Hey, It's Me. Got a Life Update for You.

I went to visit my parents last week & my dad said something funny to me. Paraphrasing here, but it was something to the effect of “Shawn has so many pokers in the fire, a lot of darts that he’s tossing to the wall.”

And he’s right. Between the Riffs, Code, Media Content, and the countless amount of Coffee & that fuels my entrepreneurial spirit, your boy is spreading himself thin & I’ve come to the realization that I need to edit myself & hone the focus in.

Don’t worry, Riffs Code Coffee is not going anywhere — but there will be some changes here to accommodate to my new schedule.

I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been slacking on this newsletter. Lots of interesting things going on in my life since I last wrote an article, along with trying to find balance. But don’t worry, we are still out here doing the thing & I apologize for being AWOL these past few weeks.

Anyways, figured I’d jump back in with some cool things happening in my life that I want to share.

Studio Rebrand (Big Rig Recordings)

Things have been going great in music for me lately. So much so, that I decided to rebrand my studio to Big Rig Recordings, where we specialize in taking an artist demo and turning it into a professionally recorded multi-tracks & stream-ready mixes.

I have a couple of friends teaming up with me on this venture, and we offer professional session playing, production, mixing, & more.

And if that weren’t enough awesome news, I’m moving into a new studio in the middle of May & I’m beyond stoked. Stay tuned for updates on that.

I’m making Youtube Videos

What is up guys…. your boy is making Youtube Videos! Focused around music, the goal of my channel is to inspire & educate fellow creatives from my experience as a music producer & tech nerd. From studio workflows to gear, helping artists market their art with tech, and whatever else I can think of for this channel — I intend for this channel to be a deep dive on some of the topics that we cover here in Riffs. Code. Coffee.

So be sure to like and subscribe if that sounds interesting to you!

Homesick Highway

Super stoked to announce that Homesick Highway is in the studio right now recording our debut singles. We are a 4 piece country hard rock band, and y’all — these songs are sounding sick. Our friend David is doing the engineering on these songs, and is absolutely crushing it. I cannot wait for yall to hear this music.

It’s been refreshing to approach a project as an artist and not have to worry about the left-brain, engineering side of things. David’s been incredible to work with and cannot recommend him enough. I’ll be sure to plug his links & stuff once he has his branding dialed in, but you can follow him on instagram here

SPAP Technology Solutions

Lots of music in this newsletter today, but what about code? Well, proud to say that my web dev agency, SPAP Technology Solutions has a new look & focus. Geared towards creative businesses, my goal is to build stunning, content-driven websites that allow these creative entrepreneurs to shine & grow. From startups to barber shops, trading card game shops & music industry businesses, I believe that this new focus on industries that I know will help me deliver better products to the awesome creatives I work with.

Reflecting & What’s Next

Overall, I’m feeling good about where I’m at in my life. For the first time in a while, I’m feeling authentically & genuinely me, which as you know, is something I preach in this newsletter. I definitely feel like I’m dialing in these creative & entrepreneurial ventures, and appreciating the journey as I go. I’m sure these things will evolve as time goes on, but for now, I can honestly say that I’m content with where I’m at & focused on where I’m headed.

As for this newsletter, being that I am also shooting YouTube content & want to make sure I’m providing the most value and passionate content for you, I’m going to be moving to a weekly schedule. I will be expanding the Weekly Pull Request to include more interesting topics in addition to the usual recommendations, and it will still be coming out weekly on Friday’s. I think that this will be a good move long term so that we can keep growing the Riffs Code Community while avoiding the dreaded burnout from doing too much.

Which btw, if you haven’t checked it out yet, we have a community! Currently, it serves as a hub for all of the Weekly Pull Request tech/music recommendations, but I’m trying to expand it into a full platform for us to share ideas, and give y’all some free sht for supporting this newsletter.

I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to read Riffs. Code. Coffee. every week. This has been a fun ride so far, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Build Fast. Break Stuff. Have Fun!

Paps.