He Owns His Music & Plays Like a God | Jonathan Taylor: Classical Music’s Best-Kept Secret | Ep. 60

He owns 310 tracks. He’s studied under legends. And he plays like he was born with the guitar in his hands.
Jonathan Taylor is a world-touring classical guitarist with over 30 albums and a legacy that’s shockingly under the radar. He’s performed alongside greats like Pavarotti, studied under maestros like Pepe Romero and Frederick Noad, and owns every note he’s ever released—a level of independence most artists only dream of.

In this episode, Jonathan dives deep with Nick and Jason into:

What makes music truly timeless

Why modern perfection is the enemy of great art

The difference between music and "musical entertainment"

Stories from the road, from the Philippines to California

His bold takes on today’s music industry, legacy, and authenticity

🎸 Whether you're a music lover, artist, or just someone who respects authenticity—this episode is a masterclass in greatness.

📢 Follow Jonathan Taylor Online:
📘 Facebook: facebook.com/JonathanTaylorClassicalGuitar
📺 YouTube:  https://youtube.com/@classicalguitarmastery-jon6542 
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jtclassicalguitarmastery
🎧 SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/user-75630746-880803498

🟢 Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, and SiriusXM
📀 32 Albums | 310 Tracks – 100% owned

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Transcript

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So I went through a whole period of learning and I think most macro musicians learn by ear first. I was picking tunes at when I was four on ukuleles because my little fingers couldn't do the guitar stuff and that was later. And so I made commitments to myself like when I was 14 and 16 and that I was going to not be what I call a faker. where it's just like a strumming, like a very low level, well, I don't mean that insultingly, but I mean, yeah, I wanted to to master the craft and not just be a dilettante or not just be popularity because the song is popular or something, I'll be honest. Like when I learned to play the guitar with the way that I know it, I did it for the reason that most, you know, young guys learn to play the guitar. And that was, you know, to try to pick up girls. Right. So like, one thing you got to give to to the rappers into hip-hop is those they do have what you were talking about earlier, which is a story like almost, you know, you know, they they definitely they definitely have that when they got the lyrics covered They've got poetry and that is a part of the art and that's true. And I agree totally. And who really is the real Flynn Shady? So, but we have to find that out. It should be our life course, shouldn't it? We should do it. We got to find it out, All right. today will be the death penalty. Yeah, that's right, but not necessarily in that order. Yeah. right all right well welcome back to another episode of mosaic minds podcast my name is nick this is jason and tonight we are joined by a true master of his craft jonathan taylor i'm excited about this one because you know being a guitar player myself he is a leading classical guitarist and has performed all over the world internationally done some groundbreaking compositions and has a unique ability to bring emotion to every note from everything that I have researched, but I'm going to kind of stop there and Jonathan, I'm first of all, welcome to the show. And I just want you to kind of give us a background of what you, I know you have a, a really interesting and vast history, but I just kind of want you to give us a background of what you've done, how you kind of got started in music and, where you're kind of, where are you going right now? Well, right now I'm actually in negotiations with a new contract for my catalog. have 32 albums, 310 tracks that I own, which is very unusual. Paul McCartney doesn't own his catalog. So that's why I'm saying that, he sold a hell of a lot more than me. background, well, my grandmother was a silent film organist and played with all the notables of that era. So she was playing around the house, so to speak. And then I had experiences of listening to Segovia's records and Parkinning and the Romeros and that, Pepper Romero, and later on studied with all of them. Met Segovia, didn't study with Segovia. But I heard Segovia in Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown LA and I was just captivated. I go, this guy doesn't need four people. He's contained within himself a complete composition and not only was I impressed with his technical prowess and the beauty of this music, emotion as you were saying, but also that he was complete. He did not need other people to play with, compliment him. Yeah, you can do concertos, yeah you can do other things, but it wasn't required to play the Bach lute suites, for instance, through Spanish. So I went through a whole period of learning and I think most macro musicians learn by ear first. I was picking tunes at when I was four on ukuleles because my little fingers couldn't do the guitar stuff and that was later. And so I made commitments to myself like when I was 14 and 16 and that I was going to not be what I call a faker. where it's just like a strumming, like a very low level, well, I don't mean that insultingly, but I mean, yeah, I wanted to to master the craft and not just be a dilettante or not just be popularity because the song is popular or something, a gimmick song or that. So those ideas take you down a myriad of paths and you're... went to college, went to study on full presidential scholarship at Chapman College back when it was a college, not a university, 850 people, private students, studied in the homes of some of the greatest masters of the 20th century, Pepe Romero, five years I was accepted as a student, his house, the master classes, Christopher Parkin, Frederick Node who had the PBS series years ago called Playing Guitar and had a best-selling book called Playing Guitar and other notables, Joe Pass, the great jazz guitar. So that kind of is a little bit of the educational history. Okay. Well, I mean, I really respect what you said. And noticed you were kind of kidding around when it came. You said, you said, you know, with kind of faking it with the strumming. mean, I'll be, I'll be honest. Like when I learned to play the guitar with the way that I know it, I did it for the reason that most, you know, young guys learn to play the guitar. And that was, you know, to try to pick up girls. Right. So like, so, you know, I wanted to, you know, I just thought it was cool and I wanted to learn to play the guitar, you know, but you're right. Like for you going into it the way that you did it and You went into it all in with emotion and You made this your life. So, I mean, that's an incredible story, I think. Thank you. You know, there's a great Asian cellist, I'm not going to mention his name, and he is now older and had a long career and he said something to the effect of, you know, I would go out there and try to play each piece perfectly. And then I realized that it was really about communication between yourself and the audience and having that expression. And when I listened to this, said, Jesus Christ, I knew that when I was 10. And I go, but you know that culture has an emphasis on perfection, right? That Asian culture has an emphasis that says, you number one, right? And if you're not number one, kill yourself when you're 13, Harry, Harry. so I mean, that's a whole, but I wasn't raised in that culture, see. So he had that. So I'm just saying that because he realized also that yeah, perfection is the most boring thing in the world. And that idea of perfection that is oft times used in music, go, well, I don't want to be perfect. I go, if you're perfect, that means you don't grow. It means you don't expand your horizons. And as we know that any mind that has been expanded can never return to its original dimension. So that means that you have grown. It's proof of that. But that idea of perfection, I go, well, what the hell does it mean? A computer can play faster and more accurately than you, but nobody's home. Nobody's home. So I mean, yeah, go ahead. No, no, go ahead. just going to say when I was in college, believe it or not, I know it's a different genre of music, but I listened to a Lawrence Welk and the local PBS affiliate. So believe it or not, I've probably watched 500 episodes or more of Lawrence Welk program. The reason I'm mentioning that is, yeah, absolutely. Sissy and Bobby are gonna dance for you. And Dennis Day is going to sing for you. There you go. There you go. So if I look at it, like, uh, you know, being from California, that, that if a bottle washes up right, and it's got composed music in it, explain to me how some of these music, um, um, compositions have stood the test of time and be two, 300 years old and still be as dramatic and perfect as they were 1600, 1700, 1800 speak on that a little bit, and then bring it back to today with, with your kind of spinner take on that. have a valid musical idea. It means you have to have something to say. And many artists have nothing to say and keep saying it. I like it. Love it. Yeah. And so what does it mean to be Bach? Why was he a genius? Well, let's talk about that for a minute because that speaks to his composition. Bach never innovated a new form, ever. In other words, he never was like Debussy who began to see not functional tonality but parallel lines. So he started to destroy the major minor system, Wagner took it to the next step. And then finally it was destroyed with Schoenberg. and dodecaphony came into being. So in other words, even though Bach never innovated in new form, well, why is he revered? go, it is, what it is saying is polyphonic, number one, many voiced. In other words, there are many things going on. One of the great marks of a genius is that they can hold two, three, four ideas in their head without becoming confused. Most people, two ideas. And they're like this with the ideas, right? Sign of maturity is to listen to an idea foreign to you and not judge it, meaning try to listen to what it's saying. And then if you can incorporate some of that into your ideas. So why is a composition that is that old valid? Because the place that it's coming from is a deeper part than just the society. Like for example, Taylor Swift, she'll be dead and nobody will ever remember her. All right, she's very pretty girl, you know, all that stuff. But the truth is, know, Bach is going to last until the end of time, until this incinerates in the sun, whatever. But somebody like that, I go, well, why? And I go, because there's nothing to be said. It can also be valid, validly said that nothing is new past Stravinsky's and the three ballets, meaning Patricia and the Sacre du Penton, the Rite of Spring and the Firebird. I said, well, you could probably legitimately say nothing new has been set. And that's a hundred, more than a hundred years ago. Am I getting too down on the weeds here for your audience? Okay. A lot of life lessons intertwined in the music. Yeah, that actually. Yeah. No, you're good. That actually was a, that's a perfect segue. Cause I wanted to ask you when you, were talking about, about Taylor Swift and earlier I was thinking based on your love for music, your passion and that you've devoted your whole life to it. I don't think anybody can argue that there, some of the newer musicians are, talented, but can you like, Would you say there's a difference between what you would call music and what you would call art when it comes to audio, know, audio stuff. You know what mean? Like if it comes, let's take whether it's rap, whether it's pop, pop music. rap song that is going to be here in 100 years and Bach and Beethoven and Chopin and Debussy, et cetera, odd, infinitum on the spectrum there will be forever. Let me give you an example of the kismet or the happenstance of why Bach's music is actually even known today. So in A generation after, maybe two generations, that's 70 years after Bach croaked and the Baroque period is defined by his life, 1685 to 1750. It had three sons that became prominent. I don't want to play like Dad. He's a square. I want the new style like Mozart. Right? So I go, every generation's cry. So now. it's 70 years after Bach's crow. Nobody knows who the f-Bach was and why is that? And I go, well, you're running around in a carriage and you know, you're, he never, he never, there are no iPhones, you know, one Android. You found one Android in an ancient monument. So, so what, what would he do? I go, well, he was born and he never went further than 50 miles from where the place he was born. He was a Kappelmeister, meaning a choir director in Kürzen and Weimar in, we call it Germany, but it's not Germany yet. It's the Austria-Hungarian Empire back in those days. And so I'll tell you a quick story about him. He hated the piano. He went and saw the new piano. He was an organist, remember? And so he went and saw a new piano. like 20 miles and he had to ride in this carriage which is just freaking horror, all right? No pay throws, you know? It just puts you back out of alignment, you know? So he went and heard the piano and he hated it. He thought it sounded clunky, there was no sustain. He hated piano and it's very ironic since so many pieces are played on the piano with Bachs, right? So I'm going to tell you how Bach was discovered. So maybe 23-year-old Felix Mendelssohn. was a conductor, you know him from his compositions probably. And he wanted to make a big splash in the Vienna society. And so he went to the library and he was looking way back in the stacks where all the moldy stuff is. And he saw St. John, St. Matthew, pageants, which are choral orchestral pieces, which is for a conductor is a big whoop-de-doo and you're now, you know, king of the hill. Right? And so he saw this and my God, this is greatness. And that accidental discovery is why Bach is known by you and me. Because otherwise, it would have just laid there rotting away, you know, have a little mold with that cheese. otherwise, I mean, who knows what the hell would happen. Right? So that type of kismet, that type of thing. you know, changed the course of music history, became known as greatest concert putters of all time, probably the greatest composer, arguably, you know, but I think so. And, so that gives you an idea about, and why is it lasting? go because it inherently has value. What, so if you sing row, row, row your boat gently down this So what? In other words, that's not making much of a statement compared to Beethoven's Night Symphony. And so the complexity, just to carry it one step further, and we'll go on to something else. One of the great reasons why Western society is superior is because it has a pattern. in it, where people did something in terms of novels, meaning writing, in terms of music, and in terms of art as well. And what is that? I go exposition, development, and recapitulation. What is that? You expose the characters of the play, you expose the themes of the sonata, you develop that. In other words, it just doesn't lay there like a a Chinese or Japanese koto, dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee and then they recapitulate. In other words, they come back and they're changed by that experience. That is true in music, Western music. It is true in the composition of a novel, right? Whatever novel, mean, Huckleberry Finn goes down the river with Jim, right? And comes back and with Tom Sawyer, they find the treasure. You know, it's an adventure, right? So that's... Formula is advanced. It's sophisticated. It requires thinking beyond the present. It requires, it's not just, ro-ro-roast your bones. Okay? It's not just that simple statement. So, the reason why something laughs is it has something to say and people relate to it. The first time I heard Debussy I couldn't believe it. Said what is he you know at that time I wasn't as educated formally, but I said what is he doing? How is he doing that and that led me to you know start to discover how? but he took a system and That ethereal sound did not really exist in that way Maybe Palestrina you could say in some way, but I yeah, but not in functionally. Okay So that type of person, Debussy, Chopin, you're satisfied by hearing that. Now, today's ears, they're trained by the radio, right? Now the rappers have one part of it, right? They have rhythm and that's good. That's a good start for them, okay? But now you have to have melody and harmony, okay? That's three of the elements. one thing you got to give to to the rappers into hip-hop is those they do have what you were talking about earlier, which is a story like almost, you know, you know, they they definitely they definitely have that when they got the lyrics covered They've got poetry and that is a part of the art and that's true. And I agree totally. And who really is the real Flynn Shady? So, but we have to find that out. It should be our life course, shouldn't it? We should do it. We got to find it out, guys. So, so, so since you mentioned slim shady, who, if you were, if it, let's say that in your, prediction, let's say, you know, 500 years down the road, none of them. like there, there will be like from this decade, from this century. compare. What did my old composition, can I swear on this broadcast? Okay, so what did my old composition teach you? A great genius. I have an orchestral background, serious composition and all that. And I love Elton John when I say this. I love Elton John. But he said to me one day I was bringing him my adaptation, my tone poem on Omar Khayyam's Rubia. And I said, Jonathan, do you know what you do when somebody says that Elton John was equal to Beethoven? And he jumped up and he said, you say, fuck you. And that was my lesson. That was my composition lesson for the day. So did that rub off on you, Jonathan? No, no, no, no, no, no. I've never said a fucking swear word in my life. Me neither. Ever. That's good stuff. as you can see, I'm a free spirit, which means I'm an American. Yeah, absolutely. Hey, so I gotta, I gotta bridge the gap. Okay. I want to establish with the audience here. I'm being brutally honest with you. I appreciate it. It's educational. I can't tell you that I recognize, how do I want to say this? I would say that my knowledge base is very low. Okay. But I've heard of some of the things. So if I give you, if I give you a middle of the road bridging from where I think I am to at least bridge the road, I think a, the Edmund Fitzgerald song by Gordon Lightfoot comes to mind with some of the elements that you're talking about, not from a composition standpoint. It's a, it's a great story. and you're there, you're there for me. I'm there for that five minutes, you know, a ship in Wisconsin, you know, the shipyard, you can see the, you can see the wave. So what I'm going to say with that is, this being a sports guy, I'm fascinated by venues. Okay. In my world, I haven't traveled outside the state because I haven't been good enough to travel outside of the state and anything I've done sports, but I've traveled everywhere in the state. So my question for you is the Philippines has a special place to my heart. My basketball coach in San Diego, California is from the Philippines, still goes back there to this day. I've ate all, I love their food. love their culture. My dad was over there for several months, doing something, Ponce it, you know, adobo, hollow hollow, you know, Yeah. that culture. So my question for you is explain to me in detail so I can be by your side vicariously in a venue in the Philippines that you played and how is that different from an American venue? Well, it wasn't in one way, but it was maybe in another. But I played at the Film Life Theater under the sponsorship of Redentor Romero and was on the same program series as Luciano Pavarotti, whom I met. Maybe you don't know who that is. was a famous opera singer that passed away. And so I was playing a full concert, a few concerts and It was a very sophisticated theater, very typical Western meaning the Western civilization theater. it's near and it's in downtown Manila next to the Spanish fort and Subic Bay, meaning the base there that we had, you know, the military base. And yeah. And at that time, rebels were coming out of the hills and killing people in the shopping mall. And somebody said, are you afraid of that? I go, no, you gotta die sometime. so, of course, I wasn't being stabbed by a knife at that moment. So I could say that. So I would say that culturally, the Filipinos go to classical concerts. mean, there are many prominent people there. And I had great, I stayed at the Manila Garden Hotel. and had a wonderful time there. And you know, it's so humid that your skin, you look 20 years younger because your skin is so moisturized, right? But boy, in Madras, India, it's that humid too. You step outside the hotel and in one minute you're scoped. Don't ever wear a coat. in one more question that I have, I'm going to make you step out of kind of the current conversation into the mosaic minds for just a few seconds. So what I'm curious to say is, is I have a Salvador Dali, okay? I know that has nothing to do with music, but he signed it, right? Okay, great, great. I love it because I'm an analogy guy. So what I was going to say is he's a legendary in that you got your Mozart, your Beethoven's, your box. Yeah, that's right. what I'm going to ask you though is, is how did those guys stay on the Mount Olympus of their music in your world and art in the world that I'm bringing you into? The integrity of their composition, for example, the melting clock, the disparate elements are brought together in a Dali painting in order to express an idea. The time is gone, Galea or Gaia, whatever, his girlfriend, you know, that he loves so much you see her naked and all of them. By the way, in Century City, about right before Dali died, and he had a great exhibition there. in Pasadena at the North Simon. I saw him once at the North Simon when he did, way long time ago, near when he, right before he died, living in Catalans, right? Catalonian, Spanish. And so you probably wouldn't even be angry to call him Spanish, he's Catalonian. So I saw this figurine, and then I gotta tell you another great college story. I saw this figurine in an art shop and I was gonna buy it. It was only $200. I didn't buy it. He died the next day. It was worth $5,000 the next day. So, you know, I hung myself. I hung myself. So I'm gonna tell you a quick Dolly story. They're doing a documentary on Dolly. Maybe it was the 1670s, I don't know. you know, he had the camera and the film, no. Digital yet and they go to his house in the Catalan and he Like later on he had burned himself. He loves cook with oil those spanglish cook And Dave hurt himself. Anyway, so now the guy is interviewing unlike this interview. I don't want any Comparison made I love you guys. You guys are great guys. I can tell so and unlike you guys The interviewer was boring the living bejesus out of salvagar dolly and where were you born? And do you like art? And all sorts of questions that you could see dolly was on another planet, right? And he didn't wanna hear any of this. So let me tell you what happened and this is the key to it. I go, this will show you what a genius dolly is. Just wonderful, I love it. In those days, you'd have juicy fruit or gum wrappers. And the cameraman had put a piece of gum in his mouth and tossed the aluminum wrapper on the ground. And you could see Dolly, because he's on camera, and you could see Dolly's eyes divert to something on the ground. You didn't know what it was yet. And because he's out of the frame. And so you see him get out of the frame and he picks up this, he picks up this aluminum foil wrapping. And he starts going like this. Just playing with it. he had made, he made an origami of the man of La Mancha, of Don Quixote. And he set it down on a table. And I looked at that and I said, I just love this guy. I love this guy. He's a genius. Look at that. And I mean, he was, you know, he focused in the, I have a little angle here. There's the spear, you know, there's like a horse. And, you know, he, and in a matter of minutes, just a couple minutes. He had made, it was clearly recognizable as, as you know, the Don Quixote was written by a Spaniard, a fellow Spaniard like Dali. And that was part of that culture, the mythological part of it, right? And I go, my God, it's amazing. So there's a Dali story. he took the stance of, if, they're not going to make this interview interesting, I'm, I'm going to make it interesting. Right. He's like, I'm, yeah, I'm going to entertain myself. So so this is Jonathan for $200 I want to, I want to throw a sound bite out at you. And I know that's a declaration before, but I know it's going to be so we call stuff overrated. call stuff underrated. Here's the question I have for you. Take the greatest composition. Give me your top five, but you don't have to because you already have, but here's what I'm going to ask you. What is one composition that one of those major artists that you really respect was able to hide behind because of the name recognition that they had? And quite frankly, it was a very poor composition. If you don't want to name by name, know, fire. yeah. They can't do anything to you, right? Their family, their family's coming. They're dead silent. So. are coming out of the grave. No, I can't think of one. But if you're going to say on the other end of the scale, one of the greatest ones is the Rite of Spring by Stravinsky is Pierre Boulez said the birth certificate of the 20th century. Many of the rhythms that you know by rock and the rap and all that. And I go, well, it's all there. So I mean, it's been exposed. I go, Stravinsky broke the mold. At those times, they were listening to Swan Lake by Tretkovsky. And they were listening to more sedate music. And his composition is quite raucous. Uh, and, uh, uh, so very rumbastic in that. So, and ultimately the Paris premiere, not the opera house, the other place around the corner. I've been there, I can't remember the damn name. And, uh, uh, I go, they, he was the composer Igor Stravinsky was there. The promoter, uh, the Agalov who was the leading promoter of the day. And then the Jinsky, the lead ballet dancer were chased down an alley and they were going to beat the living bejesus out of them because they were so insulted by this composition. Now we're never insulted by anything in this era. Nothing ever insults us. Nothing ever insults us. Yeah, so mess, go ahead. Go ahead. Sorry. No, I was going to say I should tell you a couple of Wizard of the Lads very because we're talking about my music before but what I've done is I've adapted many pieces here to for not adapted for the Sova Kvass of the guitar like film music the 007 themes of films the wonderful Wizard of Oz American Folk Songs of the 19th century Scott or rather let's say Scott Joplin also from the ragtime era or George Gershwin or Duke Ellington and 19th century folk songs of Stephen Foster. And in other words, I've adapted many, many different types and genres and music. You must predicted about me about 30 years ago that I was going to do this. And one of the reasons why is because of the playing ability, but also composition. You know, even Villalobos couldn't write for the guitar without going through a player because he couldn't understand it. And that's a great composer not to, you know. Was Stephen Foster from Bartstown, Kentucky, do you know? I don't know exactly where I've never been to his old Kentucky home. I've never been to his old Kentucky home. I've never been to his old Kentucky home. So, you... If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Call me out on the, on the little cliff notes, but I'm pretty sure that that's where he's from. Well, it's where the buffalo roam and the skies are not cloudy nor gray. Yeah, and probably a couple Teslas by now, by now at a charging station. Right? my Mike my composition paper is on overload. Okay Talk to me a little bit about what you do away from music. Let's not bring music up for this question here What do you what when you step out of your skin and say hey, I've been all over the world. I've been very successful I'm an acclaimed national artist. What do you do away from? music to kind of galvanize yourself back into music when you're on that grind mode. Well, you know, I'm right now filming down in Southern California in a place called Carlsbad, you probably don't know, it's near San Diego. well, then you ought to know, then you know where Carlsbad is. And so, yeah, Carlsbad, California. so I go out and I'm filming. So away from the music, I like reading literature, I love physics lectures, I love to read up on History, course, of every kind, American history, as well as world history. I'm listening. I'm rereading the decline and fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbons, which, by the way, was read by Winston Churchill in World War I. His mother mailed it to him when he was on the front there fighting. And he'd be reading in his tent, laying down in his cot while the artillery was exploding around him. The decline and fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon. That's a definitive work. took him 20 years to write it and that. And I go, well, if you want to know about Marcus Aurelius or whoever you want, you know. So I like that. like, I'm at a strip club right now. You just can't hear the music isn't loud enough. I'm just kidding. It's like, that's a hell of a background you got there. You said a script club, right? A script club. So you're actually writing. think that's what he meant. I think that's what he meant to say. Yeah, there you go. I said a script club. You're in San Diego near Scripps Institute. Scripps. Yeah. Did you really? Okay, yeah. Yeah. It's so educational. Right. Or as I tell my friends, my friends talk to me about it, girl. And I said, you know, Daniel, I never think the stripper likes me. I'm not stupid. Well, get your drums ready guys, but in Indianapolis, you're trying to have the pole position for the racing of the 500. Yeah. Jim neighbors used to sing back home again in Indiana. That's a good, that's a good message for me there. what, Hey, talk to us a little bit about, I know you mentioned it, uh, kind of off, off camera if you will, but talk to us a little bit about your, I think you have a project or possibly a record or a new, new composition coming out. Talk a little bit about that. If you don't. I'm always recording, meaning audio files, regular streaming things or filming video performance. So what I'm doing right now is I have a 32 album catalog, as I mentioned, and a 310 tracks. And right now I'm in negotiations with a people, a couple firms about that. I have one album outside of that that is with Warner Brothers and Hit Lab, but those are least tracks and they come back to me in November. I don't know if I'm going to continue my relationship with them. But so that's what I'm doing right now in terms of music, you know, projects or negotiations and that that's what I've been doing, you know, the past few weeks. Cool. I want to jump back for just a second. Okay. So I want to just kind of bring it all together. I want to just put a scenario out there. Let's say that we'll just take any planet. We'll say Venus, right? We'll say Venus is the planet of music. Okay. And let's say that you are, you were sent to the United, not to the world, but more specifically the United States to change the culture of music right now. So they say, you know, from Venus. Okay. So that, that's where, you know, that, Venus. Okay. from and that's where you know, it's where bock and and all of them, you know I met him in a small burrow in Venus, Mozart and I. Yeah. Yeah. so you you're sitting here by the the president of Venus and he's what he says I want you to change music but you have to meet it where it's at today. So you know like you're you're you know you have to factor in what people are like today with with the hip hop with with the rock music you know everything. How how would how do you do you think first of all do you think that's something that you could potentially accomplish? in a story. know, obviously no one's going to accomplish that now, but like, that's the simple way though, right? look, I'm all for simplicity myself. So I have said that I do not believe that anything new has happened since, let's say 1915, 20 even. So I don't believe that's orally possible, but. other people do and they're looking so they're giving you an idea about a composition when people say i'll answer your question this way Jonathan you must write on the guitar and i'd say of course not i would never write on the guitar well what do you mean and i go well i know how to play the guitar so why would i want to write on an instrument i know how to play that limits me I go, I will take a keyboard just to check sound sources and make sure I'm accurate because I'm not a keyboardist. So what does that mean? I go, well, everyone thinks that the orchestration is the music. it's a four man group. it's this rhythm. And I go, no, one of the first things you learn in composition to get away from the idea of melody and chords, which is the opposite. for rappers, should go toward that. The one of the first things you learn is you want to do a composition for two non-pitch percussion instruments so you can get away from the idea of that hierarchy. Now, raps are different. The rappers is the opposite of that. They need to go into the melody and harmony area. oops, my brain fell out. So I don't believe that anything new can be. And when I was probably 25, I looked into the abyss and I said, well, the possibilities are there. But the colors and the wonderful compositions you can enjoy. But do I believe there is a way for innovation? Not in the way people think. Because the composition is very different. from the orchestration. can have a piccolo play the same line as a bassoon, put it down an octave. I can have a E flat trumpeter play the line that a violin or viola gamba or a cello would play. And that will change the timbre and the color and the balance. But that does not alter the composition. Now what if there was a new, what if there's a new instrument? Cause you know, like before, before instruments, there was, there was like a, you know, like so there was what was it started with, started with vocal, right? Like it started with vocals before there was instruments like Gregorian monks, what I write. And then, then what? Ono. When it started with vocal. So do you ever see that thing where John Lennon was on Mike Douglas show and he was playing with his hero Chuck Berry when, John Lennon was a what did they call him a greaser or a rocker a mocker or whatever they call him But I go no a teddy boy. That's what he was and he was playing with his hero Chuck Berry whom we love because all that early rock he loved it and so his wife goes up and she starts going yeah, she starts doing her thing and Chuck Berry is like Yeah, he's like, what the hell? Yeah, the beloved, you know, it's not a cut on her. It's just the show. How you've reacted. And Chuck Berry was going like, what the hell did get myself into? Right? Jonathan, I'm going to give you a quick dosage of irony here, and then I'm going to give you, give you kind of a, a wrap up a little bit. So the thing I'm most interested about Jonathan, Nick, as you were pulling up his information is Jonathan Taylor is the tailback for the new NAPA here in the three one seven. Yeah. We're like, that's so I'm super impressed that this bad ass here has gone all over the country playing music. Then he throws his Colts gear on on a Sunday. and appeases to our local 317, their downtown Indy. and I even look like a black person. Look at me. It's so obvious. so I know Jonathan. So when I tell people to type Jonathan Taylor guitar, because if you don't type guitar, you'll get this wonderful football player who I know that a great, a great artist. I hope one day I can meet him sometime. I'm sure he's a fine fellow. Yeah. Wisconsin. So here's what I'll say to you. This, this was interesting to me because to be, to be brutally honest with you, like, I hadn't heard some of these names since high school that one of my best memories was in a, in a, I'm going to call it a pit. My composer slash music teacher in high school would have a set on the three levels. So I'm assuming the acoustics would balance out. Sorry. I'm not, I'm not an expert, but here's what I will say. This was actually a cool conversation because I look at you as a guy that takes pride in their craft. My family's been in education for 105 years. You take pride in your craft. You're a master's level at what you do. You study it. The answers that you were giving, man, were so interesting because even though I didn't understand and hear of that, and I really liked your best answer of the night to me, I know it wasn't music, but you made it music was Dolly. And I'm glad you ran with that because that meant something to me. And you kind of just galvanized the two. almost like a weld where you've got a nice, you know, flow to it and it just kind of kept coming together. So keep doing great things and favorite answer was the Scripps Club. The Scripps Club. See, because we're always writing scripts. Gotta write. No, now they say ones in the front 20s in the back or no I didn't say that say I edit that edit that edit that. Hell no classical guy Jonathan Taylor that classical guy he's such a square all he uses you know he's a very boring square guy No No, not at all. No. So like one of the one thing that i'd like to say is I i'm kind of like with jason no matter first of all, I love music but like even if I didn't anything that I see that somebody has such compassion for Even if even if it's about an opinion if I disagree with you But you are you are firm on your convictions and your and your passions. I respect you And I think that I think that that's a an amazing thing and you can always tell when someone's real and whenever it's just What would you say at the beginning that with the strap? But you know what? I mean like it you can tell when it's real and when you're just kind of going through the motions, right? so you know, the thing is, think in music, I think the true reason why I have the following or the music and that is because I'm authentic and real and I communicate that and I don't think people like phony balonies. I think there's a natural thing against them that, you know, they go, yeah, yeah, right, You know. the guitar on for you is my bad, my bad. But the last thing that I will tell you is the fact that entrepreneurially you control your catalog shows me what I'm not surprised by, but your business savvy mixed in with world traveler mixed in with two or three other things. So to me, that's kind of like, on a recipe card that's got some recipe to it. It's not just a three recipe. Let's throw it on the plate. So I want to give you kudos for that as kind of my my thumbs up to you. That's cool stuff. thank you. Thank you. You know, Don McLean and the deal I'm probably about to sign, I retain ownership of everything. I would never sell. So the, Don McLean realized this early, and this is a long time ago, decades, and he wouldn't give up his publishing rights to American Pie and you know, his other, and I go, well, that was the big anthem of the decade. and then he had Vincent and his other hits, you know, but I go, well, that was the big whoopie do. And I go, once he had that song and he wouldn't give it up, that was, it made a tremendous living for him. And, and I'm happy for him. And now artists, think are more owning their catalogs. Now in the case of Taylor Swift, she was complaining that she didn't own it or that. and was thinking a lot conspiratorial and I said, yeah, well, did you pay for the studio time? Did you get the groups, people gathered? Did you do this? Did you do that? I see. So you get everything and they get nothing? You know, that's not very fair. Yeah, and can't imagine Mozart if he lived in today's age charging the equivalent of today's what 12 to 14 to $2,000 worth of worth it for a ticket price, you know what I mean? To go see his show because something crazy. Absolutely something crazy. Yeah, I don't know exactly but yeah, it's around it's around that. but you know, it's, know, then it's all about the money. I go, you got enough money. At a certain point, you got enough money, you know? I was going to say. So in the small world that we live in, you live somewhere within X amount of hours of San Diego. One thing you have to do cause you're eclectic that you would really enjoy. And it's so left field has nothing to do with anything we talked about, but sometimes you got to go out on a limb. Jolla, California during certain times, sharks come in all female that are gestating, obviously carrying their baby shark. And you can literally in La Jolla, California, sit on the ocean floor and look up 10 to 15 feet and see tens of thousands of sharks that are fairly, well, they're not fairly, they're all peaceful. They don't have any, any qualms with leaving humans alone for hours on end, but they say you can scuba dive and just sit on the ocean floor and look up and see thousands of sharks and all of them are harmless. So if, if you're, if you're up for it, study it, look at it. Another thing you gotta experience. I have my diving thing. I have my PAL or whatever it is. PAL-y? Yep. And if you do research, you got to look at it. It's in La Jolla, California. Then the other last send off that I'm going to give you is. Jolla very well. I know La Jolla very well. So my wife doesn't listen to any of these so I can tell the story real quick of my wife in California. When I proposed to my wife, I proposed to her out on, um, it was close to Pacific beach in San Diego. It was on up the coast about 10 miles. Well, to make a long story short, we were out on the cliffs. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we're sitting there on the. it there, I ate there two days ago, go on, sorry. Okay. Small world. Well, we're sitting there. Have you ever seen, it's hard to explain, but you're going to know what I'm talking about. I'm going to call it Northern lights, but that may be wrong. The plankton is electronically charged to like a purple. Anyway, that was going on when I proposed to my wife. So I've said this one or two other times. That's pretty player. That was my, Hey, I planned it, but it was just dumb luck is what it was. But we won't, since she doesn't listen, I can get away with that. So I'll just act like I planned. I met my wife in Terre Haute. We lived in San Diego. I lived in San Diego for a year, brought her out there. She lived a year. With all due respect to you, she was just like, I gotta be closer to my family. So I'm not proud to say this, but it was a tough decision, obviously, leaving the state. But we just couldn't afford it with all due respect. We just had average jobs and- Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. But I have nothing but good memories. I I drove up to Santa Rosa. Drove to San Francisco a couple of times. So it was a great time. So do you guys need to cut it off now because of timing? Because I have a couple of other things I could tell you. No, go ahead. Go ahead. We're not. We're not on this. This is this is our show. So like we're now we don't have anything else going on. So it's free form. Yep. know, just sometimes you go over and time limit, they don't let you. So I was born in Pacific Palisades and you guys know what I'm talking about. Cause you saw the fires here two months ago. Yep. Yep. So my old homestead now is gone. Now, I didn't live there recently because that was my father's home, meaning, you know, the family home, right? And, but I can tell you that there is no Pacific Palate. And when you're born somewhere, you know, and now all of a sudden I go, gone. It does not exist. I mean, when people say what's, I go, no, it's insane. I mean, it's the craziest thing you ever saw. It looked like Hiroshima. I mean, it looked like an atomic bomb went off. And all those places, I walked by that reservoir a thousand times. I went to this restaurant here and did that one there. So I'm telling you guys something, that was just totally unnecessary. Totally unnecessary. thought of like what your childhood home is for most people, mean, unless you had a horrible, horrible childhood, but for most people, you know, like just the thought of that makes you feel safe. And when something like that is gone, like permanently gone, I can't imagine what that feeling is like. And thinking about compositions, were besides, I don't even know how many thousands of homes were built, burned. But I mean, I can tell you that Arnold Schoenberg, probably don't know who this is, but he was a classical composer. go, well, his son owned his manuscripts and lived in Pacific Palisades. And I go, guess what? Right. Up in smoke. I go, hopefully they digitized them, you know, years ago or something. But just No, go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, I was gonna be done. God damn it. Tell me what you're gonna say. I'll have to hunt you down. I'll have to hunt you down. Edit, edit Nick. So, just real quick. I worked in scripts ranch at the bank there and it was crazy cause scripts ranch lost three or 400 houses. And, we had like, mask on because the bank couldn't be closed, but we can only stand about three or four hours a day. Cause everybody was getting headaches. So we had to be open during the fires and it was just devastating to see. I think the. I think Californians and anyone in America could agree that people really come together. They help people out. They run out water to people. It's just, would, I know what you don't want to talk about, but what I will say, it's nice to see people galvanize. It's just too bad that it takes something like that to galvanize people stronger. I just wish we were all, you know, causing and goodwill and everything. So, yeah. genius to know you have to burn off dead brush. You don't have to be Mozart of the firemen brigade to know that. you. Yeah, let's be yeah. Yep. I yes. Yes. Yes. fuel without three elements, right? Air, fuel, and heat, right? So I go, and that's it. people are going to cook out. You know, unfortunately somebody is going to flip a cigarette and let's just leave it at that. Some some people are idiots, but let's not go there. But I mean, yeah, I agree with you so. so when I, when, so I'll give you briefly and then I, but. Two years ago I filmed a video on my YouTube channel and you'll see a Pacific Ocean out in a cliff and I go three blocks in is my house and So was telling your video the art for Daniel, you know three blocks down and Keep going back further Jonathan go back further and Daniel I'm on the edge of the freaking you know I go one more step and I'll be in the Pacific Ocean after I die on the way down, right? And I go collect the corpse down there on PCH. So I'm telling you this because that, I remember as a boy and my mother and father would sit out on a veranda and they would, in those days, they would watch the polo players, there was a polo field and they'd eat breakfast on the veranda in the morning, watch the polo players play. and there would be dry brush down there. And then somebody would come and clean it out in those days, sort of. Somebody would come and clean it, whatever the system was, I don't know. that polo field became the football field of Palisades Charter High, Pali High. You've seen Pali High and a million coming of age films. Jeff Bridges went there, lots of people. Now, Fortunately, only half of the buildings or a portion of the high school was burned down. I thought it would be the whole thing. Some of them got wiped out. that football field, I go, well, that football field had games for decades. And now I go, the whole place is, it's like, you don't even recognize it. I had an old, I have a lawyer buddy and he had a birthday two years ago and. his girl brought him to a nice place there, Rick Russo's thing. And I said, Arto, you know the bank behind me? used to bank at that bank and I go, it's gone. I go, you're right in front of that bank, you know? So. person that you mentioned tonight. All right. Oh, I know who it is. Let's hear it. The Cubs are doing a great thing tonight, folks. 1967, Tom Brenneman, Harry Carrier. Two hot dogs for a nickel. I can get two hot dogs for a nickel, and let's have a bud. God, big Harry Carrey fan that that shaped my career. The reason I get to live vicariously through interviews like this is taking broadcasting school 25 years ago, not getting ever scratched the itch being on a podcast. It's like a slice of heaven for me. yeah. The cables are gonna die. The legacy media is gonna die. All of that, go, the whole thing is podcasts and get your news from YouTube and the internet and these different sources. go, no, all that other structure is gone. Remember, yeah, go ahead. really glad we got to see different sides of you. I thought this would be music, but this was music, life humor, some, know, so yeah, there you go. There you go. talk a little bit about music and I'm happy to talk again because this was a lot of fun and you're regular guys and I appreciate your show and it's wonderful and I'm happy for your success and you guys are gonna even just go higher and higher and I'm happy for you. This is the medium, man, right here. This is it. Yeah. Yeah, totally. us, I mean, the best part of this is getting to meet people. mean, like we just, every week we meet somebody new and you know, like, I feel like we, we get a new friend. You know what I mean? Like we've, we've gained a new friend every week. So it's, it's great. We've met a lot of really cool people through this. We just had our year anniversary about what it was. yeah, was about a year and three weeks. Yep. Mid three weeks. Yep. Year in three weeks. Yeah. is so great. And you're just going to build and build. That's the hope. We really appreciate having you you on that you agree to come on with us, Jonathan. And yeah, I'd be happy to do it again. All right. Take care. If you could do me a favor real quick, it'll just take about a minute. I'm going to hit stop and then just let it finish uploading to the cloud. Okay. Give me one. Give me one second. you're gonna hit stop. Okay, not me. Yeah. Okay, sure, of course. I understand. person. Yeah, that was fun. That was good stuff. You guys are so your background is in sports.