20VC: Grammy Nominee Aloe Blacc on Working with Avicii on "Wake Me Up", The Art of Great Storytelling, Behind The Scenes on the Songwriting Process and Why Rules Are Just "Good Suggestions"
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 693 Ratings
🗓️ 17 February 2023
⏱️ 49 minutes
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Summary
Aloe Blacc is a GRAMMY nominee and the voice behind such hits as Wake Me Up, The Man, SOS, I Need A Dollar, and many more. Aloe has toured the world, won countless awards but his latest album, All Love Everything, is the singer-songwriter's first collection of material written as a father. "Becoming a father made me want to share those experiences in music," he says, admitting it's a challenge to translate such a powerful thing into lyrics and melody. If that was not enough, Aloe is also an entrepreneur with the founding of his new company, something we discuss in the show today.
In Today's Discussion with Aloe Blacc:
1.) Entry into Music and Running From Fame:
- How Aloe first fell in love with music and made his foray into the world of music from Ernst & Young?
- Why does Aloe believe he is running from fame? What does it bring that he does not like?
- What does Aloe believe he is running towards? How has this changed?
2.) The Art of Storytelling:
- How does Aloe think about what it takes to be truly great at storytelling?
- What is the difference between a great vs an average story?
- How has his style of storytelling changed over time?
- What are the biggest mistakes that people make in storytelling?
3.) The Songwriting Process 101:
- What is Aloe's process for writing new songs?
- How does he take an idea and expand it, test it and execute against it?
- How did "Wake Me Up" with Avicci come about? What was the creation process there?
- What was it like working with Avicci? What did Aloe learn from him about being liked?
4.) Marriage, Fatherhood, and Global Stardom:
- What does Aloe believe is the key to truly successful marriages?
- How does Aloe retain a sense of romance with intense work pressures?
- How has becoming a father changed the way in which Aloe thinks and operates?
- What is Aloe's love language? How has doing this with his wife changed their relationship?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Running from fame. One of the things that happens when you get into the industry is that you get a lot of folks who come into your circle and they're part of your infrastructure and they all live or die by your ability to work. |
| 0:11.8 | And when I recognize that, I didn't want to be responsible for everybody else's livelihoods in that way. |
| 0:16.7 | I didn't want to have to be on the road or have to be working in order for someone else to eat. |
| 0:21.8 | I ran from that. |
| 0:22.6 | I've always looked at rules like good suggestions. |
| 0:25.2 | Is that a stop sign? |
| 0:26.1 | Eh, it's a good suggestion. |
| 0:27.5 | Today's 20 VC is unlike any we've done before. |
| 0:30.2 | After interviewing 2,138 VCs, I thought we'd have some real fun today, and so I'm joined by the one and only Allo Black, Grammy nominee and the voice behind such hits as Wake Me Up, The Man, I Need a Dollar and many more. |
| 0:42.3 | Allo is also an entrepreneur, with the founding of his new company, something we discuss in the episode today. |
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