The Rituals of Performance: Preparing for the Stage

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life.

You’ll get plenty of that in this special episode, which features my interview with Stewart Copeland from my 2017 TV Show Fear{less}. The “less” is in parentheses because the objective is to teach you to fear less, not to be fearless.

Fear{less} features in-depth, long-form conversations with top performers, focusing on how they’ve overcome fears and made hard decisions, embracing discomfort and thinking big.

It was produced by Wild West Productions, and I worked with them to make both the video and audio available to you for free, my dear listeners. You can find the video of this episode on YouTube.com/TimFerriss, and eventually you’ll be able to see all episodes for free at YouTube.com/TimFerriss.

Spearheaded by actor/producer and past podcast guest Vince Vaughn, Wild West Productions has produced a string of hit movies including The Internship, Couples Retreat, Four Christmases, and The Break-Up.

In 2020, Wild West produced the comedy The Opening Act, starring Jimmy O. Yang and Cedric The Entertainer. In addition to Fear{less}, their television credits include Undeniable with Joe Buck, ESPN’s 30 for 30 episode about the ’85 Bears, and the Netflix animated show F is for Family.

Please enjoy!

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On Letterman and lions: Stewart details the only two drum solos he’s done in his life (and, for the sake of participation, I share mine). [05:28]

The great thing about taking risks with music? It’s not paragliding. How does Stewart introduce a new musician to having fun with music without worrying about the consequences of making mistakes? [10:30]

With a father who was both a jazz musician and a CIA agent, what was Stewart’s childhood like? [14:09]

What initially drew Stewart to music, and how did his first gig go? How did these early forays into music abroad affect his evolution as a musician? [16:25]

How Stewart became the drummer for a band he was managing and married the singer in what looks, on paper, like a series of Machiavellian, Game of Thrones-style power moves. [20:55]

How did The Police come together as a band? [23:04]

During the early days of The Police, what did Stewart and his bandmates imagine success might look like? What milestones inched them closer to realizing this success? [27:08]

How does Stewart prepare for a gig? [29:52]

Why being in The Police was often like wearing “a Prada suit made out of barbed wire.” [32:27]

Circumstances that might trigger the righteous anger by which Stewart finds himself invigorated. [36:41]

Examples of good things that have happened to Stewart simply by saying “Yes.” [39:37]

How did Stewart wind up scoring Rumble Fish for Francis Ford Coppola? [41:13]

How does Stewart define success? [43:27]

Stewart’s advice for anyone from a rock and roll musical background who wants to pursue film scoring. [44:33]

Stewart’s advice for a budding musician trying to get their foot in the door of today’s entertainment industry, and how the process differs from when Stewart was just getting started. [46:22]

What music does Stewart find particularly interesting from today’s roster of artists? [48:42]

On favorite failures as a concept. [51:47]

What Stewart’s billboard would say, and parting thoughts for the audience. [52:42]

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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.

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