Ravi
November 5th 2008

Songwriter/Activist/Mogul

After a wonderfully exciting and long “election day” night, Pyramind’s students welcomed Ravi, a long time participant of the “Planning for Success” series on November 5th 2008. Ravi has been doing presentations at Pyramind for quite a few years, and this time was another great presentation that focused on his early history and how he has changed with the times, while always staying true to the person/musician he is.

Ravi grew up in Connecticut, in a “Wall Street” type family, but it was clear he wanted to be involved in the music business from a young age. He got a guitar when he was a youngster and built a studio in his basement. He worked hard at both the production side and the performance side and eventually started recording bands at his home studio. Around the same time he was asked by a friend about submitting a demo as a A & R person he knew said a band he worked with was looking for a guitar player to play one show. Ravi got the guy’s info, and drove (in the middle of the night) to drop off this demo. Needless to say he got the gig, which turned out to be Hanson. After that first show, he spent a few years on the road with the brothers during the most successful period in the band’s history, and then left the band and wrote a best-selling book which was published and released a few years after the touring stint. Gigs with Hanson included major shows, late night TV programs and even the White House!

The day’s presentation talked about many aspects of how to capitalize on your success and visibility and how Ravi was able to get many speaking engagements and later equipment sponsors that he has partnered with over the past few years. These relationships continue to this day, and he discussed how he has managed and expanded these partnerships with companies like Sennheiser, Martin Guitars, and Digitech.

In addition, Ravi is the founder of ArtisticIntegrity.org and CultureofIntegrity.org—two Web sites aimed at inspiring greater social responsibility amongst artists and corporations. These Web sites combined with his frequent lectures and articles on "Integrity" have positioned Ravi as one of the most outspoken advocates on the subject in the music industry. He is also the spokesman for The Music For Life Alliance—uniting non-profits that bring music education to underprivileged kids—and he sits on the board of several organizations under that umbrella.

Overall Ravi spoke about his love of the industry and his new focus, Aviation, as he became a pilot a few years ago and now has turned some of his focus to lecturing at various “flying” related events. The students enjoy his presentation, and Pyramind will be honored to have him back anytime he is in the bay area!