The problem of doing what you want on your wedding day - when others want you to go with the flow (one week after this conversation Damian was getting married Vegas)
Moving to New York
The problem of describing what he does; Musician v Builder of Businesses
The creativity of building businesses
When he gets bored it's time to move on
Being a five-star failer
Good drummers = good videographers
Playing Wembley Arena & Hyde Park
Meeting your heroes
Being paid to do what you love
Failing all his GCSE's
Joining a band
Signing a record deal and the anticipation of becoming a rock star
The 9 months of anticipation being followed by being dropped by the record label
Getting a job in the local shampoo factory
Realising that he didn't want to get used to a very boring job
Why everyone should do a very boring job
Reacting to rock-bottom
Being more scared of staying at the shampoo factory than he was scared of the unknown
Understanding that failure isn't fatal
Finding his 'lane' which is working very hard to overcome any lack of talent
Competing with himself not others
Why he doesn't want to look back on his life and wish he'd done something different
Why life is like a computer game
Money is like oxygen - you don't really care about it until it's gone
One holiday in his 20's
What are holidays?
Having a Dad with no ambition whatsoever and reacting to that
Taking personal responsibility
Contentment v Ambition
His very supportive mum
Having a Stepdad who introduced fun and was a big influence on his life
Sliding doors moments
The importance of the mentors in his life, particularly Bruce Dickinson
When 'Why Not?' is the answer
The amazing Princes Trust
Going to Rock School
The different lenses through which we look at life and why alternative lenses are essential for growth
The importance of doubting that your stories are the only important stories
When snow forced Damian to move from Rock School student to Rock School teacher
When Damian became the Rock School's Sales & Marketing Manager
Following/stalking his mentor Bruce and how they set up their own music college (BIMM)
Damian's focus on giving students the best music education possible
How in the first 3 years students were involved in 24 Top 40 hits (including the Kooks)
The importance of remembering students names (and at the height taking 3 weeks to remember 1,000 students names)
How the scale of BIMM became a problem
Leaving BIMM
How becoming a millionaire was overshadowed by a sense of failure
Losing confidence
The 'what next?' moment
Feeling like Jason Orange
Going back to the comfort of his bass guitar
Learning to sing and having too much work
Starting to manage bands and having to employ people to help out
How learning is a confidence builder
His Mum's words 'do it while you can'
Unwittingly becoming the social media guy
The irony of being asked to write a book when the last book he'd read was Fantastic Mr Fox
Writing 'Fuck Plan B' which became 'The rulebreakers guide to social media'
Understanding that both success and failure are fleeting and just part of the game
The importance of doubting the stories you tell yourself when the story is that you can't do something
The importance of creating meaningful experiences or 'legacy'
Damian's next adventure and why it feels like he's burning the ships