Meet barb morrison (they / them) | music producer and author

We had the good fortune of connecting with barb morrison (they / them) and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi barb, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
when i entered the music industry i was a work horse. “sleep is for the weak” was my motto. i would do studio sessions back to back from 2pm til 7am. some days i wouldnt get home til noon. once the pandemic hit, i decided to re frame my work flow. i made a goal to put sleep as my number one priority and it completely changed my life. i started to realize that grind culture was only feeding into the sickness of capitalism. i made sure to balance my days, weeks and months with plenty of downtime. the quality of my art benefited greatly from this simple shift. one of my mix engineers called me a few months after i made the decision to slow down and he said “something has changed in the productions youve been sending me. its like youre even more sure of yourself in the way youre making music”
after decades of sleep deprivation my newly rested brain became so much more clear. my creativity expanded and i was a much more calm person. my focus was more sharp, my dreams were more vivid and the ideas were just pouring through me.
a year into the lockdown i pulled out some chapters of a book i had started writing a few years earlier and within 6 weeks the rest of the book just fell out of me.
i always thought the hustle was good and much to my surprise it was the thing that had been holding me back from evolving.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
well im in my third decade of being a record producer. i believe one of the reasons we are here in these bodies at this time is to tell our stories. we are all different in some ways and all the same in other ways. helping musicians tell their stories through music has been my life’s work and its an honor to be trusted with it. during the pandemic, i decided it was time to tell MY story in writing so im on book tour this year with my first book “BOTTOMING FOR GOD”. its part memoir and part spiritual concepts, the debates that all humans have when walking around in these spacesuits every day. its got some juicy subjects in it like gender euphoria, sobriety, old skool NYC, true love, past lives and coming home.
these days i dont struggle with my art. i tap into the ease and just let that be. ive been meditating daily since 2006 so i am very focused on my breath, what i need to inhale (or take in from this world) and what i want to exhale (or put out there to share with everyone).

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
los angeles really has some of the best food in america and i am definitely a foodie so i’d be taking my friend to quarter sheets for pizza, pine and crane for potstickers and mapo tofu. for mexican food i’d take them to casita del campo cuz the whole vibe there is awesome plus im a sucker for west side story and the original owner was IN west side story ! i also love the feel of the dresden and their food is great. my wife jaime is vegan so ive gotten to try some of the incredible vegan food LA has to offer too. i’d say my two faves are shojin in little tokyo and my guilty vegan pleasure is wolfies in highland park for nashville chicken.
i could really build the entire week around food but lets move on to activities. i love walking around the hollywood forever cemetery just looking at the peacocks and seeing all the beauty. we would definitely take a walk up bronson canyon and check out the caves.
im always happy near the ocean so even though its touristy i still love santa monica, the pier and the ocean but i would also go up further to malibu. theres nothing like the those pacific ocean sunsets.
ive been a cigar aficionado for way too long and i recently found this excellent cigar bar on hollywood blvd called el septimo. truly some of the best cigars ive ever had in my life.
then of course we would wrap up the trip by getting a two hour massage in thai town. my go to place is called nuad royal thai and they literally WALK on your back. you come outa there feeling like a million bucks.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
i wanna give a shout out to someone who has inspired me since i was a teen : pati dubroff. i watched her grow from a kid who liked make up to one of the greatest make up artists in the fashion industry. pati has always had a natural eye for bringing out the best in someone’s look. her classic style is never heavy handed. she approaches her art a lot like i approach mine : not to force my own will upon it but to make whats there even more beautiful and full of life.
we lost touch for years and recently found out we were living within walking distance of each other in LA. i write about her in one of the chapters of my book so i figured she’d be the perfect person to do an “in conversation” with at my book signing at north figueroa books on nov 8.
pati is a true artist and an inspiration.

Website: www.barbmorrisonmusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barb__morrison/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/barbmorrison

Other: https://www.barbmorrisonmusic.com/book

Image Credits
first image (white outfit) : drey kaun second image (leopard outfit) : drey kaun third image (recording studio) : josh miller fourth image (book) : jaime karpovich fifth image (orange bed) : A klass sixth image (book reading) : michelle drum inman seventh image (selfie at beach): me