Be A Kind Imposter | Let's Talk...Audio with Akash Thakkar

Let's Talk...Audio

Hello World! Welcome back to Let's Talk...Audio. Remember to join us on Discord!

This interview was recorded online with Riverside.fm, and it starts after Akash asks Tangela how she got into podcasting. Akash Thakkar is a sound designer based in Seattle, WA. He talks about how he segued into gaming audio from initially going to college at the Berklee College of Music to be a touring drummer. While in college he also put a lot of effort into learning "charisma" as he had been extremely socially awkward.

He graduated in 2012 and moved to Seattle. He found audio work very quickly after moving there. He's worked on a number of games including Destiny, Heat Signature, Hyper Light Drifter and most recently the new DLC for Outer Wilds.

He's also just recently launched his own podcast. Akash talks a bit about false starts as practice.

Tangela realized Akash is her first guest who has a podcast (however her previous guest Cinnamon Denise subsequently launched her podcast The Music Executive).

They talk about how releasing content like podcasts and YouTube and blogs and such are a source of networking.

Tangela recommends The Go-Giver by Bob Burg.

Akash realized during college how important a great teacher is (shoutout to Michael Sweet and Jeff Faust at Berklee) for learning new things. Coupled with the Buddhist concept Mudita, the joy of seeing someone else succeed, this is the impetus behind his content he has produced over the years. "I want other people to make me irrelevant because they're doing so well."

They also talk about sources of bad advice and how/why that happens. But as for good advice, most of the time a person simply needs to do the thing and do it as simply, as babiest, smallest thing imaginable.

"It's the equivalent of doing one pushup, not a hundred"

Also, most of the time, you don't need to buy anything beyond the simple stuff. Doing the simple stuff, starting, is better than most of the people who say they "want" to do the thing.

Moving on to Impostor Syndrome! Akash thinks it can't be gotten rid of, because doing new things makes us impostors.

"If we aren't feeling impostor syndrome, we aren't being creative, period"

Next up, talking about how to interrupt those internal negative self-talk thoughts.

Akash is an avid reader. Books were one of the avenues he used to learn to get over his shyness during college. Self education is underrated!

"The best professionals know when to drop the ball"

Perfection happens with iteration, not with the first take. This section is about getting things done so that perfection can happen later.

Can a CRM save Tangela from retyping the same email ten times?

"What's the correct speed to drive?"

This analogy is about consistency, knowing when to slow down on things, and following your interests. Also, are you a fox or a hedgehog?

Flailing, plans, and those people close to you who are helpful sound boards.

Goals! Some peoples' goals change; Tangela's don't.

Advice for foxness, and pivoting thru the world right now: Grow an audience! Creative people with diverse interests do interesting things, and the world wants to see it! And the best way to build an audience is to give.

Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income says "the riches are in the niches". Tangela points out: "When you try to reach everyone, you basically reach no one, because you're speaking to too many people."

Akash used to talk sound design on his YouTube channel, but felt that he ran out of things to say over there. Now however he is developing a course on the subject!

Tangela: "If you're not gonna be the first at something, then you have to find a way to be the best at something. And if you're not gonna be the best at something, then you have to find a way to put your own unique spin on whatever it is ..."

Akash quotes Naval Ravikant: "Be the best in the world at what you do; redefine what you do until that's true."

Tangela wishes she could pull quotes out of the air like that. Akash points out he has systems to assist with these things including a Zettelkasten, which is a kind of Personal Knowledge Management.

"I'm hardcore about learning."

Ali Abdaal is someone he follows in this regard, as well.

What is "name blindness" ?

Let's talk more about Akash' podcast Sound Business with Akash Thakkar! It is about interviewing people from all corners of the audio world about their careers.

This segues nice into the stereotype of the starving artist with regards to creative people. So then what does success mean? What does it look like for you?

The next subject is the reclaiming of dignity in immigrant families through economic success. The realization of this was a huge head change for Akash when he realized it, in regards to his relationship with his parents. Massive.

There was an indie game released in 2019 called Outer Wilds, and they have just released a new DLC which Akash did sound design for. It turns out they tapped him because he had given a talk at UCLA about this overall subject of creativity and business. The producer of this game was in the audience for that talk.

Driving the point home about the value of audience and networking.

Akash Thakkar can be found on Twitter @akashthakkar, IG @akashthakkaraudio, and his website akashthakkar.com. He is based in Seattle, WA, where he has worked in sound design for games including Hyper Light Drifter, Heat Signature, Destiny, and the most recent DLC for Outer Wilds. He is the author of Maximizing Game Feel Through Sound: A Composer/Sound Designer's Approach to Upgrading your Game's Impact.

Reminder: LTA has a Discord server!

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