We were lucky to catch up with Eric Neilson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Eric, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?
For the first year, our “sessions” were produced in my livingroom. I opened up my home to musician friends as a virtual platform to share their music. After all, almost all venues were closed due to the pandemic. In June 2021, Rachel and I caught wind of an open mic being held in Ocean Beach on Thursdays. It was being held at the Template! When we found our way over to Niagra Avenue, walked inside the cafe, we were both amazed. As a songwriter, I just thought to myself, “I would love to play a show here!” I guess I acted on that initial reaction to the venue. During one of the open mics, I was introduced to one of the owners, Shine
. We talked for a while about each of our projects, and Shine mentioned that he was looking to have the Template’s event schedule filled. I offered to host my YouTube channel here, and he was excited to start collaborating. We scheduled our first TunedUp Live! session for August 2021. We had our friends Miro Imani and Paige Koehler perform our debut! With this being our first live show, there were hiccups, but between Rachel and I, we let our expertise work through them.
We booked another show in August, with a local band, The Gnarly Heads, opening for Riston Diggs with the Gravities. For our two first public sessions, a friend of Rachel’s (and talented videographer), Huy Nyugen, offered to be a cameraperson for our productions. This was a saving grace! Since I was both host and cameraperson, I was juggling many hats during those two shows. Having Huy present, I was able to have him grab footage of the performances, while I walked around to talk to guests and capture b-roll for post-production. I was ecstatic when Huy offered to lend his eye for future sessions!
With the amount of archived footage from those two shows, I needed to decide on an appropriate upload schedule to YouTube. As a manager, I was learning to set realistic goals and expectations. We were striving for weekly videos, but that became time consuming with only two of us. We settled on bi-weekly video releases, with live-recordings scheduled once a month.
This project has always been about growth, and we’ve had our growing pains. Scaling up to organizing live shows meant we needed to ramp up promotional efforts, which required a new skillset. Rachel and I have a lot of combined production experience, so I’ve made it my priority to improve my ability to spread the word. With this in mind, I decided to use my veteran educational benefits to attend SDSU for their undergraduate Marketing program. Today, I’m two semesters into classes, and I was recently accepted into the Lavin Entrepreneur Program! My sights are focused on turning DharmaDen into a sustainable, effective platform for spotlighting local talent. I believe this learning phase will allow DharmaDen to scale up to a larger degree in the near future.
Eric, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a singer-songwriter, audio/video technician, and a Navy veteran. DharmaDen is the result of having a love for local music, extensive audio/video technical training, and previous educational experiences. Here’s a brief recap of what has gotten me here:
In 2011, I attended the University of New Haven for Music and Sound Recording. While attending, I became actively involved in the college radio station, becoming the student manager as a sophomore. I launched the station’s first YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/WNHURadio). In 2014, I enlisted in the Navy as an Interior Communications Electrician, which couldn’t have been a more ideal job to have in the military. I was sent to school to maintain television broadcasting systems. I was one of the ship’s go-to A/V technicians onboard. 2020 saw the end of my enlistment, and I started DharmaDen.
What does DharmaDen provide? In short, it’s providing a community that shines a spotlight on local talent in San Diego. We produce quality video content that artists are proud to share and use to further their careers. The bulk of our content is uploaded on our YouTube channel, and we send the artists videos from their set, so they can build their social media accounts and use in their Electronic Press Kits. Through DharmaDen, I’m manifesting a music scene that is more collaborative than competitive. Case in point, we created a TunedUp Artist Calendar, which keeps our audience up-to-date on all of our upcoming productions and their upcoming gigs. We also have songwriting workshops and future collaborations in the works! Like a tree that has many branches, DharmaDen is growing steadily in many directions. We are striving to be more than just a venue for local talent, we want to be a healthy network of creative individuals working towards the collective well-being. We want to be the go-to organization creatives tap into for getting recognized. Plus, we are working to market our channel to tourists who want to explore the San Diego music scene.
I foresee DharmaDen growing into a community hub in the form of a cannabis cafe/performance venue. Federal cannabis prohibition won’t last forever, and I want to be ready to set the stage with an education-driven space for the community. While legalization is pending, I will build the community of artists, performers, small-business owners, and music industry professionals that will help make the cafe a reality.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Our consistent dedication to support other artists has played a huge part in building our reputation. We want to see our friends succeed, so Rachel and I work diligently to produce the best content for them. Both Rachel and I play close attention to the details, and that work ethic results in a product that is constantly improving.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
The biggest lesson I learned as an aspiring songwriter is to attend other people’s shows. It’s the Golden Rule for growing your own audience. Every open mic and show I attend is an opportunity to meet new talent and to inform them about our platform. Consistent involvement on social media has also been effective at growing our clientele. I try to stay informed on the music venues, artists, and organizations throughout the city. DharmaDen’s Instagram feed is filled with local San Diego happenings, and I reach out when I see something that excites or inspires me. I enjoy the process of meeting new people which helps make this developing strategy worthwhile.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @dharmadensessions
- Facebook: DharmaDen Sessions
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/dharmadensessions
- Other: Our Newsletter Sign-Up: http://eepurl.com/h2RbfD
Image Credits
Photos taken by Brady Cooling Flyer made by the Template