"On this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Mr. David Fragioni, who is a drumming aficionado and has found a way to support himself through his art. He started playing drums at the age of 2, which was the same age that he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma and lost his eye. Still, he pushed through all of his struggles, nurtured his talents, delved into business, and discovered his strengths along the way. 

David takes us through his journey, sharing his personal and professional truths, as one always leads into the other. He discusses the importance of nurturing your talents and focusing on what will help you grow to be who you’re supposed to be in the world, rather than focusing on the deafening outside noise that can derail your journey. 

Now, David works in music technology with world-famous musicians, including Aerosmith, Shakira, The Rolling Stones, etc. He’s consistently focused on how to continue growing and become the greatest at his craft." 

Host: Dr. Seku Gathers

Guest: David Fragioni

Resources: 

David Fragioni – Website

David Fragioni – Facebook

David Fragioni - Twitter

David Fragioni - Instagram

Crash by David Fragioni

Audio One

 

[5:29] Personal & Professional Truths: David combined his personal and professional truth: focus on your strengths inside, not what’s on the outside. Realizing this truth was a major turning point for David. He went his whole life with a prosthetic eye, and this specific breakthrough came when he was able to have some corrective surgery on that eye. Once he began focusing on what was inside, he started taking risks and finding ways to support himself, all while starving the idea that there was something wrong with him. It’s all about how you conduct yourself and the integrity that you bring. 

[13:25] Focus on Your Strengths: Similarly to his first truth, David learned early on about another truth that would influence his career for the rest of his life. He knew that if he would continue pursuing life as a musician on the road to make a living, very little of his success was up to him. It was up to the lead singer to stay, to the lead guitarist to stick with the band, to everyone to get along on the road and agree on the style of music. With this realization, he knew that maybe that life wasn’t right for him, but he knew in his heart and soul that he needed to find a way to pursue his passion. Through the pursuit of being a better drummer and looking for drum technology solutions, he realized that he loved technology in music just as much as he loved drumming. Pursuing a different type of career in music required him to overcome the challenges of absorbing other people’s external perceptions of you, and instead focus on your internal strengths. 

[33:14] What it Takes to be the Greatest: It takes 10,000 hours to master anything, and those 10,000 hours of dedication must be consistent. For Dave, he understood his success as consistency. Rather than focusing on working with an amazing artist at some point during the year, he focuses on the fact that he’s done it for 15 years straight, and he’s found a formula that works for him. This is how Dave perceives the path to greatness: it’s not a moment, it’s a life of consistency. 

[35:54] Yes or BS: 

• The drummer is more important than the kit.

 

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