We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful John March. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with John below.
John, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I believe that Craftsmanship develops as a kind of alchemy in a crucible of time, training/education, effort and recovery from mistakes. It is the lifelong commitment to excellence and the pursuit of mastery, over time.
If I look at your question about knowing what I know now, and what could I have done to speed up my learning process; I would have to say there was literally nothing I could have done differently because I needed the time that I needed in order to evolve in the best possible way.
The way I train people who work for me is that I help them to understand that it’s important to be able to make many mistakes and recover. That in fact craftsmanship is making thousands of mistakes, but making each mistake just once. That you end up actually making so many mistakes that you reach a point where understanding how to make the right choice, to move in the best possible direction, becomes easier and more direct over time.
Real craftsmanship comes in stages, where you start as an apprentice and, if you are lucky, you have a really good mentor or mentors who will work with you through your big mistake phase. That crucial period where you make the most mistakes and are also learning how to recover and solve problems creatively.
The second stage is the Journeyman phase where you go out into the world and are principally responsible for solving the creative problems in order for the project to occur. Still learning, but understanding more about creative problem solving and client relations. Learning how to start and finish a project from inception to delivery.
The final stage ,which I think occurs after a very long period of time, is Master Craftsman, where you are solving many complex creative and technical problems and also acting as a mentor for those who are beginning their journey as apprentices. It is a cyclical process but crucial important to the creative process.
During the Master Craftsman phase I think the skill that is the most important to cultivate is the ability to really listen, not only to what the demands of the project are, but what the needs of the client are because providing service as an audio craftsman or a musician is all about getting to the best possible result and hearing what the client really needs in border to do that.
If I were to distill down the most critical skills necessary I would say; patience, and unending willingness to learn something new every day and apply that, cultivating a deep sense of relaxation and trust in your skills, and having a really strong desire to achieve the best possible results with whoever you’re working for or with and to really want to be of service to the client or the project by dropping ego and committing to finding the best possible results.
There is an old saying “The Quality of your life is dependent on the focus of your attention.” The focus of my life has always been; to be a good human first and foremost, cultivate and practice integrity and humility and to be the best possible musician and audio/video craftsman I can possibly be, and to make as many beautiful things as I can in this lifetime.
John, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am an audio/video craftsman and a professional musician and sound designer. I own a media production company here in Colorado that has a fairly diverse range of clients that goes from musicians and artists to environmental and social nonprofits, entrepreneurs and educational institutions and large scale entertainment venues. I began my career at an early age and the diversity of my experience and skill sets has allowed me to flourish in multiple areas. I love working as a musician and a mixer and a producer for various creative projects, whether that’s producing/writing/editing and mixing a CD or film, or a live recording, or music/sound design for a game, podcast, Youtube or television, etc. I also really love doing sound design for visual media and podcasts. My focus is always to find the best possible solution for the deliverable that the client needs. In other words, really understanding the final product that the client wants to arrive at, and then being able to show various options that will help them to achieve the best possible result. I own a state of the art studio for audio and video post production and music and sound design. I am connected via fiber-optic cable and work with clients all over the world. I really enjoy helping clients and talent bring out the best in themselves and really arrive at the most vibrant and creative solutions. I am really proud that I have gotten to work on a lot of amazing projects over the years with clients that range from Michael Jackson to Warner Bros, or here locally with clients like the Colorado music Hall of Fame and AEG productions. If people want to know more about what I do and have done, they are welcome to visit my websites: zenavguy.com or zenguitarguy.com.
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Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I’ve always been a very focused person with a very strong work ethic. In 2013, here in Boulder, we had catastrophic flooding and unfortunately I was injured pretty badly breaking both of my arms. I was told, in the emergency room, that I would probably never play guitar again. I was pretty angry at that moment but also determined that that would not be true. Within two weeks of my injury I was hosting charitable fundraisers to help people who have been really harmed by the flooding. I was performing with many artists from around the Colorado community and even though I was in extreme pain I was dedicated to supporting my community. I remember playing at a small event at the Boulder fringe festival and my friend who was running it came up to me and was very concerned because I was obviously in a lot of pain while I was playing. My response was that I would rather be there and playing and supporting the people who really needed it rather than worrying about whether or not my arms were broken. I think it’s that kind of focus and resilience that’s been a keystone for my career and work ethic over the years. I am proud of the fact that I can overcome many challenging obstacles and find a way back to the best possible solutions for myself, my community and my life.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Being an artist and a creative is a very strange label to me. I think most people who choose this path don’t actually really have a choice? I don’t see myself having fit into the mainstream day job lifestyle. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to work really hard, it just means that the structure of how I want to work is more along the lines of collaboration and creativity without the structure of a specific environment. For me I have spent a lifetime working seven days a week 365 days a year, but the great gift that has offered me has been an unusual Life. I have traveled all over the world and met really interesting people and experienced cultures that I would never have had the experience of had I not been working with a lot of different creative collaborators. I think for me being able to make beautiful things, generate livelihood and connect with communities around the world has been the most rewarding aspect of being an artist and a creative person.
Contact Info:
- Website: ZenAVguy.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JmMediaservicesllc
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-march-2774298/
- Twitter: @Zenguitarguy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheZenguitarguy/featured
Image Credits
Rocio De Prado Gonzalez
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