Music Star Dave Strickland Of 13 Rules On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Music Industry
An Interview With Guernslye Honoré
You can’t fight everyone’s battle when you see injustice. You will torture yourself over something you can’t control. Focus positively on the future you want to see and be bold enough to create it. Be the change you want to see.
As a part of our interview series with leaders, stars, and rising stars in the music industry, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing David Strickland.
David Strickland is no stranger to the music industry or basketball. In the 90’s, Strickland joined forces with Raptors founder, John Bitove to help bring Basketball to Toronto. Strickland went on to become the Raptors Director of consumer products working for Isiah Thomas to secure Raptors Merchandise distribution in 27 Countries before ever playing a game.
Music has always been in Strickland’s DNA. A Platinum Record Holder, he has worked with the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and on the 2010 Vancouver Olympics music project, ‘I Believe.’ The talented entrepreneur firmly believes bringing music and basketball together into communities will serve as a bond between cultures and community. “13 Rules” has morphed into an anthem for the new company, an expression of the vision and what’s to come.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about your “origin story”. What inspired you to pursue a career in music, and how did your journey begin?
I was born on the south shore of the Detroit River, I loved Motown, Bob Seger, Neil Young, Rod Stewart
I borrowed a guitar in Algonquin Park, where I learned to play “More than a Feeling” By Boston.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
As Director of Marketing for CTV during the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, I hosted 3 waves of 50 people for media purchase incentives in Barcelona. Some were contest winners; most were Senior Media Clients.
The amazing Barcelona Opening Ceremony went more than an hour late, there was no contingency by the organizing committee to delay major transportation. The parking lot where CTV’s guests were to meet when we arrived had one group already waiting and another behind us.
It was after 2 in the morning local time. People were tired and cranky. 30C.
Within 10 minutes, a single bus arrived, when 3 were needed. My President and CEO John Cassaday was with us.
John turned to me, watching the chaos, and said “Our group needs to get on that bus. Use your Gold’s Gym skills or whatever you need to secure this bus for us”. I accepted the mission.
I had 3 of the 10 local Tourism College Students we had hired to guide us in Barcelona, on that bus. And I knew they were my only chance. Barcelona is a city in a Catalan Speaking area, with some separatist leanings and a unique dialect of Spanish (as different as Quebecois to Parisian French). Local is very specific.
I huddled with the three students and passed on my directive from the big boss. I said use money or whatever you need, also let him know we are a Broadcaster that have Host Broadcasting Global Feed responsibilities. Tell him we are not Tourists.
Five minutes later the bus door opened a crack as the driver said. “This bus is for the Canadians”, which did not go over well with 100 people waiting from other countries. Another rush to the bus as he closed the door.
I got the CEO and my team to form a curved blockade that created a protected pathway to the bus. Women and children first. We finally rolled our protection line into the bus. Expelled 2 stowaways, and then battelled to pull people out of the luggage storage.
The bus was silent as we pulled out and let out collective sighs of relief. John Cassaday praised me, and the bus applauded. I said to the bus that I wanted to thank Tito who spoke Catalan, but barely any English.
I said “Tito, you probably don’t understand what I am saying, but whatever you told the bus driver most certainly worked! Thank you, my friend. (BTW No money required)
The bus broke out laughing….
It has been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I was a competitive swimmer; my era was the speedo era. Mark Spitz!
I was also a lifeguard and instructor who taught young kids how to swim, in my speedo of course, as I was getting in and out of the water with my students to demonstrate strokes.
After 2 weeks, I got pulled aside by Rod, my manager, who told me Larry Rooks from the City of London wanted to talk to me. He was in the pool office. Oh no. What did I do?
Larry said that they had received complaints from mothers about my speedo. My anatomy apparently was distracting and offending the parents of my students. Larry said, don’t worry about it, just put on your red shorts over top.
I learned that although it was comfortable and usual for me to be in my speedo, that my actions were negatively impacting my ultimate customers. I did not protest, Taught in shorts after that.
I was kind of flattered. LOL
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My dad’s oldest brother Robert “Bob” Strickland. He and I were very close friends, we sailed together, and watched hoops together.
He is the only person I can name that attended Huskies and Raptors NBA Games. He lived in Montreal and was a Celtics Fan. Larry Bird vs Magic. Loved Stockton and Malone. Then both of us Steve Nash.
He was on the Long Branch Corvette in the Canadian Navy. Protecting Convoys. He was a U of T engineer after the war.
He owned the first Bentley in Canada. Five different E-Type Jaguars. He played the trumpet. He loved Hugh Hefner’s introduction of black music into the mainstream.
He taught me to live in the moment.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
“13 Rules” single featuring OG Toronto Raptors Tracy Murray, Jimmy King and Acie Earl as well as Canadian sports announcer Rod Black. The single is performed by well-known Canadian artists Sheldon Universe, Fab El and Denosh. We released the single following my new company 13 Rules Inc. launch during the Harmony Rules Fest in Uxbridge, Ontario. The launch was attended by special guest artists and OG Toronto Raptors Basketball players. My vision for the new company is to bring the history of Basketball to life through music, uniting all genres and people. The goal of the 13 Rules Inc. is to bridge the gap between music, basketball & cultures within communities. Strickland and his crew want to shine the light on the people the moments & the cultures that have made basketball what it is today. “13 Rules” release begins that Journey.
We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in music, film, and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?
Canada in 1972 was the first Nation in the world to declare Multiculturalism as a Strategy.
I grew up very close to downtown Detroit so racial diversity was visible in my world, I had a Chinese friend when I was 5. His grandmother did not speak English. But loved feeding us!
My heroes were black. HOF Piston Dave Bing, Willie Horton.
Diversity to me, is the capability to see things in perspectives that only create better and more workable solutions in all business and society, and for us, in our case, our art.
As a Global Marketing Professor, with students all over the world, I am a better person for having the perspectives that get fed to me by young Marketing students.
Diversity demands that your team looks like your customers, so they can empathize with them. That is what makes great brands: Great People.
The song is a proof point for the potential of Canadian Diversity. A global hoops anthem from Canada.
As a successful music star, you’ve likely faced challenges along the way. How do you stay motivated? How do you overcome obstacles in your career?
I watched and learned as an “adopted” sibling of John Bitove Sr. (JB) working in the family business. Having unfettered access to JB was like having access to a business supercomputer. We had a secret weapon. We never gave up.
John Bitove Jr. and all the rest of our Raptors team were underdogs. That motivated me. The established media and sports teams were against us. Magic Johnson and Michael Cohl also competed. Winning the bid was apparently “neither right, nor fair” according to TSN, but we climbed that mountain.
On 13 Rules, John helped keep me focussed and motivated. John knows how to lead and motivate and move around obstacles. He is the best I know at doing that.
He continues to advise me when I ask for his help to this day. He believed in me from the start. I am channeling what JB, John and his brothers and sister Vonna, all taught me.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?
- You are going to threaten people with your creative intelligence. Challenge perceptions they don’t want challenged. You need to adapt your energy and language to your audience.
- Feeling and behaving like a victim is your own trap. Fight to break the chains from emotional triggers to break the circuit, Take control.
- It’s not your fault (thanks Annalisa). The abuse you suffered as a child needs to be talked about. We all need to cry.
- You can’t fight everyone’s battle when you see injustice. You will torture yourself over something you can’t control. Focus positively on the future you want to see and be bold enough to create it. Be the change you want to see.
- For songs, write a poem to express your feelings in creative words first, then try writing the music. After watching Rocket Man, I fell in love with Elton and Bernie’s method.
Can you share some insights into your creative process? How do you approach songwriting? How do you approach musical collaborations?
The song writing process for 13 Rules started with a poem.
The name of the Song 13 Rules which is also the HOOK, as well as the chorus were part of that poem as well as the overall concept.
First, I decided who I wanted to love the song, zeroing in on my daughter Sarah who is 26 and Josh her partner.
For 13 rules I selected artists to work with connected to hoops.
Sheldon knows how to engage a live crowd. I wanted that. He hit a home run.
Fab El loves hoops and translated my poem into that amazing smart rap.
Call and response. Fan interaction was planned. I needed help to create a song Canadian Hoops players would be proud to listen to.
MUSIC
The song has no rivals. No EDM Sports Anthems meant to pass on our sports History.
EDM, Hip Hop, Soul, and Folk
It is interesting. It draws you in and rewards you, your mind, and your body.
How do you connect with your audience?
I am authentic and real as is our entire 13 Rules Team.
The song was written by OG’s. I think that makes it amazing, and it was written and performed by independent, Passionate people.
With your busy schedule and demanding performances, how do you prioritize self-care and maintain a balance between your personal life and career in the music industry?
As an empty nester who is single and draws creative energy from cool people around me creating cool things. I am ready willing and able!
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I have a strong belief in the power of social movements. The campaign the Media Consortium put together for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics called Believe, was in fact a movement. We also had a song.
We were asking Canadians to believe in our athletes, know their stories, and help them remove Canada’s stigma prior to Vancouver of having been the only Country to host the Olympics (Calgary and Montreal) without winning a gold medal on home soil. We set media records and Canada won the most gold medals (24).
13 Rules is also a movement that builds on that theme, but in the arts community, by leveraging untapped potential for the best Global Collaborations within Canada.
We are an indie movement- not dictated by outdated norms. We will be willing to fail to become great. We will do things that have never been done before.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
The TNT Gang. Shaquille O’neal, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson JR, Charles Barkley. I would love for them to join the “13 Rules” Movement.
How can our readers continue to follow your work online?
https://www.instagram.com/13rules_inc/
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
