We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kevin “kPod” Podmeyer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kevin “kPod”, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?
The first time that I ever got paid for a live performance was when I played drums in a band during high school. There were 5 of us in the band and we were just a bunch of unknown high schoolers, so the “crowd” that we drew essentially consisted of our parents and our friends from school. That meant that our measly $20 show payment had to be split 5 ways…but I can’t even express in words how exhilarated I felt to be handed those 4 loose, dirty $1 bills simply for doing what I already loved to do for free…make music.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to do something involving music. Whether that meant writing, producing, scoring films, or whatever, I just wanted to work with music in some way, shape, or form. Rhythm and the drums sort of found me and then after years of drumming, I fell into the wonderful world of Hip-Hop. I have been a Hip-Hop Artist/Songwriter since approximately 2010 and a Producer since approximately 2018.
My Environmental Professional career began when I was a college student at the University of Central Florida. I was an “Undecided” major for my first 2 years because I had no idea what I wanted to do scholastically. I know I wanted to make music but I felt like I needed a “real job” to pay my bills while I continued to chase my dream of being a Professional Musician. I decided to get my Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Sciences because I always enjoyed being outdoors as a kid and I figured if there’s 1 industry that’s always going to need help & improvement, it’s the Environmental field. So I’ve been working in the Environmental Industry since graduating in 2013 while simultaneously pursuing my music career.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
There are 2 main rewarding aspects if you ask me. The first is the feeling that you get as a creative person when you get in your groove and you almost feel like the art is creating itself. That might sound crazy but some people reading this will know exactly what I’m talking about. The feeling of making, creating, producing, or just doing something great is immeasurable…and then you’re left with an amazing piece of art to constantly reward yourself and others with infinitely…crazy. Which brings me to the second rewarding aspect and that is when your art connects with other people. Performing a live concert where people are feeling the energy of your music, reciting lyrics, jumping up and down with everybody…that is an amazing feeling. And knowing that you provided the anthem for that to happen is beyond rewarding!
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
Honestly, YouTube. I obviously have known about YouTube for over 12 years but I realized way later than I should have what a useful tool YouTube really is. In the beginning I was mainly just using YouTube to watch music videos, skate videos, interviews, or whatever but I never thought to use it as basically a video encyclopedia. Anything you could ever want to know is on YouTube…and TikTok is pretty much the same thing just more condensed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/kpodmusic
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kpodmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kpodmusic
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kpodmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnzA9FhNrahQkBXF_k5e2NQ