6. Levi Petree
Creator's Cafe Episode 6. Levi Petree: Sing Your Heart Out with host Jessica Payne of Kika Labs
Levi Petree and I chat Cajun roots and picking up a dream later than you'd expect. We dig into how he brought me joy after heartbreak and how he's walking the same road himself.
Show Notes:
Follow:
levistpetree
radiopublicapresents
LeviPetree.com
IMDB
Acting Reel
Music Reel
Creator's Challenge:
Come up with two melodies; a verse and a chorus that you can sing around the house and record it.
Bio & Intro
Levi Petree is an actor, musician and writer. He was born on the bayou in Lafayette, LA and his Cajun roots shine through all his work.
He's a formally trained actor with Steppenwolf street cred. In LA, he has worked in film, tv, commercials, industrials, narrative audio, theatre, and live events.
He's also a rocker who writes incredibly fun songs with influences ranging from rock and country to new wave and British Punk. He and his band, The Radio Publica always incites some raucus dancing, and have an album sarcastically titled "It's Country."
I've seen Levi perform classic rock in a Vegas Casino, a ballad over gun violence on the Sunset Strip, Cajun country at a Hootenany, and as a vampire in downtown LA, and somehow they all completely work.
I'm delighted to introduce you to this exhuberant artist and human who I put in my work whenever I can, Levi Petree!
Mentioned
Deanna Bedoya
Joanne at Rage Talent
Sarah Jessica "SJ" Rhodes Smith
Jacob Smith
Band: Radio Publica
Sean Novak
Chad McKinsey
"Rusty" Ryan Dean Porter
Jeff Ginsburg (taught at Columbia)
Sheldon Pitinkin (Columbia, Steppenwolf, 2nd City)
Monica Payne (Meisner Teacher)
Amy Morton (Meisner Teacher)
Sally Reed - actor from Scotland
Meisner Technique
Creator's Cafe with Jessica Payne of Kika Labs
Host Jessica Payne of Kika Labs breaks down the subtle and the sublime of the creative process with inspiring artists at the Creator's Cafe.
Find out more info on the show and host Jessica Payne.
Offering digital courses, performance coaching, and more! www.kikalabs.com
Jessica's Featured Course:
If you or someone you know is on the job search, check out her digital course "Level Up Your Video Interviews."
More info and resources at | www.kikalabs.com
Watch the video podcast on YouTube | YouTube Creator's Cafe Podcast Playlist
Follow the Show | @creatorscafebykikalabs
Facebook Group | Creator's Cafe by Kika Labs
Transcripts and YouTube Links at | www.kikalabs.com/creators-cafe-shownotes
Theme Music
Our theme music is composed and performed by Kyle deTarnowsky.
Transcript:
Jessica
Levi Petree is an actor, musician and writer. He was born on the bayou in Lafayette, Louisiana, and his Cajun roots shine through all his work. Levi is a formally trained actor with Steppenwolf Street cred in Los Angeles. He has worked in film, TV commercials, industrials, narrative, audio theater and live events. Levi is also a rocker. He writes incredibly fun songs with influences ranging from rock and country to new wave and British punk. Levi and his band The Radio Publica always incite some raucous dancing, and they have an album that sarcastically called It's Country. I have seen Levi perform classic rock in a Vegas casino, a ballad he wrote about gun violence on the Sunset Strip, Cajun country music at a hootenanny and a Halloween show as a vampire in downtown L.A. And somehow they all completely work.
I am so delighted to introduce you to this exuberant human and amazing artist who I put in my work whenever I can. Levi Petree.
Levi
Yeah. Cheers. Coffee. Cheers. Donuts.
Jessica
Cheers. Coffee and donuts. Cheers. Welcome to the Creator’s Cafe.
Levi
Thank you. I figured the best way to talk about the creative process is to have mummified donuts.
Jessica
I'm so excited. This is Halloween week that we're recording. And Levi Petree, who is my guest, brought us donuts to share. I'm so excited. And it's a little cute little mummy, and I'm going to eat his eye right now. So, Levi, how do you think of yourself as a creator? Like you do so many things. I've done many of them with you and seen you do them in action and you eat a donut, whatever you want in your head.
Jessica
When you list things. What do you think of yourself as well?
Levi
The first answer that comes to mind is I would just say as a mess. But I you know, in the little, little pre-interview, when you asked me to list things, it like it did give me like pause for a minute where I thought, oh, yeah, I should put actor first and then singer songwriter next. And then I threw in voiceover on there as well, that there have been a lot of conversations in the house lately about like, what?
Levi
You know, what do we need to be focusing on? What's what's going to bring in the money?
Jessica
I've never had any of those things.
Levi
So.
Jessica
Yeah, and you have had like actual success and money coming in as an actor over the years and over kind of the decades. And it's of course, nothing's happening with SAG, but this strike right now. But you actually have had success over time.
Levi
Well, I would quantify it by saying that I had enough to get by at times. Yeah. And it was through like nonunion projects. And I also had, you know, for a lot of it, I was on my own and didn't need to have a ton of money. Like, I could just I could I could get by with what little was coming in.
Levi
Yeah. From there now, I would I feel like the last couple of years have been a bit more dry and was something I know we'll get to. But like I, I held out on joining SAG for the longest time because I was getting, I was booking a lot of nonunion stuff for non-equity stuff, and I thought that I could continue to have that worked out.
Levi
But then, you know, kind of before we got to the strike, I I've been eligible for SAG for 12 years.
Jessica
Wow. That's a long.
Levi
Time. Yeah. And I think maybe I was outsmarting myself about, like, when is a good time to join? Mm hmm. I had been, I think, counseled by people maybe given the advice like, Oh, now's not a good time. I wouldn't do it. Like, there's, you know, for people like us, it's not, it's not great. And I had kind of moved on from whatever agents or managers that I had.
Levi
And so I was just booking things on my own through like the casting websites and it was all nonunion. But I, I kind of kept holding out for like, well, I'm just going to I think I was I think I was just being a cheapskate and didn't want to put the money down to SAG and make myself do it.
Levi
So I was like, I'm just going to hold out until I book this, this job that pays for it. And the problem with that is now like, Oh, well, you idiot, you have to be going out for those jobs first. And if you don't have anybody putting you in the room for those, yeah, you're just kind of, you know, you're like.
Jessica
Middle time. Yeah. It's frustrating because I think that's the hardest time for us as actors is when you're ready to join. But you need the project to help pay for you to join. Yeah, but it's hard to get those projects without already being in, so.
Levi
Yeah.
Jessica
So yeah. Let's talk about the you deciding to join because you just joined this year. I did. Being eligible forever.
Levi
Like I joined knowing that a strike was coming. Yeah.
Jessica
Which is so fascinating for a.
Levi
Bunch of reasons. Fascinating is an interesting word.
Jessica
Interesting work. I admire it in the rebellious way.
Levi
But I will I will tell you, it's been really tough because I've tried to be very principled about not auditioning or going out for non nonunion stuff and like, there there was one thing with some somebody that I know I've worked with in the past on like some commercials that there was there's a possibility to maybe like go deep into the casting process on it.
Levi
And I, I allowed myself to like, okay, let's see, let's see what happens. But then the further we got into, I was like, this is a no, I don't want to like I don't want to do this. Like, I joined for a reason, like I want to be part of this. And I ended up joining after conversations with Deanna, my wife, I had a frustrating experience where I was I like even even in the age of Zoom, where you can schedule people within 10 to 15 minute windows.
Levi
I had a callback for a Duracell commercial where I was in the the the waiting room for 2 hours and I had that like how like I missed a doctor's appointment and I was like, what a surprise. But start cussing here. Welcome. It's fucking this. Oh, yeah. And that was I remember having a similar experience that like ten years ago when I was in a casting office and was at a callback for 2 hours, was like, No, never again.
Levi
Not dealing with this. Mm hmm. And so there was that. The DNA just we were like, you know what? Like, what have I been waiting for? It's you move out here because you want to be part of this town. You wanna be part of the community. And that's actually being involved with the union. It's a union to union Town.
Levi
That's where the good jobs are. And they take care of you so you don't have to deal with bullshit like that. Yeah. So that's. That's when I was like, what? I'm like, Oh, yeah, I should have done this a long time ago, and I've probably just shot myself in the foot and maybe held myself back by, by not doing that.
Levi
Just wasn't unfortunately, probably just wasn't smart enough about it or talking to the right people to, like, have a, you know, maybe have like a little coach on my side or like the little angels. Like, No, no, no, you should do this. You're like, I always felt that, like, I can get in there and I can book these things.
Levi
And obviously it's probably a little, little tougher. But having confidence in myself, like once I'm in there and like, I have the material to sink into. Mm hmm. That's something I've always felt good about. And I feel like, you know, I can get in there and I can hold my own, But it it's I'm, I'm, I'm teaching myself to, like, not beat myself up about it anymore and just be like, we're here now.
Levi
And everything that came before it was meeting people, having experiences that I am very happy that I that I had. And then we'll just use that going forward.
Jessica
Yeah. And you really do have a deep and rich resumé from that time. It's just the the flip side is you do have to put up with some of the unprofessionalism and the unknowing and the quality of the project. Yeah.
Levi
I had so I just part of, part of the, the reason why I, I didn't want to join SAG and since joining SAG, even though we're like we're on strike is that it's like, well, now I'm back at the point where I don't have an agent or a manager. So I have to get that. And a couple of weeks ago, like I had a I had a few meetings and ended up signing with someone which was really, really awesome and exciting because the person that I was Joe in a rage talent shout out.
Levi
Yeah, it was like I got in a meeting with her and she's like, Oh my God, yes, I watched your reels and I think you can do this and you can do that. And it's just the things that you want to hear. It's like, Oh, somebody sees me and gets it in the way that I want to be seen.
Levi
Hell yeah. And this person is going to be in my corner trying to book me work. That is exactly, exactly. I think what we what we want. Yeah. And so I will say that I knew and I've known the last few months, even though things are shut down and there was a strike once it opened, needed to be signed with somebody because it's going to open the floodgates.
Levi
And if I wasn't signing anybody, I was going to be left behind by everybody else that's getting sent out. Mm hmm. So that makes that makes me okay with where we are right now. Even though it's been six months. Nothing.
Jessica
Nothing. Yes. Well, you used your time. Well, what did you do to get the agent that you think worked for you? I know you worked on your reals a lot.
Levi
Yes, I did. Thank you very much for your. Your feedback. Oh, yeah, I.
Jessica
Great.
Levi
Thanks. And you know what? And like, then that's, you know, all from nonunion stuff. Yeah. So you can get some you can get some good stuff there. Yeah. And I was proud of that. Yeah. I got it through asking friends for referrals because I, I sent out a bunch of stuff on my own. Didn't hear anything. But having somebody who's with, you know, a rep walk me in or send an email on my behalf, I heard back from multiple people that way.
Levi
You were like, Let's, yeah, let's take a meeting. Wow. So that's and that's something that I always felt really funny about. But again, like, I give a lot of credit to, to Deanna for saying that's how you meet people is it's through, it's through you know that's how it is through the connections that you make so.
Jessica
Well and you made them you earned them honestly over time to working on projects.
Levi
I, I, I think that's what I don't spend enough time telling myself.
Jessica
Yeah. I don't think it's interesting that you trust yourself in the room, but not the path, because I think I struggle with the opposite. I think I am pretty good about strategizing things, but even though I know to trust myself in the room, I don't always. So I want to pick your brain on both sides.
Levi
Well, can I say real quick? Yeah. That is the joint like the joining SAG thing. Yeah, that is something that, like I came to was that I kept putting it on myself that like, Oh, I have to wait till I earn it. And then I was like, Oh, wait, wait, I earned it 12 years ago. You really earned it.
Levi
Yeah, I earned it when I moved here. Yeah. So. Yeah, but that's.
Jessica
That's so interesting to me. Okay. Okay. So then for people who aren't confident in the room, always, even if they know they have earned it and have the skills and have the talent, what makes you confident? Do you have any advice or what has worked for you?
Levi
Yeah, I, I think it's for if let's say if you are like simply like an actor who's been given a script and some sides like things to know, learn that material as well as you can before you go in there so that you can forget it. I part part of the like the training like after school where they give you, you know, a bunch of different tools to work on.
Levi
When I was in Chicago, the I got into a program like a summer intensive program at the Steppenwolf Theater where they studied the the Meisner method a lot. And what but they would preach is just learn it so you can forget it. And that way it's just living inside you. You know, your stuff, you're confident, you've rehearsed it, but you can just go in there and almost, almost like you're improvising.
Levi
You can react to anything that happens while having those lines in there and being able just to spew them out. Like I have definitely got my issues with some things that have happened in Meisner class over the years. But like, as far as like a good way just to approach things as a technique, maybe. Mm hmm. I like it.
Jessica
Yeah. It's just for the audience. It's a very specific technique that is, can get emotionally raw, you know? And it has some really beautiful things because it gets to emotional truth. That's the subtext underneath things very quickly. But because of that, it needs to be handled really well with respect. And it isn't always there.
Levi
There are times like there were classes and teachers and students who I felt use it as therapy.
Jessica
Oh, yeah, It's sometimes weaponized therapy.
Levi
Yes. Yes. And that was like an issue that some of my friends had with it that I had with it.
Jessica
Yeah, but the good was that that real deep preparation gave you the base of confidence.
Levi
Yeah. Okay. And, you know, it's. I feel like it's been a while since I've even been in the room. It's like we send so many things in via tape now. But what I like to do is, you know, I learned the lines. I one of my strength is that I can memorize things very quickly, but I do it by, you know, recording the other lines and then just stop and starting to I make sure I've got everything and just try it in different ways.
Levi
I also like to sing all of my lines because I'm locks. I do that too. You do? Really? Okay, great.
Jessica
I do.
Levi
Like, turn it into, like, a little musical monologue.
Jessica
Absolutely. For some reason, that flips a different switch in my brain. And I can remember things much faster. Yeah, I.
Levi
Just. It.
Jessica
That's so interesting.
Levi
Um, locks and locks. Some weird stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Great. Thanks.
Jessica
I love it. Okay, so let's let me ask before we move on about Steppenwolf, what else did you get out of that program? Because it's such a Oh, my God, such a good theater.
Levi
Well, yes, The number one thing I got out of it was the relationships. Okay? There were 24 people in in the class, and it was over the course of like two or three months. And 12 of those people, we ended up forming a theater company together afterwards, which is what happens a lot in Chicago, where people come together and they start their own nonunion blackbox theater.
Levi
So a great, great scene for that.
Jessica
Yeah.
Levi
Chicago, Some of the best shows I've ever seen are in these tiny, tiny theaters in Chicago, been put on by people who are doing good.
Jessica
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Levi
It just I just just being put on by people who are, you know, have their 9 to 5 job and then go out and like do their shows on the nights and weekends and you know, and that's what, that's what I did while I was there too. But so some of those a lot of those people are still my closest friends.
Levi
And a lot of them I say like three fourths of them live here in L.A. now. Like I was one of the first ones to move out. And then a lot of them came came after. Yeah. So we're all in touch. We're very close. And actually tonight there's a lady, an actress from Scotland named Sally Reed, who was in our class who happens to be in towns like we're all going to get together tonight and I'm going to see probably like six or seven of the old the old gang.
Levi
Wow, that's so fun.
Jessica
And i think that is the challenge with l.a. Maybe sometimes is finding community. And when you find your people, it's a really great town. But yeah, it is tough to find it.
Levi
It's I do think we all say this that, like, it just it feels very different being out here. It's not like it was in Chicago. I think it was much smaller and we can hop on the train and we were going to everybody shows. Everybody's kind of doing their their own thing out here. And there are certain people within the group who have always been very good about keeping us keeping us together.
Levi
Yeah. So between the the the people that were like the students, like the other actors, some of the teachers and directors there, that there's a guy named Jeff Ginsberg who taught at Columbia for a long time. He ended up directing our first play as a company. I just used like this cheesy, like term, like just he was the most wonderful person is so hilarious, but just such a great heart.
Levi
He's one of my favorite people I've ever met. And I don't I don't talk to him that much. But but there's just, you know, something that just sits in my heart when I when I think of his name or say his name out loud. And then there was a gentleman named Sheldon Patinkin, who had been a big director and advisor for Steppenwolf throughout the years.
Levi
He he ran the Second City Company in Chicago for a long time, and he was the chair at Columbia College there. And everybody kind of looked at him as a as a mentor and he ended up directing one of our shows as well. But he was such a great man and known throughout the town and the community as being someone that you could just kind of lean on to get you into shape.
Levi
And also, Sheldon was always a day early in wishing everybody a happy birthday on Facebook, something you could depend on.
Jessica
Really sweet. That's such a good, like, personal choice to just get out in front of something like that. Yeah, and it is. I mean, I think we're in a people business, but it's really cool to be able to look back and see the people that really affected us. And a lot of times it's that personal touch as much as anything.
Levi
Yeah. And I should also like of words, if I'm naming names like I was later named Monica Payne who is a she's a theater director and she teaches at Tulane in New Orleans right now. But she was like the the assistant for the master class while I was there in in Chicago. Amy Morton was our teacher. And I, like I didn't understand what the hell was going on with Meisner.
Levi
Like, probably till we got, like, deeper into it. And then I continued to take Monica's class, and that's really the only Meisner class have ever taken where I felt really comfortable with the teacher. And I felt like the teacher was really shaping us in how how to work properly with it.
Jessica
Yeah. Yeah. It is really powerful. It's just powerful and the good and the bad ways now. So let's talk about your creative process. So I know you as a singer and a songwriter as well as an actor. So I've gotten the pleasure and delight to do a cabaret with you. We did?
Levi
Oh, yes.
Jessica
Delayed at the end of the tunnel. And we also you were in my short film Rogue Tiger. Yeah. And played and sang in that.
Levi
And you know that when we did the cabaret, that was it was really cool for me to do because I had it. I had a song that had never done live. And I thought, Well, this can only really I think this would work as something different from what I ever get to do. And like, it'd be like a jazzier number, I guess.
Levi
And so you had your friend playing piano and he's like, Yeah, I can totally do this. I was like, Oh, cool. All right, this is the and it's the only time I've ever, ever done it.
Jessica
Wow, that's so cool. I'm so glad That was that was a really special night for me. And Kyle Deaton was the piano player. He composed the music for. For this podcast. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. And what I, what I really appreciate about working with you is you have this really great blend of professionalism. Like, the work is going to be there, you're going to be on time, everything's going to be great.
Jessica
But you're also so laid back is not the right word, but flexible. You're just real and flexible. And I don't know what it feels like from the inside, but you're great to work with on set and in person.
Levi
I interesting timing like you saying that to me because I'm you know I've got I don't play as many shows anymore and and so every it's like there's so much that just goes into each musical show that's coming up and you know I'm like, I have a show Friday night. I have a show Saturday night with completely different set lists.
Levi
And the, you know, one on Friday nights, like a lot of our songs or my songs with the band. So we're we're used to those. But then Saturday nights, like I just wanted to throw a Halloween party because we love Halloween and we dress up and play play the show in costume and I you know, my, my, my attitude definitely, I think comes from what I learned, like with the acting training, which is like, but it's in preparation.
Levi
And then, you know what? Whatever's going to happen happens. Yeah. So just just be prepared and without, you know, going too far into it, like, you know, Oh, they had a rehearsal the other night was like, Oh man, we wish we'd have more time to go over stuff, but at the same time letting it go. And, and I spent yesterday like just kind of worrying about some things.
Levi
And this morning part of like wanting to grab a donut is just, you know what, man? Like, it's time. Like, it's time to do the shows. And I got family coming in and I just need to be in a really good headspace and show up and put on a good performance and just trust that we're all going to do our job and it's going to sound great and we're all going to have fun.
Levi
Yeah, at the end of the day, we're just having fun.
Jessica
Your shows are so fun. I have to say, last year I went to your Halloween show and that was the first time after my mom passed away that I was really, truly having fun and I just getting a little misty because I just appreciate how how you're able to both be real and very joyful. And I very much appreciate that.
Levi
I well, I'm glad. I'm glad that you had some fun. And that meant something to you at that time, because I'll share something in a minute that, like, it's somewhat related. Yeah, but also thanks. Just thank you for saying that to me. Sometimes it's really sometimes it's just nice to hear, like other people say that to you so you can be reminded and feel something about yourself like, you know, sometimes it's like, I don't know, like, thank you for having me on your podcast today.
Levi
I want to talk to me because it's also like, Why do you want to talk to me? Jessica What do you want?
Jessica
I can only understand that because I might feel the same way with somebody else. But like we, we met, I don't know, 15, 20 years ago, and we've actually gotten to do a lot of stuff together. And I've really enjoyed being in parallel with your career, but also getting to touch base and do things with you as well.
Jessica
And I just I admire you as an artist and a human. So of course, I want you on here.
Levi
Well, I always say like I pay you a similar compliment. The more like I've gotten to hang out with you and work with you on things like, I realize, like, oh, like you can kind of do everything you're making. You're making all of this happen. You're a great producer and writer and actress and singer. So I just I have even more of an appreciation, especially like after we get to do like, a little road trip to Vegas last year.
Levi
It was.
Jessica
So fun. Yeah. Yeah. We got to sing together in Vegas with our friend Sarah Jessica Rhodes.
Levi
So I just. I have so much admiration and appreciation for what you are making happen.
Jessica
Thank you.
Levi
Yeah.
Jessica
Yeah. And I think it's, you know, especially with the strike, I think it's it's really easy to get disheartened. And we're the people that are supposed to encourage others and bring others through life emotionally. And it's it's really hard sometimes to kind of keep bullying ourselves. So that's part of why I'm doing this, is just to remind us like, it's worth it.
Jessica
It's it's hard as hell, but it's worth it. And like, I see you and I see your artistry and it's it matters. And it mattered in a big moment in my life. So that was like a fun Halloween show. And that is exactly what I needed. And you never know.
Levi
There are. Thank you. And that's all we're going for. And I, I had a similar experience a couple of months ago where, you know, you've gone through profound, profound grief. Yeah. And it's hard to like kind of to let any sunshine in or just feel real joy and my my friend Doug was, you know, I think like my best friend, him out here, I feel very lucky that I have many close friends, but he he was someone that I just, you know, saw being like with me for the rest of my my life.
Levi
And that's raising kids together. And, and like, the person that I plan, like, Oh, we're going to go on a trip. Doug, you want to come like, let's do a vacation together and and he kind of came out of that Chicago friendship, you know, Chicago connection as well. My friend. My friend Doug was was someone that I just saw being in my life for the rest of it.
Levi
And he passed away very, very suddenly. And that happened on New Year's Eve. And the you know, it just it rained like every day almost for the first four or five months. Yeah. And there was just really nothing to be happy about it. Not only like, just lost my friend, we lost our friend. And like, you know, his family lost their father and partner, but it just felt very dark.
Levi
And then more, more things started to happen throughout the year that just just made it feel like there wasn't a lot of hope or reasons to be happy and joyful. And then my friend another like best friend from We have a Louisiana Connection, actually, but we met really in Chicago. But Chelsea, she threw a 40th birthday party in July at the end of July.
Levi
And we a lot of people there, including Chelsea, were all friends with Doug and had been through this like you know, and then in Chelsea and some of her friend group had lost another really close friend and months before that. And it just felt like the first time in six or seven months where we could just have this release and we were able to be happy and to feel joy and promise.
Levi
I think that's that's the thing you get robbed of is just the promise of what life can be is going to be. So I just want to say I, I appreciate you telling me that you've had a moment of joy that you really needed, you know, after your mom passed away. So that's that's important. And it's I guess that's that's why that's why I'd like we do what we do, right?
Levi
Like we want to You want to give people something that they may need. They may need that night or any time they watch something you do or listen to something that you do.
Jessica
Yeah. And I like I will always remember the picture of me, you know, sitting in a booth in downtown L.A. looking at you as a vampire singing monster mash, you know, And it's those those moments that kind of make this ridiculous path really worth it.
Levi
You know, it's also really great because, oh, God, we were meant to do that that night because there wasn't anybody there, you know.
Jessica
Like the show was.
Levi
For me, which is. Which is great. Yeah.
Jessica
So great in a lot of times you have huge crowds. And so that one.
Levi
I like, that's been generous. Yeah. Yeah.
Jessica
Very, very enthusiastic.
Levi
Well, I, I'm glad you were able to like to, to feel that.
Jessica
Yeah. And then coming out of that and then getting to do a road trip to Vegas and stuff together at the Rio and. Yeah. Just like that's a cool life experience anyway. But to be able to do that with you at such a special time, it was, it was, it was pretty great. So I think.
Levi
It's just a cool life experience to be around. SJ And Jacob.
Jessica
Oh my God, they're so great and amazing. So our friends Jacob Smith and Sarah Jessica Rhodes. Smith Ah, who introduced us. I had toured with them back in the Bay Area in 2000, mid 2000, and they're both in Vegas and killing it right now. I love it, but I'm also grateful that I got you out of knowing them and I look forward to all the weird things we'll do in the future.
Levi
Yes. Yeah, I hope so. I hope. I hope we get to make your show.
Jessica
Yeah. Yeah. So I haven't talked about it on this podcast yet, but I'm writing a TV pilot and Levi is a big part in that in my dream. So let's make that happen.
Levi
You know who else is a big part of it? This really handsome man that I saw on display at the Glendale Galleria? Probably, right, Ryan? Yeah. Rescue me. I just remember sitting across from him, like over there in the arena. It's like, Oh, my God, that might be the most handsome man I've ever seen. And then when I saw his billboard, it's like, Oh, yeah, See, this makes sense.
Levi
Totally makes sense. You a Oh, a funny story. Yeah.
Jessica
Oh, he's he's a model. And so he's literally like, has billboards for Banana Republic and Sacks and things like that.
Levi
His name came up at dinner with my wife, who works for Lucky Brands and like her creative director, and they just started talking about like this guy Ryan. And like, I perfect for something. I've worked with him and like, he's great. Like, is it wouldn't happen to be this guy. Whatever. Like Ryan Banana Republic, this guy, they're like, Yeah, that sounds like, yeah, right.
Levi
Jessica Like, plugged in just knows everybody.
Jessica
That's really funny, you know, he's he's really sweet. He was my kickboxing instructor and he's fantastic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So somebody make this with us. He's on billboards. Yeah.
Levi
Banana Republic. It makes.
Jessica
Yes, please. It could be a that. That's nice. That's so funny. So yeah. Yeah. So hopefully that comes in the future as well. Yeah, that would be super exciting. Sci fi TV pilot set on the dark side of the moon and we've got cowboy astronauts and science and telepathy and all the the bad guys and the mixed realities with AR and XR therapy and lotsa lots of good fun stuff like that.
Levi
That pitch deck that you put together for that low is kind of like the show Bible, I guess I thought was so great like that, and I just appreciated the attention to detail in the outline that you had for the the entire thing. I was like, This is really impressive.
Jessica
Thank you. That's one of those like, you know, we just make a lot of things and for some reason that one's been on my heart and in my mind for years. And Rogue Tiger, our our thing that we did out in the woods years five years ago was kind of the baby steps of that one. Some of the same characters and ideas, but now it's on the moon.
Jessica
So hopefully, you know, that's kind of like long range trying to make that happen. And I don't know how it will, but I trust that it will. So we'll see. Yeah. So tell me about your creative process. I know you as an actor, but I also know you as a singer songwriter. And what I love about your songs is you combine what feels to me like this Louisiana sense of joy and realness with the polish of the theater scene and film and TV world that you have from the acting side.
Jessica
And it's a really cool combination. So I just want you to riff about how you create.
Levi
Okay, Yeah, Well, thanks. Thanks for saying that. I always wanted I think if there's any I've told you this, you ask me this before, like if there's any one thing I would really love to do, I think it would be just to tour around playing my music. Yeah, that. That I think for me, like, is the the production like, you know, producing like a movie, TV show, film, play, whatever.
Levi
And the, the way to write a song came came before I learned how to play any of the instruments. I would just get just, you know, get melodies in my head and then just started to write lyrics down. So I'm pretty sure, you know, there are different ways to write, but for me, it's usually going to come with, you know, in the way we sing our our lines, preparing for a monologue.
Levi
It's coming up with the melody, just singing some throwaway line maybe, or just getting like this one little hook. And then from there trying to sit at the computer or sit down with a notepad and just continue to type things out and just build the entire song or sketch of it, at least from from there, and then go back and put chords to it.
Levi
I you know, I picked up the guitar, I say a little later in life, like probably around 25, 26, and I learned from some Irish musicians.
Jessica
Oh, yeah, I hear that influence and the way that you play, I would have never picked that out, but I feel that.
Levi
So it was from like sitting around these jam sessions. Yeah. With with these Irish Irish musicians. And then so learning how to structure chords like from there and then of course, you know, then I learned like once I actually knew how to play a few chords, it's like, Oh, well, you could go on the Internet and figure out how to play some Bruce Springsteen songs, or I was playing Jenny Lewis in The Smiths and just started to learn like a lot of these country tunes, a lot of songs that used three and four chords and, you know, just started writing from there and it's gone.
Levi
So I play I started writing songs like with an instrument anywhere from like maybe ten, 10 to 12 years ago. And wow.
Jessica
I'm surprised the sets recent, honestly, because you feel like you've been doing it for decades to me. Wow.
Levi
I'll just say thank you. It sounds yeah.
Jessica
Because like I'm a classically trained musician and so I'm used to, you know kind of working with people that have started something when they were size and you have that same kind of confidence and ease with it. So that's great.
Levi
Yeah, I, I think once I the things I started writing when I go back and listen to them now, it's like some very simple structures. But then there's also like some really just wild stuff in terms of like trying to do a bunch of different arrangements. So it goes from being very simple to like one or two songs.
Levi
They're like, What the hell is going on? Like it's just way too much and the, you know, like the last few years, I feel like I haven't written as much. Probably I'll go through spurts and it, it usually I usually just need to sit down and hammer it out like Neil Young had had a quote about saying like, you know, didn't have any way to record it sometimes like when I had this like song in my head.
Levi
So I just had to sit there and just work it out until it until it came out. And sometimes I you know, I still have songs that are unfinished that have been there for ten or 12 years. Some, you know, go back and finish every every couple of years. Others, you know, you can finish in 10 minutes to an hour that are just they're there and they just come rolling out of you.
Levi
Yeah. And I there used to be things that maybe were inspired by whatever was happening in life and then occasionally it still happens. But for the most part, it's just I think it's just coming up with a line and then letting your imagination run wild. And maybe you can pull some things that you observe from there.
Jessica
That's something I've always wondered about because I think some people come at it from the Taylor Swift model of like this happened. Let me kind of explore and mine that. But this feels a little bit more like creative writing where there is that and then you go off on it. And I suppose both are valid and both are powerful, but it's cool to hear the difference.
Levi
I'll say I learned to play my guitar to like a couple of Taylor Swift songs to Oh.
Jessica
Yeah, Yeah. Nice. Excellent. So do you write your music down like musical notation or do you recorded? Do you just remember it?
Levi
No, I have a pretty good memory when it comes to like if once I come up with a lyric or like just melody at least. But I'll, you know, thank, thank the Lord for the, the voice memos on, on our phones. Yeah. And when you know I have to, I have to make these charts for the band like when we're playing together.
Levi
So I, you know, I can put chords over certain, you know, certain things and know how to do. You know how to do that as far as like reading sheet music or being able to write sheet music, I can't really do that. I can some like through like a little bit of like the vocal training or musical theater, have a little bit of knowledge of how to work the scales and move up and find my pitch and things like that.
Levi
But now I don't really know how to write. I don't I wouldn't be able to. I would basically have to go the Danny Elfman route of composing, which is I can come up with the stuff and I just need, you know, my, my, my friend here to be the one to actually lay everything, right.
Jessica
A professional arranger. Yeah, basically. That's cool. Yeah. And I think that's cool for people to hear because you really are a talented musician and creator that way. And I think a lot of people who feel like they haven't had classical training or don't know how to write music don't even start because it feels like kind of like learning a new language or the gatekeeping of the music, whereas it's a pretty natural human expression.
Levi
It is.
Jessica
You get close to that root this way.
Levi
And so I started out learning how to play chords without knowing any music, like music theory, and I've picked them up over the years. But recently I started taking piano again and trying to do it in a way that that starts with music theory and even the the most, you know, the simplest of lessons there, things that I've learned are unlocking, you know, things that I've been doing on the guitar.
Levi
Yeah. For a long time without realizing it or like, knowing what I, what can be done.
Jessica
That's why it works systematically.
Levi
Yeah. What I, what I and anybody that I remember talking to was like, Oh God, I wish I could learn to sing or I wish I could, you know, pick up a musical instrument myself. It's so easy. You don't understand. Like, I wish I had done it when I was younger. Just learn a few chords. Yeah, just practice it.
Levi
You'll. You'll get there in no time. And I think that both of these are skills that, you know, I think people have talents, but. But both singing and playing an instrument are learned skills. Yeah. You can sing. Yeah, you can all sing. You can, you can figure out how to, you know, fine. Find your pitch, start in the right key.
Levi
You can do it.
Jessica
I completely agree. Like, I think there's so many people that see themself on the outside of that one. It's it's a human thing that we can all learn.
Levi
And it's, you know, it's a great way to express yourself when you're feeling down in the dumps or you just want to just sing your heart out. Yeah, feel, feel some joy. And I, you know, we, we all stop. I say we all I feel like it's easy for people to stop believing in themselves or feeling like things are possible.
Levi
Yeah. And that happens to me all the time. And it gets harder and harder to either remind yourself or put yourself in a situation where you are letting you're letting you know that expressiveness out and and just going back to like believing in like, yeah, I could do this. And, you know, there's some truth to the old when you don't use it, you lose it.
Levi
So it just gets harder to pull it, pull it back up.
Jessica
Yeah. Yeah. But then when you do the flipside is when you do use it, it gets easier, It.
Levi
Gets easier.
Jessica
To get over that hump.
Levi
It gets easier. You feel great about it and you remind yourself like, Yeah, I can like I can do it.
Jessica
So we were talking about how you create a song from scratch, but what's the next step of? Kind of improving a song or making it more deep and detailed?
Levi
Um, you brought up something earlier about like how Louisiana maybe, like, has an Yeah. On the music and, and the, the performance aspect of it There's I grew up going like that the only shows I ever saw were for Cajun music.
Jessica
Oh cool. What part of Louisiana did you.
Levi
Grow up like? South Southwest Louisiana, Pretty much between Lafayette and Lake Charles. Yeah, I would say it's the easiest way to do it. But in the very Cajun area of Louisiana and I didn't see my first concert until I was like 16, like something like a live band besides Cajun music. And Cajun music is just very feels very straight forward and that either we're dancing or it's a little slower and.
Levi
We're dancing, but just as like a waltz. Wow. Okay, so there's like nothing in the in the middle there. So it just you're either, like, happy or you're singing your heart out or, you know, in a different way. So I think I've always like just kind of like the, the straightforward hits and like things on the radio and things that were kind of bright and poppy, but still, still rock and but I learned to, like, gotten feedback from other other people over the years that like, sometimes, sometimes a song like maybe it feels a little repetitive.
Levi
So you need to see if you can find a way to, you know, get out of a like a cheesy or cliched rhyme if you can. Let's say you've got a couple of court verses, a couple choruses. Let's see if we can find like an interesting bridge that like, takes it somewhere else. So I'll just give you an example.
Levi
There's a song called I told I Told The River it was and it's a I'd say like musically inspired by like nineties country tunes and the like the the chorus or that, like the verses.
Levi
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.
Levi
Playing without a cable. So I'm trying to figure out where we can switch.
Jessica
From playing like on, on my baby guitar or not his beautiful guitar have.
Levi
So I tore the first that had a little cross for problems Me keep it to hush got the same promise one above the two a squirrel next that told the river River told the world. I told the river that you were my girl. Next thing I knew, traveling the world got back to me. You now her bird I told the river and the river told the world.
Levi
And so then that that was that was the verse chorus. And then the the second way through kind of repeats that that same thing extends it a little bit. But for a while all that was there was doing that like three times. And then you put a solo section in the middle that goes over those same chords. Yeah.
Levi
And when it came time to record is like, Well, is there anything that can be done to make this a little more interesting? And we just go in a different place that maybe somebody is not expecting. It's like, Well, I can take the third verse and I'll turn. I'll turn those lyrics that are already there, let's turn it into a bridge.
Levi
And so instead of it being what you just heard, which is just like straightforward, then goes into.
Levi
12 or got around, you were feeling it to you. Wait until I told it to you. You didn't heed the lesson I learned. You told the river and the river told the world I told the river.
Levi
And then you go back into the chorus. And so it's just it's for like for a short song instead of it just being completely repetitive. It's just. Okay, let's give it a little bit of a break just to give people something new. You know, we'll use the term more just to make it more interesting. Anyway, so that's that, that that's a simple thing right there.
Levi
Feel free to edit this out of your your podcast. Remove it from like the our best of our to our conversation.
Jessica
Yeah I love it I, I really love your voice and I told you all this on a break that I think you have something special where you come from such an authentic, open, vulnerable place. And whether that's joy or heartache, you're just kind of all in and you don't have the walls and filters that I think a lot of us put up, which has to be painful at times, but feels very real and just, you know, kind of sitting in the same space with you.
Jessica
Like I, I feel it and it's really powerful. And I think that that comes across when you perform well.
Levi
Thank you very much. I, I don't always feel that and get that feedback from full band shows for some reason. And I don't know if it's because like, people can hear what's being said or and I had Doug who was talking about earlier was like, you need to make sure people can hear your lyrics or hear your voice.
Levi
And I think some of it comes from the acting training again with maybe like with the with the Meisner stuff too. It's just you got to put the truth out there. Sean will respond to that. Yeah. And I had a a couple of experiences recently playing singer songwriter nights again, like we were just sitting around or, you know, go up and have like a spotlight.
Levi
Where did like three songs all just kind of stripped down again. And the reaction was like the stuff that like, Oh, okay, okay, I'm not crazy. Like, who? Yeah. All right. This, this stuff resonates with people getting great feedback, great response. People are emotional right now. Yeah. So that's I think I'm exploring right now. Like, you know what?
Levi
What is next? I've tried tried to make the rock and roll thing, you know work and we you know even that that night you talked about earlier like there was a guy who was from out of town just happened to be coming to the bar that night was like, that was awesome. I mean, like, I'm in from Miami and and I just needed, like, to go out tonight and I didn't expect I didn't expect, like, this rock out that much.
Levi
Like, okay, great. Yeah. You know, I don't know that everybody would feel the same way you do, but thank you for saying that. Yeah, I, I've got like some kind of stripped down singer songwriter stuff that I think will be be putting out soon that. I'm proud of and I think kind of has more of that either quiet or stripped down element to it.
Jessica
And I think we go through phases that it's artists where what we're feeling and what we're excited about comes to the forefront too. Can you talk about your band for just a moment? Oh yeah. I love bandmates because I you have both sides of this. You have the singer songwriter stripped down version, and then you've also got the like, we're playing a Halloween show in full costumes and screaming our heads off and it's great.
Levi
Yeah. So the the, the, the two guys who have now been playing with me for like 8 to 10 years. Shawn Definitely for ten years. Shawn Novak, who I met when I was training for a marathon out here, I met in his future wife, Christina, and I started just playing with guitar and drum had never been in a band, and I just started playing guitar.
Levi
And a guy named Tony Sanchez, who was another person like from the Chicago theater community, had moved out here. And I had like a disaster of a show. Shawn came to see it, and afterwards he was like, I can play bass for you if you want. Like, it's like, Yes, please. Yes. And and I've been holding it to him ever since.
Levi
And then after after Tony had left, I worked at a I was interning at a rehearsal and recording studio in Culver City called Exposition Studios. And Chad was the manager and he mixed some recordings that we had done. And then he came in and eventually started playing drums. And he's a great producer and engineer, like brilliant guy who is great at everything.
Levi
Yeah, and I love them both very much. And I was I had to send somebody like a promo clip or something the other day and I saw there was a music video that we did like seven years ago, like seven years ago. Oh, my gosh. Like, how is that how these guys still continued to play with me for this long?
Levi
And it's I don't know what reward they've gotten out of it, but we have a lot of fun. And I had a good conversation with with Chad recently where, you know, we're all at an age where we're like, we're in our late thirties, early forties, trying to figure out like, what's coming next, what should we be devoting our time to as individuals or with families.
Levi
And, you know, I think I think Chad and I need to tell this to Shawn, too, but like, you know, just thank you for like given and invested so much of yourself into this like, like with me. And he said, hey, like I always told my wife, like, well, no matter what I do, I know that if I'm playing with Shawn Levi, at least I'm going to have fun.
Levi
And I was like, that, That's okay. That's awesome to hear. And then Chad actually texted me yesterday and he mentioned like three specific recordings and how always felt one of them would have just slayed on CONAN if we ever had a chance to perform it on that. And then, like these latest two things we released on Spotify within the last year, how proud of him he was, I was like, Yeah, man.
Levi
Like, we actually like, we've done some things that I'm really proud of. Like, we've done some great work together and Shawn Shawn is hilarious. Like he's there's a little bit of there's a little bit of like Blink 182 banter that comes out when we're on stage and like, it's just so fun and little jokey and inappropriate at times.
Levi
Yeah. And then I've been fortunate to play with some some really great people, even some like that aren't that aren't with us anymore. Like my friend John Salgado Jr he he played with us for for a while and I think that some really great stuff on the recordings that we have and like unfortunately he passed away a little over a year ago so like that's that's another thing that's that's that's very hard I think I see his photo every day and I just I think about that.
Levi
I, I just remember having somebody like in my corner like. No. And John John was very good about telling me that, like he believed in what I was doing, too. And then we we you know, there was a period where we weren't playing together for a while. So I think about that a lot when I could have done differently there.
Levi
But anyway, I was very, very fortunate to get to play with him. Yeah, as well. I think about him a lot.
Jessica
He had a lot of loss in the last year and it's been a tough one. So thank you for talking about that and being open to that because it's real.
Levi
Yeah. And yes, I don't know. I think it's a losing, losing those, losing Doug and losing John. It's a reminder that you only get, I think, so many connections, probably like in this life that where people are going to see you in the way that you want to be seen and you need to figure out how to appreciate that, make the most of it, give it back to them and I it means making the relationships that you still have with people that are here, like making those stronger and maybe maybe making some amends to to to those.
Levi
You don't keep us you close contact anymore.
Jessica
Yeah. And just I think I see you be very purposeful with your time and energy. And I think that that's something that we we probably hopefully get as we move through life. But I see it in you as a person and also in your art. And it's cool to see both happening simultaneously.
Levi
Well, yeah, I think it's I heard somebody say, you're still breathing, you're still growing.
Jessica
I hope so. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, there's the concept with plants too, that if if they're growing, they're doing well. And if not, then they're, you know, either dying or going into a deep rest phase. Yeah. So I like to ask people for a creator's challenge. So if my audience, if you could challenge them to do one thing with what they already have in their house and it doesn't cost anything just to create something from nothing, what would you say?
Levi
Yeah, I would say pick up your phone because you can definitely, you know, you can you can make a simple recording on your phone. Just come up with, let's say 2 to 4 lines of of a song that has one melody. Mm hmm.
Levi
Laura derided rah rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah rah.
Levi
And then come up with another 2 to 4 lines that is like a pre-chorus or a course. And so go from that to that.
Levi
A third added I it I wrote that to write it. Rah rah, rah, rah rah.
Levi
Just just like something that you can sing around the house to yourself and you can turn into your own mantra. Just a fun thing to sing. It's so easy to turn anything into like recorded music these days for Deanna has this song She sings to our dog, like every night. Oh, I'm go to bed. She goes, Reba, high.
Levi
Time Very by time. Now it's time for Betty But any.
Levi
Time and wouldn't you know it there's a guy in Florida who can take that music and turn it into like a music box that you open and plays it in a Oh, do do now. I never have to get another Christmas present because I got the ultimate Christmas present right there.
Jessica
Incredible thanks to the creator's challenge is to take your phone, come up with a melody and.
Levi
Yeah, basically two melodies that can somewhat fit together.
Jessica
Make sense together. Yeah. Okay. Perfect. I love it. And then how can people find you online? What's the best way to follow you?
Levi
The best way to follow would be probably on Instagram under Levi Petree and the Radiopublica. @levistpetree and @radiopublicapresents
Jessica
Thank you so much, Levi.
Levi
Oh, my gosh. I loved it. I love it. Yeah.
Jessica
Join the community and share your creative challenges on Instagram and Facebook at Creators Cafe by Kika Labs. And also check out my website www.kikalabs.com to sign up for the mailing list. So you always know when a new podcast is released and to check out my coaching and digital courses to help you be a more confident and joyful creator.
