We recently connected with David Franz and have shared our conversation below.
David, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Does anyone actually overcome imposter syndrome? I don’t think so. I think the voice that tells you that you’re an imposter can just get a little quieter, or not around as often as you build confidence through practice, but I don’t think it goes away.
And that’s a good thing. Imposter syndrome can be useful if you use it for checking in on yourself, not getting too cocky, and always striving to improve. Otherwise, without some level of imposter syndrome, you could be in danger of becoming narcissistic.
The obvious danger of imposter syndrome is when it debilitates you from pursuing your aspirations. I had it for decades. I did not think that I could be a lead vocalist, perform as a solo singer/songwriter, or front a band. But something happened leading into the pandemic, and then got stronger during the pandemic. It wasn’t that my imposter syndrome was reduced, it was that my desire and determination to grow and share my music and lyrics overcame my fear of rejection. The negative feeling of not changing overcame the fear of change. I finally dove into my deep well of passion, decided that my art was worthy of sharing, and tossed out the potential of feeling regret later in life.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
For me, discovering artistic bliss unfolds in two magical moments: playing a song live for someone who profoundly resonates with it and co-writing a piece that ascends to new heights through the collaborative synergy of passionate artists. Creating music on my own is healing; however, sharing in a musical experience is when the power of musical magic expands and becomes otherworldly.
I’m a musician and producer who does his best to make unique music that feels familiar and creates a soul connection with the human condition. I write, perform, produce, score films, record, mix, master, create video content, and play multiple instruments.
Music and recording have been core to my being since I was quite young. Early piano lessons and cheap tape recorders progressed to serious drum lessons, recording band jams, and leading my 300-piece high school marching band. This childhood experience pointed me in the music direction, but I had no idea (nor did my parents) that anyone could have a music career. So, I went to Virginia Tech to become an engineer.
As a dispassionate Bachelor’s and Master’s student in Industrial and Systems engineering, I surprisingly received lucrative but downright depressing job offers. After seeing my life flash before my eyes (in a bad way) at a job interview for FedEx, I decided to follow my heart and take a leap of faith… I wrote my master’s thesis about mathematically modeling jazz improvisation and then packed up and went to Berklee College of Music.
As a slightly older student attending Berklee on my own dime, I was a complete sponge. I majored in Music Production and Engineering and spent as much time as possible in the studio, even working in the studio office to get more studio time. During my last year there, I worked for the newly rejuvenated Berklee Press and floated an idea for a book about using Pro Tools. With the blessing of Digidesign (now Avid), makers of Pro Tools, I wrote the first book about the industry standard digital audio workstation (still today). This led to authoring and teaching the first online course through Berklee’s online school. (Fun fact: I never graduated from Berklee because I refused to take and pay for the required Pro Tools course.) I continued to author more books and courses while at the same time founding my record label Underground Sun (in 2002), and producing artists and bands from around the world.
On the heels of this success, Lynda.com (the first online video training library) hired me to make Pro Tools training videos, leading to a full time position as content manager of Audio+Music at the company. 300+ Audio+Music courses later, Lynda.com was bought by Linkedin (and subsequently by Microsoft). Throughout all of this, I maintained a serious side hustle of singing, producing, co-writing, and touring with artists on Underground Sun. Through the magic of internet virality, Iyeoka (an artist on Underground Sun) and I had a hit song, “Simply Falling,” enabling us to tour around the world.
After leading a triple life (albeit all in music) as a music producer, president of a record label, and content manager at a large tech company, I finally freed myself of the golden handcuffs of corporate America and am now fully focused on writing, performing and producing music for myself.
Right before the pandemic, I committed to producing, recording, and releasing 10 albums in 10 years of my own music. After decades of producing music for other singers, I finally stepped up to the microphone and became a lead singer. In 2021, I released my first album called “Into the Unknown” and followed it up in 2022 with “Through The Illusion.” In 2023, I started playing in the band TD Lind and The Aviators, and we released a live album.
Looking ahead, 2024 promises to be the best creative year of my career. My new band Dang Tiger will release an album of my original music paired with a book based on the life lessons encapsulated in the song lyrics. TD Lind and The Aviators will also release a new album, which I’ve co-written and produced with TD Lind.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Making new mistakes – This encompasses two aspects… one is not being afraid to fail, and the other is learning from those failures. I’ve made many mistakes along my career path, but I try to look at every mistake as an opportunity to grow and learn, and not an opportunity to beat myself up.
Having optimism – Historically, I’ve been optimistic about the short term and somewhat pessimistic about the long term. For example, when I first meet someone, I have hope that people will do what they say they will do and act in good faith. Yet, in the past I tried to balance that with feeling pessimistic about the long term so that if someone lets me down, or worse, I let myself down, then I have a reason to distrust people or myself and hold on to my pessimism. However, I’ve found that this hasn’t served me well. Hope in the short term is great, but pessimism, in any form, is based in fear. And fear holds us back from our potential. So, I’ve become an optimist for the short term and the long term, which has led to a greater belief in myself and trust in others, and I now think is the only way to ensure long term success and happiness.
Developing compassion – The most important skill of all, in my view, is feeling and showing compassion. I developed my knowledge of this more thoroughly when I read “The Art of Happiness” by The Dalia Lama and Howard C. Cutler. Compassion enables a person to have a deeper understanding of and connection with another individual. Without taking on the burden of their suffering, as can happen with having empathy, compassion helps you to see another’s suffering and offer goodwill, even if that other person has hurt you. For instance, with family members, close personal relationships, and even business partnerships, I’ve been able to see beyond any injurious words those people may have used with me and see the underlying pain from where those words are coming from. This enables me to have compassion for them and their pain, and thus take their words less personally. Having compassion for yourself is also a super power, as it can heal you from the inside out. I believe compassion is the highest form of love and emotional intelligence, and leads to greater well-being and happiness.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
The most influential book I’ve read in the past several years is The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer. While this book is not necessarily a management, entrepreneurial, or philosophical book, it’s a book about how to live better. And this, of course, affects ALL aspects of a person’s life. I found it in a particularly dark time during the pandemic when I was beating myself up way too much. It helped me beyond belief.
It helped me understand that the voice inside my head, the one constantly berating me about small and large things, was not actually me. Instead, the book showed me that I am the observer of that voice. And I have power over that voice. I can decide whether to listen to that voice or not. I can even turn off that voice or change its message.
It seems simple, but digesting this message was utterly life-changing. By first understanding that the negative messages from the internal voice were not me and then adjusting the messages, I could change my inner dialogue and thus change my mood, energy, motivation, confidence, and will to thrive. This has opened so many doors and inspired me further to follow my dreams, from performing my first solo concerts to having much more clarity in my direction.
Contact Info:
- Website: undergroundsun.com AND davidfranz.com
- Instagram: undergroundsun AND davidfranzmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UndergroundSunMusic/ AND https://www.facebook.com/davidfranzmusic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmfranz
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Undergroundsun
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/undergroundsun
Image Credits
Bill Kennedy, Jeff Uzzel
