next voice of leadership
  • 36:05 How to reach out
  • 37:29 Loving Los Angeles and Culver City’s funkitude
Leaning Out Over His Skis . . . with Jeremy Sirota

Leaning Out Over His Skis . . . with Jeremy Sirota

Jeremy Sirota

Question:  How can a Creative Innovator make big jumps and leaps into new areas?

Guest: Jeremy Sirota, CEO, Merlin

Our first guest of Season 2 shares his tales of two loves: music and technology. His journey to Merlin includes early fandom in the Orange County punk rock scene, learning brand design in New York City while launching a mini fashion brand, and a road through technology law, Warner Music, and Facebook. He shares his adventures “leaning out over his skis” and growing outside of his comfort zone. He talks about relationships and “finding enough space that luck finds you.” Jeremy shares his learnings and beliefs in managing organizations and teams, as well as his challenges in managing as a new CEO into the heart of the Pandemic.

Our Guest

Jeremy Sirota is CEO of Merlin, the Independents’ digital music licensing partner that strikes premium deals for its members with services like Apple, Facebook, Spotify, TikTok, and YouTube. Sirota has been recognized four times by Billboard, including Indie Power Player, International Power Player, and the 2022 Power List. Last year, Merlin added 32 independent labels and distributors from 17 countries to its membership and represents over 15% of the global market share. Prior to Merlin, he was an executive on the Facebook Music team, where he helped shape its music strategy as well as licensed rights from independents worldwide. Sirota previously held a number of senior positions at Warner Music Group, culminating as Head of Business & Legal Affairs for WEA and ADA. Early in his career, he was a technology lawyer at Morrison & Forster. For more, visit https://merlinnetwork.org/

Mentioned Links

Timecode

  • 00:00 Introduction
  • 01:03 Merlin
  • 03:51 Growing Up: Punk Rock & CIA?
  • 06:42 College in Rhetoric?
  • 08:33 New York in Design
  • 14:03 Luck Finds You
  • 19:28 Managing in Large and Small Companies
  • 22:03 Merlin in 2020-22
  • 28:12 North Stars and Team Goals
  • 31:34 Big Ahas
  • 36:14 Personal Side
  • 39:19 Encouraging as a Parent
  • 41:05 Intersecting Music and Tech