Gary Keane, MA Commercial Music Production student, Spitfire Audio Scholarship Winner, and Yamaha Bursary runner up, has been keeping himself busy during his Masters programme, but a few weeks ago, he had one of the most profound and memorable experiences to date.
A self-confessed ‘Earth Wind and Fire’ fan, Gary had already had his first encounter with Ralph Johnson, renowned drummer of the famous 70’s band. Gary told us:
“I had met Ralph Johnson once in LA through a contact I met, she used to manage them. I actually met her at a showcase gig in Dublin and we got talking about EWF. She invited both me and my partner Steph to Los Angeles. When we met her there, she suggested we go visit an EWF recording session, so I walked into the studio and there they were. It was insane!”
After that, Gary and Ralph became Facebook friends but hadn’t much contact from there.
During a recent lecture, Harry Leckstein was offering students with advice regarding their final projects, encouraging them to be bold and suggested to “Use this project to reach out to the people you respect, ask them for advice.” This resonated with Gary, so he decided to drop Ralph a message on Facebook asking if he’d be willing to offer Gary some time to talk music. Gary then said:
“At 9pm I was working in my home studio and I get a Facebook messenger call from Ralph Johnson, saying he was free to chat now if I wanted to ask him some questions!”
He added:
“I was completely unprepared, so recorded the screen, and just asked him about his life and career. The conversation was so natural too. We spoke about audio production, ‘Earth Wind and Fire’ and the incredible Maurice White, the mastermind behind EWF. He shared so openly with me, and it felt like 2 friends having a chat. After the call, I asked if he was happy for me to share the conversation on Facebook and he kindly agreed. I was so happy to have had the experience.”
Gary’s story is inspirational and one to learn from, the art of asking. Thanks for sharing Gary! You can see more on the conversation here.
