Week #47 (Nov.19-25, 2018)

I APPreciate these! 😅

 

Week #47 (Nov.19-25, 2018) - I APPreciate These! 

When I first started doing these weekly updates I promised a wide range of topics. Basically a behind-the-scenes into my life and mind so that maybe in the process you might gain a thing or two. So far, they’ve all been of a very serious and weighty nature, so this week, I’ve decided to make it a little lighter. So in on particular order, here are 11 of my most frequently used apps that help manage all the moving parts of my life, family and business.

Disclaimer: I’m an unabashed iPhone lover, so these are iOS apps. Trigger warning to all the Android users out there 😂…Still, I’m sure you can probably find the Android version of most of these apps.ClockUndoubtedly, the clock is the first app I use every single day. My alarm wakes me up around 7:30AM (still working on pushing that back to 6AM). I also use the countdown clock frequently when I’m working on time sensitive projects or trying to work within a rigid schedule. Also because I have family and business contacts spread across the world, I always have multiple time zones on display.PodcastsMY OH MY! I cannot overstate the power of podcasts. I might go a month or so without using it, but I inadvertently always come back to it and subsequently use it non-stop for a long period of time. By substituting some of my music listening with podcast listening, my mind and skills are sharped with the great knowledge I pick up. I’m subscribed to different  podcasts ranging from business to Christian living, to finance. Some I’m currently enjoying are;

  • Sermon of the Day (Desiring God - John Piper) - Christian Living

  • Sermons (Grace Fellowship Church) - Christian Living

  • The DollarSavvy Podcast (SA Capital) - Finance

  • How I Built This with Guy Raz (NPR) - Business 

  • Entrepreneurs on Fire (John Lee Duman) - Business

  • This American Life (This American Life) - Amazing Storytelling

Voice MemosYou never know where/when inspiration will strike, so this little app always comes in super handy when I want to quickly record a melody/lyric idea before it’s lost to the abyss.NotesLike my voice memos, I use my notes as my writing pad. Many a song/ideas live here. If you want to torture me, delete all my notes. If that were to happen, all I can say is, it would take Jesus himself to restrain and comfort me. My notes app also houses my daily “To Dos” list as well as other random things. I know there are smarter To Do apps out there, but so far I’ve found the simplicity of this app to work well for my needs.DropboxCollaboration is king. As I write and record new songs, or get new beats, in addition to downloading it onto my actual hard drive, I also store copies onto my Dropbox. It’s awesome because my files are always available to me wherever I go, even if I don’t have my laptop. My engineer and I also share a folder that greatly eases our workflow. When he needs me to review a mix, he doesn’t have to email it. He just drops it in the folder, I see the notification and I can listen on my phone or laptop. It’s awesome.WhatsAppWith contacts around the world, I need a way to easily communicate with them. Whatsapp does that for me. Plus it has that feature of knowing if your message was delivered and if the recipient actually read it. I don’t know how I feel about this…..I suppose it’s good when you’re the person sending 😝.SpotifyThis is pretty self-explanatory. My wife sometimes laments just how much music I listen to. When I’m not listening to a podcast (or talk radio), there is almost always music playing around me. From the moment I wake up, to the moment I go to bed. Interestingly, my one and half year old son is picking up the habit from me. Whenever he wakes up now, he runs to the speaker, and points at it. It’s AWESOME. My music preference changes from day to day. Generally though, I really enjoy listening to lo-fi hip hop while I work. It’s subtle and not distracting, but has the driving beat to keep the mind active.Spotify for Artists Gotta keep an eye on my Spotify stats. This app gives me a picture of how my songs are performing. It’s a great tool that helps me plan my musical releases well. I really commend Spotify for this app and all they do for artists. StarbucksMy blood is approximately 33.3% coffee. I LOVE coffee. No scratch that! I LOVE REALLY GOOD coffee. When I started drinking coffee years ago, I remember saying to myself “I’m not gonna be one of those snobs that only drinks Starbucks” 🙄…..weeellll, here we are. It’s not so much that I only drink Starbucks, it’s more I only like to drink good coffee. I know Starbuck is a big chain, but they actually have good coffee. Without them, I’d have to search for the little specialty coffee shops whenever I visit a new city. And while I do that sometimes, I rarely have the time. So it’s good that a big brand with an imprint in many markets actually serves up a good brew. Hence the Starbuck app is a must. I’m not even gonna mention the perks of using the app.MintNot making a plan for your money or keeping a close eye on it, is probably one of the dumbest mistakes you can ever make….and frankly it’s one most of us have probably made at some point. Enter MINT! I love this app because it makes budgeting and expense tracking so easy. Before buying that extra Starbucks coffee I can easily see how we’re doing with our “Coffee Shop” budget…..Seriously, we have a “Coffee Shop” section in our budget. The app also makes our monthly budget reviews so much faster and simpler than when we used a manual Excel spreadsheet. Best of all, it’s free. I highly recommend it. PaypalSome like it, some don’t. I find it really helpful for collecting/making payments both domestic and international. It’s strange to me that direct bank-to-bank wire transfer is still one of the slowest and most expensive ways of sending/receiving money internationally. So as an independent artist and entrepreneur, I’m glad Paypal has sped up that process. Some people complain that they’ve had issues with the service in the past, but so far I haven’t.So there you go. These are just some of the apps I find helpful in my day-to-day. Until next week, #KnowItsRealP.S. How about you, what are your top 5 apps? Let me know by responding to this email!

MUSIC: Classics

I've been making music for more than a few years. So I'm going to starthighlighting some classic records you may or may not know about. These are fan favourites, so enjoy. This week, is the introspective, "Somewhere in Jersey". I wrote this song on a day's trip to New Jersey for a show back in 2016.

MUSIC: The Latest

The official remix project to the original "XXY". This project features 6 remixes including 2 of the uber popular "Stay" with production from UK powerhouses, HXLY KXSS, and WYLD, and US-based Quinten Coblentz. The same songs you already know and love, re-imaginged!

YOUTUBE

Touring as an independent artist isn’t easy, but it’s so worth it.  Thanks to everyone who came out to the the "Days To Love" Tour, making it a great experience. Watch & don't forget to sub.

UPCOMING CONCERTS

Catch me in your city. Click the photo

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