SuperLife with Darin Olien Brandon Jenner: What Becoming a Father Forced Me to Finally Face About My Childhood
What happens when the two things you love most seem to demand completely different versions of you?
In this deeply personal conversation, Darin sits down with his longtime friend, musician and father of four Brandon Jenner to explore the tension between showing up fully for your family and honoring the creative part of yourself that still needs space to exist. After years in which fatherhood became the centerpiece of his life, Brandon recently carved out three intense months to record a ten-song album in his home studio.
Brandon opens up about the reality of raising four children, including twin boys, and the constant feeling that there are more balls in the air than any parent can possibly catch. He shares how becoming a father forced him to confront parts of his own childhood, including the emotions that surfaced when his sons reached the age he was when his own father stopped being consistently present.
The conversation expands into creativity, vulnerability, regret, family relationships, and legacy. Darin shares the powerful story of discovering unmarked cassette tapes of his late father singing while cleaning out his mother's home after her death. That discovery creates a new perspective for Brandon: the music he makes isn't taking something away from his children. It's also leaving them a piece of their father they may carry for the rest of their lives.
Together, Darin and Brandon explore what it means to stop filtering yourself through other people's opinions, repair relationships before it's too late, transform regret into wisdom, and give the people you love permission to see who you really are.
What You'll Learn- How Brandon balances being a father of four with the need to create
- Why he recorded an entire ten-song album in only three months
- How becoming a parent brought unresolved parts of Brandon's childhood back to the surface
- Why boredom, silence, and daydreaming can be essential ingredients for creativity
- How songwriting became a deeply therapeutic form of emotional expression
- Why vulnerability is at the center of the music Brandon wants to create
- How the art you make can become part of the legacy your children inherit
- Why Darin believes unresolved tension in relationships should be addressed immediately
- How Brandon thinks about regret and his past marijuana use
- Why authentic self-expression matters more than filtering yourself through other people's opinions
00:00:02 – Welcome to SuperLife
00:00:32 – Sponsor: Fatty15
00:04:12 – Introducing Brandon Jenner
00:05:47 – Inside the studio where Brandon created his new album
00:06:36 – Making a ten-song record in only three months
00:07:12 – The tension between fatherhood and being an artist
00:08:19 – The moment Brandon decided it was finally time to create
00:09:01 – How not wanting to let people down has shaped Brandon's life
00:09:37 – Why parenthood has defined the last decade
00:10:28 – Four kids and constantly feeling like you're dropping a ball
00:11:09 – Why creativity requires boredom, silence, and space
00:12:36 – Finding joy through service to others
00:13:06 – There is never a perfect time to create
00:14:35 – Why your children also need to see you pursue what you love
00:15:14 – When Brandon's sons reached the age he stopped seeing his father
00:16:14 – Daydreaming as a creative superpower
00:17:38 – Asking his wife for the space to disappear creatively
00:18:37 – Sponsor: Shakeology
00:20:24 – Making an album is like going out to sea
00:21:05 – Why albums still matter in an eight-second-attention world
00:22:16 – Songwriting as therapy
00:23:05 – Creating from feeling instead of analysis
00:24:13 – The story hidden behind every lyric
00:25:37 – Music as a transmission of emotion
00:26:33 – How songs help us process experiences we can't explain
00:27:21 – Why vulnerability makes music powerful
00:28:20 – The unique energetic fingerprint of every artist
00:29:27 – Darin discovers recordings of his late father
00:30:19 – Hearing his father's voice after losing his mother
00:31:14 – Grief, music, memory, and emotional release
00:32:26 – Why Brandon may have needed to make this album now
00:33:30 – Creativity as something Brandon did for himself
00:33:57 – Entering the creative flow state
00:35:27 – The moments that become permanently etched into our lives
00:36:18 – How music transcended Darin's parents' difficult history
00:36:57 – Sharing his father's voice with siblings who barely knew him
00:38:23 – The art you create becomes part of your children's inheritance
00:39:32 – Music, vulnerability, and legacy
00:40:27 – What Brandon's children will remember about making this album
00:41:37 – What Darin wishes he'd done differently before losing his mom
00:42:56 – The conversations that changed Darin's family before his mother's death
00:44:26 – Don't wait to repair the relationships that matter
00:45:08 – Take off the masks and tell people how you really feel
00:46:14 – How tiny unresolved conflicts become separation
00:47:13 – Breaking the roles we unconsciously play inside our families
00:48:12 – Why honesty is often hardest with the people closest to us
00:49:58 – Grief, siblings, and preparing relationships before loss
00:51:22 – Parenthood goes faster than you think
00:52:01 – What will actually matter when you look back?
00:53:32 – The truth about regret
00:54:31 – Turning past choices into awareness
00:55:32 – Darin on continuing to feel his parents after their deaths
00:56:21 – Looking back at the roads you didn't take
00:58:08 – Brandon's regret about smoking marijuana when he was young
00:59:17 – Turning regret into something useful
01:00:18 – Quitting marijuana and what Brandon wants his children to learn
01:00:42 – How people can hear Brandon's new music
01:01:08 – What happened to the traditional music business
01:02:18 – Why streaming changed the economics of being an artist
01:03:10 – Technology made music more democratic
01:04:04 – Why artists no longer need permission from the industry
01:04:51 – Social media's enormous influence on music today
01:05:35 – Adapting instead of complaining about a changing industry
01:05:59 – Brandon's strategy for sharing the meaning behind his songs
01:06:47 – Stop filtering yourself through other people's opinions
01:07:27 – The courage to say what you actually mean
01:08:06 – Teaching his children that creativity is a safe space
01:08:46 – Why music gives us permission to be completely vulnerable
01:09:38 – Teaching children to express what they're really feeling
01:10:26 – Brandon reflects on Darin's discipline and commitment
01:11:27 – Friendship, support, and walking the walk
01:12:25 – The beautiful insanity of raising twin boys
01:13:11 – Brandon's album, fatherhood, and final thoughts
Thank You to Our Sponsors:-
Fatty15: Get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to fatty15.com/DARIN and using code DARIN at checkout.
-
Shakeology: Get 15% off with code DARINO1BODI at Shakeology.com.
Get Darin's deeper wellness breakdowns — beyond social media restrictions:
-
Weekly voice notes
-
Ingredient deep dives
-
Wellness challenges
-
Energy + consciousness tools
-
Community accountability
-
Extended episodes
Join for $7.49/month → https://patreon.com/darinolien
Find More from Brandon Jenner:-
Stream the New Album: Full Circle
-
Instagram: @brandonjenner
-
Youtube: @BrandonJenner
-
Website: darinolien.com
-
Instagram: @darinolien
-
Book: Fatal Conveniences
-
Platform & Products: superlife.com
-
New Show: Roadmap to Happiness
"Showing up for the people you love doesn't require erasing the parts of yourself that make you who you are. Your children don't only need your time. They need to see your passion, your creativity, your vulnerability, and your willingness to express what is inside you. The art you make today may become part of what they carry when you're no longer here. So have the difficult conversation. Clear the resentment. Tell people you love them. Make the thing you're called to make. Stop filtering yourself through everyone else's opinions, because the most personal expression of who you are may ultimately become the greatest legacy you leave behind."