Ep. 039 | Behind the Mic: Hosting the Host

Today, we're switching it up! Yana gets behind the mic to talk with host, Erica Lee, about all behind the scenes details you never knew you wanted to know.

TRANSCRIPT

Yana: Welcome, friends! You’re listening to The Feeling is Musical: Behind the Mic. My name is not Erica Lee, my name is Yana Ramos, and today, we decided to switch places. So, not to worry, Erica is here, but she’ll be on the other side of the mic. Because, get ready, today we are hosting our host, Erica Lee.

Erica is the Associate Director at the Music Project. She develops and coordinates marketing and outreach initiatives, as well as oversees HIPAA compliance, music therapy records management, and volunteer coordination. Additionally, Erica advocates for music therapy as a Board Director for the Music Therapy Association of Washington. Erica received her Master’s in Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky.

[Podcast intro music plays]

Yana: Hello!

Erica: Hi!

Yana: Let’s jump into our conversation today. What got you interested in music therapy?

Erica: Um, the story is that my mom’s a teacher, my sister’s a teacher, my grandparents are teachers —

Yana: Mmhmm —

Erica: I have a lot of teacher friends. I knew the reality of what it meant to be a public school teacher —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: And, I didn’t think I could long-term sustainably be a teacher in that system. I also took music lessons growing up. I played piano and viola, and I also learned that I didn’t wanna be a performer my whole life.

Yana: Mmm.

Erica: I really found music therapy through a Google search.

Yana: Okay.

Erica: And I contacted a music therapist who used to live in the area —

Yana: Mmhmm —

Erica: And I shadowed her. And then it became like the thing I wanted to do.

Yana: Mmhmm.

Erica: And Seattle Pacific University, where I did my undergrad, had just launched their major at the time —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: So I think I was part of like the 3rd class. I didn’t finish the major - I had some health issues - I have hearing loss, and so I didn’t finish it. I have my piano performance degree. But that’s kind of where my introduction to music therapy started, and how I started building connections with other music therapists —

Yana: Sweet —

Erica: in Washington State, and as people moved across the US and so forth.

Yana: So, you talked about connections like all over the US. What is your connection to the music therapy community now?

Erica: So, um, right now, I am the Associate Director for the Music Project. Which is a fancy way of saying that I do a lot of administrative stuff - I do a lot of marketing stuff —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: HIPAA/legal compliance, contracts. All of my job is focused on supporting the music therapy team here —

Yana: Mmhmm —

Erica: So that all the therapists can go out and do great work, and not be as burdened by the amount of paperwork and other stuff that goes into making nonprofit life happen.

Yana: Cool.

Erica: And then, the other role I play in the community is more - at large that I sit on the board for the Music Therapy Association of Washington —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: I’m the only not music therapist on the board.

Yana: Mmhmm.

Erica: And, again, I play a role in just providing business support to people - talking about contracts, I do website design, I do maintenance —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: Systems building. One of the cool things about my job is that I really get to see the breadth and depth of what music therapy is.

Yana: You do a lot of like advocacy for music therapy —

Erica: Yeah, yeah. I mean, when I - you know when you meet people and they’re like, “what do you do?” And like, “what’s your job?” kind of question. A lot of times - well, honestly, depending on who it is, I have different answers - but one of my answers is I build relationships with people.

Yana: Mmm.

Erica: Technically, my job is marketing-focused - that’s like the bulk of what my job description actually is. But that’s what marketing is, is just relationship building —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: You’re just doing it using different tools and different platforms. And that’s what advocacy also really is - because advocacy and marketing are like sisters/cousins/some like really close relationship?

Yana: Mmhmm.

Erica: Your relationship with a person really supports or helps with advocacy work —

Yana: Yeah —

Erica: Even if you don’t have a deep relationship with that person. Like, I don’t know all of our state senators, but I talk to like 10 of them a year.

Yana: Sure.

Erica: And just finding points of commonality - knowing how to talk to people. How to talk about what you do, and then how to like engage the other person —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: In that conversation.

Yana: Yeah, that’s - I really like how you like synthesize your marketing work with your relational work. It reminds me of like - I guess kind of this podcast here —

Erica: Mmm —

Yana: Is like um a kind of an offshoot of those things. Like —

Erica: Mmhmm —

Yana: Relationship building mixed with advocacy mixed with marketing in - in a way, like —

Erica: Yeah.

Yana How did the podcast come to be?

Erica: It was an accident.

Yana: Oh! [Chuckles]

Erica: [Chuckles] I wasn’t [laughs] —

Yana: There’s a phrase, like happy accidents or something?

Erica: Yeah. It was a - Bob Ross - it was a happy accident. So, basically, we had a partnership that I was trying to develop with our local public radio station —

Yana: Uh huh —

Erica: And it was gonna be this weekly segment talking about what music therapy was. And they were having some internal issues, which meant that it was taking a lot longer to launch than I anticipated it. So, I started talking to the team about I just want to get some segments recorded ‘cause I haven’t done this before —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: Um, we need to kinda map out like what we want to say. It was really important to me that this is an accurate representation of who we are and what we do.

Yana: Yeah.

Erica: ‘Cause a huge issue within the field of music therapy in Washington State particularly, is we need to do a lot of community education so people even know that music exists as an option for them.

Yana: Yeah.

Erica: Um, what was supposed to be 5 minute long segments turned into upwards of —

Yana: [Chuckling] More than 5 minute segments —

Erica: 30 minute segments [chuckles]. Um, so, yeah, it just became a lot longer and a lot bigger. And, rather than wait on somebody else to produce our content —

Yana: Mmhmm —

Erica: I said, I love listening to podcasts - I know generally what the format could be. And so we just launched right into it. And it’s been - I’ve been really pleased with the reception and how it’s gone and…

Yana: We have awesome listeners from around the world.

Erica: Really! Around the world. It’s really cool. I think we have I’d say like 20 countries?

Yana: Wow!

Erica: Yeah. We’re global now.

Yana: That’s so cool - listeners, you’re so cool!

Erica: Chuckles.] I hold myself accountable —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: To like what happens on the podcast.

Yana: Mmhmm.

Erica: And - really grateful that there’s a lot of great music therapy content, podcast-wise, in the world —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: Um, but to my knowledge, were the only podcast that is aimed not at the music therapist. Of course there are music therapists - I know there are music therapists that listen to the podcast. And that’s great —

Yana: Sure —!

Erica: And we love you - we’re here for you. But we intentionally don’t use a lot of jargon or clinical language to help facilitate a mutual understanding of what we’re talking about. We don’t want to leave people behind in this conversation.

Yana: Mmm. What are some things that you hope people that are not in the music therapy community will take away - or will know about music therapy?

Erica Mmm —

Yana: Through the podcast, or just in general?

Erica: Mmm. There’s 2 things. There’s one specific to like our county is helping people understand that we exist —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: And we’re as low barrier as we can be, meaning that, if we can, we will get a grant to subsidize the cost - or cover the cost —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: Of therapy. Um, the other thing, in terms of advocacy work, is I want to really help music therapists feel like they are comfortable walking around in their business shoes. Because, there are so many music therapists in private practice —

Yana: Mmhmm —

Erica: Or within institutions - they may be on a creative arts team, but there’s like 3 of them —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: And they still have to do the advocacy work within an institution to tell the finance people, or the people in positions of power that they’re relevant - that they’re valuable. And so, even if you’re not running a business or running a nonprofit, you still need to have skills and language to talk about what you do in a way that is gonna connect with those people in power.

Yana: Mmhmm. And what are some ways that you - how do you help people to be comfortable in their business shoes?

Erica: Really, I think what I’m doing is kind of evolving right now —

Yana: Mmm —

Erica: Because I’m stepping - I’ve stepped into formal roles, but I’m stepping into how I perceive myself still.

Yana: Mmm.

Erica: It’s not really identity, because it’s - ‘cause I don’t think that’s like who I am - it’s more like skillsets and knowledge that I have. And so, at the moment, practically, this looks like I redesigned the state website so that it’s more user-friendly - it meets the needs of the community. We’re working on building greater accessibility into it.

Yana: Mmhmm.

Erica: And then, really just meeting people where they’re at.

Yana: Mmm.

Erica: So, a lot of listening to the therapy community. What do you need support in? What do you not need support in? What type of events do you want?

Yana: Yeah.

Erica: It’s just the small things. All the things - there’s a lot of things that go into considering what people need, and how to meet them where they’re at. Those are just the things that I’m thinking about —

Yana: Yeah —

Erica: Off the top of my head.

Yana: I don’t think um they’re small things. Especially when frameworks have not been set up in those ways for a lot of people for a long time. And I think that’s kind of the role of an advocate is to come alongside folx and kind of amplify the things they need to basically exist - in a world, in a field, in their space.

Erica: It’s a pretty cool gig.

Yana: Yeah!

Erica: I didn’t do this on purpose.

Yana: Mmm. Happy accident?

Erica: It was another accident.

[Yana chuckles]

Erica: It was completely an accident. This is not what I thought I was going to do —

Yana: Mmhmm —

Erica: When I was 18 at all. It’s a really good job.

Yana: That’s awesome. We’re glad you’re here.

Erica: [Chuckles] Thanks. I like talking about the why we do the podcast. Maybe we could talk a little bit more about like how we choose guests?

Yana: Oh yeah!

Erica: Or like, like how do we do the planning process and like —

Yana: Yeah —

Erica: That’s a little bit like behind the scenes-y for the podcast —

Yana: Yeah —

Erica: But it’s cool —

Yana: There you go.

Erica: I do want to acknowledge: Yana does a lot of work behind the scenes for the podcast. Yana and I share editing responsibilities, but Yana edits maybe 75% of the episodes. And Yana also does all the transcription for the episodes.

Yana: It’s fun.

Erica: Yana’s cool.

[Yana chuckles]

Erica: And I appreciate you. And like, the podcast wouldn’t be the podcast if you weren’t my partner in making this happen.

Yana: Well, I’m happy to be a part of it.

Erica: So, do you want to talk about how we make this happen?

Yana: Let’s do it.

Erica: Okay. So, basically what happens is we sit down at least quarterly and we have a big planning meeting. And we try and do episodes kinda thematically.

Yana: Mmhmm.

Erica: So, when we first started, we made sure that we covered like all the foundations of like what is music therapy, what are the lenses that we’re applying to music therapy we did a series about mental health, we did a series about neurodiversity - those kinds of things. We have a meeting next week to talk about what’s happening in 2021.

Yana: 2021  

Erica: Get ready. But we’re planned out through the end of February. That’s - and so - today is the end of September, so that’s how far in advance we are thinking. And my recording style is I do everything in bursts. So right now I’m in the beginning —

Yana: You’re in a burst —?

Erica: Of a high-recording frequency. I’ll record 2 or 3 episodes every week for about a month, and then Yana goes and edits them all.

Yana: Mmhmm. Yeah, it’s cool. And we - all of the guests we’ve had so far have been really awesome. Like you said earlier, just the amount of people who are both willing and like knowledgeable and —

Erica: Mmm —

Yana: A part of this shared process with us is really great.

Erica: Yeah, we do have awesome people that come on the podcast. And we’re so fortunate to be really supported by the people we work with —

Yana: Mmhmm —

Erica: On our team. And our local Washington State community - we’ve had a number of music therapists from across the state on the podcast, and now we’re even branching out to music therapists that are all across the United States, and —

Yana: And in other countries —

Erica: And other countries.

Yana: Yeah.

Erica: Yeah. So that’s how that happens.

Yana: Mmhmm.

Erica: What is - in doing the podcast, what is one thing you have learned, Yana?

Yana: Yeah, um… One thing I’ve enjoyed witnessing, from behind the scenes in editing the podcast, is what you were saying about advocacy earlier - like, the relationship-building and meeting people where they’re at. That process of having these conversations with people, and also getting to plan out um - this is what we want people to know about music therapy - like all of the different facets of what it is to  do music therapy, to be a music therapist, and to work from various paradigms. All of that has been a really cool experience to - to be a part of and watch that unfold.

Erica: Mmm.

Yana: It’s not like a what have I learned thing, but it is something that I’ve - really have come away with from being a part of this. What about you?

Erica: I appreciate from the podcast that I feel like I got a creative rejuvenation.

Yana: Mmm.

Erica: Before the podcast, I was starting to feel like I was doing the same thing, day in and day out. And that creative part of myself, it doesn’t entirely go away - or is not entirely quiet - because things that I do, like managing our social media platforms, requires creativity. But there is something different about getting to be collaboratively creative through the podcast that I don’t do in other parts of my work.

Yana: Mmm.

Erica: Just to sit down and like having - even if it’s structured, to have a conversation with somebody else —

Yana: Mmhmm —

Erica: And to create content is, much to me, like playing music in a group is.

Yana: Mmm.

Erica: But I stopped doing that after school. I didn’t continue to play in groups - I didn’t play duets with people, I didn’t play chamber music or small groups of musicians.

Yana: Mmm.

Erica: So this breathes new life into that part of my creative process that I - I really missed. And, I get to sit down and have - well, before COVID, it was in person, but that’s the greatest part of my job is I just get to pick people’s brains for a couple hours a week, and —

Yana: Mmhmm —

Erica: It’s just part of my workday.

Yana: That’s really lovely, the - the creative rejuvenation. And - I mean, 2 of our core values are creativity and collaboration, and it’s just beautiful that - for this to be something that you get to engage in um and that - that is nourishing for you. So that’s cool.

Erica: Yeah. It is a really cool thing. I’m really - there is something really very special about this. And whenever we decide to stop doing the podcast, I will be sad about it.

Yana: Mmm.

Erica: But that’s not gonna happen for a good while, so —

Yana: Mmhmm —

Erica: Don’t worry about it —

Yana: Listeners, we will be here [chuckles]

Erica: [Chuckling] I get very sentimental, quite quickly.

Yana: Awwwww.

Erica: Yeah.

Yana: Well, um…

Erica: Do you wanna tell them - where should the listeners find all the things podcast?

Yana: Yeah.

Erica: [Chuckling] Yana’s gonna do the outro for the first time.

Yana: Okay. Listeners, if you want to learn more about the Music Project, or get a transcript of this podcast, you can find all of that and more on our website at scmusicproject.org. That’s  S as in Sam, C as in Cat, Music Project dot org. You can follow us on all social media @SCMusicProject. So if you’ve enjoyed this episode, we encourage you to follow us, subscribe, leave a review, tell your friends —

Erica: Yes —!

Yana: Tell your dog —

Erica: Tell your dog —

Yana: Tell your cat. We love making new connections and new friends. And, as we said, all of our listeners are very awesome. Thank you, Erica, for switching places with me for this episode, and for joining us on the other side of the mic. It’s been really great to chat with you. We really appreciate you.

Erica: Aww, thank you.

Yana: And we appreciate our listeners. Thank you so much for listening —

Yana and Erica: [In unison] We’ll talk to you next time.

Erica: [Laughing] Look at us go!

Yana: [Cheering] We did it!

Erica: [Clapping] Good job!

[Podcast outro music plays.]