How To Level-Up From Small Gigs To Massive Projects – With Brandon Rike of TNSN DVSN

As an audio engineer, you probably think in a very specific way… Along the lines of “this is what I do, and this is how I do it.”

But what if a client expected you to do a little something different from your regular routine?

That’s what happened to Brandon Rike, a merch designer turned creative director when Twenty One Pilots expected him to do all of their graphics work.

Now, Brandon consistently works with some of the biggest names in music…

Listen now to find out how Brandon’s go-with-the-flow approach helped him build a great business.

In this episode you’ll discover:

  • Why asking “why should anyone care” is important to the creative process
  • How figuring out an artist’s motive gives an insight into their art that you can’t get any other way
  • Why controlling the creative brand has let Brandon boost his clients’ careers
  • How delegating work let Brandon focus on his family life
  • Why Brandon’s goals evolved from mathematical (money) to serving his clients
  • Why you should let your clients take you a little out of your comfort zone
  • What inconsistent branding does to destroy a business
  • Why one-hit-wonders had one hit… While other bands have lasting success
  • How focusing on money can force you into poor business decisions
  • How Brandon was able to turn his passion for art into a career

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Quotes 

“I think the thing that you’re best at should be a very important guide most of the time because the thing that you’re best at usually has this built-in motivation to get you out of bed in the morning.” – Brandon Rike

“The joke I always make with everybody is, it was this moment of like, Transformer *sound effect* I MUST provide.” – Chris Graham

“Now you’re not just saying, ‘hey I will send you this deliverable, you pay me this money, thank you goodbye.’ It’s no longer that, now it is ‘we have a relationship together. We are building something much, much larger together.’” – Brian Hood

Episode Links


Websites

456 Recordings – www.456recordings.com

Chris Graham – www.chrisgrahammastering.com

Filepass – https://filepass.com

Bounce Butler – http://bouncebutler.com

Tension Division – https://tensiondivision.com/

Brandon Rike Twitter – https://twitter.com/brandonrike

Seth Mosley (Full Circle Music) – https://fullcirclemusic.com/

Hot Topic – https://www.hottopic.com/

Mark Eshleman – https://www.markdirected.com/

Majestic Clothing – https://clothesbymajestic.com/

FV Corporation – https://www.vfc.com/

Tim Ferriss – https://tim.blog/

Tik Tok – https://www.tiktok.com/

Creative Works Conference – https://conference.creativeworks.co/

Belief Agency (Jesse Bryan) – https://beliefagency.com/

Northstar Cafe https://www.thenorthstarcafe.com/

Courses

The Profitable Producer Course – theprofitableproducer.com

The Home Studio Startup Course – www.thesixfigurehomestudio.com/10k

Facebook Community

6FHS Facebook Community – http://thesixfigurehomestudio.com/community

Instagram

@chris_graham – https://www.instagram.com/chris_graham/

@brianh00d – https://www.instagram.com/brianh00d/

@brandonrike – https://www.instagram.com/brandonrike/

YouTube Channels 

The Six Figure Home Studio – https://www.youtube.com/thesixfigurehomestudio

Send Us Your Feedback!

The Six Figure Home Studio Podcast – podcast@thesixfigurehomestudio.com

Related Podcast Episodes

Episode 105: How To Get More Clients Via Passive Referrals, And Why You’re Not Getting Credited For Your Work – https://www.thesixfigurehomestudio.com/how-to-get-more-clients-via-passive-referrals-and-why-youre-not-getting-credited-for-your-work/

Bands, artists, and writers

The Beatles – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles

Led Zeppelin – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin

Carrie Underwood – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Underwood

Rascal Flatts – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rascal_Flatts

Slipknot – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipknot_(band)

My Chemical Romance – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Chemical_Romance

Pearl Jam – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Jam

Nirvana – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(band)

Twenty One Pilots – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_One_Pilots

Billie Eilish – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Eilish

AJ Babcock – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Heroes

Caleb Shomo – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caleb_Shomo

Beartooth – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beartooth_(band)

Underoath – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underoath

Smashing Pumpkins – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smashing_Pumpkins

AFI (A Fire Inside) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI_(band)

Weezer – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weezer

Korn – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korn

Angels & Airwaves – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_%26_Airwaves

Too Close To Touch – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_Close_to_Touch

Starset – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starset

Grandson – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandson_(musician)

Thirty Seconds to Mars – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Seconds_to_Mars

Willie Nelson – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Nelson

Grateful Dead – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grateful_Dead

Phish – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phish

Dave Matthews Band – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Matthews_Band

Tool – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_(band)

Insane Clown Posse – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insane_Clown_Posse

Dead Poetic – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Poetic

Albums

Beartooth – Diseasehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease_(Beartooth_album)

Twenty One Pilots – Vesselhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vessel_(Twenty_One_Pilots_album)

Twenty One Pilots – Blurryfacehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blurryface

Twenty One Pilots – Trenchhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_(album)

Smashing Pumpkins – Shiny And Oh So Brighthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiny_and_Oh_So_Bright,_Vol._1_/_LP:_No_Past._No_Future._No_Sun.

AFI – The Missing Manhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Missing_Man

Weezer – S/T (The Black Album) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weezer_(Black_Album)

Korn – The Nothinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nothing_(Korn_album)

Books

Building A StoryBrand by Donald Miller – https://www.amazon.com/Building-StoryBrand-Clarify-Message-Customers/dp/0718033329

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber – https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280/

Branding Examples

Apple – https://www.apple.com/

Ohio State University – https://www.osu.edu/

Coca Cola – https://www.coca-cola.com/

Philadephia Eagles – https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/

New England Patriots – https://www.patriots.com/

New York Mets – https://www.mlb.com/mets

Chicago Cubs – https://www.mlb.com/cubs

Los Angeles Clippers – https://www.nba.com/clippers/

Sports

Curling – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling

Automatic Episode Transcript — Please excuse any errors, not reviewed for accuracy

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