Welcome to the ZTalent September 8th Newsletter! We’re excited to bring you the latest updates and community highlights. This edition features an exclusive interview with our Community Member of the Month, Bible Beavers. Plus, find out about our streamlined event schedule and how you can stay connected with the ZAO community.

Community Member of the Month Interview: Bible Beavers

We are thrilled to spotlight Brandon Schroeder, founder of Bible Beavers, as our Community Member for the Month of August!

Bible Beavers is a non-genre-specific Christian music entertainment company founded by Brandon Schroeder, focusing on uplifting messages through music and film. Formerly known as the Beaver Jam Club, Brandon’s work continues to inspire and make an impact.

Here is OUR exclusive interview:

Daniel Obuté: What's your favorite song of yours?
Bible Beavers: “Greatness Indeed,” the only song I have ever produced & done more than just the drums/percussion for.

Daniel Obuté: Who's your dream collaboration?
Bible Beavers: I would LOVE to collab with Post Malone, or Forrest Frank, or Tim Atlas, or Connor Price.

Daniel Obuté: What’s your most memorable studio moment?
Bible Beavers: Recording for Nick Cage’s son’s band Eyes of Noctum in Sweden back in 2008 with famous producer/recording engineer Fredrick Nordstrom.

Heather/CC: How would you introduce yourself to yourself?
Bible Beavers: Hey whatsup? This is my good friend Brandon, meet, also, Brandon. You have a lot in common such as music, faith, & goals, you guys should definitely chat and see how you might be able to collab on some future music together. Funk Forward!

Heather/CC: What do you hope to see yourself doing in 10 years?
Bible Beavers: As a Christian-Music oriented professional drummer working on my YouTube channel which is half music & half about Christian faith.

Davyd: What's the goal with your art?
Bible Beavers: To move the listener, motivate, & inspire from the groove, melody, to the meanings & intentions. The drumming should excite and motivate, while the lyrics or title inspires to question preconceived notions or inspires the listener/viewer to want to express gratitude.

Davyd: Who or what inspired you during your childhood?
Bible Beavers: My parents were my biggest inspiration. Though they did not express the same faith as I have now, they inspired me to strive for what is right in the world, to maintain integrity, & to own up to my faults. They are also huge classic & hard rock music fans!

Davyd: What's been your biggest win in life so far?
Bible Beavers: Marrying my wife Meredith, having our 2 sons, & being saved by God.

Losi: What’s a hobby you have outside of music?
Bible Beavers: Lifting Weights, all-natural bodybuilding.

Losi: Who's your favorite musician or artist?
Bible Beavers: Danny Carey (drummer from Tool), Post Malone, Tim Atlas, & the bands: Yes, Jethro Tull, Rush, Black Sabbath, & Pantera.

Losi: Where did the name Beaver Jam come from?
Bible Beavers: 15 years ago I was living with Nick Cage’s son Wes Cage in Hollywood working on his metal project Eyes of Noctum. The band never took off but I became great friends with the estate manager Kevin and we started our own project based on the many connections we had made in Hollywood. The project was an animated 30-minute sitcom about a funky band of beavers named Beaver Jam who try to unite the animals of the forest with funk music. We had a Disney animator then and created a full story arc for several seasons of shows. However, even with our Hollywood connections, the sitcom was never launched and instead sat on a dusty shelf for over a decade. Flash forward to Fall of 2021 & Crypto/ NFTs are blowing up to unimaginable heights. I saw the podcast with Rogan & Beeple about NFTs being a resurgence for all types of artists & I fell in love with the tech. Not only was it a great opportunity for musicians but web3 represented giving power back to the artists and away from centralized organizations like web2 record labels. I then began working on rebranding Beaver Jam as an animated sitcom into a decentralized, web3 record label. However, now to bring up to date to 2024, I have rebranded a 3rd time as Bible Beavers. The future of NFTs is certainly unknown & largely unpredictable, however, my love of music & desire to create will never fade away. Therefore, Bible Beavers is still absolutely a web3-web2 music project, but also changing lanes to focus on the topic of Christianity within music & at large throughout modern culture.

Tej M: What inspired you the most to learn how to play drums?
Bible Beavers: My parents bought me my first drum set at Christmas of 1999 & being a diehard fan of the bands Rush & Heart at a young age!

Tej M: How do you find balance between work, family, and music?
Bible Beavers: Extreme passion. Out of the love of all 3 do I inspire myself to always step-it-up & strive to be a better version of myself than the day previous. That plus the grace of God which is my source of passion & love.

Tej M: What's your goal with "Bible Beavers"?
Bible Beavers: To eventually become exclusively a professional musician. To be able to quit my construction career and go full-time into music.

Candy: If you had an unlimited budget and resources, what would be your dream solo music video or performance?
Bible Beavers: It would be making a collab music video with Post Malone, literally anywhere ;)

Candy: What is something music-related that you would like to do with one of your biggest fans?
Bible Beavers: If a fan of mine is also a music creator, I would be honored to do a drum cover & post a music video on my YouTube channel of their music one day, ideally helping to promote that fan’s music.

Candy: If you had a superpower that made you fluent in all languages and you had to sing in a different language, which would you choose?
Bible Beavers: German since I am half German by descent, half my family lives there, & it is my favorite sounding language besides English.

AttaBotty: Can you tell us more about what inspired you to create a non-genre-specific community?
Bible Beavers: For one thing, I love all genres of music & actively listen to them all. The other reason is I believe the future of music is like what happened to Rock & Metal with the formation of Nu-Metal back in the early 2000s. To me, this was the beginning of the future where genres no longer stay isolated. The future of different music genres is the tasteful blending of each. It is often said that everything creatively has already been done, however, I know that is a false statement as the continual blending of past ideas open up new options, possibilities, & future novel genres yet unexplored. In fact, that is how creativity has always worked as we are inspired by ideas already forged to see what new ideas may be built upon the successes of the past.

AttaBotty: Are there any new techniques or styles you’re currently experimenting with?
Bible Beavers: Improving my mixing abilities for songs once recorded.

AttaBotty: Have you ever played or toured with any famous musicians?
Bible Beavers: I recorded and worked closely with Jack Douglas during my time working with Wes Cage, Nick Cage’s son, the American record producer. He is known for his work with John Lennon (producing the legendary song “Imagine,” Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, and the New York Dolls, among other rock artists in the 1970s and 1980s; notably he produced four successful albums for Aerosmith. Jack would be in the same studio giving me 1 on 1 pointers for several months.

OhnahjiB: How do you approach overcoming creative blocks or challenges in your music-making process?
Bible Beavers: Respecting when breaks are needed, the use of medical-grade cannabis :) & prayer.

OhnahjiB: Can you share a specific moment or performance that significantly influenced your career or artistic direction?
Bible Beavers: Watching the Rogan & Beeple podcast in 2021 about web3 reinvigorated my passion to create music. Music was on the back burner for me for a few years as I focused on my construction career & creating my family. That podcast changed my expectations for my future and my ability to create art as a career. It brought me to where I am now, more dedicated to creating music than ever before in my life, which says a lot considering I dedicated my life to creating music back when I was only 10 years old.

OhnahjiB: How do you stay motivated and inspired to keep evolving as an artist, especially during challenging times?
Bible Beavers: Prayer, respecting when breaks are needed, & keeping perspective of my priorities. Music is more than a hobby for me, it is a way of life and connection to what matters the most. Therefore challenging times often draw me closer to music & my potential with it.

Hurric4n3ike: What’s your favorite Beaver joke?
Bible Beavers: How does a beaver get online? He logs in or what did the atheist-beaver say when he first went to Hell after death? “Well, I’ll be dammed.”

Hurric4n3ike: What is the meaning of life to you?
Bible Beavers: To PARTY!!... no JK ;) ...To self-discover one’s potential in the fullness of God’s expectations for you.

ZAO Event Schedule

The ZAO event schedule has been streamlined and is now accessible through a Google calendar. You can stay up-to-date with all the happenings by visiting the calendar on the ZTalent website.

Make sure to mark your calendars and join us for the events that resonate with you!

Thank You for Being Part of the ZTalent Community

We’re grateful to have such a vibrant and engaged community, and we look forward to all the incredible contributions and collaborations in the coming weeks. Whether you’re a creator, builder, or supporter, your presence makes a difference.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or want to get more involved, feel free to reach out to us. Let’s make this a great month together!

Stay tuned for more updates in our next edition.

Best,
The ZTalent Team