HOW TO MAXIMIZE MUSIC AT CORPORATE EVENTS

In this episode, we’re talking with composer-producer-musician Mike Mancini, and songwriter-performer MiG Ayesa about how to maximize music at corporate events. Having worked with everyone from Bruce Springsteen…to Queen…to Stevie Wonder, these guys know a thing or two about how to make messaging sing.

You can read the transcript below or listen to Episode 8 on the episode page, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Episode 8 Transcript

JEREMY: I am here with Mike Mancini and MiG Ayesa, two of the most brilliant, fun collaborative musicians. I have had the pleasure of working with them on corporate events. You each bring something special and unique to the process. I know you both so well. I know what you both do, but let's just talk a little bit about what you do and how you bring music to an event for the listeners out there. Mike let's start with you.

MIKE: I think what I've developed over the years in working with certain creative directors like you and our buddy, Chuck Santoro is a combination of things. I've done some scoring. They’ll present me with a video and ask if I can write a piece of music for this video that will support what's going on the screen. I love doing that.

I've also done original pieces of music with direction from a creative director that we perform live with other dancing and musical arrangements involved. Then we get into the employee talent pool shell, which I love doing. I present myself as a music director, composer, coach, armchair psychologist, and I really enjoy that.

JEREMY: MiG, how would you describe what you do and what song division the company you work with does?

MiG AYESA: What we do is create team-building exercises using music. We write songs with companies for companies about companies in real-time. We get them to be totally engaged in the whole process. We give them the tools and give them the power so that they can now create a song with minimum contributions.

We talk about lyrical content, as well. It keeps them engaged in the room, but we do these virtual parties in a box. One of the cool things we did was we did this Halloween bash for a company. Totally customized this event using digital filters. I was Dracula for the whole event, staying as that for the entirety of the event. The themes that we did were all Halloween things like playing on Oregon's and playing scary music. It just was one of those things that really resonated a lot with them. They felt really special about it, and it really created a sense that they were part of the whole creative process.

JEREMY: That's great and we'll see if we can link to some of the things that you guys have done in the show notes. What is that expression about writing about music is like dancing about architecture?

MIKE: Elvis Costello.

JEREMY: Wait really? Did he say that? No. Come on.

MIKE: Your fact checker will check me because I have heard her typing in the background of some of your other episodes.

[MIKE & JEREMY LAUGH]

JEREMY: Yes, indeed. We will definitely have to check that.

BETHANY: This is behind the scenes Bethany breaking in by request of a fact check. The quote writing about music is like dancing about architecture has been attributed to Laurie Anderson, Steve Martin, Frank Zappa, Thelonious Monk, and yes, Elvis Costello. However, the most likely source for the quote appears to be from the Two and a Half Men star Martin Mull.

JEREMY: Sometimes I like to start these things by questioning the very premise. I'm going to just throw it out there. Why do we even need music at corporate events? We have a playlist and some energetic music, I get that, but then why do I need anything else? What do you think MiG?

MiG AYESA: Music awakens people's senses. It actually stops them from their everyday lives and snaps them into attention. The science of it is that listening to music releases oxytocin and dopamine in the brain.

Oxytocin is linked to bonding and developing trust. Whereas dopamine is more linked to happiness, motivation, and engagement. It breaks up the monotony of listening to speaker after speaker.

It adds excitement and spice to an event. Also, I think one of the major things is that it shows that the organizer or the creators of this event really care about the attendees by taking the time to create more of a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere. I think people feel special that they're part of this event.

JEREMY: I love that. That's really interesting. Mike, what do you think?

MIKE: One of my teachers explained it as music is the expression of human emotion. It's not only about pumping up the people. It's also about writing a piece of music for a video presentation that accentuates what you're trying to explain, whether it be something serious, sad, or motivational.

I look at it more as a way to express human emotion, so it doesn't always have to be like wanting to go to a party. It could also be taking it as this really serious moment right now, so let's underscore that with some music.

MiG AYESA: Music is the international language, and I think it is especially now since we're doing so many virtual events where we're hitting global teams and events. If anything, music will convey a message, mood, and things that maybe words cannot.

JEREMY: Wow, so many interesting ideas that you've dropped already. Now MiG you brought up the idea that we've gone global with the virtual aspect of it, what's the difference? You've convinced me that music in a live corporate environment makes sense, but how do we do it over Zoom, virtually?

MiG AYESA: In some ways it may even work better in the virtual realm as far as the desired effect. When you're doing in-person events, you've gone to a ballroom or a convention center and think that this is exciting. That sense of occasion is already there.

In the virtual world, most of us are sitting in our lounge rooms or in our bedrooms. Maybe some of us are even in our pajamas, let's be honest here. To have that sense of music come in adds to that sense of an event. I think being creative with music will be impressive and will show attendees that they matter.

JEREMY: Interesting. I love what you're saying about the sense of the occasion. That's fascinating. Mike, what do you think? What would you add?

MIKE: The challenge for me was to get that feeling that you don't have live, where speakers and music are coming at you. You're feeling it in your body and the whole room is shaking. The whole experience has now changed.

You and I worked on a project where we overcame that with two videos and custom tracks, and it just became a completely different experience for me and for the participants. I just think you have to work around not having that immediate sense of music surrounding you and MiG.

What do you think about the delay? If you were to do something live with someone, how are you overcoming the delay?

MiG AYESA: No platform has been able to really eliminate the latency problem. At the same time in real time with other musicians in their virtual studios, it has been very challenging.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. We're actually going to be trialing this machine called real-time audio. There is this company that makes this sync box, and this will be a game changer. It will allow people to be playing with each other in real-time. It eliminates that latency. We're going to give it a go. I'm hopeful that it will work because if it does, it is really going to revolutionize how we do virtual events.

I'm excited about it, but at the moment it's challenging. We can't really play with confidence with each other in real-time. What we do is we have one musician playing at one time to have that full sound, we use backing tracks, or we prerecord things that we can then sync up together.

JEREMY: I mean that technology sounds amazing. I think the other way you've gotten around it, that you've done quite brilliantly, is you just bounce back and forth between musicians. Let this musician handle this bit and let that musician handle that bit, so they don't have to play together. You still, as an audience, get that sense of different instruments and musicians that works really nicely.

Now MiG you brought up this idea of the real-time audio that might allow musicians to play together without the latency. I'm curious about other technology that you've either used, looking forward to using, or something that doesn't make its way into corporate events all the time. Is there any other technology that you're excited about?

MiG AYESA: I'm excited about the way the technology is improving. For example, platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams they're all improving their audio capabilities, exponentially. I'm looking forward to seeing what these new ones coming out are. We have greater bandwidth, frequency, and more high-resolution music coming out all the time.

JEREMY: Mike, how about you? What technologies are you looking for?

MIKE: I think something that really inspired me was if you've seen the Van Gogh immersive experience, which is this exhibit that travels around the country. You walk into it, and it is a 360 digital representation of Van Gogh's life that goes by in real-time. There's this beautiful score in 3D playing around it.

Even the floor is lit up and some of his paintings and artwork reflect on your body. That really got me excited. I'm thinking maybe you could take that and make it work for the corporate world.

You could designate a room somewhere and actually have that related to the client's needs.

JEREMY: We're always looking for ways to incorporate that idea of immersing the audience in video and also adding the element of sound. I think that would be very cool.

MiG, what would you add?

MiG AYESA: I think we're not far off where we'll actually be able to do events in virtual reality. For example, to be able to be on stage with a band in a place where we can have exhibits moving, like Mike said, with some animation in this whole world that creates a whole new universe.

I think individually we also have all the goggles and the hardware that comes with that.

JEREMY: We talk about hybrid events. That's a whole other kind of thing, right? What if you're sitting at home, but you've got your goggles on and it feels like you're in a room with your boss, coworkers, and the team in California? You're all in this virtual space together. It would be very interesting.

MiG AYESA: There's a company in Australia that is in talks with several musical theater producers about when production has to shut down because there are some people in the cast getting sick or whatever. They had to shut down for a while. People are in quarantine, but there's an option for them to be filming production or doing it as a virtual reality performance.

When you see live theater, the whole experience of being in the theater is great, and even though you would have these musicals on, you can see them on Netflix in that two-dimensional experience It is not the same as being in the theater. Whereas virtual reality will make you feel as though you are actually watching things there, which is the whole point of going to see live theater.

JEREMY: We had Chuck Santoro on the Pro Cast last episode, and he was talking about the difference between West Side Story as a musical and the movie version compared to Hamilton, which is on Disney Plus. You know, it's not like the movie version because it's a real representation of the Broadway show.

What you're talking about is taking that even one step further into virtual reality, where you really feel like you're there. I would imagine you could even feel like you're on the stage, pick your seat, move around to experience different views or look out from the stage onto the audience to see what that looks like.

That could be really cool. Mike, you brought up the idea before of employee talent, and each of you is such an accomplished musician. You've worked with real professionals, and then you come into the corporate world to make music with the cashier in a retail store, who's very talented. Maybe you’re more used to being on stage or singing with this kind different kind of pressure.

How do you do that? How do you make that switch? How do you bring the best out of folks like that?

MIKE: When I first started doing it, I was not positive about how that was going to work out. I immediately was shocked about the talent pool in the world, not necessarily just the pros. I also realized that I could bring my ability as a music director and a band leader, and just basically band guys together.

It sounds corny, but you really do change their lives. There are some situations where the production values the people around them and the way that they get treated by the company. You'll never have that experience ever again.

I saw this cellist playing one day and he was a high school kid, and I just thought this kid had amazing talent. He was a cashier at a store, but it turns out that this gentleman went to school and got his master's degree. Now he's a professional cellist. I just thought that we gave him that boost. We gave him that confidence and there are many other ones.

We had two people who were opera singers from different parts of the country and with different backgrounds. We figured out a way to put them together and made a five-minute opera piece with these two people. To me, it was extremely gratifying to hear the crowd being genuinely shocked by this. Then when they got off the stage, the looks on their faces showed that sort of experience that really makes me thrilled to be where I am.

JEREMY: That's amazing. You're absolutely right, Mike. I've seen you do it. You treat them like rock stars, and you give them an experience that is absolutely magical.

MiG, what about you? How do you do that?

MiG AYESA: The core of what we do at SongDivision is we write these songs with people. It's a collaborative songwriting workshop that we do with them. These people have never done anything like this before. They've possibly never even played an instrument before. A lot of people have never experienced being on stage or something to that extent.

When we see the change in them, it happens almost immediately. We give them the opportunity, the ability, and the permission to shine, so to speak. We see that from the beginning. They're a bit tentative and inhibited by the end of our session. You basically can't sit them down or stop them. They’re up and running.

They love being given a chance to perform in front of the camera or a musical. We see that development in a short time, see their eyes light up, and see how frightened they were at the beginning of the session compared to the end. They didn't know what to expect by the end, but they were instrumental in writing this new anthem for their company. They feel that sense of achievement, that sense of elation, or doing something they've never thought possible that is really quite tangible. It's exciting to watch.   

It's also great to see the people in offices that we never knew what they did. I only see them in the office, and suddenly we see them and that they got an instrument, and we ask them to play something for us. They have an opportunity to play for their colleagues.

It really cements their relationship with each other which is great to see and think that was awesome. You were amazing. At the same time, it's great to see people really just come out of their bubble. Then to see that in real-time is wonderful. It makes us feel the reason why we do what we do.

JEREMY: I totally agree. I think an arc that I've seen employees go on with you, MiG, is not fear, but people think it's going to be dumb. Forgive me for saying this, but it's true. They're like, “Really, we're going to write a song together? That sounds dumb.” By the time they're finished, not only was it an incredibly, meaningful activity for them with the bonding and elation that you talked about, but the messaging of the event itself has resonated for them in a way that it never could have otherwise. They walk away from the event feeling that was the most memorable, meaningful, and exciting part.

They really got some of the objectives that we had set out to accomplish. It's incredible to watch that and watch them go on that journey.

MiG AYESA: That's right. You see that with music, and it's a way to express emotions, core values, and themes in a way that nothing else can. To see that come to life in people who've never done something like this before is an inspiration.

JEREMY: Well, it is incredible. As you said, I think music is one of the ways, and it happens the most in these corporate events where you are able to create that kind of emotional value for the audience. That goes way beyond watching an executive PowerPoint presentation. People are really moving.

MiG AYESA: Also, when it's something written for an event or for an organization, it becomes even more personal. People react to it even more because they realize it's something written for them, about them, and about this occasion. It really heightens the sense of impact and a sense of something very special.

JEREMY: In the case of song division, it's not just written for them but sometimes written by them.

MiG AYESA: That's right.

JEREMY: It brings it home even more.

MiG AYESA: That's right. That's it. It is a very powerful tool. When people start to write songs together or feel like they're part of the creative process, they feel like we're not only a part of our organization, but we're a band that needs to go on tour because we're awesome. That's really wonderful to see that, as well.

JEREMY: I love that. I would love to move on to the Lightning Round if that's all right. What we do in the lightning round is ask just three questions that we ask all our guests.

The first question is who's your biggest get? A speaker, entertainer, or subject matter expert that you would either love to see at a live event or someone who you would love to coach. Mike, is there someone high on your list?

MIKE: I'd like to see Bano interview Elon Musk.

[EVERYONE LAUGHS]

They are two guys who I'm just fascinated by. They're both from extremely different worlds, but I think they have a lot in common. I think if Bano led the discussion, it would be really fascinating.

JEREMY: I would love to see that. Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. MiG, what about you?

MiG AYESA: Wow. That's a good one. I miss hearing Barack Obama speak. I always feel that whenever he's speaking, I'm witnessing a great moment in history. When you hear Martin Luther King speak in his speeches or John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama speaks like this is going to go down and it's going to be a soundbite that people will remember for a very long.

JEREMY: A hundred percent. This next question is interesting to pose to musicians. I'm curious about your take on this. The question is, what is one thing you wish presenters did more of or less of? Mike, go ahead.

MIKE: I happen to be sitting backstage at an event, and I was looking at a monitor. There's a new CEO of a company that was giving his first speech as the CEO. For some reason, this gentleman drew me in with his presentation. It was his ability to realize that he was not only on camera but also was reaching an audience of about 5,000 people. He just told stories and mixed stories of his life with his new job and what he was going to do. It wasn't all about numbers, facts, figures, and we're going to do this. It was just like a real emotional sort of connection he tried to have with his employees.

I just loved the way he communicated with everyone. For him to get my attention in a completely separate room on a TV monitor, I thought that was brilliant.

JEREMY: One of the things I love about doing this podcast is that each episode is super interesting to me, but also, with all of the episodes together, you start to see certain trends emerge. That idea of personal stories has come up several times. When presenters tell a personal story, it is impactful and memorable.

It makes a huge difference, so I love hearing you say that Mike and I think you're absolutely right. Having presenters do that more would make a big difference. 

MiG what would you add?

MiG AYESA: I was going to say the same thing as Mike.

[JEREMY LAUGHS]

That's so important. I think you should keep it personal. The more you can actually show your vulnerability, the sense of something that is coming from my heart, and this is who I am, it presents yourself as this infallible superhuman, doesn't it?

If you watch a Superman Comic or Superman film even somethings things go wrong. There's never really an event that is a hundred percent perfect. That sometimes is actually great to point out. The show must go on. I understand that you have to make it as professional as possible, but things happen that show a human side to let audiences in.

For example, just saying things like, “Alright you know what ladies and gentlemen, let me start that again because I screwed up. To show that human side, I think is so much more endearing and so much more powerful at the end because you'll bring people in.

JEREMY: I love that you guys have some of the best advice we've heard. Tell personal stories and be vulnerable. That's it. Presenters can do that. They're 80% of the way there.

Last question, what is something, could be a book, a movie, a song, whatever you like, that was a big influence on you and particularly, if possible, influenced your professional career? MiG, do you want to start off?

MiG AYESA: Musically I got to say when I first heard Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. I think I was like five years old or something like that. I thought that this is probably something I want to do for the rest of my life. This is awesome. How crazy these people are. I'm just scared by them, but I'm intrigued by them.

I want to know more, so that was a huge influence on me. To eventually work with Queen themselves and be on stage with them, that's like really the bookend of an experience of this. This is why you do something in the first place. I named dropped there, didn't I?

JEREMY: You did, but that's okay. Tell us a little bit. Where were you on stage with Queen? What were you doing?

MiG AYESA: In London, I played the lead in a show called We Will Rock You, which is a musical created by Ben Ellison who also wrote this book. The music of course is by Queen. Brian May and Roger Taylor were instrumental in the creation of it. On special occasions, like a thousand show or a grand opening, they would apparently just walk on stage and perform with us, and the crowd would be like, “Oh my gosh, it's actually Brian.”

Brian May would come out from this trap door in the middle of Bohemian Rhapsody and play solo with smoke and everything coming out. Audiences totally lost their minds.

I want to say that as far as what really affected me just recently, I just read Eckhart Tolle’s book called The Power of Now and it really impacted me greatly. I'm always looking at the future and trying to find something in the future that's going to fulfill my creativity or fulfill my life. Whereas the things I'm doing now are exactly the things I want to be doing. I think the more I'm grateful for the things that I have now like being grateful to be alive for one, to have family, and to have a job, especially with what we've been going through with this pandemic, actually really add to my enjoyment and to have a sense of focus of what I'm doing is exactly where I need to be right now.

JEREMY: Yeah, you got to enjoy the process not just the results.

MiG AYESA: A hundred percent.

JEREMY: Mike, how about you? What was a big influence on you and your career?

MIKE: I think a lot of musicians like the Beatles were a major part of my musical awareness and development. Prior to seeing them on TV, I was studying classical piano, and then when I saw the Beatles, I was like, wait a minute… this might be something interesting. Following the arc of their career from when they went from a pop band, all the way to experimental rock, and then went off on different tangents in their careers.

Then more recently, I found out about Quincy Jones, his life, and the way he approaches music. He doesn't see music, necessarily in boxes. He sees it as one giant pallet that he can draw from. He started with Count Basie. He went to Paris and studied with a famous conductor and then cut to Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, film scores, and The Color Purple.

I've really tried to model my professional career or at least take some cues from him about how to be true to yourself and express yourself.

JEREMY: Those are great influences. When I saw the get back documentary, I came very close to writing an article about it or trying to think of a way to do a workshop about what the movie teaches us about the collaborative process. There is so much in there to learn from. I mean everything about the Beatles, Quincy, Queen, and The Power of Now.

You guys had such great answers. MiG and Mike, thank you so much. This was a real treat and a real joy for me. I find talking to you guys so energizing. You both inspire me so much. I think anybody putting on an event would benefit from your talents, your songwriting abilities, your team-building abilities, and the way you work with employees. You're just unbelievable. I can't thank you enough for spending a little time with us. I really appreciate it.

MiG AYESA: Thank you Jeremy it’s a pleasure. It's reciprocal because working with you has been one of the great joys.

MIKE: Absolutely. I agree.

JEREMY: You guys are very kind. Thank you so much.

MiG AYESA: Thank you.

JEREMY: Well, getting to talk with Mike and MiG about how to maximize music at corporate events was so great. For me, there were four top takeaways, and these are the four tops.

                   • Number four, using music at a virtual event can help create a sense of occasion.

                   • Number three, music helps cement the messaging of your event.

                   • Number two, music creates emotion and makes people feel special.

                   • Number one, having employee talent at your event actually changes people's lives.

Look, I could talk about this stuff all day. If you want to talk to us about today's topic or anything about live events, check out our episode notes for more information or just go to proscenium.com to drop us a line. Send us a guest suggestion or tell us why you would make a good guest. We would love to hear from you because at Proscenium, we help presenters do their best in front of their most important audiences. As we like to say, we help brands perform. I have a sneaking suspicion that we can help your brand perform.