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Sergeant and Mrs. Smith, you're going to love

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this house. Is that a tub in the kitchen? Is that a tub

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in the kitchen? There's no

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field manual for finding the right home.

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But when you do, USAA Homeowners Insurance

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can help protect it the right way.

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Restrictions apply. Welcome,

0:17

everyone, to the G-Note Podcast. I

0:20

am your host, Jason, Spicy G. Goldman,

0:22

and I am a Grammy-winning

0:24

record producer, arranger, and musician. I've

0:27

been a music professor at USC for over 22 years,

0:30

and I am most known for

0:32

writing and producing music for the iconic

0:34

Michael Buble over the past two

0:36

decades. This is

0:38

a podcast for musicians who want advice

0:40

and strategies on navigating the music

0:43

industry. If you're not a musician but

0:45

a fan, I promise there is plenty in here

0:47

for you as well. On

0:49

this podcast, we talk all things music. I'll

0:52

be giving you tips and life lessons I've learned over

0:54

my 30 years in the business, and I'll top it

0:56

off with a dash of my humble opinion. On

0:59

today's pod, we are talking about

1:02

my first big break with legendary producer

1:04

David Foster. Let's go. All

1:13

right, folks, welcome back. On

1:16

one of the earlier episodes this

1:18

season, I spoke about my first

1:20

encounter with the legendary record producer

1:22

David Foster. If you haven't

1:24

checked it out, I certainly recommend you do,

1:27

as it will give you a little more insight into today's

1:29

story. I was

1:32

very fortunate to have many

1:34

experiences working with David, and

1:36

even to this day, I'm still

1:39

super blessed to be able to continue

1:41

to work with him in some capacity when he

1:43

has projects that come up. That

1:45

mainly happened because of my

1:48

work with Michael Buble. I was on the road with Michael

1:51

for a year, and we were

1:53

getting ready to do the second

1:55

album, and Michael would

1:57

just always invite me to... come

2:00

hang out and watch

2:02

how everything was being produced. And

2:05

so of course, once again, for those of you who've been

2:07

following, you know I see an opportunity and I take it.

2:11

So this was a great opportunity for

2:13

me, not only to be in the studio

2:15

with Michael, but also to

2:18

be in the studio with one of

2:20

the greatest record producers of all time. And

2:23

not only that, I mean, it cultivates

2:25

my relationship with Michael

2:27

as well, because we became friends over that

2:29

year. So it was more than just, oh

2:32

yeah, we're musicians trying to help each other

2:34

out. But it was also

2:36

a genuine and honest friendship, which I think is

2:39

really important to this story. So

2:42

if you don't know David, and

2:44

I recommended earlier on the earlier

2:46

episode, you should watch the documentary that's

2:49

on Netflix. But David is

2:51

very blunt, honest, and he doesn't give

2:53

a shit who you are or

2:55

care about hurting your feelings in the least. He

2:58

will say what most people are thinking, whether

3:00

he should or not. He

3:03

knows what he wants, and the bottom line is

3:05

he is going to get it. Which

3:08

is part of the reason why he ends up, you

3:11

know, becoming such a great producer is

3:13

because he wasn't willing to settle for

3:15

less. Like many of

3:17

the topics we've talked about here on the

3:19

pod, he's always searching for the highest level,

3:22

and that is in his art form and making

3:25

someone else, or bringing someone

3:27

else to the height of their art form as

3:29

well. Okay, it

3:31

was around October 2003, if

3:34

I have this kinda right. And

3:36

David was just starting to work on the second album

3:39

when he said to Buble, we were sitting there,

3:42

again, Buble had invited me over. And by

3:44

the way, we would go to David's house

3:46

at the time, which was in Malibu, and

3:49

he had this incredible studio on

3:51

his property, which was an amazing piece of property.

3:53

So we would go there, and many

3:56

times we would hang out, and we wouldn't even do

3:58

any music for like the first few hours. It would

4:00

just be like hanging out playing tennis or doing

4:02

something fun. But in any event,

4:05

I was invited again by Michael to this session

4:08

and we were hanging out and

4:12

Foster says to Buble, he said, look, Warner got

4:14

you a gig doing the Christmas

4:17

tree lighting at Rockefeller

4:19

Center. And this is,

4:21

of course, a huge honor. You know, keep in mind,

4:23

Buble is brand new. Most people didn't know who he

4:25

was still at this time. So

4:28

David said, let's do Let It Snow. And

4:32

he went to the keyboard and started laying out

4:34

an arrangement. This is something super typical that he

4:36

would do. He

4:38

does these kind of quick mockups of what he

4:41

kind of wants. Within

4:43

a couple of hours, he had a basic idea of what

4:45

he wanted. He had his

4:47

engineer record his keyboard playing and said, OK,

4:49

I think I'm going to

4:51

give this to Don Sebesky

4:53

to arrange this. One

4:56

is a noted arranger is written for some

4:58

huge people. But it's

5:00

worth noting that David doesn't really orchestrate

5:02

like an orchestrator would. We

5:04

talked about this also in a past

5:06

episode. Orchestrator will take someone's arrangement and then

5:09

orchestrate it for whatever the instrumentation is.

5:11

So David wanted a big band for this. So

5:13

he would need to get someone who can write

5:16

an orchestra for big band. And also it's

5:19

a lot of arranging, too, because David just kind of

5:21

writes a sketch out. So

5:24

let me clarify just quickly what the difference

5:26

is between an arranger and an orchestrator. An

5:29

arranger basically takes an existing song and creates

5:32

a specific version of a song. They

5:35

add their own counter melodies and ideas

5:37

to an existing song. Often at

5:39

my gigs at Vibrato when I'm doing it with

5:41

my big band, I do

5:43

a demo of this arranging idea so people can kind

5:45

of get an idea of what I'm talking about. And

5:48

by the way, Vibrato has become our home for my

5:50

big band. And you should definitely come check

5:53

it out if you're in LA. The

5:55

vibe is incredible and you'll love it. takes

6:00

an arrangement and writes parts

6:02

for each instrument for a specific ensemble.

6:05

So if you want to play the song Fly Me to

6:07

the Moon and you have a

6:09

band made up of two saxons, two

6:11

trumpets and a bone, piano based

6:13

drums, the orchestrator would take the

6:16

arrangement of that song and make sure each person

6:18

had a part based on the

6:20

arrangement. So

6:23

hopefully that clarifies the difference. So in

6:25

this particular project, again, David does

6:27

a sketch, so he really kind

6:29

of needs a combination of both an orchestrator and

6:32

arranger for this. So

6:34

once again, an opportunity I saw. I

6:37

spoke up and said, I can do

6:39

it. And

6:41

so David looked at me and gave me a snarky laugh.

6:44

It was like, no. And

6:49

then he just basically proceeded to say, we'll get Don.

6:52

If Don can't do it, maybe Bill Holman can. By

6:56

the way, both icons in

6:58

a crooner music American songbook.

7:01

And he's saying this in front of me with total disregard

7:03

for the fact that I just

7:05

arranged a bunch of music for Michael's

7:08

opening show about a year ago,

7:10

which he witnessed and

7:12

really liked. But to him,

7:14

it wasn't even like he, I

7:16

didn't even equate into his thoughts. And

7:20

thankfully, before we left for the day,

7:22

the engineer gave me a copy of the demo. Of course, I had

7:24

asked him for it and he was kind enough to give it to

7:27

me. Folks, I went home

7:29

that night and I wrote a big

7:31

band chart on Let It Snow. I stayed

7:33

up all night. Luckily

7:36

for me, I'd already been working at

7:38

USC for a few years. And

7:41

we have a great big band. We have

7:43

two really great big bands, but the top

7:45

big band is fantastic. And

7:48

so I went into their rehearsal the next

7:50

day with my mini disc recorder at

7:53

the time and asked if

7:55

I could run my chart down. So.

8:00

I I went in there gave everyone their

8:02

their parts. I recorded it in the following

8:04

day. Ah we were gonna be

8:07

working at David's again. I say we were working. it's

8:09

like again I was invited to kind of watch and

8:11

hey else I wasn't doing like a ton of work.

8:13

You know, any heavy lifting. So.

8:17

We got, we get up there and I I get

8:19

to David's and I don't say a thing about the

8:22

recording or the chart. They're

8:24

just talking about the second album. For.

8:27

Two or three hours Or something like that. And

8:29

finally David asks his assistant if they

8:32

had her back sundance of Ascii? And

8:35

she says no, not yet. And

8:37

then I jump in and say I

8:39

did the arrangement. And

8:42

he looked at me with this. Cocky

8:45

look in said what? And

8:49

boob lay down a like looked at me like

8:51

whoa what's going on says I said I did

8:54

the arrangement and I recorded it. And

8:57

both he and google I just start stared at

8:59

me literally for about ten seconds. And

9:01

in my head I was like. Oh.

9:03

Shit that I just cross a major line.

9:05

Am I about to get reams? Is

9:08

that that's really what I thought was about Ab? And because they

9:11

didn't say anything. Again,

9:13

save it is staring at me with this

9:15

look. Kind. Of implying that he thinks this

9:17

isn't going to be very good. So. He

9:20

says. Play. It. So. The

9:22

his ear plugs in my mini disc player. And.

9:24

Plays the recording. And David in

9:26

Buhler Just Listening. Googly

9:29

Googly! Luckily you know I can see he

9:31

has a smile on his face. No, and.

9:33

No special David. that all. The.

9:36

Recording stops and David kind of pauses for

9:39

a second. Again, there's a. Ton

9:41

of this awkward silence. at least for me it

9:43

was Christmas. And says

9:45

the his assistant. Let's.

9:48

Book Handsome Recording studio for next week!

9:51

We're going to record this. So

9:53

I remain calm. On the outside.

9:56

But is that I was at all he said as

9:58

he did it affect. On

10:02

the side, Buble was smiling and

10:04

shaking his head as if he knew I would be able to

10:06

do it. He always had confidence in

10:08

me from the beginning that I could

10:10

write charts. He always knew it because I would write stuff

10:12

on the road. Part

10:14

of it is too, and this kind of

10:16

goes to today's environment too, it's like you want

10:19

your friends and your crew to be

10:21

successful with you. He's

10:24

always been a champion of mine. I know that

10:26

not everyone can say that, but Buble is the

10:28

real deal. Maybe it's because we have more

10:30

than just a professional

10:33

relationship, we're like friends. But that didn't

10:35

happen until we were on the road

10:37

with our professional relationship and it grew

10:39

into something that was a

10:41

friendship. Here's

10:43

a brief snippet of that version. Just

10:47

so everyone's aware, in 2003, the original

10:50

Let It Snow EP was actually

10:52

just David's mock-ups. It

10:55

was all crappy synth instruments and it

10:57

didn't sound actually great. Michael's voice always

10:59

sounds great, but it just

11:02

didn't match Michael's style. In

11:04

2007, they reissued Let It Snow with

11:06

the only bonus track, an additional track

11:09

being my version of Let It Snow,

11:11

which was recorded live at Madison

11:14

Square Garden. Again, this is just

11:16

a snippet, so don't be mad at me if you're

11:18

hearing a Christmas song in the middle of the summer.

11:20

It's short, so check it out. So, guys,

11:31

this is a big freaking

11:34

deal. Just

11:47

to give you an idea of how big a deal, there

11:50

are 17 musicians in a big band, typically.

11:52

They all have to be paid, then you have to

11:54

rent a studio, all in all, not

11:57

including what David probably makes, which is a fortune.

12:00

This was easily a $10,000 session for one

12:02

song, my song. So

12:08

we finally, everything gets booked

12:10

and time goes

12:12

on a little bit. And the following week

12:14

I get there and we get to the

12:16

studio and I'm there with the Studio Big

12:18

Band conducting my first major session with David

12:20

Foster producing in the booth. It

12:23

was only one song, but it

12:25

was literally a dream come true for me because

12:27

I had never done anything at

12:29

that level yet. And the

12:31

fact that he was even willing to do that, after

12:36

hearing the chart and wanting

12:39

someone else to do it, shows you how

12:41

true of a musician David is. He was willing to

12:44

go with what he thought was best. And

12:47

of course the other guys didn't do it yet, but he

12:50

already liked it, which

12:52

says a lot about him.

12:54

So for all of his

12:56

arrogance in many circumstances, he

13:00

still understands it's like, man, whatever's best

13:02

for the recording is what we're gonna

13:04

do. So

13:07

we're running through the chart and it was

13:10

sounding great. I was feeling good, the band

13:12

was really digging the chart and I was

13:14

literally in heaven. There's really nothing like being

13:16

in front of a band of 17 musicians,

13:22

having them play your music. And

13:24

you're up there just soaking it all in. So

13:28

we're playing the chart and then we finish it

13:30

and David pops in the cans, which

13:32

are the headphones. And

13:35

everyone can hear this, mind you. And

13:37

he stops and he says, hey, let's take

13:39

out the sax line. And

13:41

I can't remember the bars, but it was like three bars

13:43

or something. And I

13:46

jumped on the inside and I said,

13:48

oh, I kind of like those sax. He cuts

13:50

me immediately off and says, take it out.

13:53

With one of the most stern tones you

13:55

can imagine. And everyone could hear it, cue

13:59

the head slide. of course. He

14:02

was not interested in hearing my opinion at all. It

14:05

was at that session that I realized that I had

14:08

to know my place. I may

14:10

have kicked down the door to get there, but

14:12

I have to earn my way to the top floor. You

14:15

don't get to tell a 14-time Grammy-winning producer

14:19

what you like and don't like unless he asks

14:21

your opinion and unless

14:23

I've earned it and I wasn't the producer.

14:27

The moral here, everyone, is

14:29

the opportunity—again, we've spoken about

14:32

this before—the opportunity was there,

14:34

but it was up to me as to how

14:36

badly I wanted it and what I

14:38

was willing to do to get it. It

14:41

wasn't handed to me in any way. I

14:44

saw the opening and I went after it with

14:46

everything I had. They don't always

14:48

pay off, by the way, but this one sure

14:51

did. I can tell you—and

14:53

this is total truth here,

14:55

folks—the vast majority of great things that

14:57

have happened in my life have

15:00

been because I have taken the bull by

15:02

the horns and done things quickly and professionally

15:04

and to the highest level before

15:07

others even had a chance to bypass

15:09

me. I had confidence

15:11

that I could do the job and

15:13

so I did it. I didn't worry

15:15

about how much I was getting paid. Potentially,

15:17

I wouldn't have

15:19

made any money if he didn't like it. I would have just

15:21

spent a night of no sleep and

15:25

running around and not gotten paid. Remember,

15:29

no one knows how good you are until

15:31

you show them and sometimes

15:33

in order to show them, you need to

15:36

forcefully make them look at

15:38

you and pay attention to you because the

15:40

highest of the high won't just

15:43

listen. You need to prove that

15:45

you are the best. to

16:00

come out to the concerts folks you know I want to

16:02

see you there you'll love the big band I

16:04

would love to see you there you can also

16:06

follow me on Instagram at spicy G

16:09

music or check out my website Jason

16:11

Goldman music.com to see what projects I'm

16:13

currently working on and to see when

16:15

I'll be performing next thanks

16:17

so much for listening everyone