Embracing a “No Limits” Approach to Your Career

This week’s blog is a guest contribution, written by the guest from Episode 299 and Episode 30 of the weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast.  This is a firsthand testimony to what is often said on NHTE as well as in posts here in the weekly blog – that very, very few people in the music industry are doing just one thing.

HIHOWAREYA.  I’m MikelParis (pronounced Michael Paris).  I’m a Stomp alumnus, keyboardist with O.A.R., and president of Zornu Productions, a multifaceted production company creating and releasing original songs, multiple livestreams, TuneTrek Musical History show, photographic prints, and corporate product videos.  I’ve worked with talented folks like P!nk, Train, The Dan Band, and Jewel, including 16 years of extensive touring and recording with the aforementioned American rock band, O.A.R.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned (hopefully more than one thing) about being successful in this ever-changing entertainment industry, it’s to embrace wholeheartedly the idea of a “no limits” approach to my career.

What I mean by that is that as long as I’m continuing down the path of being a creative, all is well.  And for me, being a creative isn’t just about being a musician.  It’s about allowing my brain to pursue all paths of creative thoughts. And having the confidence to pursue these ideas.

I remember listening to Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, the creators of Stomp, talk about how they came up with this idea for found objects creating music. And the resistance they were met with at the beginning. But they knew they were on to something and had the confidence to put it in front of the public. This was incredibly inspiring to me and gave me more confidence to pursue my creations, however strange or left of center they be. One would think that playing trashcans and kitchen sinks couldn’t possibly translate into improving my piano skills – but it did. It greatly improved my ear training and rhythmic stability.  Not a path I expected or planned but one that has had a profound effect on my creative sensibility.

One of those creations is how I play the acoustic guitar. I always wanted to play, but a broken wrist in high school made it difficult for me to hold and grasp the neck of the guitar. So, I began exploring different ways to hold and play this stringed instrument. It began in college with my friend holding the guitar and fingering chords while I held rubber taped juggling sticks and drummed on the strings. Years later, Stomp inspired me to revisit this idea, but I needed to figure out how to make it a one-person operation. And so GuitarDrumming was born. Rhythmic and percussive, it ties together the sounds of the bass, acoustic guitar, drum, and piano. I’ve spent over two decades experimenting and developing this style and it is now the driving force behind many of my songs. “No limits!” (Listen to my GuitarDrumming and new song “B Good 2 Me” on my official website.)

As a musician, I’ve always tried to push myself to play as many instruments as possible. This has paid off down the road and has landed me numerous opportunities and allowed me to have my dream setup with O.A.R. Multiple keyboards, Djembe, timbales, hand percussion, and yes, a triangle. And I’ve also pushed myself to play with different musicians and artists. The lifelong idea is to continue to grow and evolve as a creative, and one of the best ways to learn is to immerse oneself.

Another of my creative pursuits, since I was in grade school, is photography. By age nine I was developing my own black and white prints, taking my camera everywhere. It always seemed like such a natural partnership – the audio and visual arts.

Then I started exploring the video medium and was immediately intrigued and inspired and began exploring storytelling driven by music. This led to my creation of TuneTrek, my musical history show. It explores historic landmarks or places of interest and tells their stories through video, photography, and original compositions. I’ve filmed 60 episodes over the years and have had numerous episodes air on local PBS stations. “No limits!”

Another chapter in the ‘no limits’ approach came at the start of the pandemic. Touring was canceled and I, like so many other professional musicians, found myself in completely uncharted territory. My main source of income was completely shut down. What the heck was I going to do? I’d been thinking about starting a TuneTrek livestream so I decided to research and educate myself on how to do this. Five days later, I went live with A Song a Day (ASAD) and have continued to this day with the rebrand Music. Drink. Stories. (MuDriS). It has given me purpose and focus during a time of fear and anxiety. And I discovered that the regular livestreams at 7:30 every night were giving viewers something to rely on during that time of uncertainty. Always pushing myself to evolve and grow as a creative. “No limits!”

During this time of isolation, I also designed a website for a company, filmed a two-part series for Bose entitled “In Search of the Near-Perfect Stream,” and composed and edited ten episodes of a horror/fiction podcast called “Red Riding Hoods.”

Currently, I’m releasing a song a month, livestreaming three days a week, featuring a TuneTrek episode a month, marketing and promoting my production company, and touring and recording with O.A.R.  

In conclusion, I encourage you to have an open mind about your creative paths and journeys.  You never know what thing can lead to another and how something seemingly unrelated to your goal can actually improve and inspire you.