Lights, Camera, Success: Joe Willis and David Garcia on the Entertainment Industry (Episode 112)

Make Music Your Business.

Some of the most important people in the entertainment business are the ones who make things happen when the musicians aren't even in the room. In Episode 112 of The Career Musician, Nomad sat down with two of them: Joe Willis, the longtime manager of R&B and pop star Jordin Sparks, and David Garcia, director of photography and co-owner of Kombine Media.

Nomad and Joe go back to 2005 and the American Idol live tour. David lives one street over from Nomad in Burbank. Together they pulled back the curtain on what a career in the entertainment industry really takes, and why mastery, not glamour, is what keeps you working.

The glamour is real, and so is the grind

Joe's path started behind a drum kit as a band kid, moved through making beats and ten years as a battle rapper, then into a music industry studies degree. An internship doing promo grunt work turned into a job at a label, then four years in the video commissioning department at Capitol Records, then a role on the 19 Entertainment side of American Idol as a management rep and head of talent. He described teenagers learning a song, a dance number and a full recording version in a day and a half, then performing for an audience of millions.

David came up as a PA on music videos in the late '90s and early 2000s, when a day really meant a day.

"My second day as a PA on a music video was 37 hours long," he said. They slept on set, and he was thrilled to do it.

Joe's point for anyone dreaming about the lifestyle: everybody earns their dollar. The schedules in this business are brutal, and most people could not handle them. If you want this life, know what you are signing up for. You learned how to make music. Nobody taught you how to make a living making music.

Nobody sees the 15 years before the stage

When Nomad asked how someone starts on a path like theirs, Joe turned it right back on the work. People see the player on the tour bus and on stage. They don't see the bleeding fingers or the years of practice before anyone was watching. You have to love something enough to do it to death.

"Find me a broke master... I want to find that guy. It doesn't exist."

Joe Willis, 52:06

His version of the lesson: the people who master something keep working. If they get fired, they get rehired somewhere else, or they build something. That's grit. Winners win, or they lose and get back up. That is Work begets work, earned the slow way.

Find out what you don't want to do

David's story is a reminder that a career can change shape. He set out to be a director, got there, made commercials and had music videos on MTV. Then he realized the role made him feel like a puppet, and that part of the thrill was ego. What he truly loved was making images. So he leaned into cinematography and built his own production and rental company.

The best advice he ever got: go do a bunch of things and find out what you don't like, what you are miserable doing, and stay away from it. That kind of honest self-check is Objectivity from the ETHOS code.

You can't sustain an ego and a career

Nomad shared a story from a private plane ride to a charity event with David Foster, Kenny G, Babyface, Nathan East and more. The young millionaire who owned the plane came aboard to say hello, and for a moment Nomad caught himself wondering how to get where that guy was. Then he checked himself. He was already where he needed to be.

"My ego was in check. By that time I had done so much, I knew you can't sustain an ego and a career simultaneously. It just doesn't work."

Nomad, 54:42

Joe's take: that plane owner probably would have traded places to play with those players. Stop thinking you have to be somewhere other than where you are. Low maintenance / no drama starts with keeping your own ego out of the way.

Success: are you still working?

For David, success has nothing to do with career. It is his family. Joe told the story of a retired mentor he ran into years later, at a time when he did not feel successful. The mentor asked one question: are you still in the music business? Joe said yes. Then you are a success.

When Joe later came to Nomad looking for the same kind of boost, Nomad asked him two things: are you healthy, and are you still working? Then what's the issue? Go kick some more doors.

Your team, and your circle

Joe and David were building a program to help creatives turn their skills into a business that lasts longer than one job to the next: business planning, finding clients, building a pitch deck. Joe's word for the goal: don't just understand the business, overstand it.

Nomad was quick to point out that nobody does it alone. He credited his own team of four, including his wife and his right hand, Eric G. Joe added a way to see it: you already have a circle of influence. Go through your phone and pick ten people you could build something with.

"If you're not challenging yourself with sucking at something every day, you're in a rut. That's what a rut is."

Joe Willis, 1:19:01

His other reminder, learned while picking up guitar as an adult: repetition and 30 minutes a day will change your life. Writer's block, in his view, is just a head full of ideas you aren't executing. Get them out.

The takeaway

Love the work enough to do it to death. Check your ego at the door. Keep your people close and keep learning. If you are getting ready for your next opportunity, start with the free Get the Gig guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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