John Penman on Anxiety, Imposter Syndrome and Doing It Anyway

<p>John Penman, drummer for Detroit hard rock band Armada Lodge, took a pay cut on purpose — leaving restaurant management to stock shelves so every spare thought could go to the band. On MAKE // BREAK, he tells Lance Marwood how the trade works: affirmations on the bathroom mirror, a rolling whiteboard planning Armada Lodge six months out, section-testing songs with ads until the data humbles you, and RuneScape as nervous-system maintenance. It&#39;s the most practical systems conversation the show has aired — and it only exists because Penman sent a cold email and refused to treat silence as a no.</p><p>In this episode:</p><ul><li>The deliberate pay cut: stocking shelves to buy back brain space for the band</li><li>Affirmations, bedtimes and a rolling six-month whiteboard</li><li>Section-testing songs with ads — and getting humbled by the data</li><li>Anxiety, imposter syndrome and not letting the horse into the city</li><li>A self-booked tour and the cold email that made this episode exist</li></ul><p>Guest links:</p><p>→ <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3TTblhnGaob5EH1umVfK27">https://open.spotify.com/artist/3TTblhnGaob5EH1umVfK27</a></p><p>→ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jnpnmn/">https://www.instagram.com/jnpnmn/</a></p><p>—</p><p>→ Listen on all platforms: <a href="https://pod.link/1831627966">https://pod.link/1831627966</a></p><p>→ Watch on YouTube: <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUBRjKMVTI9g9dYHn-G1Eib-LfKLZso6_">https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUBRjKMVTI9g9dYHn-G1Eib-LfKLZso6_</a></p><p>→ Follow: <a href="https://instagram.com/lowkeyhellish">https://instagram.com/lowkeyhellish</a></p><p>→ V13 Media: <a href="https://v13.net">https://v13.net</a></p><p>→ V13 Store: <a href="https://v13.store">https://v13.store</a></p><p>→ The Cherale (horror novella): <a href="https://a.co/d/1SZhhwS">https://a.co/d/1SZhhwS</a></p><p>→ V13 newsletters: <a href="https://v13.net/newsletter/">https://v13.net/newsletter/</a></p><p>Subscribe — and then send the cold email you&#39;ve been sitting on. Silence isn&#39;t a no.</p>