The Podcaster as Artist and Creator w/ Michaell Magrutsche

In this insightful conversation,  multimedia artist Michaell Magrutsche, explores the deep connection between creativity, self-expression, and podcasting.

Michaell shares his journey as a neurodiverse artist who found refuge in creativity, explaining that art is more about the process than the final product. For podcasters, this means focusing on the joy and fulfillment of creating content rather than worrying about external judgments.

Notable Points for Podcasters:

1. Art is a Process, Not a Product: Michael emphasizes that the creative process, whether in art or podcasting, is more important than the final product. Podcasters should focus on the joy and fulfillment of creating their show rather than how it will be judged by others.
2. Creativity is Universal: He mentions that humans are inherently creative and that podcasting is a form of self-expression. Aspiring podcasters should embrace their individuality and avoid comparing themselves to others.
3. Avoid External Pressures: Michael encourages podcasters to produce content when they feel ready, rather than adhering to rigid schedules or external pressures for consistency, allowing the content to remain authentic.
4. Podcasting as a Human-Centric Medium: Podcasting is a unique space where humans connect through dialogue. It’s more about sharing and contributing than strictly following rules.
5. Embrace Your Unique Perspective: Michael stresses that there is no right or wrong in creation, encouraging podcasters to stay true to their message and perspective, no matter the feedback.

Michaell Magrutsche (mag-rootsh) is a neurodiverse multidisciplinary artist, strategist (private, corporate and political) Creativity-Awareness Educator.

Connect with Michael: https://MICHAELLM.com | Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michaellart | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaellart

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Background
• 2:46 Embracing Individuality and Creativity
• 4:37 The Power of Human-Centric Dialogue
• 9:16 Overcoming Creative Blocks in Podcasting
• 13:11 The Importance of Fulfillment in Podcasting
• 22:37 Conclusion and Contact Information

Transcript

J. Rosemarie (00:01.358)
My guest today is Austrian Californian multimedia artist, Michael Magrutsche Welcome, Michael.

Michaell Magrutsche (00:11.146) Thank you for having me here, Jan, and allowing me to paint on your canvas.

J. Rosemarie (00:15.63)
I love it. Okay, before we get into our discussion for today, could you tell us who is Michael?

Michaell Magrutsche  (00:27.082) Okay, Michael was a little munchkin that was born in Vienna, Austria. And I was a sick child. And when I went to school, I went to school at seven because I was sick. And so then I got the second punch in my face, which was, I'm extremely neurodiverse and dyslexia and with dysgraphia. And I couldn't regurgitate.

I could understand everybody. I have no problem understanding humans, but the systemic, you know, you know, one and one is two and whatever. And sometimes it was two, but sometimes it was four. It's just like, you know, and I couldn't regurgitate stuff. So whatever the teacher wanted to, wanted me to say, I couldn't do that because he didn't understand what he wants me to say. And so,

J. Rosemarie (01:07.342)
Right?

Michaell Magrutsche  (01:20.682) Yeah. And then I went to art and the art was the only one where there was no discrimination. Everybody worked together and I loved it. And there was what I could generate or contribute from my own creativity was accepted, not who I am, what title I have or whatever. So, and I was a DJ and then produced fashion shows and

When I was 30, I looked at my CVs and resumes and I said, my God, I am an artist. Even if I wasn't famous or anything, but I couldn't have done anything else. I couldn't be an accountant or a lawyer. So I think that was very important that I said that I'm an artist because that opened other things up.

J. Rosemarie (02:18.542) Okay, we seem to have a lag in the internet, but hopefully we can, you know, recover. And yeah, okay. All right, so. Okay, all right, so thank you for that and for, you know, explaining that it seems like a lot of us who are creatives are not compatible with the formal school system, right?

Michaell Magrutsche  (02:25.386) I think it's gonna be fine. Yeah, Riverside does that. Yeah.
Michaell Magrutsche (02:47.306) Mm -hmm. Yep.

J. Rosemarie (02:48.654) Yeah. And once we discover that there's nothing wrong with us, our brain's not broken, like Jim Quick likes to say, we were just designed differently. And yeah, so that's amazing. Okay.

Michaell Magrutsche  (03:09.93) I think we are, we are eight billion people. We're eight people, humans on this earth. And not every human can be the same because if everybody was the same, it would be a boring world. So everybody contributes with their own way and even culturally, different cultures bring in different stuff in. But that doesn't mean they have to be dead, whatever they, Asians don't have to be dead Asian. What they say, that's Asian.

J. Rosemarie (03:38.222) Right. Right.

Michaell Magrutsche  (03:40.234) So no, everybody contributes as they want to one and there's tendencies, but that's absolute. There's no absolutes, you know.

J. Rosemarie  (03:47.95) Right, absolutely. Okay, so I'm going to ask you a weird question because I want to open this up so we can relate. What is so special about art and how does an understanding of the art or being able to create art help us or enhance our creativity?

Michaell Magrutsche  (04:15.21) We humans are a collective, creative species. So for example, as you see, we build churches, we build countries, we build Apple, Google, New York, Singapore. I mean, they all look different. They're not the same. So we're not like just, it's natural like ant hills. We're animals and we just build the ant hills everywhere. They all look the same. We're similar.

J. Rosemarie (04:43.822) Right.

Michaell Magrutsche (04:44.938) And so we are a collective creative species. That means our first superpower is creation. That's our first superpower. The second one is what you and I do, human centric dialogue. Not saying I'm right and you were wrong or you were right or I'm wrong. It's with a human centric nonlinear dialogue. And the third is adaptation because you and I have six senses. We've never met before and we can align to each other and talk. Right? I mean,

J. Rosemarie (05:13.55) Yes, yes, yes.

Michaell Magrutsche (05:14.474) That shows you a lot, right? That shows you a lot. And what is art? If you and I sing, they might not like it, but they all understand. Eight billion people, you don't have to learn the language. They all understand it all over the world.

J. Rosemarie (05:27.246) Yes, yes, absolutely. And you have just enlightened me on something because when I look at a building or a structure, I don't think of art. I don't even, you know, we might think of creativity, but I don't think of art. And when you when a normal person think of art, I think they think of music and.

Michaell Magrutsche (05:43.658) Yeah.

J. Rosemarie (05:53.774) you know, painting and that kind of thing. So I like that perspective and it is the correct one. Thank you.

Michaell Magrutsche (06:00.97) Yeah. And it's more important, the process than the product. Because the product can, because we are eight billion people. So I can like Warhol or I cannot like Warhol. It's whatever art is so in such a big spectrum. So whatever I resonate with, I'm listening to that person. I'm looking at this theater, I'm reading the poetry because I resonate and see,

J. Rosemarie (06:23.31) Mm -hmm.

Michaell Magrutsche (06:30.25) The problem is what we do when the art is finished. So it's my non -physical self with me. So, you know, I think about, la la la la la, that's a good song. That's a good opening. And I can just sing la la la la la la la la la la. I can check this out with my unconscious, with my non -physical self till I feel it gelling. It's, you know, it's.

J. Rosemarie (06:42.926) Mm -hmm. Yes.

Michaell Magrutsche (06:59.562) It's hitting, it's jamming. And once I have that, then I give it to the market. And usually that's the problem because in the market, it becomes a commodity. It's not the beautiful dance that I had with my non -physical and bringing it in. It comes to the market and then people just judge it and say, it's great. And it's horrible. I mean, everybody can say, you think it's the best podcast or the worst?

J. Rosemarie (07:16.91) Hmm.

Michaell Magrutsche (07:26.922) But nobody can take away that you did it. See? And usually the people that judge our creations are the people that are not doing creation because artists don't judge themselves, each other. They, I've never heard any artist think, Hey, your art is horrible or your music is horrible. So, so it's a, it's, it's a jealousy that people have because they judge it or they say, I cannot be an artist. So I have to be a judge of art. I have to be the jury of art.
.
J. Rosemarie (07:53.614) Right, right.

Michaell Magrutsche (07:56.298) And that's where this whole thing gets. And then if you forget the magic you had creating it and you say, I'm not good enough. I'm just poor. I can never be. It has nothing to do with it. The business has nothing to do with creating it.

J. Rosemarie (08:01.326) Right. Yeah. The difficulty with the judge also could be the fact that they have not come out of this mindset that we all have to go through this formality and we all have to be this way, right? To be normal, right? Okay. All right.

Michaell Magrutsche (08:27.85) Exactly. Yeah. But no, never shows you normal. No system ever defines normal. It always says when you are up, Jen, you're abnormal. Michael, you guys are abnormal, right? They never said, okay, so what, what do we have to be what's normal? So, you know, what is normal? What is right? What is wrong? We are not right or wrong. Yeah. It's like, it's like, it's like church, right?

J. Rosemarie  (08:37.102) Right.

Michaell Magrutsche (08:57.738) When you're not going to church to make money, what we like, you go to church because that's a ceremony, a ritual that we do together. It's not about, it's not about, I'm going to church to get a lot of money or I get a lot of fame or get a lot of success. No, you don't. And the same is with art, basically.

J. Rosemarie  (09:06.894) Yeah.  (09:16.718) Yeah, okay. All right. Awesome. All right. So can you share some strategies for aspiring podcasters to overcome creative blocks and consistently produce?

Michaell Magrutsche (09:32.682) Yeah. When you segregate, when you look at your perspective and say, let's say you have a business podcast. Yeah. And so you look at business podcasts, what is important in business, really how you handle, how each one of one handles the business. It's not about, I did, I sold milks in cartons and they sold. Now you have to do the same. that doesn't work.

J. Rosemarie  (10:00.238) All right.

Michaell Magrutsche (10:01.162) So, because when you look at all the success books that are out there, they're all different. You know, everybody had a different way. I got up in the morning. I wrote stuff down on a piece of paper. The next one says, I talked to my therapist. I mean, everybody has a different way of getting successful. And, and I think that, so if I was, that's why I say, segregate business in human centricity.

J. Rosemarie (10:18.318) Yeah.

Michaell Magrutsche (10:28.138) Which I just did because nobody's the same. Everybody's one on one and system relevant. So system relevant says you have to rules regulation and blah, blah. Rules of regulation. You can look on internet. You can find anywhere, but what's essential, I think in podcasting is because podcast is a very human centric medium where humans talk to each other. And I would, I would segregate. So in business, I would say.

J. Rosemarie (10:52.782) Yeah.

Michaell Magrutsche (10:57.45) So how can you be sure that it is you? And I say in business, for example, I say in business talking about podcasting in business, about business, I would say, if it fulfills you, because the fulfillment is the feedback loop that you, the one on one is on the right path because you were fulfilled by other things that I am fulfilled. So we fulfill. So is what you're doing.
(11:26.378) If you're making cheese is making cheese a passion. Can you make cheese or are you, are you dreading making cheese after an hour to stop? So what you can do for forever and you forget the time. That's probably the clearest thing for you, not for anybody else, but for you to do business. And that I would, when I was, if, if I was a podcaster, I would talk about this, this, we are not saying.
 (11:55.722)
Okay, you need a CEO, you need this. Everybody talks about the same thing. The generalizations are unimportant. It's about what are you contributing to humanity with your 101 -ness? And how do we best do this? And there's endless stuff, there's endless material. You never have a flow problem, never, when you look at that.

J. Rosemarie  (12:14.797) Yeah. Right, right. So when you're connected to your message and you internalize that message for you and don't let the external forces affect that message, then you're on the path, you're on the right path, so to speak, right? Yeah.

Michaell Magrutsche (12:38.858) Yeah. And if it fulfills you, makes you happy when you do it. You know, if that make me happy and you say, Michael, this is horrible. Then of course not, you know, but if it makes me happy and say, Michael, this is not good. I said, that's good, but nobody knows what's good because you are one and I'm one of 8 billion. So nobody really can tell each other what is right or wrong.

J. Rosemarie (12:58.222) All right. Yeah.

Michaell Magrutsche (13:01.454) Yeah.

J. Rosemarie (13:02.19) Yeah, that's true. And that's why my philosophy is that there's no competition in podcasting because of that. Yes. All right. So tell us about your work and like share that with us and also share how we can get in touch with you and connect with you.

Michaell Magrutsche (13:10.154) Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So, I went, I told you how I got into art because it was sick and whatever. And I also, once I decided at 30 that I was an artist, then stuff happens in my life because I decided not if I'm famous or, you know, like what's normal, people that are famous artists and other people say, no, you're not an artist. Art is a hobby, which is the worst self self -punishment of human because it shows you who you are.

J. Rosemarie (13:51.278) Yeah.

Michaell Magrutsche (13:53.034) Because when you put a little kid and it can draw, it gets feedback not from their parents or other people, but the kid gets feedback from themselves, especially when you save the drawings, the music or whatever. And then you show it to the kid later, because the ego is not, you know. And then say, my God, that was good. I mean, I always say when artists say, I was so good at this painting and I just did too much. I said, I'm home.

J. Rosemarie (14:09.39) Yeah.

Michaell Magrutsche (14:21.77) Don't worry, just put it away for months, two months, and then look at it. And then you can change whatever. There's only two things that were changed. One was taken out, two resolutions. It was taken out after two months or three months or a year. And they say, my God, it's perfect. I didn't even see that. Or there needs to be a red dot on this right there. And that's perfect.

J. Rosemarie (14:26.382) Yeah.

Michaell Magrutsche (14:48.074) So we didn't see it, we were too close to it. So we, when, when you hear it and you know, I need to be a symbol there or there's a sex there, you know? So, so that's the best thing of, of creation. And the creation is always you. It's always clearly you. It's not anybody else and never try to, never try to please anybody other than yourself because then you know, that's my expression.

J. Rosemarie (15:13.582) Okay.

Michaell Magrutsche (15:18.186) How can your expression be wrong when nature made you one of one? If you don't feel good enough, you're so, then keep it up as nature because nature made you one of one.

J. Rosemarie (15:22.126) Yeah. So do you think then that we, and I want to talk about it from a podcasters perspective, because, I, it took me, this is my second podcast. It took me six years to start my first podcast because, you know, so do you think that our lack of this

Michaell Magrutsche (15:39.242)
Yeah

J. Rosemarie (15:57.646) individual thought, this thought that, yeah, we're connected, but we have our own individual journey, message, purpose. Do you think that that is a barrier to us as podcasters?

Michaell Magrutsche (16:13.866) No, I don't think it's a barrier. The system relevance is the system relevance says, look, you see Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, you see all these superstars, right? Beyonce, Taylor Swift, whatever. They are so minute. If you ever would put this in perspective, they just show us these people that are so super powerful. They just show us and say, Hey, I'm a human dude too. And I did it. That doesn't mean you have to be me.

J. Rosemarie (16:40.302) Mm -hmm. Right. Right. Yes.

Michaell Magrutsche (16:42.122) Because I'm one -on -one and you are one -on -one. You don't have to be Taylor Swift tomorrow. You know, it's like, you don't. It just, she shows you that you can do it. You know, you can do it. And Elon says the same thing and Jeff and all these people. And I think that when, for example, 97 % of businesses fail, right? After the third year, nobody tells you that because the system want to say,

J. Rosemarie (17:10.83) you

Michaell Magrutsche (17:11.85) everybody's Taylor Swift. Everybody is Elon Musk. Everybody's successful. And then it took you too long to do the first episode because you think how can I ever? And it has nothing to do with anything. You were just your mind constraint. You do whatever you do. That is your expression. Period. If people like it and you most likely, most likely because only 1 % of podcasts make 98 % of all the

J. Rosemarie (17:22.222) Right. Yes.

Michaell Magrutsche (17:39.882) Revenue. So Joe Rogan and stuff, they make 98 % of all the revenues. So podcasting is not a money machine, but podcast is a contribution for you, the one on one to contribute and make yourself known. And that's what's why it's so, and also it teaches you tremendously to dance with humans. You know, humans don't even know. So if it's just your friend, of course, you know how to treat her.

J. Rosemarie (17:57.454)
Yeah.

Michaell Magrutsche (18:07.978) But if it's, if it's somebody else, you see, my God, I saw these guys from Austria. They're weird. Then you talk to an Austrian guy and they're not weird. They're same as we, you know, just, just defined systemically as Austrian. And, and, and so they learned. So it's very important that you do your podcast. I would highly recommend it. Don't worry. Don't also don't bring it out every month or twice a week or whatever. Do it when you feel ready. So I'll have another one.

J. Rosemarie (18:08.366) Right. Yeah.

Michaell Magrutsche (18:37.898) And just do it and enjoy it. And whenever you have it edited and everything, then do the next one. There's so much out there. Why would you want to the fact that I'm not going to, listen to you is because you put out hundreds of podcasts. So if I picked the wrong one, you know, that you didn't really like, so I always say do less podcasts because once they find you, they're going to listen to all. And you know, it's always better when they have.

J. Rosemarie (18:40.334) Yes.

Michaell Magrutsche (19:07.466) too little than too much, you know? So do it whenever you feel like it.

J. Rosemarie  (19:09.966) Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Yeah. that's an interesting perspective because one of the things that is pushed in podcasting, especially is consistency. And, you know, if you don't produce, then you're going to lose audience and all of that. Yeah. Okay. All right.

Michaell Magrutsche (19:29.29) You never lose. No, you never lose. You never lose. You only grow audience. There's no, unless you are really boring and unless you try to. And also look, everybody's one on one, right? So if you feel, if you have so much passion to do 20 podcasts a month, then do it. But there will be a time where you don't want to do 20 a month. There will be a time where you do five. You have to do what's good for you. What's fulfills you not.

J. Rosemarie (19:54.766) Yes. Yes.

Michaell Magrutsche (19:59.242) what people say and they're pushing this because they just want it's a distraction. The more I push, we have too much content. We can't even if you and I would have not met, we would have never met, right? Because how, because this how would we just by chance met. But if we would have, how can you could be the best person for me and I could be the best person for you. But but

J. Rosemarie (20:13.87) Alright.

Michaell Magrutsche (20:28.234) There's so much out there. It's hard to find. And it doesn't mean, you have to do marketing or anything. No, no, no, no. People don't even have time to look what they need. So allow it, God to handle that, you know, like whatever the universe to handle.

J. Rosemarie (20:38.19) Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree with that. Okay, all right. So now I'm going to ask you to, we've done it a bit, quite a bit, but tell us about, you've written a couple of books, several it seems, and so tell us about the books and what, what inspired you to write?

Michaell Magrutsche (21:09.313) My dislike said it inspired me because I need to make sense for myself, not for what other people's, you know, they understand and I didn't. So I have to do it myself. And the first one was a screenplay because I worked with Robert Evans who did The Godfather and Chinatown. The second one was 300 pictures in three days, 300 paintings in three days, which it's all art literally everything. And

(21:38.25) There was a Smart of Art, which is really good for human centric. So I'm not talking about the product, but I'm talking about the business and how to navigate as a human in that business. So I'm always focusing on all humans, not just the famous painters or whatever. For me, I always, whatever I put out. And the one was also this one book and how to place art because there was a arts commissioner and

J. Rosemarie (21:57.55) Right.

Michaell Magrutsche (22:07.242) and how to place art because I saw the art wasn't placed right. They would take in a statue of you and say, okay, Jen, great, we get your statues. And they didn't know where to put it, right? And they just see any corner and just put it in, everybody forgets it. They buy, they pay money to get it and then they put it in a corner and they don't have a place to put it.

J. Rosemarie (22:25.134) Alright.

Michaell Magrutsche (22:31.498) So I wrote about that. That's all about how to place art and how to bring light in it and elevate the art.

J. Rosemarie (22:38.286) Okay. All right. Okay. I appreciate it. And I know you, and tell us how we can get in touch with you. Like, you know, if you want someone to connect with you, because this is an important dimension of podcasting because we're so busy on the wheel, you know, and I think this could help us greatly. So tell us how we could get in touch with you.

Michaell Magrutsche (23:01.674) Yeah. Michael .com Michael with two L's .com and there's everything you can call me and email me. You can talk to me. You can hire me. You can do everything. Just one.

J. Rosemarie (23:17.797) Okay, right, and I'll put those links, the link in the show notes so people can get reach out to you. All right, so any parting.

Michaell Magrutsche (23:21.514) Yeah. Yeah. And I think we should also, I understand. I'm sorry. I should send you also, I sent you a document about the human centricity that we talked about today primarily and system relevant. So you, because your life is going to be 50 % easier. I guarantee you by just understanding this. It's not nothing to do just perceiving.

J. Rosemarie (23:44.046) Okay, all right, thank you. Sorry, I'm in air conditioning. It's affecting my, yeah, okay. All right, so any parting shots for podcasters, but also for someone who, because of societal norms, just minimize their creativity and the artist in them.

Michaell Magrutsche (24:12.874) Exactly. So you are one of one. You are you and that's enough because you are you. You are you because that's enough and everything is a reflection of your business is a reflection of your one on oneness. Not that you are man or woman or anything. Your business is a reflection of you. How you dress. You know, everybody dresses different.

 (24:40.81) Nobody is upset how people dress. No, because everybody is accepted that you're one on one and you do it this way. Everybody dresses, every business is you are one on one. So bring your one on oneness into whatever you do. And, you know, when you be with friends, whatever, don't just accept and be, okay, everybody does it. I'm doing it too. No, just be you. If you don't want to go to the movie, they say, let's go. I'll go to the altar movie.

(25:10.218) You say, I don't feel, let me think about it. Then you feel it and say, yeah, I'm going or I'm not going. Yeah, I'm going in the garden. I do the garden. I, I rather be in the garden and in the movie. So do your one on oneness, you know?

J. Rosemarie  (25:21.934) Right. Okay. Do your one on one this. Thank you, Michael, for coming and talking to us today on Tools of the Podcast Trade. I really appreciate you.

Michaell Magrutsche (25:33.77) And we can do it anytime, Jen. You call me if you need me and we'll do it another time.

J. Rosemarie (25:36.462) Okay. Absolutely, I love it. Thank you.

Michaell Magrutsche (25:42.41) Thank you.