Leadership Lingo (w/ Mateo Portelli)

0:00:00
He's from LA, grew up in Hawaii, lived here in Vegas in high school. Now he's studying jazz and commercial music with a focus on guitar composition. He's the founder and president of the Buster's Club, which was founded fall of 2022. Nick, how are you?

0:00:40
Good.

0:00:41
How are you doing, Matthew?

0:00:42
I'm doing all right. I'm trying to stay on top of things. We've got midterms coming up and just doing that student life, that first gen life, as some say. But I'm excited to be here, and I'm glad to have you on the show.

0:00:53
Thank you for having me here, it's great, it's an honor.

0:00:55
I appreciate that, man. So Nick, you are, I met you at the Student Union. I had a meeting for another RSO that I'm a part of and I came down and I saw you guys just jamming. Frankly, I'd never seen something like it in the two plus years I've been a student. I've never seen students just vibing in the SU, you know, playing guitar. I'd love for you to tell us a little bit about what the Busters Club is and what you were doing in the SU playing music.

0:01:20
Yeah, sure. So the Busters Club is a new student organization on the campus for musicians, music lovers, anyone who has anything to do with music, whether that's listening to it, playing it, composing, writing, performing, whatever it is, this is the place that I wanted to create for us to gather, to create, to perform together, and really just build a really great community of people who not only want to do music for themselves, but also to do it in service to the community that we live in, whether that's the campus or the wider community across the valley.

0:01:50
That's outstanding. I mean, one of my best friends, he's no longer at UNLV, but he's off making music, got signed with Def Jam, and he was really big on the music scene. In fact, he really found his voice here on campus. I don't know if it was KUNV or the library, I know they both got in studios, but hopefully it was KUNV. But, yeah, I've certainly seen that there's an aura on campus, because we're such a commuter school, of student musicians who want to expand and network. And I'm just shocked that prior to Buskers coming in on the scene, that there really wasn't a place for student musicians to network.

0:02:24
Right, yeah, I mean, that was what surprised me when I came back on campus during the fall after the lockdowns, that I was like, you know, I'm a musician, I like to see other musicians doing their thing, and everyone was just kind of scattered all over the place, and I looked at the involvement center, and there was like, well, where's all the music clubs? And so I was like, well, that's no good, especially for a school that's considered probably one of the top schools for music. I mean, I've heard that the music department here has been getting multiple awards for both their jazz and classical programs. So I was saying, well, for all those people who want to do music, whether they're in the department or not, there should be a place for them.

0:03:03
100%, yeah, that's outstanding. Now, I'd love to know about Busters Club specifically about how it got together, and then of course, your role as president, because I imagine being president of such a niche club like this one is, is a different role than just being, and I don't mean to minimize when I say this, but being a Greek org president, right? It's very stratified, they have a clear goal, a lot of philanthropy, or if you look at a civic engagement org, they do a lot of public engagement, civic engagement. But president of a music club, I'm curious to see what you do on a day-to-day.

0:03:35
Right, so I'm always still trying to figure that out myself. This is actually not my first time leading an RSO. I led an RSO for spiritual and philosophical discussion. Prior to the lockdowns, I also led an RSO based on just presenting interesting topics, kind of random. But this is the first club that I've had to really take care of not just one or two, but of members and figure out events and frequent meetings. Last semester we met three times a week. Wow, we still meet two times a week on campus every week. So being a leader in this kind of capacity, it's still very much a thing that I'm still trying to figure out what that looks like, trying to organize not only my, I guess, school life, but also my personal life too, to make sure that these things fit together in such a way that everyone's feeling served and welcomed. So I would say that daily it just kind of looks like, well, I've kind of automated it too. It's like, you know, Mondays and Thursdays at 4 p.m. everyone meets, same place, same time, everyone knows what to bring. And someone to know what to expect. We also have a Discord as well too where there's a thriving community of people who just share works or say, hey, you know, let's check this concert out or check this thing that I wrote. So, and there's an Instagram as well that is no longer handled by me, thank goodness. I cannot do Instagram. So, and yeah, and daily meetings just kind of look like us getting together to jam. They're extremely informal, except when we're preparing for events. Then that's when we kind of get serious and start doing the same song 10, 20, 30, 100 times over, and it becomes very much a focused experience.

0:05:18
Now do you normally meet in the SU, or where do you normally get together?

0:05:21
So last semester we met a lot in the amphitheater, the alumni amphitheater. And sometimes we meet right next to the SU, next to the stairs, so PETA Plaza, that area. We've been meeting inside the second floor art gallery of SU mostly because it's really cold outside. Yeah, I get that. And I feel like that's going to change after spring break just because what part of our mission statement is to create an open-air life Music culture on campus and so well can't do it open-air because the open air is way too cold But at least we can do live music and you know somewhere on campus Yeah, no

0:05:50
I mean I can imagine the the strength and benefit it would have to our school Especially when you have you know high schoolers or other people taking tours you see a bunch of kids Just you know jamming and hanging out that it's gonna really bring an inviting atmosphere. Yeah. Do you find that you've had a lot of support from either, whether it's other student orgs, whether it's student government, whether it's the fine arts college, do you find that you get that sort of support or are you still working to build that brand?

0:06:14
Oh yeah, I mean, I feel extremely grateful for the fact that even though we don't do much like, I guess, marketing or promotion or outreach, that people have been coming to us and asking us to do music for their events. For the Red Fest recently, we were approached by KUNV or the Rebel HD2 for that last semester. Even, you know, we approached Town Square and Town Square said we need, you know, a school to perform for us for our winter concert. So we were able to do that. But yeah, we've been getting a lot of requests to perform for people and, you know, the music department, the student union, the school itself has been gracious enough to allow us to be loud, you know, within reason and to do our thing and provide a good atmosphere. Because like you said, you know, our main goal is to provide an atmosphere that really is positive, is healing too, and really creates this kind of campus atmosphere that people are looking for when they come to college, I think, you know. College, I think a lot of people, especially for myself, is a place where it's vibrant, where it's exciting, where it's passionate, and I believe that music is a huge part of that in any person's life. So yeah, that's why we're here.

0:07:25
I think it's great. Now obviously we're college students, so professional development and building our resumes is intrinsic. I mean, why else would you go to college if you're not gonna tell people you got a degree, right? So I'm curious to hear your experience, both growing in your musical life, obviously, I assume you play recreationally, not just to pad the resume, but of course you have to be able to sell yourself. How is the interplay as you try to market yourself? Like you said, meeting with Town Square, I think it's outstanding. What's the interplay where you're trying to build up your credibility as an artist? And then how do you kind of weave that in when you're trying to build up new members of the

0:08:05
Busters Club? Yeah, so professionally, I've been doing music for a long time. I've played multiple instruments since I was a kid. Nothing too well, but it's good enough for people to say, okay, yeah, that was a good song. And I guess so much music for the financing or the For the fame it's kind of a part of me that I haven't really worked on because it's a part of me that I feel That I'm slowly trying to get a pass so um but at the same time I recognize you like you said that musicians have to have to pay for their lives with music so I guess how that works for me is that um Just putting myself out there every single day It's making sure that what I'm doing is serving other people. And that's not necessarily, that shouldn't actually be, in my opinion, with the expectation of receiving anything in return. But knowing that people are made happy, people are made more satisfied, more peaceful in their lives through music, I don't think I ever have to really expect a reward in return because as much as I give, I'll receive too. I just think that's the way that it works. And I guess in cultivating a professional development, I guess, and in other members too, and other musicians, it's all about courage, in my opinion. It's all about encouraging them to get out there. You're good enough, first of all, you're good enough as not only a musician but as a human being to put yourself out there, to put your music out there, and just to see what happens and have fun with it, because stage fright is a big thing for everyone. I mean, we were presenting our original compositions yesterday, and I was super nervous. I had to be encouraged by my other members to put it out there, but again, it's not about how you'll be seen, it's about what you give to people.

0:09:57
That seems like a phenomenal leadership philosophy, that the quality of your fruit, of your product is based off of How much it helps other people and how much fun you had while making it exactly you know I you know we hear all the time of these multi-millionaire artists who you know get depressed fall into states of just not great mental health because why because they're either You know work like mules to make music even though they may not feel it or you know they got other issues going on So I think you're you're highlighting a very important prerequisite, which is have fun with it, actually enjoy doing it, and then you'll reap the rewards. Now, as president, what do you hope to see the club turn into? What sort of brand do you want to develop on campus? And eventually, of course, as it grows, how do you think other students might get involved, both as musicians, but maybe they have other talents?

0:10:47
Right, so my hope is that this actually spreads to other campuses as well too. You know, this kind of, the Busker's Club of, let's say maybe CSN or UNR. Because this is not something that I view in terms of, you know, this is my club that I want to spread. But this is a culture that I think, you know, everyone loves music. And everyone, in some sense, wants to be a rock star of any kind. And like you said, there's different talents to dancing, live art, magic shows, which at some point I also want to encompass too. Because busking, you know, if it was the music club, I would have called it musicians club or something. But busking, you know, is performing live on a public place for donations. And so that can include anyone. And I want to make sure that anyone who wants to do fine art for the service of the community can find a place here. And that's both within the, you know, people from the music department, people from outside of it. Because I know, you know, the music department, you know, being a music major myself, it's a rigorous program. And sometimes not everyone has either the time or the desire or whatever to join the full major, but they still want to do music, right? So that's the kind of environment that I want to create it. And then hopefully the culture that spreads throughout the community too. And the number one thing that's, I guess, at the core of what I believe this culture should be is music as service. Music as a service to you, to ourselves as well too, to whoever is around us listening to us at that moment, our music should, or people should be able to feel that, well, I feel like a better person or in a better state because of hearing that music.

0:12:26
Can I ask you, this is more personal, where does your attraction or philosophy to service come from? Because, and I ask, I know a lot of student musicians, not a lot, I know like, probably fit them just around this table, but you know, I know a few student musicians, and of course plenty of other folks who are not at UNLV who enjoy making music, and by no means do I think any of them are egotistical, right? But of course there is that desire to have your name in lights. There's that desire to have an impact and influence, but that statement usually does not lead, or the first sentence usually does not contain with, to help other people, right? Usually it's just to have that influence. And again, not in a negative way, but you're being very clear and explicit that the value of the music is dependent upon the degree to which it helps other people. Love to know why you say that. Yeah, so um

0:13:21
I mean I would consider myself like this goes into my like spiritual religious beliefs but you know I've been around you know I don't consider myself as part of like you know I guess you know one philosophy or one theology but um you know one thing that I've seen both for myself and for other people is that when you do something good for other people, then first of all, you help them, but you also help yourself too. And again, not a selfish thing, but if we're on this world all together, it'd be nice to make it so that our efforts, our actions, our desires, our thoughts, emotions, everything is for the service of everyone around us. And so it's more of just kind of like a common sense thing to me. Again, I also emphasize this too, because I'm actually very egotistical as a person. Whatever you might see of musicians elsewhere too, I'm also that too. I can be very arrogant, very pushy as well too. Oh gosh, there's something I want to say about that. But yeah, I mean, I guess that's the core of it that, you know, and I can't even say that I've had an experience myself where music saved my life because I know people did have that. But at the very least, I know people can save people's lives or music can save people's lives.

0:14:52
That's outstanding. And I think it's one of the few things that humans do, let me back up, right? Now I'm a former engineering major, now I'm a history major, and obviously the whole point of history is to analyze what other people did, and you know, events, and to coalesce trends. So a lot of human history is action-oriented, right? Building something, founding something, conquering something. And a lot of what we do, the engineering side of me, I'm an IT specialist on the civilian side, is again constructing something, building something, analyzing. Music is also extremely technical. It does have to do with construction, it does have to do with analysis. But it is at a level of creativity that nothing else I think can match. It's, yeah, I'm just trying to, it's very deep is what you're saying, is what I'm trying to get at. And I think it's absolutely outstanding that you've, so far, and I look forward to you continuing to grow, building this space where students, again, like you said, they don't have to be art majors, they don't have to be fine arts majors, for any background. You know, me, chopsticks is my extent, piano, you know, of me being a pianist, but I think it's outstanding that you're developing this space. So I'm curious, if let's say that we had another guest here at this table and they're an undergrad, under Glassman, maybe they're a senior in high school and they're interested in coming to UNLV, and they're listening to you talk about the power and influence that they can have to benefit their community through music, what advice would you give them as they start to come onto the scene on campus

0:16:29
and you know flex their musical muscles? Yeah, well definitely like I said before so much of our artistry is courage. For myself it took a long time before I could perform in front of people with a guitar, then took a lot of time before I could perform in front of people with a guitar standing up, and then before I could perform singing, you know. So there's a lot of levels to it. And to someone who's coming in, who is just getting into it and may not be sure whether they're good enough or whether people like them, I would just say, man, do it. Because there's nothing more valuable, I think, than the courage to take a shot, to take a shot and see what happens, but make the best of it. Because service is hard, you know? You know, I know that myself, because serving other people is really, really, really hard because it takes understanding, it takes patience, understanding of yourself and others, awareness and so many different skills that it's harder than the alternative. And I think that takes a lot of skills. And so what I would actually, my opinion of the Buskers Club, as well as art in general, is that it's a difficult place to be. And I'm not even just talking about, oh, the starving artist trying to make money. It's, personally, you have to really dive deep into who you are, what you want, why you're doing what you're doing. This is still a journey I'm very much on myself. My guitar teacher said, you need to figure out why you're playing guitar and I'm like yeah I do. So yeah but I would just say you know it's difficult so prepare for it if you really love it and by preparing for it and being courageous you will get the most out of it. Nick if folks want to get in touch with you or the Buskers Club how do they do that? Yeah so we have an Instagram Buskers Club UNLV. We also have a discord as well too. The discord link is in our bio. If for whatever reason it expired, just let me know in our DMs. It is there. We also have an email to buskersclubunlv at gmail.com. We have an involvement center website too with our club name. You can see us there. It hasn't been updated in a while, so we'll be getting that in short order. And yeah, that's our official club contact info right there. Awesome.

0:18:47
Nick, I appreciate you coming on the show. Please stay safe, please stay blessed. But pleasure, pleasure having you.

0:18:53
Great, thank you so much, Mateo. I had a wonderful time being here.

0:18:55
Thank you, man.

0:18:56
♪ No, sir, I'm a real man ♪

0:18:58
If you want to find out more information about the folks we interviewed here today or just learn more, you're more than welcome to follow us at Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn at Leadership Lingo. You can also shoot me an email at mateo at leadershiplingo.show. That's M-A-T-E-O at leadershiplingo.S-H-O-W. We'll catch you next time. Stay safe, stay hydrated, have a great day. Stay safe, stay hydrated, have a great day.

0:19:16
We'll catch you next time.