Meet Adam Ganer

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Adam Ganer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Adam with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

I would love to say that my work ethic came from having tremendous focus and discipline starting when I was in kindergarten, but that wouldn’t be true at all. Work ethic was something that I had to learn and something that I always focus on improving. People aren’t machines, at least yet, with all the AI stuff who knows, but there are always gonna be days where we say “My laundry can wait” or “I’ll finish what I should be doing after this TV show.” But I definitely had to learn work ethic. I’ve always had drive, but I think drive and work ethic coincide and also differ to a degree. Drive can be, I want to learn a new language, or I want to run the Boston Marathon, drive starts with a goal in my opinion. But work ethic is the process of actually putting in the work to achieve that goal. How much do you want to achieve that goal and what steps are you going to take to make it happen? And I would say personally that I really was able to hone in on work ethic when I was in college. I had to start at community college because I didn’t have the grades to go to a university after high school. I was busy snowboarding or doing other stuff when I was in high school. But after high school I was looking at jobs and I said, these jobs are always going to be here but going to college is something I really want to do. So that is where work ethic began to help focus my drive. And I remember specifically when I can say that my work ethic was actually beginning to shine. I was taking college chemistry, and I knew nothing about science it was just a prerequisite I had to take to transfer to a university. And I was studying and studying and took my first midterm, and I got my midterm back and I got an A on it. And I was like no way I actually got an A on it! It honestly was like an adrenaline rush I was so happy. But it was because I did all of the studying that I got the A and I knew that. It wasn’t like I was just some science genius, I had to seriously work to get that grade. But I was like if I can pass that class I can pass another class I just have to put in the work. And I did and I was able to get a degree in Political Science from Portland State. But I can apply that principal to anything I am doing whether it is a song I am working on or a 5k I am training for. Put in the work or don’t expect anything. And if you are reading this and wanting to improve your work ethic, celebrate the small stuff. If you want to have a cleaner room, clean your room. Like Nike says “Just do it.” Just do it. And when you have a cleaner room, you feel that sense of accomplishment and you know that you can do it. And you know that if you want to get something done, you have to put in the work necessary to get it done. So long answer short, knowing that the only way to achieve the goals I set is to put in the necessary work is where my work ethic comes from.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

This is an interesting question actually. If you were to ask me this question last year or the year before I would say I DJ and produce multi-genre electronic music. Boom next question. But I have actually taken a step back from doing sets or producing. For kind of a couple of reasons. One I have been busy. But also I want to refocus on what I am doing. I have always been into music. I got my first guitar when I was like 8 and through college I would learn songs and write songs and do open mics and I was in a cover band and stuff. And I would also mess around with recording when I was in college I would make really experimental stuff with sound clips and electronics for fun. But in Portland in 2012 I was out with friends one night and there was a club playing dubstep and I hadn’t heard dubstep before. I would listen to some of the early techno / happy hardcore stuff, but I just thought dubstep was awesome I hadn’t heard anything like it. I started going to shows and learning how to produce it. And it was different than the guitar because I couldn’t just grab my computer and do an open mic or a show with a dubstep song I just got done producing. I had to learn to DJ. And DJing is fun. Getting to mix songs and be creative with it. So I just kept making new songs, learning new production techniques, polishing up what I was doing, learning other new stuff, polishing that, and eventually doing it professionally. The whole process was a lot of trial and error but I was having fun with making DJ sets and making songs and putting together releases. And I was playing small shows and stuff and really having fun with what I was doing. But honestly, I was going through a really dark time and I’m not going to say much more about it because that would be another interview. But it got to the point where you could hear it in my sets and in songs I was making. And I would do shows at clubs and some of my releases did ok, but my music and sets and social website stuff became a lot more about what I was going through at the time than who I actually am as a person. And everyone has stuff going on but I really was going through a lot and I didn’t know how to handle it so I just kind of would unleash everything on a song I was working on or a DJ set I was putting together. And it is good to have an outlet, but like I said I didn’t do a good job of handling what was going on I was just kind of letting stuff out through my music. And after moving to Florida I was in Orlando and I was finishing up an EP and I was mixing the vocals and I said “I actually just want to make a normal song,” not like a trap or dubstep song like a normal song with lyrics. So I kind of made a normal song, it was “Passion In The Air” on my Eyes Like The Ocean EP. I made a bunch of different versions of the song and ultimately the one I put on the release was a version that still had a dance / electronic vibe to it but it was also more like an actual song. And after that I got more into the stuff that got me into music to begin with. Writing songs, playing the guitar, mixing sets that didn’t sound like they were fresh out of hell. And I said before I think about making a new release, take a step back. Do stuff you enjoy doing. Write some songs. Make some melodies. But don’t release anything. Because, and I am very thankful to say this, but I am not in the place I was in when I was at the start of my career I am in a much better place. That goes back to the work ethic question, but I really put a lot of work into doing things that got me to the place where I am. Also I’m very thankful my family was there for me through everything that was going on I am beyond thankful for them. But as far as my music goes, it’s like well I could throw some songs together and release some stuff, but I really did just want to step back entirely and make sure that any new stuff I release is who I am and not what I was going through at a really dark time in my life. But since Eyes Like The Ocean I think I did release one EP but I took it down from the major platforms and I actually did pull a couple of my other releases from stores because I just wasn’t happy with what they were putting out there if that makes sense. And I did DJ at a club here in Jacksonville all last summer, but since then I have been taking a deliberate hiatus from doing any sets or new releases. So that being said, currently I don’t have any shows or new releases on the timeline but if you follow me on IG I will definitely post when I do have any new updates about any shows or releases I have coming up.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Ok so one, be purposeful. If you are working towards a new career field, on a new hobby, any new goal you want to accomplish, be purposeful. Make sure that every step that you are taking towards that new goal will accomplish as much as possible in relation to that goal. Have focus, evaluate what you can be doing better, be honest with yourself about what your strengths are and what you have to work on, and move forward accordingly. But be purposeful. Plan, work towards accomplishing what you want to accomplish, evaluate, and keep going. You get what you put in, so work hard and be purposeful in what you are working towards.
Two, work hard. Anything worth doing is worth doing well. And most new things aren’t easy. So work hard. Learn what you have to learn. Read what you have to read, watch the videos you have to watch, talk with the people you have to talk to, and just know that the harder you work, the easier things become, and if you aren’t putting in the work don’t expect anything out of it.
Three, and this is in my opinion the most important quality for being successful in what you are doing, know your “why.” Why do you want to accomplish the goal? Why do you want to learn a new skill for example? Is it just a personal goal, something you are doing for fun? Great! Go for it. Are you learning the new skill because you are wanting a promotion or a career change? Why? To help your family? To have more in savings? To have more free time to do things you enjoy doing? Awesome! Go for it! But know your why! Because thinking about your “why” will help motivate you to accomplish your goal and will also keep you on the track you want to be on. Say for example that your “why” is you want to spend more time with your family or on hobbies you enjoy, but accomplishing the goal itself is going to take up all of your free time for a very long time. That isn’t going to help accomplish your “why.” You will be busy, but you won’t be working towards your actual goal. You will actually have less time to spend with your family or on things you enjoy doing. So when you start something new, know your why. And always focus on your why, it will help motivate you and keep you on the track that you actually want to be on.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

That’s a very good question. I think ultimately you want to focus on your strengths, while also improving areas you aren’t as strong in that are going to help maximize your strengths. So say you are great at math and you are a very slow reader. I would say focus on improving your math skills as much as you can so you can do something like engineering or computer science. So focus on your strengths. But don’t skip English class. Because what you learn in English class can help you broaden what you are doing in math and other areas. Or say you can throw a 100 mile per hour fastball with total accuracy, but you don’t know how to swing a bat. You should definitely be a pitcher, but you also want to do as much as you can to be the best pitcher you can be, like fielding ground balls and fly balls and making sure that you have awareness about what is happening on the field. Bottom line, I would say always put the primary focus on your strengths, don’t try to go totally against your strengths and only focus on areas you aren’t as strong in because that wouldn’t make sense. Also, try to focus in on your goals and don’t be too all over the map. Nobody is going to be good at everything, so make sure you are keeping focus on your goals or your personal strengths and interests. But do as much as you can to maximize your strengths as much as possible by doing things outside of your direct strengths to help you be stronger at what you are doing overall.

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