We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful John Clinebell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with John below.
John, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I got it from my grandfather, who worked so hard his entire life to provide for the entire family. He was tough as nails, but also extremely loyal, responsible, and generous. There are many rewards to the simple act of working hard, and I learned so much about that from him.
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?
I’m focused right now on showing as many indie artists, songwriters, and producers as I can how to sync their music in ads, TV, film, and video games. I do this through my social media channels and the coaching company I co-founded, 2Indie. It’s always hard work, but I truly enjoy teaching as I’m actively working in music licensing myself as a topliner and beatmaker. I’ve always taken a “walk the walk” attitude towards what I do. A lot of my music is fun, catchy, up-tempo, and inspiring… It’s like a soundtrack to my life!
I recently had a couple of songs placed on the hit reality TV show Love Island and it’s the best feeling to let an indie artist I work with know that their voice is going to be heard on TV – and that they would be paid for it. During NAMM in Anaheim, California a couple of weeks ago, 2Indie hosted a panel with Marmoset Music, Koze Music, and Atrium Music. It was standing-room only! We brought a bunch of copies of our brand-new book Get Repped In Sync and sold out immediately.
I’ve always been someone who enjoys connecting the dots with people, whether it’s some concept they haven’t yet realized inside of them or a professional networking sort of thing. It certainly mirrors a lot of my own journey in the music industry where I was stuck in a couple of ways on the inside and also trying to do way too much on my own, as capable as I was.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Optimism, work ethic, and collaboration are the three things that immediately leap out to me. If the glass is always half full, you’re not going to give up when the times are tough. Adversity becomes more of a hopeful challenge that simply requires showing up each moment in the way you are capable of in order to address it. You’ll also remember not to get too crazy when you’re riding a high. The glass rarely stays all the way full for long!
If you work harder than your competition, there are definite professional advantages to it. This rings particularly true to me as I see people get constantly lost in their devices and other distractions. People frequently ask me how I get everything I’ve accomplished done, and the simple truth is that I put in a lot of time “clocked in” each day, each week, each year. Unfortunately, the “Four Hour Work Week” is incredibly difficult to apply to the music industry.
And I get more done at a higher level of quality by working as part of a team. There are things I’m amazing at, and other things I’m terrible at. I spend a lot of time nurturing relationships in the music industry and then I can rely on so many talented and reliable pros when I need real drums, horn stacks, a rap topline, or anything else that’s not in my zone of mastery to create myself.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I’m always on the lookout for amazing track producers in modern genres to co-produce with for sync and artist projects. And if you have ever thought about licensing your music in media projects, I’m always happy to meet and get you on the path to finding your real opportunities in sync. So feel free to find me and reach out!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.2indie.com/
- Instagram: @2indieofficial
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2indieofficial/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2indie/
- Twitter: @2indieofficial
