Voice Activation and the Healing Effects of Sound with Courtney McKenna

Welcome to the Living to 100 Club Podcast. Well, hello to everyone joining us today on our podcast. You're listening to one of our public episodes this month on the Living to Another Club program, and I'm your host, Joseph Casciani. Each week our guests are— each week our conversations educate and inspire, helping you get the best out of all the years we're given, regardless of what obstacles come our way. On today's program, we're talking with Courtney McKenna, a professional who blends her talents in music and marketing. We discuss her journey to discover the healing effects of sound and how she was able to tap her artistic side as a singer and performer and overcome her stressful, unfulfilling years in her past. We also explore Courtney's desire to help people with music. We discuss voice activation and what it means. What is the process of activating our own voice, and how does it raise our energy level, improve our communication with others, help with breathing, and add to our sense of joy? And we hear how playing her guitar and performing on stage helps our guest to slow down and get out of her own head. This is the healing effect of sound. Before we start our Q&A, I'd like to go over a little background about Courtney. Our guest is a musician and performs with her band, the Courtney McKenna Band, in settings throughout the Los Angeles area. She sees the power of music as a way to expand our creativity, as a way to mitigate stress, and as a major healing force. Courtney combines her love of music and performing with her own marketing agency, Courtney McKenna Productions. She describes herself as a marketing strategist and coach with a mission of helping brands and individuals to activate their voices. She also hosts voice activation workshops and helps others step into their full expression and creative power. Courtney, welcome to our program today. Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

Great. Well, you're very welcome. I'm looking forward to our conversation.

Me too.

I always like to open by asking our guests to tell us a little bit about the, the journey that brought you to where you are today. When you and I spoke earlier, I know you, you made a lot of different moves in your career, and maybe just give us the highlights and how it happened to bring you to where you are today. Sure.

So Let's see, I studied marketing and retailing in college and graduated early in 2009. And from there I was pretty burnt out just from putting so much pressure on myself. And, you know, I never really like drank alcohol in high school or anything, but when I got to college, it was a big part of the culture there. So I think that was combined with the stress and pressure of just, you know, paying for bills and living on your own for the first time and having responsibilities that are all new. I saw a few different therapists to help me through that period of time, and the only therapist that really helped me was a hypnosis doctor. And yeah, so that sort of planted the seed to where I am today, um, and what I'm doing. But from there, I moved to the East Coast. I started working, uh, as a freelance marketer and taking some restaurant work and, um, really trying to, you know, find my way. Um, I did a lot of work in startups, and I've, I've had just as many startup jobs that I started to be reorganized and have had to, you know, leave those jobs. So, you know, it's, um, it's definitely been a journey. I, uh, I started playing music probably about the time I moved to New York, so in 2010. Um, I started learning the guitar for the second time. The first time it was too hard for me. Um, but I've been singing since I was 3 years old in church.

Yeah.

So, you know, that was really— it's always been a— music has always been a part of my life. And when I got to New York, it was the first time where I felt like I had accomplished, you know, getting a degree, and I had all this sense of freedom. So I got to experience musicians who were actually supporting themselves as artists, and that was really inspiring. So I think as I was going through this search for the perfect marketing job or the perfect startup opportunity, um, music was always the thing that I came back to, and it was— it's been like the, the grounding force in my life. So that's sort of it in a nutshell. Um, I can get much deeper into it, but, uh, yeah.

Yeah. So you, you found that stability with your, with your music, and that's grown, that's expanded, and you still have your specialty in marketing, which we'll get to in a little bit. But, um, tell us a little bit more about your musical career. Um, where do you perform? What type of music? Who do you perform with? Who's in the audience?

Yeah. Um, yeah, so the past 2 years I've really been playing, um, you know, just about every weekend, um, up until this February. I had a change of game plan, if you will, which I'm happy to share about. But, um, we— myself and then also, uh, various bandmates, we would play all around Los Angeles, down in San Diego, sometimes Santa Barbara. Last year I went back to New York and did a show out there. So, you know, I got to play in Arizona last year as well. And, you know, the audience is really— it really varies because sometimes it's special events, like I've played for a lot of art shows. Sometimes it's, you know, specific venues. So, um, that's more of like a direct promotion. So I, I start by inviting people in my own circle and local community, and then, you know, go from there. But I think community events has always been a really fun place to be because, um, my whole purpose of playing music is just to bring joy and allow people to sort of have a moment of transportation— transformation, you know. Music can take you, um, it can lower your stress, it can bring you excitement and just an escape, you know, in a really healthy, natural way.

So, um, so you perform at like street fairs and different events, bars and restaurants?

Yeah, yeah. Um, last year, I mean, we did the Orange County Fair last year. You're talking about fairs. Um, there's a local group here in the South Bay of Los Angeles, um, Sea and Salt, Sun and Sea Collective. Um, they, they do pop-ups with lots of different brands, so that's like the they'll take over an open-air mall space and bring in like 20 to 40 different vendors. So I've played those a few times, which are really fun. Um, I was producing some car shows in Orange County last year, so I would bring my band to play those, kind of like a cars and coffee situation.

Um, really diverse settings. That's great.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then of course we played Viper Room a bunch of times up in Hollywood on the Sunset Strip. And, you know, more of those like classic venues.

But Coachella?

Not yet. Okay.

That's on the schedule.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes. And your own music or what type of music?

Yeah, we play a mix. So probably about half of it is my own music. And then I play a bunch of covers too. So mostly rock covers from the '70s and '90s. Some more modern, some pop in there too. But it's definitely guitar focused. So yeah, that's fun.

So you have, you have a lot of musical talent plus, plus the kind of initiative to get out there and, you know, perform and not only tap into your own musical side, but be the business person that it takes to. To run the Courtney McKenna Band.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's, you know, especially in today's world, um, there's not really— the industry, the music industry is very different than it used to be. So, you know, on one hand, it's a lot easier to become an artist and get your name out there. Um, on the other hand, there's a lot more hats that we have to wear as independent artist. And I've always gone about it from a business perspective because that's how I was raised. And, you know, one of my, my greatest influences and inspirations growing up was my grandpa, and he was an entrepreneur in the car industry. But he was very focused on building community. And so I try to always see things through that lens.

Yeah, so he helped to plant those seeds and help you to create your own vision for where you were headed.

Absolutely.

So you, you still have the, the marketing, the, the work as a marketing strategist. So how do we blend the two? How do you— how would you say your, your music has influenced marketing and vice versa? How does marketing influence your music?

Mm, it's a great question. You know, sometimes it's pretty direct and sometimes it's, it's kind of out of left field, like the different types of clients that I work with. So, you know, sometimes part of the strategy that I have with a client is that I'll be doing copywriting and that sort of thing. So that directly ties into songwriting because, you know, it comes from the creative part of your brain. And then also I've most recently been speaking with a few different other artists who need help with their marketing. Like, you know, they, they've had some success with their streaming numbers and growing their following, but they wanna start planning a tour, for example. So I'll use my knowledge of how to run Facebook ads to help them really get in touch with their audience so that they can actually translate that following into selling tickets to their shows. Yeah.

So helping to build brands just as you've built your own brand. You have that inside experience and you've probably hit a few potholes now and then. Yeah. So you can be a real kind of resource for your, for your clients, I'm sure.

Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, the, the times when I have worked in a more formal company, that's not just freelancing and taking on clients directly. Um, that has been a lot of, of trial and error and learning how to build a startup in that way too. So, um, I definitely enjoy working with smaller brands because especially if I, I believe in the product, it's like I know that I can help scale them and, you know, bring them growth, which is exciting.

So there's a lot of creativity, I would think, in both both sides of this work, right? In music, creating your own song, as well as helping clients. So, um, I've just finished a great book by someone I admire a lot. The book is titled Awaken Your Genius.

Hmm, I've heard of it.

Ozan Varol, V-A-R-O-L, is the author, and he talks about the importance of being able to let go of what we've done in the past in order to really get in touch with our own inner creativity and our own genius and how we can let go of some of those old narratives and stories. And that's the only way to kind of— I call it opening new doors, but he had other words for it. But I can see where your creative spirit in music can really apply to the marketing side as well. And would you say that that's an asset for you in your marketing work and helping clients? Kind of helping, helping to build that creative side for your clients?

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I, you know, we were talking when we first had an initial call before this podcast about what voice activation is, and, um, I think the reason why I like that term so much is that it can really be applied to individuals in the healing sense, but also for businesses, because, um, you know, your brand voice is very much a part of how you communicate with clients as a brand. And so that's really the foundation of, of growth these days. It's like, what are— how do you communicate the, the aspects of a product? You know, how do you— if it's like a more traditional product like Altoids or something, it's like, how do you personify the product so that you can actually have people building a relationship with the product and, and connecting with the target audience and identifying them and how do you speak their language, you know. So yeah, I mean, just communication and, and language, I guess, is— and self-expression, those are the three things that really fascinate me and always have. And so being able to manipulate those in a, in an honest and, um, and authentic way, I think, are all sort of aligned when it comes to both writing and music, and then also working with brands and growing companies.

So yeah, so a lot of overlap obviously between the two sides. I love that. That's great. So, um, let's step back a little bit and talk about your passion, which is the healing effect of sound, as you wanted to, you know, you shared your interest to kind of reaching community, reaching people who are in front of you, and whatever the audience is, but how to, how to create some kind of healing effect in your, your style, your manner, your music. Let's understand that a little bit.

Sure. So I guess, you know, at the most basic level, music can help us to relax. It can help us to blow off some steam. It helps us to feel our emotions, which so many people are not used to because our corporate culture more often than not wants us just to be, you know, producing, producing and sort of more like a machine than a human. So I think that music helps us to recognize our own humanity, and whether that's through lyrics or through the sound itself, you know, there's a lot of different layers to it. So, um, that's sort of the entry point. And then from there, you know, there's— I'm sure you've seen sound healing bowls.

Oh yes, sure. Yeah.

So there's, there's a lot of, um, like ancient sound healing modalities that are sort of coming up to make a reappearance in this day and age. And, um, and I think just that, that really ties into the different states of brainwaves and how, um, you know, when you're in a theta brain state, then you can really start to reprogram your thoughts, which are often the the problems that are— that we're having, that, you know, thoughts then manifest into the body in different ways of disease or aches and pains. And, you know, of course, a lot of that is just as we age, our body changes. But there's also— there's also a really strong connection between what we think and how how that— how we can perform in the world.

And yeah, no, that's good. Um, so in some ways, the certain sounds like you described there, it can alter our thinking patterns, that can cause us to slow down and be more in touch, as you said, be more in touch with our feelings, our emotions, and probably our thoughts too. And would you say that certain sounds, certain musical notes can really cause us to shift our thinking and say, wait a minute, let me go down a different neural pathway here. I don't like that old one. Would you say that's— is that what we're talking about?

Yeah, I think that's part of it for sure. There's There's a really interesting experiment that, um, uh, I'm, I'm forgetting his name right now, but Dr. Um, Miyoto, he, I think he was a Japanese doctor, and he, he was studying the effect of sound on water. So I don't know if you've ever heard of, of that, but it's pretty interesting because, um, for example, if It would be like the water would create different patterns based on the different types of music. So if it was listening to classical music, it would create these like crystallized pattern, like a snowflake that was just, you know, very intricate and beautiful. And then if you played it like metal or something a little bit more intrusive and hard, harsh, like those energy waves would just be completely chaotic. And, you know, if you think about the body, we're made up of mostly water. So music and sound affects us just as much as the energy and intention behind words, you know. And I think it's something that's so deeply engraved in our unconscious and our, our being as humans that I I think that in the next 10, 15 years, there's going to be a lot more science coming out to support this sort of work because it is, you know, what a lot of people might say is new age and sort of woo-woo. But, but I've been studying it, you know, just alongside of writing and playing rock and roll for the past 5, 10 years. And it's you know, the more I learn about energy and the different chakra systems in the body, you know, there's a way that we can tune into that even just using our voice through singing. And so singing can actually awaken the body, singing on certain vowels. And, and once you do that, you're really tapping into a whole new world of possibility, you know.

Yeah, excuse me. As you described that experiment, I did recall that. And the research, as I recall, as you said, when, when water is freezing. Yeah, if there's classical music or calming music, the crystals are more orderly, and in the, in the frozen water, in the ice. And when it's— the music is more cacophonous and just kind of jarring, the ice doesn't freeze as orderly. As you said, it's all kind of different kind of crystals. So Yeah. So when we translate that into kind of the effect, the healing effect of certain sounds and the effect that can have on our bodies, our thinking, and our whole system, um, that does make a lot of sense. Yeah, I can see that. Yeah. So where does, where does voice activation come into the picture?

So voice activation Like I said from the beginning, I think it— there's lots of different layers that you can witness, um, sound healing through, or lenses is maybe a better metaphor. Um, so voice activation, I would say, is one aspect of it. And there's— in, uh, through the yogic principles, there are these mantras they call the bija mantras. And each shape is connected to a chakra. So if you— the idea is if you chant these mantras, then you're starting to move energy into each chakra. And so this is when I host my workshops, this is just one exercise that we do, because I think that the visual is really great to sort of move throughout the core of the body, which connects everything. And and warm up our voice that way. But as a trained vocalist, I also know that if I'm having a day where I'm not feeling great and I just do some simple voice warmups, then it completely shifts my energy. I feel revitalized. Singing brings me immense joy, and there's studies for that as well. So, you know, when we sing together, which is the idea of voice activation, we're actually building trust. And we're building connection. And the idea of harmony is that, you know, it's— you sort of— it kind of comes together in a more effective way. So I'm not sure if that is making any sense, but, um, when I work with people, for example, they usually have some sort of interest in singing, but, you know, they don't— some of them have never taken a voice lesson before at all. And, and so a big part of it is that you're stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new. And since the voice is something that we all have, you know, it is another way of connecting us with our own humanity, and that's really powerful, especially in today's day and age.

Sure. So the voice activation is really, um, just one level of kind of tuning into where we are, and it's, it's like the, the bridge or the opening to getting to more of a sensation of our of our feelings, of our thoughts. Yeah. Can you give us just a simple example, or what, um, as you talk about maybe singing or the voice exercise that you do if you're feeling stressed, um, can you just paint a little picture of that for our audience?

Sure.

Yeah, yeah.

So, um, so there's a few different ways. If you have access to an instrument or an app that can play tones. One thing that we do is just sing as a group and match the tones, which in technical voice training, that's called ear training. And then we usually sing a song. So one of the songs is— most of them are sort of either affirmation-based or, you know, positive mantras. And what that does is help people to start to get the idea of, of how to use, um, matching pitch when you're singing. So, you know, each— there's, there's 12 notes in the musical Western scale. But if you think of— that's including like sharps and flats. So if you're thinking of just, um, like your C scale, which is the most basic scale that you would learn in music and start with C, it's, uh, there's— it's all, um, like think about the piano. If you just played the white keys on the piano starting at C, then you'd have 7 notes. And there's 7 chakras. So what I like to do is sing on each one of those notes and then do like a visualization experience with that.

Wow. Okay. All right. So, um, you, you tune it to the— I mean, you, you encourage the connection between the voice and the sound on the musical instrument, and as you go up the scale that sometimes it can go up the chakras and change our energy level and probably create more energy. Is that—

Yeah.

One of the goals? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Because it's operating from, you know, inside of us. And, and I think, as you mentioned earlier in the introduction, singing is really tied to breathwork. So A big part of this is the breath. And I don't know if, if any of your listeners have taken breathwork courses, but I've seen a lot of people take a breathwork course and say that that hour of just deep, intentional breathing just allowed them to release so many stuck emotions and you know, it was worth years of therapy, some people say. So when you combine breathwork with singing, which is a really joyful act, you get this really interesting space of release, but also joy. And it's very playful. It's a very playful healing modality. And I think that just that, you know, there's, um, there's some statistics where if you want to create a new habit, you have to repeat it hundreds of times or something. Unless if you— if it's fun and if you treat it like a game, then your mind actually can speed up the process very quickly and you can learn and memorize it. So I believe that singing is really a fun tool that can help us, you know, to, to process emotions and to connect with other people. And, and just by using our, our self-expression in this way that otherwise feels very judgmental, and, you know, we— especially with singing, there's a lot of pressure, like societal pressure to be the best, because, you know, you see American Idol and you see The Voice, and it's like, if you're not a singer, then you're— you can't sing. And that's not true. Like, we all have voices, you know. A lot of famous, um, musicians and singers in the past, like, their tones are all very different. There's not one specific definition of like who is a good singer or not. It literally just comes down to, you know, if you practice or if you, you work on it, you know.

So, and not try to copy or emulate others. It's just getting in touch with their own natural kind of originality. Yeah, absolutely. Um, you're, you reminded me of a, a guest I had on my podcast a few months ago, and she was a rock singer in Australia, a well-known band, and, uh, she was in a terrible auto accident. Hmm. And she didn't know if she was able to perform again. And, um, really some severe— I won't say head trauma, but some severe damage. Yeah. And, um, she started with the affirmations, and what she found is that the affirmations became much more powerful, 10 times more powerful, when she would sing them. And the singing process itself, probably as you're describing, uh, kind of helps us to release more of that, more of that locked up energy and that tension and a lot of the kind of disturbance in our kind of well-being. So the singing kind of connects us in a way that just verbalizing does not, right? Does that make sense?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and I think verbalizing is a huge part of it. It's like kind of the gateway drug, but when you sing it, it's like you're putting emotion, you know, you're singing like it, it comes straight from your heart and your soul if you let it. And so I think that that's the difference that can really like skyrocket whatever it is. And that's something that right now I've been in the process of writing my, my next record. And, you know, I noticed I really focused on writing it January through March and was writing almost every day. And a lot of the themes that were coming up were sort of the same thing. So I realized like, okay, if that You know, I usually start my songwriting from a place of free write, which is almost like a subconscious brain dump. So it's almost like I'm psychoanalyzing myself. And I realized, like, okay, if I want to take things to the next level, I want to be telling my story and any stories that I'm writing in a way that actually speaks to our highest self. So for example, instead of writing a song about how I felt like I was the victim, I would take that experience and talk about what it taught me, as opposed to this, you know, heavier energy of like victim mentality. And, um, Yeah. So, so creating like positive aspirational words that people can then sing onto is what, is what I'm working on right now.

And yeah. Yeah. Wow. Okay. So what, what do you recommend? Maybe what kind of strategies would you have for our listeners in terms of maybe dealing with some everyday stress or tension or worry or fear. Yeah, some ways to let go.

So I love playing instruments, and, um, at this point I play guitar. I've been learning piano. I like to mess around on the drums, although I wouldn't call myself a drummer. Um, And I also have, you know, singing bowls and percussion instruments. And I think that out of all of those, you know, learning guitar or piano, you really have to slow down and take your time to sort of get the most basic foundational aspects, you know, mastered before you can really start to play. So that takes a little bit more time, but For somebody who just wanted to jump in and really start relaxing, I think getting a sound bowl, a singing bowl, is a really amazing tool because you can sing along with it. So you're practicing your voice and matching pitch. You can sing harmonies with it. And basically it's a bowl. I mean, they sell them on Amazon, so, you know, first of all, you don't have to—

singing bowl, that's what it's called.

Yeah. Um, I, I really love, um, I have these white, like, crystal ones, and they come in, um, 8, 10, and 12-inch circumference, or, um, diameter. Yeah, diameter. So, um, you basically, you just, you kind of play a mallet, like gently run it around the rim of the bowl, around the outside of it. And it's not difficult to play, but you do have to slow down for it. You know, it's not just like, woo, you're throwing your arm around. It's definitely a slow movement. And so it's sort of a meditation in itself. But, you know, if you don't have the means to to get an instrument to help support using your voice, um, I would recommend just trying to find music that inspires you because, okay, you know, I, I'm really big on finding songs with a positive message and, um, you know, I'm very sensitive to lyrics, but even if it's just something that you you enjoy hearing and you want to start singing along with that song, like, just giving yourself that opportunity to do it without judgment is huge. Sure.

Yeah, that's an important ingredient, without judgment, to stop comparing ourselves and, yeah, she or he sounds so much better, but that's, that's a trap, right? That doesn't get us anywhere. Yeah, absolutely. So just playing some of our favorite music. I was listening to Cady Lang just recently, and an album she had called Ingenue, and just her voice was just so pure. I don't know if you know her, but her voice is just such a pleasure to listen to, and you can just feel the tension kind of melting away.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I would say, like, you know, Singing in the shower is great. Singing in your car is great because those are like safe spaces, you know. But, um, one of the women I worked with recently was saying like she has trouble, um, holding out the notes and she wants to strengthen her voice. So a simple way you can do that is just go for a walk and sing while you're walking. Because your, your walk, um, first of all, it gets your body moving, and second of all, um, you're, you're sort of pacing in a rhythm, you know, right, left, right, left. So that helps to be able to, to sort of feel the song even more deeply and, um, and to build your voice, it's, it really has a lot to do with cardio. So, you know, if you're not already riding a bike or a runner or a swimmer or something like that, even just like walking up the stairs and trying to sing your favorite song while you're going up the stairs, like it'll be a challenge, but it'll help to open up your lungs and your breath capacity.

Yeah. Great. Those are great ideas. Great ideas. Yeah. Yeah, um, just curious, can people see you perform anywhere? Do you have any videos, any YouTube?

Yeah, I'm on YouTube. Yeah, um, I actually just had a music video release party, um, on YouTube streaming live, so people can watch the replay there. I have, um, a few songs from the '60s that I'm covering before I play my original tunes, which is pretty fun.

And the channel is just Courtney McKenna Band?

Courtney McKenna. Courtney McKenna Music, I believe, is the, um, the full handle.

Okay. Yeah, that's great. That's great. Thanks. Thanks so much. It looks like we're out of time, Courtney, but before we wrap up, I just want to remind our listeners to visit my website livingto100.club, sign up for our email list, and download a free copy of my 9 tips to make living longer enjoyable. You'll also see an option to contact me with your questions and comments. I welcome your feedback. Courtney, thanks so much for being a guest on our show today. For those who might want to contact you, how could they do that?

Um, you can reach me through my website, um, or Instagram, Facebook at Courtney McKenna Uh, my website is courtneymckenna.rocks, and, um, I guess, you know, if— feel free, for your listeners, if they want to email me directly to learn more.

Uh, Courtney McKenna rocks.

Yeah, it's hey, like H-E-Y, at courtneymckenna.rocks.

Great. So rocks is another one of those top-level domains, right?

Yeah, I know.

I like love and all kind. We're unlimited.

Yeah, yeah, I saw that. I was like, well, I guess I'm committing.

That's good. Well, thanks again for being part of our program, and thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in. Hope to see you next time.