“When I was twenty I started to play my brother’s guitar, but I’m not left handed. It was the only guitar that was at my house so I learned to play guitar with my left hand, so now I play with my left hand.” What sounds simple isn’t always so easy to do. Bruno Bavota creates music. What started with a left-handed guitar has turned into a neo-classical piano experience, with dashes of technology. In short, it’s Bruno’s own creation. 

According to Bruno, the strict interpretation of what a piano needed to sound like was a limitation in his hometown of Naples, Italy. “My fear was to be stuck all in classical music. My thought was to try to find my way, to play something that will be not classical, but try to play something else. I tried to make a link between the guitar and the piano.”

This ‘link’ has continued onwards into a ‘web’ of his own expression and style. Bruno simply states, “I just started to think that to be myself I have to do my music… I started to compose my music and then let others listen outside of my town, and Italy”. Doing his music has led him to sign with the Temporal Residence record label, tour around Europe, and even become featured in an Apple video celebrating 20 years of design. 

He loves creating music for the profound emotional connection he creates with himself, and the listeners. “Some people write me and tell me, ‘Bruno, you know you helped me a lot. You help me to ‘win’ depression, to ‘win’ a bad day, to go on. I think that it’s the most beautiful thing and the real reward to what I’m doing… it’s to help people. This is beautiful, and I think I will do music forever for these reasons.”

Bruno sees music as a natural medicine. After strolling along the ocean, or observing life, he gathers fresh feelings that translate into the beautiful melodies in which we can all enjoy. He is open to the thoughts and emotions that come his way, and is always looking for a new mixture, a new emotive stimulus to put into music. When he is playing and creating, Bruno knows there is something powerful if he begins to cry. He goes towards the feelings that create visceral and moving messages. 

Listen to Bruno’s episode right here:

How do you experience profound emotions?

Love podcasts? Search Profound Perspective on the Apple Podcast app to hear more of Bruno’s story.

Or go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bruno-bavota-composing-music-as-medicine-for-self-beyond/id1461707624?i=1000441586695

Visit Temporary Residence to purchase Bruno’s album: https://www.temporaryresidence.com/products/trr314

It’s pizza time!

I drove a total of 4,000 walking steps to pick up my pizza and come back home, which is equivalent of  just under half of the way into the stratosphere near the poles on Earth.

I rode on the equivalent of 8 large male silverback gorillas to travel to my destination.

for the price of a gumball and a half.

For the same price I paid for my pizza, I could buy 15 pounds of rice in bulk.

4190 = volvo weight 93′
Large Male Silverback Gorillas = 500 pounds 8 to get there
$3.50/gallon, 20 miles to the gallon
$0.17 cents/mile
Trip = 2 miles = $0.34 = gum ball
8.63 for medium pizza
1 miles = 2,000 steps or 20 minutes

Written in 2014.

Eric Kassel wears many hats; figuratively, and literally.  Growing up it looked like he was going to be a professional musician.  He played in punk rock bands and he eventually went to the Berklee College of Music… for just one year.  It wasn’t the place for him and he ventured off, creating his own path. 

Eric found that his love for music and visuals created something beautiful; band posters.  In his exploration of creating this synthesis of music and media, it quickly opened the doors to the world of graphic design and his professional path.  

“Making something out of nothing.  I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of… something pops into your head, and then how can you turn that thought into something physical and tangible, or at least as tangible as digital things can get nowadays.”

The process of making something doesn’t always come easy, even for someone like Eric who has been focused on creating his entire life.  With all of his interests and abilities to express himself, it can be challenging for him to make things into reality.  “I’m always asking, ‘what’s the first small step that I have to do’, and continually trying to break a project down into it’s smallest components and then just decide on what’s one thing I could do right now.  I have more success if I trick myself into doing something by basically telling myself that I just have to this one little tiny thing and make it as small as possible.  Inevitably, you find that three or four hours has passed and suddenly that little thing became BIGGER, and over time it gets done.”

This step-by-step methodology produces amazing results in his motion graphics work, a place where it becomes obvious that his love of music and rhythm fuses with design.  “When I’m working on videos, animations, or motion graphics, I’m highly cognizant of things like rhythm and timing, and how things progress over time which I think comes from music.  For me it began with music.  I was interested in art and music as a kid, but I kinda gravitated more towards music.” 

The fluidity of his art in motion is captivating, and one can only imagine how many little steps it must have taken to get the desired effect and natural flow to it all.  Getting into the details presents it’s own challenge,  Eric says that in his experience you have to “zoom out!” and take a look at it for a while…  “It’s having that ability to step back and see the forest through the trees, and not get really bogged down in the details.”

The essence of what Eric does is create.  He idealistically wants to create something everyday, and although sometimes he doesn’t complete something in a day, he’s ready for the next opportunity to express himself.  When asked what creating is like for him he said, “It’s a trance. It’s that flow moment when you suddenly kind of snap out of it and realize that two or three hours have passed in the blink of an eye.  When you’re really in that zone, it’s a trance.“

Eric Kassel is a designer, motion graphics artist, and musician based in Minneapolis. He is currently starting a virtual agency—Lake & Pine (lakeandpine.io)—with a partner in Seattle. He is also Creative Director at Visual, a company that focuses on virtual reality experiences. Wellness VR, their flagship product, is designed to create natural, anxiety-reducing experiences for the elderly community and senior living facilities.

Listen to Eric’s episode right here:

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Love podcasts? Search Profound Perspective on the Apple Podcast app to hear more of Eric’s story.

Or go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eric-kassel-creating-something-from-nothing-design/id1461707624?i=1000440338644