The Side Quest

Camiel Daamen: Music, Martial Arts and Forever Learning

Welcome to another episode of The Side Quest, I am Lex Hearth, and this week I’m joined by the very wonderful, Camiel Daamen. Camiel is the founder of Lessons in Live, which is an educational platform teaching students about music production. As well as music, Camiel is passionate about Jiu Jitsu. There’s a concept known as the DOJO which is where groups gather to practice their craft, led by a teacher - or ‘sensei’. In the Lessons in Live Dojo, this means people pay a monthly subscription to get to connect with each other and provide mutual insight and support - helping the creators journey. Camiel has built a structure around himself which supports the things he loves, and even moved country and learnt a new language to make this possible. If you’re interested in what it means to really sustain as an artist, and you believe in the power of community, then this episode is for you.

Nikkitha Bakshani: Writing a Novel, Astrology, and Frameworks

This week on The Side Quest I’m joined by a writing pal, Nikkitha Bakshani. Nikkitha has accomplished that fantastic milestone that so many writers look towards - the publishing of a novel, and she has done that and continues to write actively alongside having a day job. A few weeks ago over a couple of glasses of wine I got to hear more about Nikkitha’s work with tarot and how she works with astrology to stimulate creativity and get a framework for understanding life and situations. This episode is slightly longer than usual as we incorporated a live tarot reading into it which was amazing, and so fun and insightful for me! If you’re curious about tarot, or interested in the writers journey, this episode is for you.

In Flow with Your Purpose, and Sport's Higher Power, with Mayowa Quadri

This week on The Side Quest, I'm joined by Mayowa Quadri, one of the team behind Versus — a football lifestyle magazine pushing the conversation around what sport can connect to. Mayowa didn't set out for a career in football media, but an early podcast gave him a foundation in storytelling that shaped everything that followed. We met working on the Women's Euros in 2022, and this conversation gets into how he balances everything he does while maintaining a focused, calm and consistent presence. If you're curious about sports journalism, or have questions about your personal brand and showing up online, this episode is for you.

Music, Fandom and Swerving Burnout by Working Out Exactly Who You Are with Shana G

This week on The Side Quest, I'm joined by creative entrepreneur Shana G, just as she prepares to launch Fanmail — a new project exploring the fan archives of people who are artists themselves. Shana has built podcasts, communities and businesses across her creative journey, and in 2024 won the BBC Radio 1 Christmas Cover competition, taking over the airwaves on Sarah Story's show. If you've explored multiple creative pursuits on the way to understanding yourself, and you're thinking differently about what success looks like across different areas of your life, this episode is for you.

From Fan to Teammate, Good Luck and Making Silly House with Lewis John

This week I’m joined by a music pal, Lewis John. In this episode, we explore the close relationship between Lewis’ day job, as a music producer and engineer, and his side quest as a music producer but with an artist project. To distinguish for anyone a little confused… this means essentially the music he’s working on with other people versus that which he creates purely for his own joy and satisfaction, and would release under his own name. Lewis and I met through mutual music friends and actually shared a studio before he spun off to join independent dance label Toolroom. Toolroom is a label well known in the house world, who have released music from DJs like Hugel, Green Velvet and Solardo originally founded by Mark Knight and his brother Stuart Knight in 2003. If you’re using your side quest to pivot your career, or youre a fan of dance music culture, this episode is for you.