Patrice Peris on Sync, Survival, and Why You Don't Need a Backup Plan
Gig Gab - The Working Musician's PodcastShow Notes
This week singer-songwriter Patrice Peris joins Dave to flip the script on building a music career. That question musicians always get – what’s your backup plan? – is a terrible one, because Plan A was never required to land where you first mapped it. Through COVID, a cancer diagnosis, and a bone-marrow transplant she now calls a rebirth, Patrice kept asking what each detour was teaching her and never stopped writing, landing sync placements on Netflix, HBO Max, and The Voice along the way.
Want to break into sync licensing yourself? Get resourceful and bullheaded: take a class, build multiple streams of revenue, and gamify the grind: how many gigs can you find, how many music supervisors can you email? Every musician is an entrepreneur, and the numbers game rewards whoever keeps opening doors.
Then Patrice gets practical, because gigging musicians are athletes. You get her playbook for protecting your voice across three-set nights: a real warmup, scale work, stretching, smart placement that pulls the sound out of your throat and into the mask, and the vocal rest you keep skipping. From there comes the band conversation nobody wants to have: in-ear monitors and the whole mix exist to serve the lead vocalist, so drop the ego and decide together what you actually want your band to sound like. Build a backup bench while you’re at it, because life happens and roles need filling. Patrice stepped back from the stage but never stopped creating, and that’s the whole point: keep writing, keep adapting, and Always Be Performing.
00:00:00 Gig Gab 540 – Monday, June 29th, 2026
June 29th: National Waffle Iron Day
Guest co-hosts: Patrice Peris
00:02:36 Live has given me things in waves that weren’t what I wanted
Welcoming the unexpected
00:05:20 “What’s your Plan B?” Is a terrible question
And Plan A doesn’t have to go where you planned
00:07:55 COVID and Cancer…all a journey
00:09:10 Perspective… always be asking: what is this teaching me?
00:10:43 Always writing
00:11:40 How do you get started writing for sync?
A nod to bullheaded persistence
00:15:10 Starting a Sync Business
Always have multiple streams of revenue
Take a class (or two)
00:19:44 Being resourceful is the key to bullheaded persistence
Gamify it all!
How many gigs can I find?
How many people can I email?
00:22:57 Learn to be strategic and mindful
Anytime you’re climbing the ladder, failure is inevitable
Invest energy into the creative realm and also into the business realm
00:25:54 “No Plan” isn’t a plan
Listen to your inner 16 year old…sometimes!
00:29:47 Coaching people to let go of the hat
The 80% Rule
00:35:20 Growing your music business
00:35:38 Vocal blowout
Learn to Sing Like the Pro’s with Patrice Peris Voice Studios
Gigging musicians are athletes
Good warmup
Scale work
Physically stretching
Take some vocal rest
00:41:00 Listening for Placement
Where is the voice going?
00:42:31 In Ear Monitors can make a big difference
Bands need to understand the sound has to serve the lead vocalist
00:44:42 What do we want our band to sound like to people listening?
Bands need to come together as a group
Communicate and decide upon the goal for what the BAND is going to sound like
00:49:38 Get two of everything
00:50:56 Gig Gab 540 Outtro
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