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Rob Lee
Welcome to the truth in his Art, your source for conversations connecting arts, culture and community. These are stories that matter, and I am your host, Rob Lee. Today I'm super excited to welcome back and run it back with a returning guest. My guest is a Baltimore native who wears many hats. He's a seasoned musician, cultural curator, and the owner operator of Spence Start LLC, which offers creative consulting primarily to his fellow creatives and also businesses.
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Rob Lee
So please welcome back to the program. Raymond J. Spence, welcome back to the podcast.
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Spence
Piece for our piece. It's a blessing to be back, man. Thank you so much.
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Rob Lee
Absolutely. It's two bald black men with beards.
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Speaker 3
You know.
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Rob Lee
What is happening right.
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Spence
Now. Location. But nonetheless, we we're here. We needed.
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Speaker 3
Oh, wait.
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Spence
I have representation for you. Young, balding, 20 year old right now. You. You'll be fine.
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Speaker 3
Yeah.
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Rob Lee
I, I I've been running this this bit because I see people who are younger than me and they start having degrees come in. I don't have any grays. Come in, I pluck them, but I don't have any grays really here. Right. So I'm giving and, you know, inspiration and aspiration to the young, bold podcasters floating through the universe.
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Rob Lee
You're balding as you speak, as you plug that mic in your ball.
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Spence
Your breath happening. It's happening. There's nothing you could do about it. But you know, acceptance is key. You know, I mean, I learned that in therapy.
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Rob Lee
Yeah. Acceptance is key in everything that we do. We can't control everything also. We look for certainty.
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Rob Lee
So, you know, as I like to do with these run it back conversations, I'm calling them more conversations than interviews. And I think it's a continuation of a conversation, you know, continuation from our earlier conversation. So to set the stage, could you, reintroduce yourself to the listeners.
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Speaker 3
Who, you know, might know if your work.
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Rob Lee
Might not know the face, might not know the voice, so give them a little bit of a taste.
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Spence
Love it. So my name is Spence. I am the owner operator of Spence Start LLC. It is a creative consulting agency. I have several contracts where I work with creatives to kind of bring their creative vision to the forefront. And, the way that I have, labeled myself is kind of like the tutorial stage of your creative journey where it's like the same way to playing a fighting video game.
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Spence
You might need to, like, learn how to do like the Hadouken. So the I don't know if that's copyright, but you know, you need to learn how to do all of the special moves beforehand. I am the tutorial stage that teaches you all of those things. And the beautiful thing about our process is, once you feel like you're up and ready to go.
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Spence
The reason that my business is called, start is that I am not intended to be there with you the entire process, like, throughout your entire creative process. I meant to just help you kickstart it. Literally. The cheesy thing, that cheesy gimmick of mine is I call them jump starts. People, I get to, sit down with me for 30 minutes and we just do, like a free creative consulting session where you just tell me your biggest ideas, and I put them to paper, and I try to create a plan on how we're going to get you there.
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Spence
And that is the longest sort of what sprint start is. And who I, who I've been for the last few years.
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Rob Lee
So and let's not forget the other hats there too, because, you know, we got some other things let's.
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Speaker 3
That's kind of my hands.
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Spence
I, I wanted to give the abridged version, but, the beauty with me being a creative consultant is that I am also a creative myself. So, I am the band leader for the spent storage. So has it split story, the split start trio. The spent start trio? I have the creator of the, storage unit collective, created the vibe check.
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Spence
You know, I'm apparently a graphic designer now because I do things for, fliers and, you know, it's there's a ton of things that people, contract me for. And because a ton of creative, bits that I do for myself and somewhere and all of that is, a living that I've created myself, I've, big shout out to Jubilee Arts.
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Spence
I teach there. I'm doing the arts for the past three years as a drumming instructor. So not only do I know how to do it, but I can also teach people how to do it.
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Rob Lee
That's tight, that's tight. And I think, you know, one thing. I'll add and add a little flavor and seasoning. The award winning lunch. And I don't.
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Speaker 3
Know, you know, I like to let people brag.
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Spence
For me, but.
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Speaker 3
Guess the only two I just, and then and I'll add.
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Rob Lee
That other piece that you, you said on the back and you pin it on the back end where, not only are they actually let me go back a little bit, even with the because I've done the consulting thing for podcasting a little bit and, you know, like I like to get folks started, but I think I'm more of the maybe the spa a little bit more of that, like, like, hey, you know, here's this.
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Rob Lee
Come back to me once you've gotten some reps in, in the way that I've done that is being able to to teach over the last couple of years and, you know, helping folks along. And I find like, it's this sort of balance where folks think at the beginning it's very easy and it's just like, no, you're not just talking into a microphone.
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Rob Lee
You have not even turned on the microphone. You don't have batteries in there. So just like certain, you know, checks that you have to do. And then once you get to the stage of where are you then ten episodes, you've done ten conversation, you've done whatever, ten recordings, whatever it is. Then eventually you get to, all right, how do I avoid being burnt out?
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Rob Lee
It's like that's where the actual sparring comes in and the reps and so on. So I think what I do as far as the class, that I've done over the last couple of years is, you know, helping folks get started. But try in that start because it's a short period of time. It's been, you know, sort of three week intensive, six week intensive, giving them enough that they can get started and in their peppering in like when you run into this, if you continue, feel free to hit me up.
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Speaker 3
I'm available and.
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Rob Lee
And do it that way. And I think it's again that notion that, oh, this is not anything to worry about. This is easy and so on. But I'm like, hit me after ten episodes, hit me ten recordings, and you know, we can commiserate. And also you could do you still want to do it because it's a it's a reps is a wherewithal.
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Rob Lee
It's one of those sorts of things. And I'm going to skip ahead actually with this sort of follow up question since we're in that territory. So, you know, so you start off talking about the consulting piece, and when you said that over the last couple of years. So when did it become a bigger part of your work and what does it like, like helping artists and businesses like, shape their creative strategies?
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Spence
It is amazing to be able to take something from someone's brain and then put it into reality. I started this. I had always done this, but when I started doing it for a living was when I started at motor House. So I started a motor house in 2022. And a big part of what I was doing there was artist development with the DAP program.
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Spence
So that stands for a digital artist portfolio. And what I was doing was, we that was like an open call for artists to apply. And if you got selected, then you got to sit down with, me and I would create a portfolio of your work. So you got a photo shoot, you got a video shoot, you did interviews.
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Spence
And then from everything that you were able to do with your your craft, I was able to put that into a portfolio build and, make it really nice. Make it really something that was marketable. Because at the time, we were still coming out of the pandemic. 2022 is not far from the start of the pandemic, and things were just beginning to get back to in-person.
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Spence
So at that time, you needed a digital portfolio so you could get gigs. So House really kind of gave me, a lot of my understanding of like how to develop something specifically for creatives, make it something tangible. What I would say was kind of like my own flavoring. It kind of comes from my, my history as a banker because historically, it is notoriously difficult to discuss finances with anyone, whether you're in a good financial predicament, whether you're in a bad financial predicament, people are very guarded about, you know, their finances.
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Spence
And what I found is that people are also very guarded with their creative ideas, because you don't want to give somebody a creative idea, and then they potentially take it or run off or run off with it or misinterpret it, and then it comes out to be something that you didn't actually want, right? A big thing that I kind of pulled from, from my experience as a baker was this thing called active listening.
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Spence
Whereas it's like I listen to what you say, and then I try to repeat back to you what you said and then add on if this is heading it towards that right direction. And what I found was meeting was so many creatives, I saw this spark like that, like just opened up in their eyes. It's like, yes, you understand the thing.
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Spence
You know how I want to do the thing. And I would help them through the Dat program. And then after they left, it was like, well, now I kind of, I kind of want somebody to kind of hold my hand and do this with me. And I would be like, I can't, I can't because this is my full time job.
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Spence
My full time job is motor house. But after of some years of doing that, I began to question this. Like, why can't, why can't I help people? Why can't I do that for people? And it's a big point of pride for me to know that the things that I was doing for myself, people saw a value in, they saw enough value in it for the vibe check to win, open back of the year.
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Spence
They saw enough value in it to, you know, have a, perform at bottom about bottom of last year that saw enough value in it for us to like to continue to have the success that we've had. So it seemed like the very next natural next step for me to take was like a bet on myself, you know what I mean?
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Spence
Like going to motor House was a bet on myself. You? That was me leaving banking entirely and trying to see if I could make it in the creative world on my own. And I did. And now this is this current step. 2025 is my latest iteration of betting on myself. Whereas like going to business for yourself, bro. Sink or swim.
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Spence
You better swim.
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Speaker 3
Yeah, and.
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Spence
Things are going well.
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Rob Lee
That's good to hear. It's really good to hear.
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Speaker 3
Thank you bro.
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Rob Lee
Yeah. And and it's it is it is a challenge. And you know I, I hear going back to the consultant piece and the direction piece. Yeah I, I look at folks who, who better themselves who make that move. There's one person we both know who he and I work. We're coworkers. And I remember when he made that move and I was like, oh, you're in LA this week.
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Rob Lee
Oh, you back here now?
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Speaker 3
See, I see you with the media.
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Rob Lee
Man post and all of that good stuff.
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Speaker 3
Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah.
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Rob Lee
Really set the stage of who it is. He'll be on again soon.
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Speaker 3
Yeah.
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Rob Lee
And you know, I, I envy that it's not a stage where I'm at and it's not of.
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Speaker 3
My own.
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Rob Lee
Doing per se. It's just sort of the climate of, of things. And I think there's a few too many people that kind of float into this zone that, oh, wow, we can leverage, celebrity. We can leverage notoriety to be someone that's in this space. So I think it's not the time for that. You know what I mean?
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Rob Lee
Because it's like, oh, yeah, this person, he has a bunch of followers. He should do a podcast. It's like he's not really that.
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Speaker 3
That's not.
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Spence
Really how I.
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Speaker 3
Want to do this. Not a good interviewer or.
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Rob Lee
You know, the other thing that that sticks out to is when I think of consulting, because I've had I'm outside my background data analyst. Right. And I have folks come to me with this sort of consultation thing because, you know, some people do the, cookie cutter approach, which I'm an analyst, it's it's both sides of the brain work for me.
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Rob Lee
When I look at the side, I'm like, you didn't ask one question about whether I actually need your services. You're just coming with a plan for me.
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Spence
What I.
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Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
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Rob Lee
And it's very interesting, but I find and I want to get your take in this sort of one of the key things that folks run into. They do their creative stuff. And when it gets to when you touched on the money piece earlier, when it gets to sort of money, when it gets to some of the stuff that feels like kind of work, kind of busy work, not the doing part of it, the administrative stuff.
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Rob Lee
Yes. They need someone that's the accountability person.
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Speaker 3
Who.
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Rob Lee
Am I right or wrong that you.
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Spence
Are absolutely right. And what I have found in this line of work is that I enjoy allowing creatives the freedom to just be the creatives I love, like seeing that burden be lifted off of them, because a part of my my consultation is showing them, like the reason why I've had this level of success is because this is what my posting schedule looks like.
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Spence
This is what my follow up schedule looks like. This is what all of my administrative work looks like before I can even play a lick of music on the drums, this is all the things that I have to do, and they see that and they're like, so I have to do that for myself. I was like, you're in business for yourself.
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Spence
This is what you do. Or you could just tell me to do it because that's the part of the start process where I would do this for you for a nominal fee. And then like, just go crazy. Yes, please do it. Please take care of it. And, one of my favorite collaborations so far was with Jen Fraser.
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Spence
She's the program director over at, Jubilee Arts, and we recently did Black Renaissance. And Jim has always been one of my favorite artists to just sit back and watch, because I see her like the way her brain works and how, like, everything just kind of comes together. It's beautiful to witness. Sure, it's also beautiful for me to, like, be in there, like taking notes.
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Spence
It's like, okay, so this is what you said and this is how we're going to get this done. And the deadlines. Jen the and she's like, she's so nice. She's like, absolutely Spence. We're going to get it done. And it's like, I kind of call myself the little Clippy from Microsoft Word. It's like, it looks like you're trying to be successful.
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Spence
Can I help you? Yeah, I mean, so it pans out that way, and I find that giving creatives the freedom to just be creatives is very satisfying. Work is extraordinarily satisfying work.
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Rob Lee
I, I've talked to like, folks who know me and who know me in a certain capacity. They're like, oh, you don't need that. You don't need this. You only then it's like, yeah, I need another one of me, you know.
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Speaker 3
What I mean? It is good because it's just like, so how do you book your guests?
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Rob Lee
Like, I'll talk to people who are in media and so on who are like, oh, I have we have a booking team. I was like, I, I book my guest with me or it's like, so who does your marketing? I do my marketing is like this, this laundry list. And it's just like, I need like a third of a person or a third of a me to just like, go just seek out these other things, whatever it is.
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Rob Lee
And is that a problem in, in delegating? But I find like sort of a lot of times I find folks who because and I think it's sort of a really interesting point, like you're in the creative, you have a queue, you have a schedule, you have a thing that works, you have an app, something that's turnkey that you could share with someone was like, this is my practice.
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Rob Lee
This is how I go about it. And we can adapt that to your type of art, your type of work and so on. And I find this a lot of folks that are like faking a phone and saying, you kind of need to fund my work if I can, you know, leverage you not having that time.
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Speaker 3
And we don't really.
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Rob Lee
Work too long because I find that I'm just doing the thing that I hired the person to do. There you go and you go. And I think in it, part of that comes out of, you know what you want. You have a set stage. And it was recent, like I learned that, you know, the notion of training someone is a whole skill set.
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Rob Lee
It's like I have a process, like most of this stuff. We were joking a bit before we got started. How when something's automated, it's supposed to work. Technology?
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Speaker 3
Yeah, like.
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Rob Lee
I know it's supposed to work, you know what I mean? So the fact that it's not working now, I need to do that. Just work that out.
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Spence
Absolutely, man. And I think that there is a beauty to being able to effectively train someone. I think that and that comes from my background in education. So I went to Norfolk for Norfolk State University for, music education. So I was well on track to be a music educator. And a lot of the things that you learn is like your own personal philosophy about how you want to educate people and what that looks like consistently, how that plays out with, you know, the people that you encounter and the what I, what I, I say about myself often is like, I will extract from experiences to create a full version, the fullest version of myself.
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Spence
So you know where I was learning how to speak to children. Now I'm learning how to apply that same logic to speak, to teach adults where I was, you know, discussing finances and learning, you know, sales tactics. Now I'm learning how to position facts in front of people so they can make the best decisions for themselves. And the beauty will follow.
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Spence
That is like, I have been a creative myself this entire time. Nobody has had to teach me how to do that. So it's like all of these beautiful things that I get to experience, I also get to give to myself and teach people how to do. It's beautiful that I feel abundantly blessed that this is my reality.
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Rob Lee
So I want to shift gears a little bit. And, you know, we'd be we touched on motor House a bit, a little bit there. We touched on vibe check a little bit, and, you know, Crown, I'm so proud. Of what? Baltimore about Baltimore. Just. You're just popping up everywhere.
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Speaker 3
So a few things, you know, can you.
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Rob Lee
Tell us about sort of like projects over like the last year creatively that you just feel like, yeah, this is a really positive sign. And that connected with sort of like being in it, being in the consulting space, like those things going together. That's sort of the sign that, wow, I'm really in this sort of growth phase, this development phase, this really great phase, maybe even a prime phase.
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Rob Lee
Some might say.
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Spence
Yeah, I think the most, the largest indicator of that is, when a business or a nonprofit that does not specialize in what you do decides that they want to connect with you to help them get to their next step is I think that that is just undeniable, like just validation that comes with that. And it's not necessarily that I need the validation, but it certainly helps me feel more grounded and be like, okay, yeah, I do know what I'm doing.
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Spence
I'm fully aware of this. So, earlier this year, I think it was around April or so, I had sat down with an org, a national organization called Black Men's Exchange and Black Music. Sage is an organization that focuses on the mental health and wellness of black men, with an emphasis on same gender loving black men and it when I when I initially sat down and kind of explained like what my skill set was, what spent start does what I've done what like pretty much just run down my resume?
00;19;44;15 - 00;20;16;24
Spence
They were just pretty much like, oh, okay. Yes, we would love to utilize you and your business to develop our national brand. And for me to get my very first national contract to start there and, to get my first national contract, representing men that I historically have not had the best understanding of, it really helps me feel like, oh, I am where I need to be and is so welcoming being in this space because they're like, we want to teach you.
00;20;16;24 - 00;20;40;15
Spence
We want you to understand our perspective, and then we want you to put this out into the public so people can understand this is everything that we do, and I respect that. That's important work. I respect that it's an important message. And I take it very seriously. But to tie it all together, like that's that's huge validation of, like, we trust you with this vision.
00;20;40;18 - 00;20;44;16
Spence
Please execute it. I have a musician.
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Speaker 3
I.
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Spence
Like, and the thing that I've done for the longest is music and the. I think that this just kind of helps me feel a little bit more sure of myself. Well, especially when I see certain decisions that need to be made. And it's reaffirming that they give me the freedom that I need to make these decisions. And seemingly it's going well.
00;21;07;11 - 00;21;36;00
Spence
We had, our first major event called The King's Table. And I love community connections. And I was able to, to bring in Rich Rockett and this was, he, he was, hosting the event, and this was a dinner that supported and honored. Danny is in the last support culture. So there were a lot of just so many amazing designers that showed up, and I was tapping into some of my history at Morehouse because I developed this fashion show.
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Spence
They're called Fashion Meets Art.
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Speaker 3
Yeah.
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Spence
And they're still doing it. So it's it's it's so much validation that's coming from me being in this space because I feel like if it was bad, it would not still be.
00;21;48;13 - 00;21;50;10
Speaker 3
Half the year of me. And I got.
00;21;50;13 - 00;22;10;13
Spence
Good at this that I would be, you know, back in banking, if I'm not good at this, then I would be trying to teach somewhere else. But the fact that I'm getting more conscious, like I had another point where it was just like more people were putting in applications or not applications, but inquiries to work with me. And I had my first experience where I was like, guys, I'm booked up!
00;22;10;15 - 00;22;11;18
Speaker 3
Hahaha.
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Rob Lee
I was about to ask that.
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Speaker 3
I booked.
00;22;13;12 - 00;22;16;21
Spence
Up. I'm busy, you know, I've got a caseload, you know.
00;22;16;23 - 00;22;18;23
Speaker 3
I gotta get.
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Rob Lee
Just, you know guys, I'm in high demand right now.
00;22;21;07 - 00;22;24;12
Speaker 3
I had a it's it's that's a brag.
00;22;24;12 - 00;22;49;15
Spence
But it it's, it is being very aware that if what I was doing wasn't good, I don't think that more that I would be getting this type of consistency and I don't take it for myself. I accredit that to God, you know, I mean for like seeing it in me and like the poor and all of it. And to me, it allowed me to just represented so in.
00;22;49;17 - 00;23;21;06
Rob Lee
In that, that, that vein. Right. Because, you know, sometimes you, you hear words, I hear I hear really great things sometimes. But then in other instances they are as far as what I do, I suppose. But then other times you the, the sort of actual follow up isn't quite, commiserate with what the, the words are. Sometimes you're great and it's like, left turn red for a while, I see and things of that nature or how it is you love my work, but you're going to have to rejected it because of X, Y, and Z, whatever the reason.
00;23;21;06 - 00;23;21;18
Rob Lee
That's right.
00;23;21;25 - 00;23;22;05
Speaker 3
Yeah.
00;23;22;08 - 00;23;43;25
Rob Lee
And it's sort of kind of a cycle of that. But I think, you know, I don't I, I've changed my perspective on that because it wasn't always that. It wasn't always about that. You know, it's sort of a a reasoning, the opportunities, the, the funding, all of those things, those are things to actually do more of the stuff.
00;23;43;25 - 00;24;05;27
Rob Lee
But if I'm able to do the stuff, whether it on my own steam or whatever it is, then sort of reputation matters to me, sort of where I fit in, how people receive my work. And so do those kind words. I think, you know, I get mostly like really kind feedback or people who are, hey, like when I was gone last week, I wasn't online.
00;24;05;27 - 00;24;09;12
Rob Lee
I had a few people as soon as I got back on dry land, like, yo, where you at?
00;24;09;17 - 00;24;10;28
Speaker 3
What happened with me?
00;24;11;01 - 00;24;31;00
Rob Lee
Literally, literally. It's cool to, to do that. And it is, as my man, David Abada said recently in a conversation I had with him, it's one of those things where it's like you get a kind word from a fellow artist or someone, you respect their work and you're in the scene, you know, it's just like, you can live off of that for a little bit, you know, for that.
00;24;31;02 - 00;24;33;07
Speaker 3
Absolutely. So talk about.
00;24;33;07 - 00;24;44;16
Rob Lee
That specifically to like the feedback that you've gotten, you know, recent feedback that you've gotten from like other musicians, like, man, I was really good show. And you crushed it like that.
00;24;44;21 - 00;24;48;24
Speaker 3
I you wrote that percussion. Yeah.
00;24;48;27 - 00;25;09;11
Spence
Something that I've lived off of for years and I still like I still like you. So I get goosebumps just thinking about it. But I have this, band here called New Band. And you, space band, by Tim Obasi. One day he hired the storage unit collective to show up and open for his band.
00;25;09;11 - 00;25;19;04
Spence
And I was like, okay, cool. You know what I mean? Happy to do it. You know, like, we're in the scene. And he was like, not only are you going to be open for me, but you're also going to be opening for Dennis Chambers. And I was like, wait.
00;25;19;06 - 00;25;22;14
Speaker 3
Wait, what are you do you just said.
00;25;22;17 - 00;25;35;14
Spence
Dennis Chambers the same. Okay, cool. That's cool. And I was thinking like, okay, this is Dennis Chambers, so he's probably just going to show up, do his set and then leave you. I mean, he was there at soundcheck.
00;25;35;16 - 00;25;36;07
Speaker 3
Dennis Chambers.
00;25;36;07 - 00;25;39;26
Spence
Was there at soundcheck, and I was like, okay, the whole thing is just be cool.
00;25;39;26 - 00;25;43;12
Speaker 3
Baby. Just chill. Check, check.
00;25;43;14 - 00;25;59;16
Spence
And, you know, we got to play. We got to, you know, run up our sound check and everything like that. And afterwards I was just literally just trying to relax. And I was walking past and he's like, hey, man, you sound like solid. You solid. When the kid, I was like.
00;25;59;18 - 00;26;02;00
Rob Lee
Most of these cats these days, they're not that solid.
00;26;02;01 - 00;26;03;02
Speaker 3
You know, these,
00;26;03;04 - 00;26;04;16
Spence
I was just like, thanks.
00;26;04;16 - 00;26;12;04
Speaker 3
Dennis. Like, I didn't even say Mr. Chambers. I was like, thanks, Dennis. You know, preaching to Dennis so that.
00;26;12;07 - 00;26;43;05
Spence
That is definitely something that makes me fly high, even to this day. But, even more important than that, I think your collaborators, the people that really are there with you from, like, start all the way to now because they really finish. These are the people that you really look to, to understand your development because it's something to just see something and be like, oh, that's cool, but see where something started all the way to where you're currently at to hear them say, Spencer, I hear your pocket.
00;26;43;07 - 00;26;59;06
Spence
Your pocket is right where it needs to be. I see, my what is it? My my vocalists, love Harris. What she consistently says is like, what you play. I don't want to hear your thoughts. I just want to be able to feel your heart. And it's like it got to that point where she was just like, you're doing it is.
00;26;59;07 - 00;27;17;28
Spence
You're doing the thing. I don't. I don't hear you thinking so much of your playing. That makes me feel like very like I'm where I need to be and I'm doing the right things. So that's a good question, man, because it makes people like, really I feel like it's a like an indictment of like who you actually value, who's opinions you truly value.
00;27;18;05 - 00;27;23;28
Spence
And the thing that I genuinely enjoy about this is that this whole time I haven't said anything about the audience. I haven't said.
00;27;23;28 - 00;27;24;08
Speaker 3
Anything.
00;27;24;12 - 00;27;36;13
Spence
Nothing about the audience. What I'm doing is not for you all. I mean, you have I'm happy to have you here. Love the audience. But at the end of the day, the music is really about what we enjoy. And if you guys enjoy that.
00;27;36;19 - 00;27;37;28
Speaker 3
Please continue to come.
00;27;38;00 - 00;27;46;11
Rob Lee
It's it's two virgins that said they're right. It's those clips that have been circulating from conversations with Rick Rubin. It's like the audience comes last. It's like.
00;27;46;13 - 00;27;47;06
Speaker 3
Yes.
00;27;47;09 - 00;28;07;20
Rob Lee
Yes, or even the one where I think it's gone a glover. And he's talking about that conversation with Erica Badu. It's like, I make what I like, and they eat it how they want to eat it, and I go back to those, I keep a folder. Save messages in Instagram and it's and then I nipped off of for Boston Kleon.
00;28;07;20 - 00;28;18;24
Rob Lee
It's like a safe folder and it's like let me go back for inspiration. Let me check these things out because, the way this is because it's a digital medium for what I do. Right. You get caught like man metrics man numbers.
00;28;18;24 - 00;28;20;26
Speaker 3
I didn't like my business bro.
00;28;20;29 - 00;28;29;18
Rob Lee
And I go back and I'm like well why are you doing this. What is what is your reason why. And so on. And then with that reason why. Because I think.
00;28;30;19 - 00;28;50;25
Rob Lee
Perhaps from the gen that we're in that, that, that sort of period it, it's not about the audience, it's not about an extension of the audience. If they like it, great. If they have feedback. Also great. But it's sort of the reason behind it. It starts allowing, people who may not be as invested to have a little bit more influence than they should have.
00;28;50;28 - 00;29;03;01
Rob Lee
Then suddenly I'm only booking certain guests, or I'm only having these types of conversations and no one. And that's not the intent. The intent is for me to in some way satisfy my own curiosity.
00;29;03;03 - 00;29;05;03
Speaker 3
I love that.
00;29;05;05 - 00;29;31;11
Spence
There was there was a rapper. I can't I feel like it may have been offset, but what he was saying was, he's tired of like, people, like accessing the internet, seeing what's on there and then trying to be that what he said was like, there needs to be a resurgence of like, regional rap because such a thing, whereas like, your region did this very specific thing and because that was your specific thing, that was your niche.
00;29;31;14 - 00;29;56;26
Spence
And in a sense, like all of this connectivity has kind of ruined some of the creativity. So I love that you said something along the lines of like, you unplugged like the ship and you, you were able to kind of tap back in with yourself. I think a reoccurring theme from this conversation and our first interview was that sometimes when I feel burnt out, I don't feel like I'm going to keep pushing and say, you have to put content out there.
00;29;56;26 - 00;30;01;06
Spence
I feel like when I'm burnt out, I'm going to be like, all right, and this is my social media fest.
00;30;01;08 - 00;30;03;02
Speaker 3
You want to see me for a while?
00;30;03;04 - 00;30;22;26
Rob Lee
I'll throw these two things out there. And the first one goes this way. I think going back to that regional rap piece, I think we have this shift, a subtle shift. Sometimes it's a half a percentage here, full percentage here, whatever. But as a shift to being American food and that it's all kind of the same as all of these same burgers.
00;30;22;26 - 00;30;39;24
Rob Lee
Oh, we had a bacon in this one, but it's still kind of a cheap bad burger. And, you know, I like to try something that's a little bit more ethnic, something that feels more authentic, something that has a little spice, a little uniqueness to it. And I don't really like fusion too much unless you really have something to say with that fusion.
00;30;39;26 - 00;31;01;08
Rob Lee
I think where as we get to the stage in social media, all that stuff has an impact on it. We get these really, really narrowly curated. This is exactly what you like. How do I do? You know what I like? So if I broaden it. No, no, no. You only like this. Yeah. You only like, Dipset music from like 2004.
00;31;01;10 - 00;31;05;27
Rob Lee
Like specific and only how rarely versus why.
00;31;06;00 - 00;31;07;02
Speaker 3
You know.
00;31;07;05 - 00;31;20;01
Rob Lee
And you want to have something that's a bit broader and just I would say this piece to it, I was one of those guys when it came to like music and sort of discovery. I was always every Sunday on like pigeons and Planes.
00;31;20;03 - 00;31;20;16
Speaker 3
And.
00;31;20;21 - 00;31;37;06
Rob Lee
Yeah, I was one of those guys, CDs back in the day playlists and just trying to discover new things and if someone goes to my unfortunately, Spotify and, you know, see what's in there, it's just like, oh I couldn't tell this Rob.
00;31;37;22 - 00;31;57;03
Rob Lee
Based on that you might see my podcast in there. But you, you know based on the music interests, you couldn't tell that. And that's applicable in multiple walks of like whether whatever I'm consuming, whether it be media food, fashion whatever. And I think that's what makes things really, really rich. And that stuff bleeds into how I approach these interviews, these conversations.
00;31;57;05 - 00;32;18;25
Rob Lee
And the last piece of that I'll say in terms of that, that sort of connection to internet, the sort of like relevance and where you fit like what feels good to hear, I suppose. Just doing this season right back to and reaching out to folks because there's at one, I was already going to be a limited number of interviews.
00;32;18;25 - 00;32;34;20
Rob Lee
I was going to do. So that's going to be trimmed down. I said interviews like I was from Baltimore. So that is going to be trimmed down. So right there working in a smaller frame and it's just like, all right. Sure. You know, I'll reach out. Folks like to talk, you know, come on, my thing and talk about your stuff for an hour.
00;32;34;20 - 00;33;00;09
Rob Lee
Fantastic. But what are the conversations I want to have with the conversations? I feel that either there's more to talk about. There's really large progression or opportunities for me to improve. Maybe where I wasn't as good of an interview as you touched on. I'm seeing the progress from, you know, six years ago when I started to now. So that's part of that was but people say, hey, yeah, I would love to come back one can I come back going now?
00;33;00;12 - 00;33;15;29
Spence
I love these experiences up here, man. Like, full transparency from the first time that I came up here, I literally had, like, notes. And I like, like time marks. Parts that I just wanted to clip and then add into, like, a mixtape.
00;33;16;07 - 00;33;16;16
Speaker 3
Nice.
00;33;16;24 - 00;33;23;29
Spence
Like you're being something where we're having, like, just create music around that, that fit in that conversation. I was like, he's gonna love this. I haven't done it yet.
00;33;23;29 - 00;33;26;10
Speaker 3
But I was like, oh, like.
00;33;26;12 - 00;33;44;03
Spence
I'm really hard set on that because I think that it's really important to show the evolution of both because you've been doing it thing. You're like, props to you for still having this platform, for growing this platform the way that you have, man, it's been beautiful to witness. That's another reason why I was like, Rob, please have me back.
00;33;44;05 - 00;33;44;29
Speaker 3
Yes.
00;33;45;02 - 00;33;47;15
Rob Lee
We talk about we have matter to discuss.
00;33;47;18 - 00;33;48;26
Speaker 3
Yes.
00;33;48;28 - 00;34;11;02
Rob Lee
No. And so you know, that's that's a that's a big piece of it. And I think there's intention to this thoughtfulness that goes into it. And, and you know sort of working in the parameters. And I just love hearing the progress and sort of the moves that you've been making. So I want to move into this, this next question, because you are there in the city, you know, you talk about all these different things on like different places, different events and such.
00;34;11;05 - 00;34;17;17
Rob Lee
And, you know, I say before the keystone at the towards the end of last year, you know, no, the placebo keys.
00;34;17;19 - 00;34;19;14
Spence
Were three times, three times last year.
00;34;19;17 - 00;34;29;21
Rob Lee
I was I was at the towards the I think the maybe the second one or maybe the last one because I brought my lady there. We were like all right, let's see what this is about. And I was like, yeah, I mean, it's right there. There's literally how I said.
00;34;29;23 - 00;34;30;11
Speaker 3
It's usually.
00;34;30;13 - 00;34;37;22
Rob Lee
Usually I'm like, all right, if it's men, I'm gonna say, man, they played tonight. I don't know who they are, but they played. I was like, no, that's my man's right. As an endorsement passes.
00;34;37;22 - 00;34;39;01
Speaker 3
Yeah.
00;34;39;04 - 00;35;00;04
Rob Lee
But then also, you know, we shared a meal. We, you know, we, we kicked it at for it for the seventh, you know, anniversary joint. And I just love when sort of selfishly, when folks that I have some connection through the podcast and through just being in the community and liking what they do, find a way to not necessarily do business together, but operate together.
00;35;00;04 - 00;35;06;07
Rob Lee
However, it may be like, you know, that's a big thing. Someone's like anniversary thing. We're at the table. We just chop it it up, you know?
00;35;07;09 - 00;35;10;13
Spence
I still I still go out into the city with my truth in this shirt.
00;35;10;13 - 00;35;12;14
Speaker 3
On how. Yes. Well went to
00;35;12;16 - 00;35;18;29
Spence
See Robert Glasper last year and he reposted my, photo. I was like Rob, he.
00;35;19;01 - 00;35;19;17
Speaker 3
Oh yeah.
00;35;19;21 - 00;35;19;26
Rob Lee
I.
00;35;19;26 - 00;35;22;00
Speaker 3
Love it. So, you know.
00;35;22;06 - 00;35;40;08
Rob Lee
It's a enforces right there. Station north. You know, keystones always having these really, like, dope shows. Really just great performances and such. So from your vantage point in sort of the different circles that you're in and the different backgrounds that you have and conversations that you're having, what do you think is fueling this, like creative boom in in Baltimore?
00;35;40;08 - 00;35;57;14
Rob Lee
Because I keep hearing Renaissance float around. I keep hearing these these different things. I see it to varying degrees. If I'm being you know, honest and somewhat diplomatic. But from your vantage point, what are you seeing as far as the the boom and the growth and the attention around Baltimore creatively from arts and culture perspective?
00;35;57;17 - 00;36;28;21
Spence
If I'm keeping it up, being here and this is a shameless plug, I think that, a lot of the creative boom comes from the city feeling a little bit safer. Just keep it a being, you know what I mean? Like, I think that Brenda Scott is doing his thing when it comes to, like, doing the work of understanding the community and providing space for the community to flourish appropriately, where people can feel safer and feel more comfortable to do the things that give them joy.
00;36;28;23 - 00;36;45;09
Spence
I think that you're naturally going to see better art, you know what I mean? And I like just it's very much so aligned with your numbers. And it's like you analyze numbers, right? The, the, the crime stats in the city have gone down. The creativity has fallen.
00;36;45;09 - 00;36;46;08
Speaker 3
Okay.
00;36;46;11 - 00;37;09;09
Spence
So it's like I feel very blessed and fortunate to be in the city at this point in time, because now I get to add in my little bit to the ethos, you know what I mean? And it's not just that, but, what I have witnessed, what I have experienced in this city is that there are much less clicks here and.
00;37;09;16 - 00;37;10;05
Speaker 3
More.
00;37;10;05 - 00;37;27;28
Spence
Reaching across and saying like, oh, you're dope. You know, like there are I'm not going to say it. There are no clicks. But what I would say is like, they're not to the point where it's like gatekeeping or exclusionary. One of my favorite collaborators is black assets. Black assets don't need me for nothing.
00;37;28;01 - 00;37;28;13
Speaker 3
You know.
00;37;28;16 - 00;37;44;16
Spence
Let me just clarify that. But the fact that she will consistently reach out and be like, oh, Spence, let's do this. I was thinking about this while black like, that is a blessing. B Robinson over to black G is also like, I literally just came to him and I was like, this is a dope space. Can I put music?
00;37;44;16 - 00;37;45;07
Spence
And he was like, yeah.
00;37;45;08 - 00;37;45;23
Speaker 3
Let's let's.
00;37;45;23 - 00;37;52;09
Spence
Build something together. And quiet as it's kept me and B Robinson are working on us up there with the retro F Louis Museum.
00;37;52;13 - 00;37;54;07
Speaker 3
Nice. So it's one of those.
00;37;54;07 - 00;38;04;14
Spence
Things where people are creating their thing, and when they see the hand that's coming out to them, they're like, oh yes, come with me, let's go and do this thing together.
00;38;04;19 - 00;38;05;19
Speaker 3
And it is.
00;38;05;19 - 00;38;06;29
Spence
It's been beautiful to witness.
00;38;07;03 - 00;38;37;08
Rob Lee
The, the, the opportunity and the capacity is built. I think because of that you're, you're touching on like sort of maybe those barriers, those sort of like some somewhat self-created, somewhat imaginary barriers to kind of going away and, you know, it's because places are safe where people are inclined to, to go out and, and be there because that's sort of the thing I remember doing those movie nights and Motown and sometimes it was a it was a pull in other times I was just like, oh, no one's here.
00;38;37;11 - 00;38;55;16
Rob Lee
And it's sort of this thing of what's driving and and going to the thing. Room numbers. I always do sort of the root cause analysis. It's just like, well, this is a free event. This is this, this is this, this is this. I was like, what is the parameter that or what is the the variable rather that is preventing people and part of it.
00;38;55;17 - 00;39;12;26
Rob Lee
You know, is I'm now granted I'm, you know, I'm 240 pounds for a black man. I mean, these streets, anyone is rolling up on me. But at the same time, you know, well, maybe, but at the same time, you know, maybe everyone doesn't have that experience and isn't considering it isn't. They can of that. And it's just like, this is too much of a hassle.
00;39;12;26 - 00;39;38;07
Rob Lee
So I don't care if it's free. I don't care if it's interesting, I'm not going to show up. And I think some of the media, you know, that was floating around and saying certain things, you know, keeping keeping it a book. Was being somewhat irresponsible, pushing the narrative. But I think once you see the stats and once you see that there's work being done to actively shift a narrative and have like sort of the proof is in the pudding, it's just like, oh, no, we should go outside.
00;39;38;07 - 00;39;39;19
Rob Lee
Let's go outside. Like right now.
00;39;39;21 - 00;40;00;02
Spence
The thing about it is, it's not just shifting the narrative, but it's actually like creating this fear of missing out. Like literally there was a point in time where the peninsula, no one ever went to the peninsula, and now the bottom of Peninsula is like the Go-To spot. I would say the same thing about, Station North. Like, does it say North is North Avenue?
00;40;00;02 - 00;40;04;21
Spence
You know, I mean, it's still, you know, I mean, it's got has elements to it, but North Avenue.
00;40;04;23 - 00;40;05;17
Speaker 3
It feels.
00;40;05;17 - 00;40;11;20
Spence
A little bit different because you have leadership of the city that number one knows the city.
00;40;11;22 - 00;40;12;04
Speaker 3
And he's.
00;40;12;04 - 00;40;30;18
Spence
From here and he's investing in the city in a very intentional way. Whereas it's like, let me do this for these kids. Let me do this for these adults. Let me do this for these elders. And it's paying off, and I get to reap the benefits of it, because if the space feels safer, you're more inclined to come here.
00;40;30;18 - 00;40;31;18
Spence
My music.
00;40;31;21 - 00;40;32;26
Rob Lee
100% is.
00;40;32;26 - 00;40;34;04
Spence
What lessons, bro?
00;40;34;06 - 00;40;59;12
Rob Lee
Absolutely. So I got I got two more real questions I want to hit you with, and definitely want to close out on sort of an update on the storage unit collective, but the first one I got is something I saw in the sort of, so this is this book that I've been reading or audiobook, and if I'm being honest, because I always have headphones and, but the book is about sort of changing one's mindset, like changing how you think you're, you know, which are I'll, I'll share with you.
00;40;59;14 - 00;41;02;16
Spence
Is it called mindset by Carol Dweck?
00;41;02;19 - 00;41;03;04
Rob Lee
It is.
00;41;03;04 - 00;41;05;14
Speaker 3
Not. It is.
00;41;05;16 - 00;41;07;27
Rob Lee
Dude named Joseph Nguyen.
00;41;08;00 - 00;41;09;21
Speaker 3
It's the.
00;41;09;24 - 00;41;16;15
Rob Lee
I because I got it recently. Don't believe everything. You think that's what it is? I wish I was in a t.
00;41;16;17 - 00;41;17;12
Speaker 3
Shirt that.
00;41;17;12 - 00;41;19;03
Spence
Sounded like a line of therapy.
00;41;19;06 - 00;41;20;19
Speaker 3
With that.
00;41;20;22 - 00;41;36;28
Rob Lee
But, one of the things that's in it, if I recall correctly, is sort of this delineation between where, our inspiration, where our goals come from, you know, inspiration and desperation, you know, and I sat there playing with that. So for you, you know, using this idea of just learning about it, I'm just saying to you.
00;41;36;28 - 00;41;38;27
Speaker 3
Right now.
00;41;39;00 - 00;41;42;04
Rob Lee
But you know what inspiration desperation is?
00;41;42;07 - 00;41;44;05
Speaker 3
Where where does that come from?
00;41;44;05 - 00;41;56;03
Rob Lee
Is it like, you know, being inspired? Is it sort of like, man, I'm desperate. Like, yo need to make it this bread and, you know, and and on the ground over here.
00;41;56;06 - 00;42;15;24
Spence
Especially at this point because, remember, this is my first full year as an entrepreneur, you know, I mean, so, like, you kind of hit the ground running and looking for the opportunities. And I think that is the the desperation to be where it's just like you, I need to I need to I to survive. That's a great place to live.
00;42;15;26 - 00;42;18;13
Speaker 3
I need to survive.
00;42;18;16 - 00;42;46;01
Spence
And, take care of my child and, not only just survive, but I'd like to enjoy life. So that's where the desperation comes from. But I think that the inspiration comes from self-reflection. From the time that you sit with yourself and allow some of the, the, the quietness to, like, enter your space so you can like, really like hone in on what makes you happy, what what not only makes you happy, but what is sustainable.
00;42;46;04 - 00;42;51;16
Spence
And I credit a lot of that awareness to do that with earnest, to earn the shore.
00;42;51;18 - 00;42;52;10
Rob Lee
Nice.
00;42;52;13 - 00;43;12;28
Spence
It was back in 2023. I experienced, like, a major life life altering tragedy. And, when I was sitting with Ernest, like, I was just like, you know, trying to get perspective about what I could actually do because I saw him, you know, and like the way that he carried himself and the way that he has his art practice so intact, I was.
00;43;12;28 - 00;43;21;25
Spence
And just the calmness that he always has, like the evenness. I just sat down with him. It was like, it's such a like, Ernest, tell me your ways. Like, help me.
00;43;21;27 - 00;43;22;12
Speaker 3
Help me.
00;43;22;12 - 00;43;45;26
Spence
Get here. And he was like, man, I start every day with meditation. I get to understand myself. I get to understand my brain and just allow myself that space. Just time for me. And I think that to answer your question, it is a delicate balance of desperation. Where was like, I need, I need money. And the inspiration was like, this was amazing to experience.
00;43;45;26 - 00;44;10;14
Spence
This was amazing to see. And like you, a teeter totter every now and then. But if you if you're really good at what you do, you get to slowly shift directly to that inspired. And I feel blessed to be able to say when I consult with someone before I give them like the price, I would let them know upfront, like I am not money hungry.
00;44;10;17 - 00;44;27;05
Spence
And so let me just let you know like you are not being taken advantage of. I'm not running you through the coals, and I love the fact that I can give people options where it's just like, you can do a la carte, you can do, all at once, or you can do an hourly whatever works for you.
00;44;27;05 - 00;44;46;25
Spence
And if they're like, man, I don't really have money, but I make a mean gumbo. I'm like, I can eat gumbo. I can eat gumbo for a little bit. That will sustain me. Let's work together, you know what I mean? And I think that even in those gumbo scenario, that is really where I get inspired because they're, they they're extracting the value and I see what they're doing to use it.
00;44;46;25 - 00;44;55;00
Spence
I'm like, oh, oh, I was so happy I was that money hungry about this and this gumbo slap. So yeah, by all means.
00;44;55;02 - 00;45;08;07
Rob Lee
It's I think it's sometimes it's too easy when we do that thing. Like when I talk about, like, what sort of reinforcement, what sort of validation matters. And I try to frame it sometimes, like money's too easy.
00;45;08;10 - 00;45;08;28
Spence
It is.
00;45;09;04 - 00;45;27;21
Rob Lee
And, you know, it's like, what is the the other thing? Like, I talk about this and for better or for worse, it's like, this is my creative practice. I was actually talking about this on the boat the other day with with my with my partner. I was like, I might I might just take a year off. And and she was like, would you take a full year off?
00;45;27;21 - 00;45;48;04
Rob Lee
I was like, I would do something else. I could your podcast, but maybe it would be just something that I want to do because I identify in podcasting as my medium. But as far as being public and being out there and doing something in that capacity, that's something that I will consider. And I'll think through. And part of that comes from am I inspired in like, curious?
00;45;48;04 - 00;45;55;25
Rob Lee
Am I interested in that way, or is it I think around like desperation, like, well, if I'm not putting out new content, people are going to forget about.
00;45;55;27 - 00;45;56;15
Speaker 3
Me and the.
00;45;56;17 - 00;46;21;21
Rob Lee
Canon and the good work that I'm doing. And and I think the way that I look at it is like, what am I operating out of? Like, we we need money. We need sort of this thing. But what do I really feel like I need? And it's like, I need to satisfy your curiosity. So with what happens with with me at times when I feel like I'm doing this and it feels good, whatever the thing might be.
00;46;21;27 - 00;46;43;01
Rob Lee
But if it's like short of what my vision is, then it's like you're doing this a little bit more oriented, as you were saying, with the, you know, because we I think we all oscillate right between desperation and inspiration in that way. But I think like to watch if it's the Libra scales to which one is weighted more, is it 55, 45?
00;46;43;01 - 00;46;46;18
Rob Lee
Is it 7030? And I try to think about it in that way.
00;46;46;23 - 00;46;53;07
Spence
There. That's I think that that's very fair. And there's this something that you said that literally like it.
00;46;53;09 - 00;46;54;00
Speaker 3
Is like.
00;46;54;03 - 00;47;14;11
Spence
The analogy that I was going to tie in. Right. Maybe talking about the analogy will help me remember how we got to it, but there's a clip of childish Gambino online where, he, I think he was on a live and someone asked him what was like, hey, what does it cost to to get like a Childish Gambino feature?
00;47;14;13 - 00;47;19;02
Spence
And that's what it was. That's what you said. You said that money is too easy, right?
00;47;19;05 - 00;47;19;11
Speaker 3
Yeah.
00;47;19;15 - 00;47;41;15
Spence
And what child has Gambino's response was, he was like, I don't know if you can find me a cursed monkeys PA, then I will give you a verse. You, I mean, and I love, I love that statement within itself because what that says is like, I don't work unless I'm inspired. There isn't a price for my verse.
00;47;41;17 - 00;47;45;13
Spence
There's an a price for my artistry. I'm not saying that I'm there.
00;47;45;16 - 00;47;46;21
Speaker 3
I'm down there.
00;47;46;24 - 00;47;53;25
Spence
I'm just saying that that is that is something that really inspires me to be able to say I don't work unless I'm inspired. That's freedom.
00;47;53;25 - 00;47;56;05
Speaker 3
Like exactly that.
00;47;56;08 - 00;48;09;02
Rob Lee
It's it's a running bit that, we we talk about me and my partner. We talk about that, it comes from the rewatchable, like they talk about, like, how did this movie get made and so on. And it's usually the response is like.
00;48;09;03 - 00;48;12;05
Speaker 3
How much, you know, like, so we.
00;48;12;05 - 00;48;39;09
Rob Lee
Say that in a regular conversation and it's it's usually around that. And then there are other instances and I'm gonna head into this next question, but there are other instances where I've been, I think with minimal with minimal looking. The puzzles that I create in these podcasts of like trying to, you know, keep certain things nameless. You could tell like, there are instances where there are opportunities that are presented to me and it has a certain price tag attached.
00;48;39;10 - 00;49;02;05
Rob Lee
I was like, ooh, that's an interesting number. But like, I'm not really interested in that because I for these reasons. So like, there are certain people who I've interviewed and I really value their opinion and I value their insight that I know would think twice about doing this podcast if I was aligned with a brand that was kind of weird, let's just put it that way.
00;49;02;07 - 00;49;02;16
Speaker 3
Yeah.
00;49;02;18 - 00;49;19;24
Rob Lee
And, you know, so I make those sort of things. And it was one of the things you touched on about sort of that, that trust and being in this consultant sort of space of like you have trust for someone is like, hey, I'm sharing my idea with you. And, you know, in this sort of realm that we're in, we're in this idea economy.
00;49;19;24 - 00;49;23;22
Rob Lee
And a lot of people don't have them. You know, it's just like, oh.
00;49;23;27 - 00;49;27;00
Speaker 3
Grab these ideas. Yeah, yeah, I'll help you. Yeah, yeah.
00;49;27;02 - 00;49;45;28
Rob Lee
And it's just like a book of ideas and it's like, yeah. Yes. Here's it's like it's like a Death Note. But as of ideas, it's great. So, so here's the last one I got, for you, it's sort of a two part. So can you give us a update on the storage unit collective? Like, what's up for the rest of 2025 into 2026?
00;49;45;28 - 00;49;50;11
Rob Lee
And, I'll give you the second part, but at least open it there alone.
00;49;50;14 - 00;49;53;15
Spence
Like, again. Yeah. Brilliant. Interviewer.
00;49;53;15 - 00;49;55;29
Speaker 3
Because you got all the things.
00;49;56;02 - 00;50;14;03
Spence
So the storage unit collective, when I started the storage unit collective, the the first off, let's start here. The reason it's called the storage unit collective. When I was in Virginia, it was literally like, the only place where I could play my drums as loud as I wanted to for 24 hours. You know?
00;50;14;03 - 00;50;14;16
Speaker 3
I mean.
00;50;14;23 - 00;50;33;13
Spence
At any point in time, if I woke up with an idea 3 a.m., I'd be able to go to my storage unit and like just play my drums. And slowly but surely people would hear me playing and musicians would come, and as musicians came, they would lock in, we would play certain things. And then shortly after that we would start to get gigs, right.
00;50;33;16 - 00;50;55;29
Spence
And the idea of the storage unit collective is like these musicians that will come, they will rotate out. It would literally be like, hey, I'm playing keys today, I'm playing bass today, I'm playing trombone, whatever. But anywhere that we went, we had like a solid unit of people that could play and we could get booked. The storage unit collective, this latest iteration of it has been more of a band, more than anything.
00;50;55;29 - 00;51;23;05
Spence
You know what I mean? Like, there had been identifiable members of the unit that have been consistent, you know, I mean, my idea with the storage unit collectors here has always been to, like, keep that original sense of flavor where it's just like, you come here, you get developed, you find your thing, and then you go out, you know, I mean, that is the premise of what spin start is, and the storage unit is a subset of that.
00;51;23;07 - 00;51;46;27
Spence
So with that being said, I'm proud to, I guess, announce that CDJ has graduated from the storage unit collective CDJ. Like. And it's brilliant to see because as a black ass, that's. You don't need me for that. You don't need nobody for nothing. Irvine. But the fact that you have these these consistent collaborators and CDJ is one of her consistent collaborators.
00;51;46;27 - 00;51;50;22
Spence
Now CDJ is focused on like doing her thing.
00;51;50;25 - 00;51;51;01
Speaker 3
And.
00;51;51;01 - 00;52;13;05
Spence
Developing as a musician and quite as is. No, it's not quiet at all. She's a drummer, like she's been like she has the heart of a drummer, the mind of a drummer. The way that she, like, taps things out. She's a drummer. Keeping rolling keys is a disadvantage. So now she's in a space where she gets to experience both and like, create and like curate her own things.
00;52;13;05 - 00;52;50;09
Spence
So blessings. Like, I love it. I basically just Jordan. He is still our basis, but he lives at a different area now. He lives in Brentwood, Maryland, so it's going to be a little bit difficult to try to get him to come to consistent rehearsals or come to even a lot of the gigs. So the latest iteration of the storage unit collective is kind of back to what I initially thought it was going to be, where I'm inviting musicians to come sit in with us, and this is a bit of an invitation where if you seen what you like from the storage unit collective in the past, now is your opportunity to come actually
00;52;50;09 - 00;52;55;04
Spence
vibe with us. Oh wow. Speaking of vibes.
00;52;55;06 - 00;52;56;12
Speaker 3
Hey.
00;52;56;14 - 00;53;05;18
Spence
Oh, I love this. Okay, so the way that you can come check the vibe with us, is that the vibe check, right?
00;53;05;18 - 00;53;07;10
Speaker 3
But where's the next check?
00;53;07;10 - 00;53;22;15
Spence
Go to with the vibe check. Took a little break, you know what I mean? Because we were tired. We were trying to like, remember we said earlier in this space where it's like, if it feels like we're forcing it, we don't want to try to do it right. We are the collective. We're where we need to be at.
00;53;22;17 - 00;53;27;16
Spence
The Vibe Check is returning on September 11th at Motown Ballroom.
00;53;27;20 - 00;53;28;17
Rob Lee
Nice.
00;53;28;20 - 00;53;29;10
Speaker 3
Yes.
00;53;29;16 - 00;53;44;05
Spence
Same time, same good people, same vibes. Just be able to pass it. And if you pass the vibe, check with us. You might be able to come get on some gigs with us, maybe at Keystone Quarter, maybe at the Retro Louis Museum, maybe up in New York, where I have a few things good.
00;53;44;12 - 00;53;49;09
Speaker 3
Like is this, you know, you know, I.
00;53;49;11 - 00;53;59;13
Spence
So that is the full update with the astrology and the collective. As much love, as much appreciation. Congratulations to C.J.. Like big things.
00;53;59;20 - 00;54;07;24
Rob Lee
That's that's tight. And I was I think at that Keystone Corner show because I remember you said it's like we're tired. And I was just like, yeah.
00;54;07;27 - 00;54;09;03
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah.
00;54;09;06 - 00;54;12;07
Rob Lee
I was like, crushed y'all on stage right now. Y'all sweating.
00;54;12;09 - 00;54;13;12
Speaker 3
Yes I got a breath.
00;54;13;12 - 00;54;14;09
Rob Lee
Oh, you got it.
00;54;14;14 - 00;54;16;04
Speaker 3
Yeah.
00;54;16;06 - 00;54;40;05
Rob Lee
So so thank you for that. That update and sort of the, the, the last, last part of this, the, the second part of it, I guess is so with, you know, storage unit collective and sort of this the changes like we'll return right to an earlier form and, you know, you being an artist, consulting and managing artist and all of the things that go into the day to day for you, how do you keep it balanced?
00;54;40;08 - 00;54;59;24
Spence
I've focused a lot on my family. That is the, the, the, the central point for me is how much time I get to spend with my son. And how much I get to like bring him to my thing. And I feel like my son is a great litmus test because he will let me know when he's tired and it's like, okay.
00;54;59;26 - 00;55;15;04
Spence
Or he'll let me know what he wants to see more of me. So I think that whenever I get that experience from him, that is a good indicator for me to be like, hey y'all, let me take a little bit of break and like, just be like, just be a father for a little bit, you know what I mean?
00;55;15;06 - 00;55;42;21
Spence
Or you know, he'll even get antsy sometime and like, he'll hear me come down like I'm in my basement right now and I'll have my drum set up. And when I don't feel like practicing, he'll come down here and bang on them until I come down and it's like, you gotta get me back to where. Where, you know, I mean, that that is a very natural and pleasant way for me to, like, read the room of the situation, because sometimes it's hard for me.
00;55;42;24 - 00;55;59;25
Spence
I get into like that desperation mode where it's just like, oh, I just need to do what I need to do, I need to do. And then it's a question of like, am I actually being inspired by this? My son is a great litmus test of like my own awareness for that. So I know that that's a cheesy answer, but it's my genuine answer.
00;56;00;02 - 00;56;03;13
Rob Lee
I appreciate real, real answers, and that's a great one.
00;56;03;16 - 00;56;14;10
Unknown
No no no no no no no no no no no.
00;56;14;12 - 00;56;17;10
Rob Lee
That's kind of it for the real podcast, for the real questions.
00;56;17;12 - 00;56;18;16
Speaker 3
Massive blessing.
00;56;18;18 - 00;56;20;24
Rob Lee
So I got the rapid fire questions fires.
00;56;20;24 - 00;56;21;18
Spence
Let's shoot them all.
00;56;21;24 - 00;56;22;20
Rob Lee
Don't don't overthink.
00;56;22;20 - 00;56;25;02
Speaker 3
These. Okay.
00;56;25;04 - 00;56;28;15
Rob Lee
What is your favorite way to celebrate the wins in life?
00;56;28;18 - 00;56;31;01
Spence
Eagle?
00;56;31;03 - 00;56;32;02
Speaker 3
That got a life.
00;56;32;09 - 00;56;34;23
Spence
I am not gonna lie here.
00;56;34;26 - 00;56;35;17
Speaker 3
It.
00;56;35;20 - 00;56;45;03
Spence
Is, but it's not Public Eagle. It's not something that I do externally. When I won the. Okay, let me not say, because that's.
00;56;45;03 - 00;56;49;02
Speaker 3
The wrong kind of strong. Not to say,
00;56;49;04 - 00;57;10;08
Spence
But when the vibe check won, open mic of the year, our motor house won, venue of the year for the second year in a row. I didn't make a big to do about it all. I did not make a big to do about it, you know what I mean? But down here, in the confines of this space, all of the toxic I told you so's, it's just just spewed out of this space.
00;57;10;10 - 00;57;15;19
Spence
So. Yeah, I feed my ego here privately, not externally.
00;57;15;21 - 00;57;34;21
Rob Lee
There's one instance, right? Is I I'm notorious for not celebrating any of my wins or just for it. It's like, know you did episode 606 years, episode A thousand, coming up soon. I haven't celebrated any of them, just I don't know. But I will say every now and again when I get a fit off, I'm on one.
00;57;34;26 - 00;57;53;03
Rob Lee
Yeah, I was at Toki with like, the fam and we were just sitting there and I was wearing like something ridiculous. This is when I started my fitted t shirt era bicep was peaking out, tattoos was peaking. I was like, and some dude walks by. He has his, he has like one of those like, I guess like a pork pie hat or something on that.
00;57;53;10 - 00;58;03;01
Rob Lee
He's like, you put effort in, I like it. So, you know, a couple family members at the table was like, that's a good fit. He's got he's looking good. I was like, I look good. I didn't like that was stank on it.
00;58;03;03 - 00;58;03;23
Spence
Love work.
00;58;03;25 - 00;58;06;26
Speaker 3
I said, like this.
00;58;06;29 - 00;58;09;26
Speaker 3
Wingspan out. And I was like, yeah, yeah I look good.
00;58;09;28 - 00;58;12;09
Spence
Yeah, yeah. So we're all clear, you know what I mean?
00;58;12;16 - 00;58;17;00
Rob Lee
It's like him. No, no, he's passé.
00;58;17;02 - 00;58;18;11
Speaker 3
And I go look at it. She was like, who?
00;58;18;15 - 00;58;24;02
Rob Lee
Who's this? I was like, This is Robert.
00;58;24;04 - 00;58;30;07
Spence
And I go, I love it, I love it. Sometimes you need your ego, you know? I mean, you know, the way I end up with Jason.
00;58;30;07 - 00;58;31;04
Speaker 3
Sometimes, every.
00;58;31;04 - 00;58;32;07
Spence
Now and then.
00;58;32;10 - 00;58;33;26
Speaker 3
You just need it.
00;58;33;28 - 00;58;54;22
Rob Lee
It's the only thing that's running wild currently. So let's put it back on the consultant hat real quick. So from a start perspective, what is the one thing if you were to give out, a free nickel's worth of advice? What is the one thing that you think that you would, you know, say most creative should start with.
00;58;54;28 - 00;58;55;15
Speaker 3
Discipline.
00;58;55;15 - 00;59;08;22
Spence
Is free. Discipline is absolutely free. It's one of those things where it's not easy, it's not fun. It's normally not sexy, but once you get it, it's what you actually need.
00;59;08;25 - 00;59;09;10
Speaker 3
Let me let.
00;59;09;10 - 00;59;13;19
Rob Lee
Me, do a, You'll appreciate this. Let me do a superset on that one.
00;59;15;01 - 00;59;37;06
Rob Lee
I think I've heard this a quote around, what it said, discipline like that. You can always, like, build out discipline as a practice, but sort of like motivation, like, oh, I'm not motivated to go to the gym or not motivated to work on my process. Like, but if you're disciplined, it's like I get up every morning, I do this, I hate myself, but I do it every day.
00;59;37;08 - 00;59;45;19
Rob Lee
So when you don't have motivation, maybe a day you have some extra motivation. But if you have discipline to get up and do it, that takes care of most of the stuff.
00;59;45;22 - 00;59;47;09
Speaker 3
That's that.
00;59;47;11 - 01;00;10;22
Spence
You said it. You said the thing. And, it frustrates me so much. I read so many, like, statuses and, like, self-help and, like, we're in the era now where, like, everyone has been to therapy at least once and people will double speak therapy until they're blue in the face, and the most toxic people will get hold of this language and, like, just weaponize it for all of the wrong purposes.
01;00;12;13 - 01;00;36;05
Spence
I say all of that to say discipline is free. Whatever issue that you currently have, try taking a disciplined approach to it. And it's not just something that I'm saying externally, I'm saying it to myself because I'm not perfect. There's things that I struggle with, but understanding that discipline is free and it will solve a lot of your problems.
01;00;36;05 - 01;00;43;28
Spence
I won't put a number on it, but it will solve a ton of them. I think that that is where I would start with.
01;00;44;00 - 01;00;44;21
Speaker 3
I don't even need to.
01;00;44;21 - 01;00;47;18
Spence
Do that, but that's where I would start.
01;00;47;20 - 01;00;49;15
Speaker 3
Yeah, no, it's so true.
01;00;49;15 - 01;01;07;11
Rob Lee
And I think we we reframe it. We do it all the stuff all the time. It's the, you know, discipline. It's the motivation. It's the, consistency. And I think consistency is a cousin to discipline. Yeah. And I think those things go together.
01;01;07;14 - 01;01;10;11
Speaker 3
Our goal is.
01;01;10;14 - 01;01;18;00
Rob Lee
So, so here's, here's, I got two more left here. So creatively, what is your most prized possession?
01;01;18;02 - 01;01;42;20
Spence
My voice notes. Oh, God. My voice notes. They're like, you know how they say, like when you pass or what? Like the the the place where I like a lot of, like, dead lives is like a graveyard. Yeah. My voice notes. It's just, I feel just telling every creative idea that I've ever had and every introspective idea of have ever had.
01;01;42;20 - 01;01;53;06
Spence
Because I'm quick to go to a voice note and just kind of riff and like, once I'm done riffing, I'll go back and listen to it. And, that's why I extract some of my ideologies.
01;01;53;06 - 01;01;54;08
Speaker 3
It's it's literally.
01;01;54;08 - 01;02;00;28
Spence
Like listening to my own podcast. So my most prized possession, I probably should not be saying this on a podcast, but is.
01;02;00;28 - 01;02;03;02
Speaker 3
The phone this.
01;02;03;04 - 01;02;04;20
Spence
Is my voice notes.
01;02;04;22 - 01;02;22;24
Rob Lee
So that's good. That's good. I, I try to keep some notes as well, you know, and I try to keep the work in there. Sometimes just a written note is I find that, I, I'm because I'm a perfectionist. I do a little bit too much editing, a little premature. And I want to keep, like, why did I keep it in there?
01;02;22;24 - 01;02;43;25
Rob Lee
Why did I say that that way. And one of the things that I've learned to review and almost rebel against is I usually do a little finishing of my questions through, like, and I, I'm not having the I write the questions, I'm generating the questions. But it's like, you know, this is this is just understandable. Like, I don't understand it in my head.
01;02;43;25 - 01;03;00;23
Rob Lee
And I'm really good at maybe making it sound like, hey, you know what I mean by this, right? Tonality and all of that. But it's like, well, a regular person, can I get there quicker? Can I do the same idea? Can I get there in less words, less verbose? But I find, like, you lose part of yourself and that's part of the editing.
01;03;00;23 - 01;03;13;01
Rob Lee
So I try to resist that, just to keep it as much me as possible. So if I'm long winded, if I insert too much, whatever is still me in, it's still something that doesn't go to the non regional hip hop up at all.
01;03;13;03 - 01;03;16;18
Spence
I love it, I love that that's called back.
01;03;16;21 - 01;03;25;27
Rob Lee
So here's here's the last one. And this is this is trolley. So you can decline. It's a trolling question. How many grams of protein a day do you consume.
01;03;26;00 - 01;03;28;12
Speaker 3
I crash so it's I've made it through.
01;03;28;12 - 01;03;37;08
Spence
This whole thing without cousin. I'm sorry. Grams of protein. That is something I will decline because I just got five guys, so I'm about to eat a, like, a.
01;03;37;08 - 01;03;39;12
Speaker 3
Ton of protein in these bird.
01;03;39;14 - 01;03;41;10
Spence
That was a buy one, get one free.
01;03;41;13 - 01;03;47;25
Speaker 3
Five guys, I was like, what? Oh, you don't mind if I do? They put me with a good thing.
01;03;48;02 - 01;03;59;14
Rob Lee
It's like the thing that, I think Hannibal Barris is talking about. He's like. I like when people get the Holy Ghost at weird times, like, you get an Arby's two for one at Arby's.
01;03;59;17 - 01;04;01;22
Speaker 3
It's really funny. Yeah.
01;04;01;24 - 01;04;07;15
Rob Lee
I'm doing I this the gas. My guy, like I was, I was doing like 280g of protein a day.
01;04;07;17 - 01;04;09;14
Speaker 3
Jesus. Did you look.
01;04;09;14 - 01;04;10;09
Spence
Good, man?
01;04;10;09 - 01;04;11;14
Speaker 3
Like you.
01;04;11;15 - 01;04;12;22
Spence
You been out here?
01;04;12;24 - 01;04;23;13
Rob Lee
Thank you. I try to trying to stick with the gas. I was like, y'all, I can't I can't be skinny tall. That's like, that's not gonna look great. But like, you gotta have that vein coming out of the by. So I was I was trying to. I was trying to get the note. I'm trying to go on your level.
01;04;23;14 - 01;04;25;16
Rob Lee
Trying to go on your level. Cause I've lost a little too much. Trying to go.
01;04;25;17 - 01;04;29;11
Spence
You better than me. Be better than me. Please.
01;04;29;13 - 01;04;47;06
Rob Lee
So that's it? That's it for today. So there's two things I want to do as we close out here. One, I want to thank you for just coming back onto the podcast. Being a true treat in the gym in this conversation. And, and secondarily, I'm going to give you the space and opportunity to share anything that you have coming up and to, to close out the pod.
01;04;47;06 - 01;04;49;18
Rob Lee
So if you will, the floor is yours.
01;04;49;20 - 01;05;10;11
Spence
Okay. First off, Baltimore City, I love you very much. Stay you stay true. Do not let outside. It's coming in. Tried to influence you. We are beautiful. We have everything that we need right here in the city. Thank you, Brandon Scott, for everything that you're doing. Next things. What do I have coming up? The Reginald F Lewis Museum.
01;05;10;11 - 01;05;24;17
Spence
There is an event coming up called Genius Vibes. Is being curated by Black Genius art show spent start. And, it will be on October 3rd. Make sure that you save that. I hope and pray that this comes out before.
01;05;24;17 - 01;05;25;25
Speaker 3
That.
01;05;25;27 - 01;05;44;23
Spence
So we can, get the get get as many people as possible, because it's going to be quite the vibe. Of course the vibe check is coming back September 11th at Mob Town Ballroom. Shout out Dave for, you know, just making it happen for being cool people. Huge shout out to Black Men's Exchange for the amazing work that they're doing.
01;05;44;24 - 01;06;07;09
Spence
If you are a black man in the city, if you are, have any concerns about your mental health, if you have any concerns about your sexual health, your understanding of yourself, tap in with us. The easiest way to do it is on Instagram at Black Men's X with an X, not an E exchange. And that is the easiest way to stay in touch with us whenever you message them.
01;06;07;09 - 01;06;28;13
Spence
You're also messaging me because as I mentioned, they hired spent start to manage their brand. Last but certainly not least, major shout outs. The guide you showing out in my life, bro. Thank you. Thank you for carrying me through this process. Thank you for carrying me and my family to where you have, I feel very blessed.
01;06;28;13 - 01;06;33;29
Spence
I pray that I've just been a representation of you and not myself. That's what I got, Rob.
01;06;34;01 - 01;06;36;19
Rob Lee
That's. Thank that's that's great. And where can I follow you? All the way.
01;06;36;21 - 01;06;46;19
Spence
Oh, where I can follow me. Spence. Underscore start. That is the easiest way to stay in touch with me on social media and at my website. Spence, start.com.
01;06;46;22 - 01;07;16;06
Rob Lee
And there you have it, folks. I want to, again, thank Spence for coming back on to the podcast and running it back with me. And for Spence, I am Rob Lee saying that there's art, culture and community in and around your neck of the woods. You just have to look for it. You.