My Gurus – allow me to introduce you:
Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin is a modern day Buddha.
He is responsible for modern music as we know it: He introduced the Beastie Boys to the world, invented the rap / rock genre which became Nü Metal, and had produced everyone from Adelle to Slayer – and everyone in between.
At least half of your favorite records were produced by Rick Rubin.
He has every reason in the world to name drop and walk with arrogance – and yet – you’d be hard pressed to find a more humble man.
What to check out:
Richard Avedon
“Sometimes I think all my pictures are just pictures of me. My concern is, how would you say, well, the human predicament; only what I consider the human predicament may simply be my own. ”
-Richard Avedon
Avedon’s elegant minimalism – and his sense of play – have made him my #1 photography hero.
What to check out:
Chris Do – “The Futur”
Chris Do is a graphic designer by trade, an artistic & entrepreneurial motivator by calling.
What to check out:
Rory Sutherland
Rory Sutherland is another one of my fav marketing gurus. His genius comes from his uncanny ability to ask uncommon questions about seemingly common ideas. Hilarious sense of humor, too.
What to check out:
Gary V.
IYKYK….
Gary Vaynerchuck is the GOAT in the world of marketing.
What to check out:
Mark Moss
I am not a crypto guru – so I follow this guy. He’s always struck me as a very straight shooter.
What to check out:
Steven Bartlett
Steven Barlett has an uncanny ability to do what most podcast hosts struggle to do:
Ask a provocative question, then shut the fuck up for a while and let the guest speak.
Sure, he’s an entrepreneur with few peers – but podcasting is his truest calling.
What to check out:
Maynard James Keenan
Singer of Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer – Maynard James Kennan is a creative genius with few peers. Aside from music, he’s an entrepreneur & winemaker.
A modern day “heyoka”, the embodiment of the trickster spirit.
What to check out:
Steven Wilson
Where do I even begin….
Steven Wilson has the ability to make the melancholy truly beautiful.
A “progressive” rock musician in the truest sense – every album is a foray into a new idea, a new sound.
Steven Wilson’s solo music, and his band Porcupine Tree, and a huge part of the soundtrack of my life.
What to check out:
Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart: RUSH
“Blah, blah, blah blah blah!”
– Alex Lifeson
To know me, is to know how much, and why, I adore RUSH. They changed my life. I owe so much of my character to their influence on me as a young man.
I’ll leave it at that for now.
What to check out:
Tobias Forge
The band GHOST is the brainchild of Tobias Forge. In league with Maynard James Keenan, he too, is a creative genius with few peers. Like Maynard, Tobias is a brilliant embodiment of the trickster spirit.
What to check out:
Duane Huber Jensen
The OG Duane, my father. He was an alchemist – turned the hardest things into his biggest blessing. He lived a simple life of service to our family and the world around him. I hope to measure up to him some day.
Duane is my middle name. I made the decision to go by my first and middle name in the creative world because “Paul Jensen” is the most forgettable name ever imagined, and – to give tribute and keep my father’s legacy alive with everything I create with both of our names on it.