We were lucky to catch up with Michael Litten recently and have shared our conversation below.
Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
After an almost 40 year career in disease care, it was a blessing beyond measure to be provided the opportunity to host Ride The Vibe. As The Last DJ, I get to play what I want to play and say what I want to say, how coooooooooool running is that. While I had a tremendous ride working for both Fortune 500 companies and start ups nothing beats working for yourself and following your passion, which in my case is music. As a music addict, nothing assuages my jones more than hosting Ride The Vibe.
Michael, 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?
Ride The Vibe is a live podcast produced in the comfortable http://drsatl.com studio, located in Roswell, GA. The show is hosted by Michael Litten, “The Last DJ” https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDLitten and Wahid Gomes, executive producer/owner of the studio. The show features an “old school” listening party format which means we encourage the listeners to sit back with a glass of their favorite beverage in the intimacy of an environment of their choosing, even if it is on a float in the water, while we play a sample of 5-6 of the guest’s songs and then chat with them about music. The show features a wide range of local, national and international artists. In the studio we enjoy a beverage carefully selected from local and worldwide businesses to match the artist and the time of day of the recording. We ask listeners to jump on the wave and Ride The Vibe because it’s a coooool way for getting the creative juices flowing. And, we bid them cheers to a grooooovy day and suggest they remember to always Ride The Vibe.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Being a musician has always been a tough life with a myriad of obstacles to success. And today that road has become even more fraught with challenges. Two things music lovers can do to help musicians, support live music, because as Neil Young says so brilliantly and succinctly, “Live music is better.” And purchase the artists music directly from them rather than a streaming service. In an excellent article by Stuart Clark titled, “REM’s Mike Mills tells Spotify CEO Daniel Ek to “go fu*k yourself” over artists needing to release more music comments” Chet Porter hits the nail on the head, “Yeah because your company only pays $0.00331 per stream and then that gets split between the artist(s), management, business manager, lawyer, and label.”
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being The Last DJ and hosting Ride The Vibe is the opportunity to help promote musicians and encourage folks to buy their music directly from them and to go see them live. To quote the brilliant Tower Records mantra, “NO MUSIC, NO LIFE.”
Contact Info:
- Website: http://drsatl.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDLitten
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-litten/a/487/a39
Image Credits
Wahid Gomes