Carter Fox on The CJ Moneyway Show: Soulful Journeys and Musical Mastery

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Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show podcast. The podcast show where we unlock potential one dream at a time. Today we have another guest whose journey is truly worth hearing. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the Moneyway experience.

What's up, my good people? Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show in association with Believe Network, the podcast that brings you stories behind the success. Today we have with us the soulful traveling bass player, bass man, the multi-talented award-winning songwriter, musician, producer, and entrepreneur Carter Fox. Hey, what's up Carter, man? How you doing today, bro?

What's going on CJ? I'm doing great, just enjoying it. Happy to be here with you.

Yeah, hey, hey everyone, he won't tell you he excited because he from Philadelphia, man, and Philly out there knocking the socks off everybody right now. Big win against Pittsburgh last week, so, uh, that's why he's really excited. That's what I'm doing.

I gotta cancel every meeting I'm like, you know what, you're not a Birds fan? You out in LA? No, no, we gotta celebrate. It's great. It's a good time. You know how it is. Sometimes it's really not a great time.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Good time. But you can't say so much about your Philadelphia 76ers, but we won't go there, man. So anyway, man, so anyway, Carter, hey, so Carter, man, let's start off, man, getting to know you a little better, man. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. And then tell us, man, what inspired you to pursue music? And how did your journey begin?

So my journey in music really begins with my parents. I'm going to give them that credit. They are music lovers, right? Like, my dad may have played a little bit of piano when he was growing up, and my mom played sax. But like, they weren't out playing at the gig. You know, they weren't playing any gigs. They're just a schoolteacher and a lawyer and very awesome. Supporting, loving people, but they always played the music. And it just kind of was something I loved. My dad's a huge smooth jazz fan, always had Grover Washington Jr. on in the car, Dave Koz, Gerald Veasley. We had WJJZ back in the day here in Philly. That was iconic smooth jazz station. My mom loving, you know, more pop music, but also musicals. So I was always, you know, 4 years old listening to Phantom of the Opera and Evita and a bunch of different stuff. Wanting to create something with that. Like, oh, I don't know exactly what music is yet. I want to play drums. I want to learn a string thing. Like, I never jumped into piano lessons directly, but my parents let me discover something. So I was in love with music at that point before even playing. I just loved listening and hearing and singing and, you know, listening to the Beach Boys. And then I got— well, that was my first album, was a Beach Boys greatest hits record I got when I was maybe 8 or 9. And then maybe really dating myself to another record that was really influential that I was like, okay, I'm gonna do music, was Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent. 50 Cent as a youth, it hit with that Dre production. I mean, it was the production that was probably really influential on me as a forthcoming bassist and producer. But I started playing upright bass when I was 8 years old. I was just trying to play cello and they were like, nah, we already got cellists. You wanna try this thing? It's close enough. And I was like, cool. Sounds awesome. It's the biggest instrument I've ever seen in my life. And it's the thing, turns out, that I loved hearing and like grooving to in the car, in the records. Like, yeah, for example, Grover, you know, he's playing sax and rocking. But like, I'm listening to Marcus Miller on the Wine Light album, like, and not knowing that yet, but like, just like, oh, what is that slap beat? You know, what's all this cool stuff? And just kind of picking that up and, you know, taking training for a couple of years in classical music. And when I was 12, broke my wrist. Awful. Couldn't play bass for a little bit. Got cast off and was— went to a music store, you know, long story long, but picked up an electric bass then that day because I was like, this is the greatest thing I've ever seen. This is what I want to do. This is— I've always wanted to play the bass guitar, but no one was— my parents were like, no, you're not doing that. You got to learn classical. And at the same time, that's when I really met my mentor, and who grew into a good friend who I've known for 20 years. Bassist named Gerald Visley who played with Grover— actually, he was Grover Washington's last bassist before he passed away. He played with Joe Zawinul and the Zawinul Syndicate of Weather Report, another iconic thing. He himself is just an iconic, world-renowned bassist and from Philadelphia. So it was just kind of like a one-two, always hearing him on the radio station, always hearing, reading about him with different stuff, playing with Victor— he's doing stuff with Victor and Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller. He's just one of those guys. And my father just was like, hey, I'm going to email him. He does this cool little bass boot camp, you know, this cool little clinic kind of thing for bass players over a weekend where people get together with famous bassists and just kind of learn things, powwow, all that kind of stuff. And as a 12-year-old, I made a little audition tape. I recorded me playing a couple songs on electric and on upright, and Gerald was like, yeah, man, if you want to come do this, you got the talent, let's do this. And Really, since then, I watched Gerald at the Berks Jazz Fest, I watched Pieces of Dream, I watched Boney James, a lot of these like really iconic jazz people in the smooth jazz world, and I just fell in love with that world and that music and was in that world for a long time initially. Like, you know, being a 15-year-old to, you know, 18, 19 when I went off to college, I was trying to make that music, was working with Gerald, with management. I was— I actually kind of got more involved in the business side because I was trying to get music out there and support these artists that I love because I thought, oh, I can help. I don't know, I was just stepping out on my own being like, how can I help Gerald be a more successful artist himself and work with his manager and booking agent and market and promote him and do whatever? And I started reading books like Donald Passman's, you know, Everything You Know About the Music Business, just to teach myself what I needed. I learned about a company called CD Baby again when I was I couldn't drive yet, but I was putting people's music up on iTunes because no one knew how you get your music up there. It was like, now, you know, that barrier is really a low-hanging thing. But back when, you know, 2005, 2004, you're like, it was incredible when you're like, hey, I'm on iTunes. It's just as legit as being on like Amazon for your books. You know, it's an incredible thing. And honestly, That's just been my love and passion has been music and everything like that. And yeah, since then, I met some artists in Jersey when I was in my 20s called JETAN who they played with everybody from like Davy Jones to Mary J. Blige. They've toured all over the world. Their dad was Chubby Checker's MD and we played together for a decade and as a unit and as just like people had, that's actually who we tour with, with Freddie Jackson. We've done a lot of, stuff with some other legends, you know, Jeffrey Osborne, a lot of other people. We're getting ready to do some cool stuff with Regina Belle coming up next year as well. So it's been an amazing thing. And that also has been a business thing. I was running Freddie's socials for 2 years before being his bassist. I was getting to know him and I like knew of the man of Freddie Jackson and everything before I was sitting there playing, you know, Rock Me Tonight and You Are My Lady and Chance the Rapper.

Jams right there, boy. Okay.

There's every— there's every show, you know, playing. There's Rock Me Tonight especially, right? Like that bass, you know, comes in, you know, the whole crowd lights up, you know. It's, it's a thing. So just going from that kid who was listening to his mom listening to musicals, right, and like driving to Sunday school with his dad playing Grover in the car, to now, you know, I played the Fillmore here in Philly, which is like the big Music Theater now. We got, you know, not the stadium, but like the big theater part. And my parents came backstage for that show because they still live around here too. And that was like that real connection moment. Like, my dad had Freddie Jackson vinyls, you know, in the '80s. And, you know, I always joke that I'm like a Freddie baby because I'm like from 1990. Like, I'm right in the middle of his, of his reign, you know, him and Luther. So I'm like, yeah, you know, it's, it's just one of those really rewarding things. And And again, even being in smooth jazz and working with a lot of stuff over the years, over the last 10 years, it's just been funny how I'm working with people, I'm meeting people, and then my dad, who loved this stuff his whole life too, is now meeting people and friends with these people, and I'm making friends with him, 'cause a lot of these artists and business people happen to be more his age that I was connecting with for the last 20 years, just 'cause I was the kid. And now it's just like, oh, he's going to get drinks with the guy who formerly ran the smooth jazz station in Philly.

That's cool.

You listen to him on the radio all the time growing up. You used to like never imagine this. So that's my story in a long, long way.

Hey, that's pretty cool, man. Two things you said that made me think about it. First one you said was 50 Cent and then the production because the beats, like you said, the production working with Dr. Dre. Because I'm the type of person, if you can be saying the smoothest thing on the record, if I don't like the beat, I'm not listening to it. And that was something about that Get Rich or Die Tryin' CD. I mean, like, every beat was just banging off of it. You know what I'm saying? It was a head knocker. It made you like, "Yeah, all the time, my shit that good." So—

I've been patiently waiting. There's stuff like I've been having for 20 years, 22 years. Yeah, right. And it's the— that I like, I can think of all the music of my life that I've listened to, but you're 100% right. Like, the production, every song on that is a home run, and it totally has influenced how I kind of do like what I like. Like, you know, and then I remember being in college, my friend introduced me to Mood Music 4 with Joe Budden and, and all that gang. Like, really, DJ Premier is like another producer who I was like, changed my life. And really, like, that was when I was 19. I'm like leaving the idea of making smooth jazz and like whatever I'm doing there. I'm like, I want to make— what am I feeling? You know, Skrillex is the number one thing blasted on the college campuses, but like, I like this stuff. I really like this dub hop production and jazz and what it is. But like, I'm not good at— like, I'm— I was just learning all that stuff. And you know, now in my own artistry, I've been able to bring my that love into what I do. Like, I do the chill hop, lo-fi. That's what, like, this, you know, I have a little record behind me from Spotify. That's my song Eclipse. Now it's like 2.1 mil streams on Spotify, which I'm thrilled about. But, uh, just, uh, a chill— like, it's just a groovy chill hop. My idea of what jazz is, but like, of what anything is. And, and all my influences kind of come together in my music on that side like that.

Um, That's cool, man. Congratulations on that 2 mil, man. That's what's up. And then it was something else you said too that made me think. You said the first, when you heard your music on iTunes, you know, that's just like seeing your book on Amazon. And it made me think about, man, when I first put my podcast out, right? And the very first day I put it out, it was October 6th, 2023. And man, when I saw my podcast on iHeartRadio, I did like the Toyota commercial back in the day, Toyota, where the guy just almost jumped over the car, he jumped so high. Because it's just exciting, you know what I'm saying, to see your name and something that you doing in the spotlight like that. Something like iHeartRadio or iTunes, you know what I'm saying, or Spotify. Especially that first time, it's like, wow, you indeed, you know what I'm saying? Ain't no turning back now. Yeah, they don't turn it back down. So yeah, man, that's pretty cool, man. So Carter, man, we heard a lot of things about, you know, saying the different type of music that you listening to, like the Beach Boys and things of that nature. So you started with music at 15. Now, out of all the music that influenced you, that you was listening to, that your mom's name was playing this and that, What gem really stood out to you that made you really realize, like, you know what, this is what I was born to do and this is what I'm going to do?

Oh, I'm thinking there's two songs and I'm going to go with the one that came to my mind first because that's, you know, it's like flipping the coin, right? You'll know what you want.

Yeah.

But like, I'll tell you, and again, it's a little bit of a story, but I'll tell you, I was learning my bass guitar. My shout out to my, you know, Gerald, who's my mentor, my friend, my teacher, but also shout out to Chell Benner. Who's another iconic lesser-known bassist, but he's played with Sister Sledge and Quiet Riot, bunch of people of his own caliber. But, you know, I was back in, you know, 14 maybe, and I'm like, I, I still love it, I don't know what I'm doing. And he's— and I don't know how to slap bass. It's like, I saw this Victor Wooten video, I'm like, I'm never gonna be able to do that, help me learn how to do that. And he pulls out a cassette, he plays it, he says, you're gonna learn this song. And it was Jeffrey Osbourne's Stay With Me Tonight. Mm. And, you know, and I'm just like, okay. And I'm just not even playing it yet, but like, he's playing it on his, you know, '70s Fender. And I'm just sitting and just listening to even him do it and just the song. And I'm like, this is that. And I felt that energy. It was just like, this is what I got it. Like, this is what I'm doing. This is the right move. Everything I got, I'm building. This is the thing I'm doing. And I learned that song. I still play that when I do sound checks. I've heard Jeffrey play it live many times now, which is always the most psychedelic thing to me. And I'm like, you know, chatting with his bass player backstage because Freddie and Jeffrey tour together a lot even now. But just hearing that song, hearing the piece, you know, it was like from the production, from the playing, just from the good feeling of what it was, and just like I started playing it and I played that song for other people on the bass, like at home, like in the rap, you know, and I'm like, yeah, this is it. So I'm gonna credit that song with, of all the songs, but like that one still holds a lot of influence, you know.

So let me ask you, Connor, man, you wouldn't happen to have your bass guitar by you right now, would you?

Well, I have a couple. I have some different, I got this electric one, this electric upright bass. Which is one.

Yeah, hey, keep that by you, man, because you're gonna have to— before we get out of here, man, you're gonna have to play that sample for us, man. We gotta hear a little taste of what you talking about, man. I want to hear it myself.

I got my one fender here, which is like the super appropriate one.

Yeah, yeah, we're gonna have to hear that, man. We're gonna have to hear that before we get out of here, man. Uh, just a little taste of what you do, man, and give us that real, real. So I'm trying to think how I'm gonna make the noise before So let me ask you, Carter, man, you've had this incredible opportunity to be the bass player for the legendary Freddie Jackson, as you mentioned before. Just tell us, man, what was that experience like touring and performing with such an icon, and how did it shape you as an artist?

It's been an incredible experience. It's been learning on top of learning on top of learning, like just how to Live as a person and an artist and the experience and take things with grace. Be humble, be appreciative, and be grateful for the opportunities. There's always adventurous moments, but it's also still work. It's still a job. There's gonna be pressure. You're gonna put pressure on yourself. People are gonna put pressure on you for a different reason or that, but trust in your band, trust in yourself, trust in your practice and your talent. It's been just an incredible thing from playing the shows themselves, right? Like, I was like, one of my favorite places that we played was State Farm Arena in Atlanta, right? Like, and playing in that full, full freaking room. But like, which is like, how many people get the opportunity to play in an arena or like a baseball field, which we've done before? Or we go to the Caribbean a lot and you— and the Caribbean shows are always interesting because you play on the water a lot of the time, right? They put you like almost a waterfront kind of thing because everything's on the water in those kind of things. Where we play in Chicago, City Winery is like 20 times, but a few of the other spots out in Chicago, I've been there a lot. The food's fun, but sometimes food's always good, but not always. Sometimes it's a quick gig, a fast gig. You got to get to the airport at 4:00 AM. You land, you go right to the sound check, you didn't have time to grab something, so you better have packed something. You know, it's a lot of experience like that, a lot of fun stuff. Like, you know, I'm just thinking again, we were in the Caribbean just going on fun adventures, seeing flamingos, swimming in very beautiful resort pools and things that like, I, you know, we all— the band looks at each other like, can we ever afford to come to places like this?

Like, is this—

that's at least what I always joke like. It's like we always get those kind of amenities and You know, but it's also that is that trust and it's a family thing and, you know, even kind of getting the gig was, was almost that it wasn't like, hey, I've heard, you know, Freddie calling you or someone calling you, the manager, like, hey, I heard of you, can you come do this or try this out? As you know, it was like an interesting, slower process. You know, it was, hey, we're doing some— learn 3 songs because Freddie's doing some special event in Harlem. That was like our first gig, like in 2016. It was like, Just learn Rock Me Tonight, Jam Tonight, and You Are My Lady. Cool. So we play. And then it was like, hey, we're going to do 30 minutes, 40. Now we're going to do 90, you know, learn, learn a bunch of songs. You know, I've learned so much of his catalog, which has been an honor because a lot of his catalog is so legendary.

Yeah.

Which has been humbling. And meeting other heroes of mine, other musicians who are on tour, like I said, with Jeffrey. I've met Jeffrey numerous times, who again, he's a musical hero of mine. I've been part of shows with Gerald Visley, my other musical mentor, on the show in other capacities. So like now a guy who I— who's known me since I was 12 years old is watching me share the stage, be on the same festival, be involved with that. And, you know, I guess in my own artistry, like technologically speaking, just like watching how the shows run and things work and knowing the nuances of live show tech, you know, performance stuff, booking, production, all that, you know, cost, whatever, learning that side so I can do it myself, DIY it, learn how, you know, from the MD, how he runs a show in different ways so I can run my own show or take certain policies or rules and certain things and maybe change what I do for myself in my own band. I don't know, like stuff like that. But creatively speaking, it's so funny because I feel like I— it just enhanced what I do because I've always loved R&B. I've always loved what R&B has bred and jazz, you know, stuff like that's just been my whole life as a bassist and the music I've always loved. So now that I'm playing with the guy who's been a part of all that and I'm like learning from him, I'm learning from Barry Eastman, the guy who's written hundreds of hits from that, from all that era, and, you know, Paul Lawrence and all these different, you know, all these kinds of— Stephanie, getting to share stages again with like Stephanie Mills and just playing all their music, it's just, it helps me also just be like, yeah, I'm gonna make my music groovy.

Yeah, yeah.

And I just took his lessons.

I mean, you got me over here grooving already. I could just imagine just being, you know what I'm saying, on the stage playing these things because you, you know, you made me think of the song, love me tonight for old time's sake. Yeah, yeah, you know, hey, yeah, say I ain't no singer, but I, I know the groove. You got me feeling it, man.

And just how he is with just how Freddie is on stage. Like, he is a legend. Like, yeah, loves him. Like, it's so funny to me because I'm like, this is what— I mean, he's a legend. He is a true— there's no rock— you want to call rock star, R&B, whatever, a superstar. That's the phrase. He's a true— I'm always like, I, you know, I'm growing up a bassist. I'm like, yeah, you know, I'm going to say this way, like, girls, you know, like, I'm playing music. Yeah, pick up some— these women are throwing— I'm like, dude, you are a legend. This is— they are— you are the love song master. Like, you are the guy. It is It's fun watching and playing and seeing how the atmosphere and the energy really is. And how happy it makes him makes me happy, and how happy it makes everyone. There's real energy to all that.

Hey, Carter, man, I was gonna ask you that. See, I don't know your relationship status or nothing, but that just say when you first started off, 'cause you mentioned about the food and sometimes how you may have to pack something up, and you was talking about how you go to rehearsal and everything. But I was sitting here like, But what he left out is, I know at these concerts and going to the Caribbean and all these wonderful things, there are some beautiful women that are in these spaces. And so I say he left that part out, but I already know, you know, I went to an R. Kelly concert before and I seen the lady throw her drawers. She took her drawers off where she was at and threw him on stage. I'm like, that's how it is, huh?

It's how it is. It's really funny. Look, look, the band and the people I'm like hanging, you know, the back crew, they're all very happily married people and I'm the bachelor now. I wasn't always like the single dude in the band.

Yeah.

I like had, I was like for a few years I was in like relationships and different stuff. So it was like cool, chilling, but like, yes, there are beautiful women. At these shows. And like, you know, especially the Caribbean, like everywhere, you know, there's always beautiful women and like, they're all very loving and kind. And that's the funny thing, like walking out after, it's just— talk about ego. You're like walking through, you know, you do casinos a lot. So you walk, you know, you— there's no— you know, you're in the casino floor when you walk down. So right after the show, you got the gear, you're dressed, and everyone's like, oh my gosh. And I'm like, hi, how you doing?

And then it's never—

it never works. But like, that's another lesson. Like, you're gonna decide right there, hey, are you gonna do so? Are you gonna try to do something? Or, or are you gonna try to get a couple hours sleep? Because our flight's at 3, you gotta get up at 3 in the morning.

Yeah.

Figure this out. And you got like, you can—

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Play those games.

Oh, there's all the lessons. I do it.

I do it.

Hey, hey, that's a great choice right there. Do I want to do it or do I don't want to do it? Those are some great options. So let's switch here a little bit, Carter, man, 'cause you talked about how, you know, I think you said DMI, you learned how to do this from this person so you can do it with your own band and things of that nature. So beyond performing, you have established yourself as an entrepreneur. So tell us a little bit about some of your ventures and some of the ventures that you've been involved in and how they have tied into your passion for music with the business?

Sure. So I mean, I've always had that entrepreneurial spirit, you know, wanting to do something additional from— I had a record company and a management company in high school. That was my initial foray into other stuff. Like I was managing a group who went on to sign with RCA. I was putting out the local kids, you know, the bands' records and getting them on iTunes because again, it was— no one knew what they were doing. So I kind of became even at 15, 16, 17, like the business guy in addition to bass guy. So I was, you know, starting to run some of that stuff. Then I went to college for music industry and pre-law, and even from there I helped co-found a digital marketing venture called Fanwave Media, actually with Gerald and another drummer named Richard. And this company was a digital marketing, social media-centric firm that helped with social media strategy, right? So businesses, artists, restaurants, whatever, we were everybody. Um, at the same time, just as a funny, like— and obviously that, that kind of coincides with what I do.

I've always built—

I've always been on that cusp of, like, music and then the marketing, promoting side. So I was building Xanga, you know, before MySpace. I was doing Xanga pages for Gerald and myself and, like, some small businesses in Philly. And then I had MySpace, and I was, like, coding those custom pages for everybody, including— I was running, and that was my first social media client, was Gerald and his MySpace page. And then I, from there, went to college, had another record company, you know, built another one out there. Some of our artists did end up getting some good publishing deals on some major companies, which was really cool. Uh, at the same time, that's kind of adjacent to Fanwave, which was the digital marketing venture. Another company in Philly, which I had nothing to do with, but they've gone on. I just got to give them a shout because some of my really good friends had a part to do with this called Fame House went on to do— we were straight on competitors. If you were doing a competitive analysis, we should have been— we were doing the exact same thing, but they nailed getting in with higher-level artists. They ended up being bought out by Universal. My friend, I think he's running their social strategy department now. Which is really cool. And he helped, you know, I actually just helped him record his Christmas ukulele album because we're college friends, and he helped me. He was part of my record label in college as a promoter with, for one of the artists. So former, former teammate there. Um, but so on that side, yeah. Then like I said, I was running social media with Freddie. Always kind of had a social media marketing company venture thing, and it then it got kind of absorbed into a company called Climax Entertainment, which is a record label studio publisher based in New Jersey who works with— is actually the management company for Freddie, but also Leon Huff of Gamble and Huff, uh, formerly worked with Jaguar Wright, a lot of smaller artists in the area. So I was basically like another partner in there, and then running another marketing, another digital marketing venture that kind of spurred out of that, sold that a little bit to another opportunity, and then was starting to run my own music, start getting traction with that. So I was like, cool, marketing aside, what else do I want to literally do? I know that was kind of giving all the marketing, but then I expanded into what I wanted to do, which is like a clothing brand, an apparel line. So I have Soulful Traveler Apparel, as you kindly introduced me to before. I'm like the Soulful Traveler spaceman, bassman. So I actually have, you know, all this different kind of stuff from water bottles featuring my logo and artwork hoodies, hats. Some of these different kind of artwork pieces are also available on there, which is all just for the lifestyle brand, right? It's just Social Traveler. It's a whole lifestyle brand trying to run. It's going to start running events and different kind of things soon as well, which is exciting. And obviously that helps with this. And then, yeah, I'm trying to think what else, but I have my consulting company, which is now helping do marketing, my books, which is related to that as well. I speak as well. I have had other ventures out there, a 3D printing company, smaller things that didn't really take off because you got to try a million different things, and a few different opportunities in the fire now that are completely unrelated to music because it's fun to try new things. And I think that's also a big piece of it. And someday I'm just going to hope— I want to write music for video games, but I just also would love some kind of company that focuses on space exploration in some capacity. It's like the most random thing, but like while I was at Syracuse, which is where I got my MBA, uh, someone founded a company and I was like listening, that kind of is about space, and I was just like, you can just do that? Like, you know, like, yeah, if you just start it. And I was like, cool, I'm gonna, I'm gonna have to think about that. But there's a lot going on between the marketing consulting, the company, the music stuff and everything going on there, the writing, and the lifestyle brand so far.

So, so, Carter, man, I'm gonna be honest with you. You've inspired me, you know, because, you know, the thing that you talking about— I can't see my hoodie here, man— that's something that I want to do, you know, start my own clothing line brand and things of that nature. You know, it's so hard, you know, you done it. So I'm gonna have to get one of them consulting calls with you, man. But you named something, old girl, Jaguar Wright. You say she an artist? Is that the lady that be doing all the interviews? That's—

Yeah, that's someone I had worked with a tiny bit. I used to do a tiny bit of social media because Philadelphia, I do a lot of work with Philadelphia people, but she was part of the company, or she was working with us a little bit because we work with a lot of people. But yeah, yeah, that's who that is.

Yeah, I mean, I just wanted to know because I mean, I see her on social media a lot, you know, putting a lot of stuff out there about people, but I didn't actually know that she was an artist. So that's just what I wanted to—

well, she definitely is a musician, like she's a singer. That's definitely—

I didn't know that. I'm not fitting to go there, you know what I'm saying, and make it a controversial thing and some of the stuff she out there putting out there, but I didn't know she was an artist. So that's just something I just wanted to To clarify, no, that's a little bit more hilarious that you didn't know that she was—

so you knew her just as the social media?

Yeah, I just knew as a social media lady.

That's really— and now, yeah, because I know I probably don't know her. I haven't talked to her in like a decade at this point, you know, since any of that, like, yeah, at least to that. So that's really funny that she'd probably be happy to hear that her notoriety is from that, not the artistry, which is interesting.

It's a little backwards in my philosophy, but like, yeah, I did not know she was an art— but I should have known that.

She was hard before this. Yeah, she sang with someone really— was it not Jay-Z?

It might have been.

It was someone super famous. Like, she's from—

she has—

that's where she came from.

It was like, it might have been Jay-Z, the way she been putting him in, uh, Beyoncé out there on blast, you know. And I should have known she was a musician because of, you know, the notoriety and, you know, like the stars and stuff that she's actually out there putting out. But that's how I know about that, putting all these stories out there on people. And, you know, sometimes I listen to them, sometimes I don't. But, uh, I know the name though. So what you said, I'm like, bing! I'm like, oh, I didn't know she was an artist. But, uh, so, uh, yeah, that's crazy. But yeah, man, hey, you doing some wonderful things. Like I say, man, you touched on a lot of things I probably want to talk about after this, you know, as far as your consulting company and things, man, strategy Because the most important thing that I want anybody to listen to is when you're trying to do something in your life, it's always good to go to somebody that's already established, uh, been there or done that. You know what I'm saying? You get some know-how from the people that's already doing what you trying to do. And so that's, that's cool. So you talked about the marketing and things. So you also made a name for yourself as a marketing expert. With millions of streams on Spotify, things as you just told us, over 2.1 million streams, and your collaboration with some of the biggest names in the industry. So let me ask you, what strategies have you used to market your brand and yourself so effectively? And what advice would you give to aspiring artists looking to establish their presence as well?

So I think I'm gonna start with the second part and we'll loop into the first, but I think the real, main thing is authenticity. And it's, you know, in marketing speak, it feels like a buzzword and like everyone's authentic, authentic, true self. But it's so true because that's what— one, it's going to make everything easier for yourself to market as the person doing it. Like, if it's honest and honest to you and truth and your truth, if you will. I think I'm going to credit that aspect as well as a little bit of marketing know-how and testing and budget, literal marketing science and stuff at the end with that authentic part because it really— one, musical authenticity, right? Make the music you want to make, make it how you want to make it and sound. If you're making EDM, make EDM. If you're making chill little vibe beats, make it. If you're making jazz or smooth jazz or rock or Americana, make what you want to make, be happy with it, be proud with that because when you talk about it, when you're filming about it, when you message and write people about it, it's going to translate. People are going to feel an energy. You will be more passionate, as they say, right? Um, I was using that in my way, authenticity, with my whole space passion and love and aspect of my persona for my own music. And however, that has now spread out and proliferated into other projects that I've really been a part of over the last couple years. But I was over the last decade, really. That's when I started dropping more electronic, more chill, you know, the music I'm making now, kind of, and falling in and getting more developed myself and conscious and aware and purposeful into my space, cosmos, spirituality, video game inspiration self. So like putting that brand together specifically, like purposefully, not on purpose even, like just knowing that's what it is, but then sitting down and writing that. And it's in my bios and it's in my website and The author bio may be a little different than the musical bio, but it still says Spaceman Bassman. In the author part, it still says writer of a number one Amazon release or three number, whatever it is now in the music side, but it's the lover of space and the sharer of knowledge. That made my music take on a whole new life. That allowed me, from the themes of the releases to the themes of timing the releases. For example, Eclipse, right? The song with tons of streams. And it was a nice single from an album I was putting out, which itself is crazy, right? Like, you know, the old way of thinking is 1, 2 singles, drop the record, right? And old way meaning like, you know, early 2000s. The digital era has really changed all that. So, you know, it really has become, hey, you have an album, which an album can tell your whole story. It may be more worthwhile to drop that as all, you know, as many singles as you feel you want to represent that, right? So I listened to the album. My decision behind that was just listening through and being like, wow, I think there's 11 singles on this 13— like, I could put them all out. And I think it'd be smart to, because each single gives me a chance to pitch to editorial playlists on Spotify and Amazon and market it and submit it to organic play— you know, user-generated playlists— and run some ads behind it and submit it to radio and do different things with it and see if their style is different or this, play scientist almost. You're getting into that side of things. If you're like, people like this song more than this song. Or Eclipse, which has a vocal sample-ish kind of real glitchy and chill hop. And usually I have nothing like that, but this was picked up by a bunch of editorials. You're learning what works. You're learning, hey, I ran ads on TikTok that worked really well when I was talking like this and talking about space, like saying, hey, this song, is about— and this is kind of getting into what I did, I think, well, I started putting stuff out like that. Hey, this song is about an eclipse, you know, this song is about a black hole that we took a picture of. A song of mine called MA7, I did this where we took the first picture of a black hole in 2023 or 2021 and wrote the song, dropped the song dedicated to the scientists. It was a whole campaign, if you will, around it, right? Eclipse, going back to Eclipse, it was the 9th single from The Thing. So you're like, okay, we're doing what we're doing. I've already spent some money on 8 other songs. I've already put a lot of energy and I'm just telling my story that I'm doing. But I also timed it with an actual eclipse. In fact, I actually timed it with the release date being in the middle of 3 eclipses. It was like we had a really weird thing with like a lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse, and then a lunar eclipse again, or vice versa, just happened And I'm like, perfect, I'm releasing it. I put that in all the bios and pitches and I boosted ads and I'm targeting science enthusiasts who also have Spotify but also like Bonobo and Thundercat and Flying Lotus and Tycho and da da da. I'm putting that stuff out there, I'm letting it go, I'm networking, I'm connecting, and I've literally been able to see all that growth happen. Through the growth, you're increasing your royalties, which is sustainable living. And then through just that general presence, Eclipse started getting hundreds of thousands of streams. I had A&Rs from Atlantic and a couple of the different higher-ups hitting me up. And just having all that fall into place the right way and having your business systems for your musician self, like your PRO registrations, the copyrights, SoundExchange, all this stuff, that music people need to know, which I always mention in the book, right? That sets you up for success when something blows up. So like, you go big, and it's getting yourself out there too. So being authentic and putting yourself out there authentically and kind of having a plan. Like, the worst thing musicians are doing right now for themselves is not doing anything on social media. I get it that people don't want to put themselves out there, but like, if you're doing something interesting enough and connective enough to your music, if you're a Christian faith-based band or group and you don't want to put yourself singing up there, but why don't you just put yourself talking about the religious inspirations every day? Your music, since you have it coming from something, for me, I should be doing like, we're making new astronomical discoveries every day, or going back through old music and explaining where it came from or any of that stuff. But using that kind of stuff, being present, doing things conscious with your authentic self. I know that was a lot. I think helpful for the music people listening.

Yeah, I mean, good insight, man. You know, just your marketing strategy, the things that you, you know, you putting out there, man. I think there's some good stuff. And so speaking about your book, one of your number one bestsellers, man. So Rockstar Guide for Facebook Ads and Rockstar Guide for Instagram, which have become an Amazon number one bestseller along with your first book, Music Music Business Basics. Tell us about these works and how they provide tools for success in the music business.

So yeah, these works came about from conversations with fellow artists, right? Like, I, I'm doing stuff, I'm working on it, I've started seeing success myself. Like you said, you know, talk to people who've done it, or, you know, people start talking to you once you start doing it. I was working for a company called Disc Makers, helping them do marketing and social media management as well. And writing some blog articles about this exact stuff. That's actually where the basis, the initial pieces of the Music Business Basics book came from was just like, hey, how, you know, my overnight success took 10 years, how I went from, you know, 50 listeners to 500 to 100,000, right? Like, then it went into the literal how, like what was the process? What is your process? Which is a manufacturing term, right? A business, that business side term, something that's repeatable and teachable, right? Like, and refinable. So like, you know, again, I've self-released 80 songs myself and I've helped other bands release tons of their own music as well across working for labels, publishers, independently, whatever, marketing-wise and literally like as a label putting it out. It was just like, what's the process? What's the best techniques? Going to school for this, seeing it, reading up with everyone else out there. What are all of our techniques? And again, I started talking with musicians. They were like, hey man, it was really doing consulting calls. I was like, they're like, hey man, like, what do I need to do? How can I do this? I was always like, you don't know about this or that or this or that. It was the same. It became a lot of the same pieces. Everyone knows, every musician knows how to make music. Yeah, you know, that's their thing. But it's like the rest of it that they're like, I don't know what a PRO is. I don't know how to get my music on Spotify. I don't know how to get playlists, you know, I don't know these remaining pieces. So I collected the thoughts. I said, you know what, and actually I was out in LA and a friend of mine who's a super, you know, he's continuing to grow, but he's a really big— I'm gonna shout him out actually, I'll kid out, go shout him out. He just dropped a remix for Deadmau5. He's crazy. And he's like, make— he's a J Dilla reincarnate, but he's making EDM music. So he's a very talented producer and drummer. But I was sitting with him, I was chilling with him at his spot in LA, and I was just— he's just like, what you got going on, man? Like, what's going on besides playing? You know, you're out here playing, whatever. I'm like, man, I was thinking about writing a book because I'm trying to do consulting and everyone keeps wasting my first hour with the same thing, if you will, asking this. And I'm like, you know what, let's do that. Let's save all this time. So I wrote the book over a couple months. I got it published and set up in April this past year. Was number one new release in music business, which was like shocking. I was just like, wow, I'm seeing all the time with Donald Passman and Ari Hurston and like a bunch of the other books that are like the big ones for this stuff. And then it was just kind of a continuing conversation. Like in the book, I'm giving you marketing strategies and techniques. You should run Facebook ads, right? And YouTube ads and Facebook and be on Instagram, for example. And then I'm like, well, I wonder if I can go a little more in depth. And help you a little more. So I pulled that information out of my brain and some research and put together these rockstar guides that are simple, quick reads that break down the nuances. For example, Facebook ads. It's like, hey, you don't know what a pixel is? It might sound crazy. Every time I do a panel and I talk about having a pixel set up, everyone's like, I don't know what that is. And I'm like, don't worry, it's really easy. It's a tiny little thing. It's easy. But I wanted to put that together in a referenceable book, easy access resource. You can check it out. It's got a little optimization checklist as well. It shows you, hey, this is the best kind of method for running ads and different strategies for different things. So like if you're running events or if you're running shows, tours, you know, if you just put a new song out, like if you're trying to remarket people, for example, like, hey, here's an ad for a new song. And then people listen to it and you're like, hey, here's 10% off merch for the people who actually listen to your song, right? You kind of want to do that so you can convert and create fans and sales. That's all the levels in that. And just for fun, I also threw in between 80 and 100 calls to actions, I think, in all the different guides. So, you know, different ideas for you, the reader, the musician, to create topics for these videos and for social posts and for different stuff. So I wanted to break down all the barriers of knowledge of the music business basically for independent artists who were interested, right? Like, the books aren't this, you know, super long at all, right? I just put out my 6th one last week, or 2 weeks ago, called Music Publishing for Independent Musicians. That's the, the 6th book in the series, and it's exactly that. It's just everything about the music publishing side, just to break down that, you know, wall of scary knowledge, because it's the most complicated thing in the music business, but it's where you get your money. It is the money side of the business. So I wanted to demystify, right? Like, I wanna just give you the knowledge base. And then if you want help creating that cool strategy and coming up with who you are, the brand, and like the best ways to execute, like you're not sure how to do merch and merch line and you're just like, what are some ways I can do that and not break the bank? Or, hey, I got $4 grand, what's the best way to optimize that for a clothing brand? There's all these different ways to handle all this stuff. And I just realized it was a big thing. Musicians didn't have, this yet. So I was like, hey, here's a resource.

So let me ask you, Carter, man, because it sounds interesting. So with the Facebook ad books that you got in the Instagram ad books, I know it's for, you know, it's called Rockstar. So can anybody else, you know what I'm saying, like authors or, you know, people in other industries, would this book be helpful for them too?

So I actually do think the majority of the book would be helpful across multiple industries. It just kind of gets specific to the music when it comes to the action stuff. Most businesses may not be like, I'm going to play a cover song for you. It could be a fun thing at a law firm, the guy plays his guitar. But most of the actual information within it, like what is the pixel? How do I set that up for myself? How do I optimize an Instagram profile regardless? A lot of that information is true across industries. So even— and how— and the nuance of the running of the ads.

Okay.

But a lot of it, some of the end stuff is more— is gonna be more musician-focused.

Okay. So with that being said, man, before I get to my last question for you, I know we can find it on Amazon because it's on the number one bestseller list. But other than Amazon, where can we find your book? And what's your social media handles, man?

Yeah, so it's primarily available on Amazon. You can check out my website where I have a cool page with all the info about it called carterfoxconsulting.com/music-business-basics, all hyphenated between music business and basics. It's also Carter Fox Consulting if you wanna check out a little more about what I do on that side. Or if you wanna check out more about my music, check out carterfoxmusic.com and find me across social media @carterfoxmusic and For my marketing stuff, find me on Instagram at Carter Fox Marketing, and for my music, @CarterMan5000.

Okay, make sure you send me that, man. Email me that so I can put them in the show notes upon the release. So Carter, man, like I said, I really appreciate you giving us all these nuggets. I'm just sitting here, oh, with all this information that you are giving out, man. Hey, I, I, I'm soaking it in, man. I'm soaking it in.

Sometimes I take it all to my own detriment, probably take all the info.

Hey, so, uh, let me ask you this last question, man. You've built a reputation as someone trusted and admired by both artists and industry professionals. What makes your style and brand so unique, and how do you continue to stand out in such a competitive market?

Again, the unique part, I just find that it's probably my authentic. And it's funny to say that, but I think what makes any individual brand unique is the authentic part of it to the person or the company and the values and all that. And honestly, that love and passion is so translating in my music and in my performances and in my motivations and inspirations. I just played a birthday concert of my own music this past weekend. I rarely— because my music's very chill and a little different and has a lot of audience and a lot of success on— and my schedule is usually tied up online. My schedule is usually really crazy between Freddie and a lot of the other stuff. I'm working on booking my own more stuff, but people just— the number one thing they say for that or with Freddie shows, no matter what, is the smile on my face and the happiness and joy that I exude. So I try to always have that mixed in with my passion for science and space and the cosmos and video game, you know, my, my thematic elements. And I rock with that. And honestly, it's kind of that combination of the extra differences that then I bring back to it. So we kind of mentioned my lifestyle brand, right? Soulful Traveler, all that features artwork inspired by space, but like, it's just as important and a piece of Carter Fox, the music, as it is its own world. Like, it does exist on its own, but I do have the tiebacks. And same with the consulting, where people see, you know, now I'm running the ads, people are resonating, people love space, the moon, stars. Then the music kind of— like, that's always the door opener. And then they come into the music, which is just a groovy, fun, chill, relaxing time with some different, you know, maybe thematic cinematic stuff. Then it's just the other offerings. I'm the marketing person. That's where the industry people love me. When I'm coming into a band, they're like, "Great. You're going to do all this part. You're going to plan the releases, the promotion strategy, and all that." For the most part, I'm working with people to do that and bringing the same passion and energy that I bring to the clothing and the space. I try to have it all tie in the same way. I know that that helps win. Right? Like when you can just translate and like you can see the happiness and joy and whatever connection and, you know, for me, but like maybe a different brand may not have the happiness and joy. Like, I'm just thinking like Bruno Mars. I'm just thinking like Freddie. I'm just thinking like what makes everyone great is, is still just, you know, you can evolve but you still just stay true.

Mm. Yeah. Hey man, Cardi Mau, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on the show today, man. Thank you for sharing your insights and your journey, man, your expertise with us, man. I wish you more success with your books and great success with your new book that just came out, man. Hopefully that reached number one too. Before leaving, man, is it any, any more nuggets? Just one more nugget you would like to share with us, man, before we get out of here?

Practice. Don't be scared to practice. That's for the music.

Practice. I see you know you from Philly. You know you from Philly. Yeah, yeah, not the game. Not the gay.

Every time someone says practice, that's where it is. Honestly, make a plan. I think I say this all— the advice is, you know, make a plan. Failure to plan is planning to fail. Whether that be a new album release, be a podcast launch, a merch launch to tie into your podcast, or completely separate, right? Like whether it's putting out music with a brand new band or your 30th song, right? Like just, just make a plan so you have a guidepost because it's human to forget and everyone has so many things going on nowadays. So the number— I think that's the number one most important thing is make a plan.

Make a plan. Hey, you heard it here from my man Carter Fox. My man got so much stuff going on, man. I think I did him an injustice introducing him, but you heard it here, man, from Carter Fox. Make a plan. You have been listening to the CJ Moneyway Show with your boy CJ Moneyway. Until the next time, we out of here. Peace.

Thank you for listening to the CJ Moneyway Show. Don't forget to share this episode with your friends, leave a comment, and drop a review. Be sure to tune in every Tuesday and Friday for more inspiring journeys. Who knows, your story might be next.

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