Tapasya Loading

From Busyness to Sustainability w/ Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir

Sæunn happens to be one of the most respected cellists in the world, performing with orchestras like the Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, and Iceland Symphony, and in venues like Carnegie Hall, Barbican, and Suntory Hall, to name just a few accolades. She’s basically one of the best out there, for those who find language like that easier to understand.  But what makes Sæunn stand out beyond her accolades are the challenges she throws at accepted narratives both in the classical music world and beyond.  Sæunn is the kind of kindred spirit I don’t have to circle around or soften edges for. There’s an immediate intellectual and emotional honesty and shared language that allows us to get straight to the heart of the matter without performance. This was her first reappearance on Tapasya Loading since lockdown.  The last time we spoke, the world was paused.  And both of us have stepped away from academia as full-time identities since, and re-examined calendars from a  different lens as performing artists as well.  A central thread in this chat is our shared fascination, and frustration, with how many co-artists remain passively locked into inherited industry narratives.  So we talk candidly about how many of these myths get internalized, shape behaviour, and how difficult it can be to step outside them without feeling like we’re risking our worth. We reflect on the assumption of being ‘busy’ being the same as being ‘good’, and the fear and freedom that comes when we’re no longer chasing multiple forms of what are essentially external sources of validation.   Complete Episode [https://www.holisticpianoacademy.com/fp/podcast-taping] https://www.saeunn.com/ [https://www.saeunn.com/] www.findTL.com [http://www.findTL.com]   Explore coaching + courses for independent artists:   holisticmusicianacademy.com [https://www.tapasyaloading.com/why-artists-stay-in-unstable-systems-even-when-it-hurts/]   Work with me:   → C.I.A.R. self-paced course: https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/ciar  [https://www.tapasyaloading.com/why-artists-stay-in-unstable-systems-even-when-it-hurts/]  → HMA group coaching & 1:1 mentorships https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/coaching [https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/coaching]

Signal vs Noise: Music Production Turned Psychological Literacy

In a world overwhelmed by information, the concept of "signal-to-noise ratio" as used in music production can be a powerful life philosophy in our everyday lives. Clarifying what truly matters amidst the distractions can steer us from reactive chaos to intentional harmony.    Read the full blog post (with academic references):   https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/blog/signal-to-noise [https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/blog/signal-to-noise]   Explore coaching + courses for independent artists:   holisticmusicianacademy.com [https://www.tapasyaloading.com/why-artists-stay-in-unstable-systems-even-when-it-hurts/] ––– Work with me:   → C.I.A.R. self-paced course: https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/ciar  [https://www.tapasyaloading.com/why-artists-stay-in-unstable-systems-even-when-it-hurts/]  → HMA group coaching & 1:1 mentorships https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/coaching [https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/coaching]   Join the newsletter:   → holisticmusicianacademy.com/newsletter   Connect:   IG: @everynowheremusic   YT: Tapasya Loading   Podcast archive: https://www.tapasyaloading.com/

Why Seeking Help Can Feel Wrong

Seeking help can feel like a luxury or something that qualifies us as 'weak' by default. By the time we finally are ready to reach out, we've experienced what I refer to as one of the Five D's—Death, Disease, Divorce, Discernment, and Disillusionment. Today's episode explores how these critical junctures often arise when we ignore the subtle signals that nudge us towards change. I go on to try to offer an alternate take: the benefits of a proactive approach that challenges the cultural narratives of self-sufficiency that often hinder our growth.    📖 Read the full blog post (with academic references):   👉 https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/blog/death-disease-divorce-discernment-disillusionment [https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/blog/death-disease-divorce-discernment-disillusionment]   🎓 Explore coaching + courses for independent artists:   👉 holisticmusicianacademy.com [https://www.tapasyaloading.com/why-artists-stay-in-unstable-systems-even-when-it-hurts/] ––– 🧭 Work with me:   → C.I.A.R. self-paced course: https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/ciar  [https://www.tapasyaloading.com/why-artists-stay-in-unstable-systems-even-when-it-hurts/]  → HMA group coaching & 1:1 mentorships https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/coaching [https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/coaching]   📝 Join the newsletter:   → holisticmusicianacademy.com/newsletter   📲 Connect:   IG: @everynowheremusic   YT: Tapasya Loading   Podcast archive: https://www.tapasyaloading.com/

Creative Agency vs AI and the Problem with Problem-solving w/ Miles Miniaci

Professor Miles Miniaci returns to the podcast, with another exchange filled with effortless resonance and curiousity.   A mentor writing instructor, we crossed paths serendipitously at the Tate Modern in London right after my master’s graduation ceremony, to launch immediately into the beginning of this sober and astutely honest, ongoing conversation that is made so striking by his wise lens.   We begin with zero-sum thinking, the insiduous presumption of someone else gaining something results in the loss of another. We explore mindsets that run the risk of shaping everything from politics to personal worldview, and how easily it can seep into the arts. Territorial behaviour, the subtle panic around “running out of space,” and the pressure to compete instead of expand.   We talk about the shifts that open up when we stop operating from there and move on to modern obsessions with 'solving' things as the poor man's version of creativity.   Fix the draft. Streamline the process. Optimise the workflow. The fast track to flattening the very beauty art tries to build, how it shows up in our inner world, and why some of the most meaningful work comes from staying with a question rather than rushing to answers.   We eventually return to the topic that brought Miles to the podcast the first time: AI and creativity. Back in the day when we first talked, AI was still speculative.   Now, as it's embedded so many corners of the creative world, the conversation an honest check-in about what has actually changed as opposed to the poles of 'warning' or 'celebration'   Authorship, agency, and voice, and how the temptation to hand over too much to a tool can quietly disconnect the creator from the work, while acknowledging ways in which AI can genuinely support the process when present, awake, and responsible for the final expression.   Complete Episode [https://www.holisticpianoacademy.com/fp/podcast-taping]   https://www.milesminiaci.com/ [https://www.milesminiaci.com/] https://findtl.com [https://findtl.com/]   Join the waiting list for my Artist Mastermind and get your first month free.  https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/group-coaching [https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/group-coaching]   Courses: https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/courses [https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/courses]   1:1 Mentoring:  https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/1-on-1-mentorship [https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/1-on-1-mentorship]   Music and Audio Production: www.everynowheremusic.com [http://www.everynowheremusic.com/]   Episode Notes / Text : www.tlwrites.com [http://www.tlwrites.com/]   Music and Audio Production: www.everynowheremusic.com [http://www.everynowheremusic.com/]

Where the Music Lives: Bandmates, Cities and the home within w/Corey Congilio

In this episode, I reconnect with guitarist, educator, and fellow Effortless Mastery retreat graduate Corey Congilio—a musician whose presence in the Nashville scene is more than skill; it’s a standard.   Corey’s work as a pioneering educator has shaped players across generations, with a roster of students that include the likes of artists like Seal and countless guitarists who’ve come to rely on his clarity, precision, and grounded musical wisdom.   But beneath the technique and the résumé lies the real connective tissue of our friendship: a shared devotion to the inner world of the artist.   Our common love and passion beyond the obvious is a vision of a music industry where musicians are more conscious of one of the most underaddresed skillsets of a professional aritist in the current era: personal development.   Corey is a self-proclaimed 'therapy junkie', while I took things to a whole different level by getting certified as a therapist myself and eventually making coaching an integral extension of my artistic practice.   A significant part of this conversation dives into the soul-level decisions behind where we choose to live and create. Corey breaks down why Nashville became his creative ecosystem—not for the clichés, but because the city demanded, shaped, and refined him. I share my own unconventional pull toward Berlin: both choices rooted less in career strategy and more in inner alignment, curiosity, and the need for a different kind of creative oxygen.   From there, we shift into the heart of Corey’s newest chapter: the release of his debut solo EP—a reclamation of artistic identity after years of amplifying other people’s visions in one of the world’s most competitive music environments.   We explore:   * the psychological shift from sideman to solo artist. * the intricacies of collaboration and the invisible emotional contracts musicians enter. * why hiring the right bandmates is an energetic choice as much as a musical/logistical one. * the realities of touring: mental endurance, boundaries, and humanity. * the subtle anatomy of a classic Nashville Live-band studio workflow. * how location, community, and self-awareness shape the art we make. (This is the official edited release of our exchange. The uncut version lives inside the community.) Complete Episode [https://www.holisticpianoacademy.com/fp/podcast-taping]   https://coreycongilio.com/ [https://coreycongilio.com/] https://findtl.com [https://findtl.com/]   Join the waiting list for my Artist Mastermind and get your first month free.  https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/group-coaching [https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/group-coaching]   Courses: https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/courses [https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/courses]   1:1 Mentoring:  https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/1-on-1-mentorship [https://holisticmusicianacademy.com/page/1-on-1-mentorship]   Music and Audio Production: www.everynowheremusic.com [http://www.everynowheremusic.com/]   Episode Notes / Text : www.tlwrites.com [http://www.tlwrites.com/]   Music and Audio Production: www.everynowheremusic.com [http://www.everynowheremusic.com/]   Episode Notes / Text : www.tlwrites.com [http://www.tlwrites.com/]