Episode Details

From ripping it up on stage with Orchid to slinging cocktails at one of Canada's top bars, Jayson Green has built a life around making things that matter. On this week’s episode, the musician, bartender, and creative lifer shares his hard-earned Five Rules For Making Stuff. We talk about knowing what not to do, why money should never be your motivator, and how letting your skills catch up to your taste is part of the process. Whether you’re starting a band, opening a bar, or just trying to get that project off the ground, this episode is your DIY pep talk.

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[00:00:00] Darin Hello, and welcome to Five Rules for the Good Life. I'm your host, Darin Bresnitz. Today, I'm excited to be joined by one of my favorite buds from Brooklyn, Jayon Green, who is the infamous. Frontman for the legendary hardcore band Orchid. He has gone on to front other projects like Cheeseburger and his current solo endeavor, Jayon Green and the Jerk currently has a delicious 12 inch out on DFA records. Most recently, his Toronto based bar, Doc's Green Door Lounge, was named the 15th best bar in all of Canada. He joins me today to share his five rules about making stuff. We talk about having a point of view, the importance of continuing to create, and his guiding principle of what should never be your main motivator. Let's get into the rules. Jayon, so great to see you. Always nice when two ex Brooklynites can chat coming from different parts of the world. Congratulations on your bar, Dock Stream Door Lounge, being named number 15th best bar in all of Canada. Thank you. Not surprised knowing who you are and what we're going to talk about today, but congratulations nonetheless.

[00:01:08] Jayson Surprised. I didn't even know that these lists existed when we were starting off with the bar. The main thing is we're in this neighborhood in Toronto called The Junction, which is pretty far west, and my whole thing was kind of serving the neighborhood as best I could with a place that I wanted to go to. There was a real hunger for something like this to be here, and I'm very happy that people have responded so positively. The neighborhood's really, supportive and the city at large has been super supportive.

[00:01:32] Darin Most people who move to a new country, like you did, would look at the surrounding neighborhood, wish they want a bar and hope someone else would make that for them. But what I've always enjoyed about you and our conversations over the year is that creativity and creating something has always been a part of your life, whether it's fronting a band or developing TV shows, starting a bar, why are you making stuff so important to you?

[00:01:55] Jayson That's all I've ever known. Went to college, I wanted to be a film director, and then I ended up joining this band, Orchid, and we were playing shows and touring every break, and I ended leaving school. And then I was off on this trajectory. The only thing I was doing was singing in this mildly popular hardcore band. Give yourself credit. No, no, back then, when we were doing it, it was a mildly-popular hardcore band, and then, I was just in the world. That band ended, I was in another band with our mutual friend Justin Cherno called Panthers. That band ending and then I looked up, I had no discernible skills. I was just in bands and so this creative life had sustained me for so long. I was kind of thrown into the fire, like this is the way you create the opportunity yourself that's not really presented to you.

[00:02:37] Darin Creating that opportunity, or even knowing that you can create something, is rarer than I expected. Because I come from a similar DIY background as you, it just was intuitive that if you want