 Boom, what's up everyone? Welcome to simulation. I'm your host on sake and we are still at the raw science film festival the fifth annual Propagating epicness in media about science and inspiring the next generation of creators We are now with Susie green Thank you. You said it. Thank you so much Really excited to talk all things songwriting all things American singer-songwriter of the Supremes a steam advocate Activists super pumped to talk about Everything yes, yeah exactly exactly and Just the soul that came through you into me when you were singing on stage was very profound It just rang through me. Wow. I had a stand-up and dance Love that, you know, that's the good result And just to give you an idea of who she is the song's unconditional love. Yes, indeed. So it's beyond just a few days Yeah, so everywhere Yes, everywhere. Yeah, yes, the new world. We need to awaken to the unconditional Yes, we do. We do. So let's let's jump into that specifically So we find ourselves here after a long period of evolution. We like taking a big history perspective on things So now we're stewards of earth after this long period of time. We have exponential technology happening all this population of people But the heart the heart centric. Are we educating kids in that? Realm of thinking. What's your synthesis on the current state of humanity? Oh my We are hopeful because there is a very large group of conscientious people who believe that there is hope for us as a What shall we say as a race of human beings, you know and we have the opportunity because of the technology because of the knowledge to do anything great Anything fine and we don't a lot of times because people are fooled. I think by fame You know, they want they want fame so many young people want to be famous But if you ask them for what they don't necessarily have a particular talent They have the passion and the determination to do something great But they're not preparing, you know when I was going to school you you took music classes and you you took art history and You know you you prepared if you were going to be a musician and this is what I always tell young people If you're going to be a musician, you need to prepare You need to take some music classes. You need to learn how to read music and if you're a singer you need to Nurture that talent, you know, I I was very blessed in that my own mother was a vocal coach She was a tremendous classical pianist. She was deadly serious about it. You you did what you had to do and She was my first coach. She taught me to love music And my mother and father were some of the first black DJs in America So it made for a wonderful music education Seriously, my my father was into jazz so I learned all kinds of things like Illinois Jacket and Willie the lion Smith, you know miles and all these people who Really believed that music was a healer and that's quite a thing right there And that's what's missing right now. Mmm. You know, I talked to Mickey Stevenson Who was the first A&R man at Motown and He's the one who put the funk brothers together the group that Supported all the acts that played on all those hit records and the thing that he said was music is sacred It is the sounds make you feel Yes, like you said your soul you feel something in your soul. Well There's a lot of music that I like nowadays But there's also a music a lot of music that is not melodic, you know, it'll have one or two chords no chord changes at all and The rap community the hip-hop community has been very kind to me Because two particular songs one was free. That was Denise Williams first million-seller And you know, it's a cultural icons type of song and Rappers have embraced it have loved it and have sampled it and the same with I can't help it Which I wrote with Stevie Wonder on Michael Jackson's off-the-wall album That album changed pop music because it had such a broad spectrum of danceability great lyrics great melodies and The particular song that particular song Stevie had written for himself for songs in the key of life And his sister who grew up with Michael and all his family said you should let Michael sing that and you know, he kind of It's a great song. It's hard to let a great song go sometimes But he was right to let Michael do it You know and and it was the one song on that album that was sort of Michael's most sophisticated presentation as an adult as a young adult But music and I think the power of music is in the feeling is that we Translate that to other people we go all around the world We travel and people don't speak the same language, but come on we we all feel we all fall in love We all want wish desire, you know, it's a commonality that we share And that's very important to me There's a couple things I want to address here The first thing is that and we're gonna get into your path in music here You started hinting at it and I started getting really delicious and exciting. I like it. I like it Not only did you tie in music and how you prepared your with your family as well with mom and dad, but How a lot of us now are born and Not necessarily preparing how many of the seven point seven billion I Have I have identified the ones that are old enough have identified with their mission in life What their purpose is on this planet? Not only that but then are they making the short-term steps that they need to do every day in order to actualize that mission That's an interesting thought and we need to get to a society that pushes that paradigm more and more and When that when a child is born we're able to help them identify what that mission is and then give and help give them the right Tools that they need to to get there and and that's a whole perspective shift on oh You you I oh we want we want fame or we want money or we want materialistic objects No, you want Something important is impact. I want to bring value to the world I want to I want to inspire the rest of the world to have an awareness shift all that stuff I loved how you brought that there. So now let's let's talk. Let's talk music Related to you started teaching us about you know mom was singing. Yes, and that's huge That's already hugely influential And even in in the epigenetics coated in the body and that's right And then the father and mother are both DJing as well So so tell us about how you Started picking it up and then cuz I love how you say it's all it's about that that that Translation Yeah, when I was a very little girl, I was told I always sang I would be humming something I wrote my first song at eight years old, you know But music had a special place in my heart because I've always known that it was a part of me You know I sang I wrote songs I created and that's the thing right there is the creation of things creators writers and it develops You know the things that you do the things that you think the things that you think are what you become But the main thing aside from music that my mother taught me was that nothing is impossible Come on Nothing, you know, she was the youngest person to ever graduate from Prairie View College She was 17. She was a brilliant woman when she graduated from college. She was so young at college She had to have a chaperone. Can you imagine that? party pooper But she was a serious student. She had been Nurtured her talent was nerdy. She played Mozart at three. She was a child prodigy and Because she was surrounded by people who knew that she had tremendous talent and she was a natural teacher She instilled that in us. She told me that as a woman as a black woman as a As a short person as a so many things you can be maligned or put down and yet You can do anything that you decide to do because other people's opinions of you, you know, everybody loves a winner See so if you have that focus and that's the main difference I believe focus between young people who Don't do something don't have a drive or a desire and people who Create and make something make a legacy make a difference is focus Determination, you know, you have to know I've always known what I was gonna do and yet I know people who still at 50 60 They don't know what they want to do in life and we all search for that see that's the thing we search And I think you know, if you have an inkling excuse me, I believe you have to be passionate There has to be something and it doesn't matter what your passion is if you're passionate about orchids Then you should be doing something with orchids for your life. But what we do is we think okay He did he you know, it's all about the money More money more problems the beat all these things the clothing the lights It's all attractive to people and not just young people, but it's a false thing You know if you have something that you are passionate about It's not about how much money you can make in life. You can be happy With less, but I think somebody has to tell you that you know, I really do I have I've been very blessed I have I've had opportunities to see things to travel to do things Sing places that other people have never been and may not but many people are Inspired by the fact that I'm humble That know I'm talented if I weren't confident in what I do I wouldn't be able to do it when you have five rain, you know a range of five octaves You have to be confident to hit those notes. It's control, you know, that's five octaves range Yes, absolutely, you know, and it depends on the day it can be more, you know But then those only the dogs can hear right that's more than a string like a violin or viola Cholo because that's four octaves, but it's natural you understand. I believe You know, it's you can learn but natural talent. I can sing high When I struggle to sing low sometimes depending upon how I feel. It's my natural range, you know So the confidence The fact that my mother told me that I was loved and I believed her that you can do anything that you try if you Put your heart and soul into it. If you are Focused as well. Oh my goodness. Yes guys limit. Yeah, those were so good right there. That was so good The again that second that that's such an important part yet unconditional love from mother the fat You can do anything to set your mind to you retain focus I'm interested if you could have done what you did if you were addicted to social media because it didn't exist back then But that's what that's a big Very true. It is a big distraction, but social media doesn't distract me Many many classic artists who have been big stars who have done great things are afraid To deal with social media because it's intimidating to them But I looked at this thing the information highway It's such a good one Right next to the information Right a milking taught us that yeah, yeah, well I heard it in the middle of the night and it was Steve Jobs talking about the information And I like perked up because I'm a I'm a woman who has always loved intelligence and intellect and tools You know, it's a tool for if you have Contact with the world if you have talent your people will find you online And if you think about the places we go Twitter Facebook Instagram LinkedIn, they're free. Oh my goodness They may not always be for now. Hopefully the business plans change. Yes. Exactly. Yeah, exactly I'd rather gladly pay 20 bucks a month for those then Have attention economy trying really mean there's so much better We can do with actually that data that we could actually own and make much better use of it You're a wealth of wisdom because we could we could easily just go off and spin into tons of conversational topics right now But I want people to know about what is it like being a part of the Supremes? Like what what is it like to have nothing because you know when we were Talking about behind the groove as well Sydney What's interesting is that most most most people when they eat at a restaurant They don't see the chef and the and the bussers and the waiters waitresses and the menu decisions and the food ordering Right same thing with the music a song. You don't see the 12 people that are involved. You only see the person sing That's right. You get the end result. Yes. So teach us about the complexity Well, my my the thing is I learned and I will back up just a little bit. I sang with Ray Charles for a long time My job was to do a solo him playing the piano and some of that's online people can find it and I was trusted you understand I was 1918 and 19 when I began with Ray and He trusted me because I could sing what I was told to sing I had a very quick memory. I could learn something just you know before you go on stage I could read if it comes down to that we could do it now and do it that way and You you can be depended on you know, you're an 18-piece band You're dealing with the big boys, you know, and if he'd say scat and scat, you know, I could handle it But the thing that I learned from him every single night He'd sing I can't stop loving you with the same depth of feeling the same passion Burn it down and he used to say I would sing for free But don't tell anybody until I'm gone. You know, you hey I would sing for free because he knew I understood that I could look that in the face Yeah, and this is what I do and I'll do it to my best ability every single time Because that's what it's about. It's about those people who come out of themselves they come they're going out and They need Elevating they need inspiring they need uplifting they need something a little bit out of the ordinary and have you ever considered when you're on stage You're up a little higher You see so people are looking up at you and they need to admire what they see when they get up there I Began with the Supremes after Ray. I sang with Stevie Wonder We did a lot of writing and we were like big teenagers, you know 24-7 we'd show up at the studio in the middle of the night and Do whatever we were doing, you know, and we recorded songs in the key of life and other things but Totally different and it believed me It doesn't escape me that I worked with the two premier blind Singers in the world musicians in the world, but they each taught me and in a different thing Stevie taught me how to really write a song how to write it and then rewrite it But when I it came time For the Supremes, you know, and it's all about timing. It's all about that my mother once again was on the executive board of the NAACP in Beverly Hills and She was friends with Bob Jones Bob Jones was ahead of publicity at Motown and he told her that Cindy Bird song was leaving and Would I be interested? She called me and said, how would you like to be a supreme? Okay, and I thought well haven't done that before but that sounds interesting because as a teenager You know, I grew up in New York and we saw those three little girls from Detroit We saw them come along. We saw the one with the big eyes We saw the one with a little heart-shaped face for the other one who's beloved just look like a Barbie doll You know, there was something for everyone in the Supremes. That was the key so She said would you like to do that? And I said yes And They said a limousine was it a big Mercedes limousine long white car with laughed out windows that had belonged to George Harrison the Beagle and And they came to pick me up from Wonder Love rehearsal. I didn't tell anyone. I was leaving Wonder Love rehearsal I just got in that car and went on, you know, and they're still friends. We are still friends Wonder Love Nate Watts is still with Stevie Wonder Shirley Brewer Denise Williams. I spoke to just before the other night, you know, because free has been recorded a game It's gonna be someone Norman Brown's first single off of his album And that's songwriting good song is song is a song is a song goes on forever so I went into the Supremes and Sherry Payne Mary Wilson were so gracious to me and I knew it was difficult because Cindy was their friend, you know, but she was leaving to do other things It was an opportunity to see firsthand Real pros real pros and I've always been in a professional setting But this was on a different level the glamour the clothing the big hair Well, I'm from Texas. You know, we love the hair, right? but The thing that impressed me more than anything is you would see the same people around the world Well, how are you here? We just saw you in New York and here we are in Switzerland Save my money. Okay. I save my money so I can get on a plane and go and support you Well, that's a legacy. You see it's a legacy. I say in the show when three little girls went to Detroit in Detroit Went to see Mr. Berry Gordy. They were Mary Wilson Florence Ballard and Diana Ross Then Cindy Bird song came in the group and they became Diana Ross and the Supremes Then Jean Terrell replaced Diana Ross a whole bunch of other hits Then Linda Lawrence came in the group Sherry Payne and myself the last Supreme But the thing about the Supremes is and I found it difficult from time to time once I left the group because people expect you to be a Supreme and I'm just so say, you know, but that's part That's a great part of what I do and what I love and I love the glamour and the you know The whole thing and the people we saw we were at the Catalina just a few nights ago and We saw people I've known since I mean 40 years 40 years still coming out still supporting you but online Now we've got another world. Okay, you've got people online right now Who are talking about the dresses the songs The earrings the shoes It affected their lives That's what impressed me and made me realize it was a minor miracle, you know to see people who I know I have favorite songs that like take me there You know, I can think of a song right off here. There's a summer place and go right back There's a song in everybody's life to create that for other people That's a good stuff. Yeah, it's primo it really is but you know, you don't know to expand Someone's awareness. Yes. That's another one of these things that we care so much about Yes, you watch a piece of content where someone just teaches you something where you go whoa seeing the world in this new way Yeah, I have to go share this with other people. I maybe want to build something with that share And so that is You also said this was so cool that you said this that Ray said that he would do what he does for free Yes, because when you do what you love, yes, it doesn't feel like work That's right. You do it every single day no matter what absolutely. I set up. I set up this equipment Sure, any any time I love interviewing people that are 24 hours It's open. It's open and The one thing that I'd say about that is I think there is more Research coming out about the less a CEO or an entrepreneur gets paid the harder they work So when they start making too much money, they start spending their money on more things Yeah, and losing sight of the vision at times But also if you make money sometimes you can put that into clue doing cool things like maybe hiring editors or hiring marketers Distribution channels, so there's some sort of balance have there. Yes, but I like I love that point And you also you know, you took us through an evolution of the Supremes and and and also just how like having a fan Fly Switzerland to see you after seeing the USS. Yeah, that just that's so You know, we went to England last year and it was so cold It was but people came out, you know We had sold out shows all across and you see people these songs affected people And you don't realize when you write a song how it's going to affect people. You don't it's a it's an obscure thing Like this year like who's like how are you how are your words gonna affect people on the show? Yeah, it's very sure Yeah, that's right, but you're very careful with your curation of your words just like you are with your song That's true. I am I mean, you know to have Stevie Wonder say, you know, you're I mean Stevie Wonder We're talking about have him say, you know, you're one of the best lyricists. I've ever met well, you know, I'm good But words are important Words are important. They put our thoughts into reality and Conversation, you know, it's it's a conversation a love song It's nothing like a love song and unconditional love oddly enough. I mean I wrote it with Jeffrey chin Jeffrey had a track Okay, he's like my good friend from San Francisco. He's a tremendous Pianist and a ranger. He does a lot of film stuff. He said I got this track You know, he said I don't I don't really write like pop music, you know But I got this track and you you need to hear this track and I he played it for me over the phone And this is funny because I write with Stevie Wonder over the phone, too But he said listen to I listen to it. I went away. I got back to it just came out You know, I wrote the melody and the lyrics and it just something fits or it doesn't you can just pick it out Of the air. It's there already You know, it is it's a magical process And I played it and you know, there's a little fear involved because when you you write something, you know, that's his track Like is he gonna like that melody, but you heard it, you know, it's magic. It's it's magic. It's good fun It's sexy and it's it's one of those, you know, we need more music you can dance with your baby You know, right You know, come on. This is what you were pointing at earlier What is what is occurring in the music industry right now? Why don't we see more unconditional love style music? We see more violence, don't we? Because if you're talking about Violence and young people are listening and they get hard they become hardened They they become enured to you know, they're afraid to be soft. They're afraid to be tender, you know I mean, there's it's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. It has made for that's where the truest humanity comes That's right, you know, it's a very basic thing tones The tones musical tones, you know, you can hear and because I sing high, you know, certain high tones I can hear radio waves, you know, it's really high and I find it just very annoying But you know, it's part of life, but it's only because my ear is trained to that but my heart My heart is trained to love Absolutely, I'm gonna tell you about be royal.com one more time be royal V e Royal.com be royal.com is a video site it's on Facebook is part of Facebook and There are almost 40,000 members and these are people who? Come on there and make videos of themselves of what's going on in their lives Some of them are struggling some of them are happy some of that like people aren't like people do But they talk about what's going on in their own lives and then other people come and support them Non-judgmental there's not another place like this on earth. It was started by Bryant McGill and Jenny Young Hill his wife and they Wrote a book called simple reminders simple reminders. It's just little aphorisms little things like Think of one of mine, right? Good one Listening listening is the beginning of almost every human contact Listening little statements like that that people can read every day. That's simple reminders and They decided because Bryant has a billion literally a billion followers He has more followers than Oprah online, you know, and it's because they touch the nerve of it We live in a society where people judge you all the time the internet is anonymous To great extent you can say what you want you burn somebody down I Never know who you are We've lost human contact and it gets worse It gets worse and it will as it goes along if it continues the same way They call it social media, but how social is it, you know, you go on you get addicted to the What is it? What is it you get addicted to followers the subscribers? There you go, the vanity metrics the The the attention economy that you're just your leader leader leader you're marketed to like a psychometric profile That's exactly right and it's damaging to the human psyche and people don't even realize it so Brian and Jenny decided to start a site where people could come and Inspire and uplift and support each other. There's no other place like that on earth be royal calm Royalty is Royalty's manners and humanity exactly It's a very loving thing and it has brought people literally out of the doldrums People who have been addicted to drugs people who are lonely So many and then just you know people who just want to talk to people want to share their lives They make a little video two minutes long like talk 15 minutes if you want. Yes, but it's a tremendous Idea beyond be royal calm There are what it should be in life and there are now Finally more and more communities Developing out like this. Yes, and we're now starting to also leverage machine learning to be able to see that Oh, you feel a certain way. Yeah, there are actually other people around you that are actually Communicating with you on this thread that you can go and meet with in person. So you don't need to just do it on Exactly. Yeah, and it brings us back It does it brings us back to human to human. I so believe because You know being human if you think about it. We're the only What shall we call a species? Who has that choice? We are given choice to do what we want to live the way we want to live and to waste it to me Is a great crime to crime. We are stunted and stilted by People's limits other people's perspective other people the way other people think about you But we have the ability to override that I'm very much believing that this year, which I think is you know Hopefully Will be a better year for all of us, you know, the possibility is there But in the ways that we haven't considered the ways of joining together the way of Uplifting the way of helping each other the way of supporting the way of inspiring of making people feel good about themselves and building Self-esteem we have real problems on earth. We're gonna run out of water Some places they're already out of water. That's as basic as it gets. We can't live without water Most of the entrepreneurs the scientists Thank God for the Ross science film festival Yes to get to talk to people who are in the scientific community our thinking off world already Well at the edge of knowledge there you go the world's problem. There you go Yeah, and this is so tell us about your passion for steam advocacy. Yes. Yeah Well, the thing is, you know, I have always known what I was going to do I have always painted song written songs created in any way that's possible Photography almost anything I've been willing to jump in and try but There are limits, you know, there's the starving artist syndrome and I don't believe in that Why should you starve? You should succeed if you are talented and you work as hard as you do But you have to have confidence in what you do and know what you're doing The thing about steam though, I was very happy to have been thrown in To a group of people and it was through the Google lunar XPRIZE You know, I love Incentivizing innovation is We need to do more of the crowdsourcing ideas. That's right. Yeah, that's right. It raises the bar, you know The the think tank the mind group, you know intelligence the people I was I was an advisor for Canada's team team plan B and I was just enthralled because it was a love story, you know The Dobryansky's husband and wife so intelligent. So, you know, science was their base But they came out of Ukraine and they went to Canada and they got involved with this prize And it was a family effort and that just you know that warmed my heart So they between rooting for them talking back and forth to them. I met some other lovely people Assam, I don't know if you you know Assam Assam Shagagi and Farnaz they both were involved. Yes, they both were involved with our science and that's how I met Kerry, you know But I've always loved science. I loved chemistry. I loved biology. I love mathematics I love all of the things that you know, I wasn't allowed to do because I grew up at a time when a girl Did certain girl things and boys were encouraged to do science and math and you see But I had this desire and I would read I'd read I'd go to the library That's how I spent my Saturdays growing up in New York in the main library there I would get chemistry books read them, you know, and I'm like Fascinated in an gemology and just I mean just so many things earth science. This was thrilling to me And then to come along and find that this is a thing Stem and steam and Kerry Kerry Kukro. Yeah, pure genius Pure genius, you know a ballet dancer Who suddenly said okay, and I'm a good ballet dancer. So yes, but I could be an engineer It's good stuff and what an example for other young women, you know, yeah We've talked totally she and Azam and Farnaz and I talk about the world and what's possible for girls The most thrilling thing last year was the Afghan girls robotic To know they built their robot from household goods, I Mean you can't get any better talk about inspiring and then the one young lady whose father was killed because they did that That's as serious as it gets and yet because they went forward Because they embraced it and dug in There are schools being built now for girls science schools and then to see for Kerry to say, okay We've got science over here. We've got art over here Mine meld, you know, it it's just it's perfect. Yeah, to me. It is a perfect situation really is there's a there's a certain a Quality of opportunity and equal economic degrees of freedom that need to be Raised across the planet for all people as soon as possible like a baseline of Socioeconomics and degrees of freedom to give people those basic needs and ways to actualize themselves And so stem and steam is one of those things that Enables us to raise that baseline up and then it gives us the tools We need to do things like become an interplanetary Aging go through all these extremely exciting sure challenges now, okay a couple quick questions on the way out Okay, a couple quick questions are What would you say is a driving core principle of yours of mine? Yeah kindness Kindness because I think more than anything other than maybe truth When you're kind to people It's is it's like a Healing once again Anything that's gone wrong in our world can be healed by kindness You know and that principle carries me Uplifts me enough to make me Be happy and grateful to people. I'm grateful for what is coming And that's what makes it come You know but kindness if I was remembered by one thing I would want to be that that people thought oh, she's kind so it's kind to me It doesn't you know you can give gifts you can give money you can give opportunities But your time You can't get time back if you give your time to people. Why not you know why not Help someone why not why not uplift someone we have that capacity Yeah, we have the brain power to think about that and the other thing I would have to say would be peace because I'm a great great advocate for peace. I'm the national director for film music and the arts for the Peace Prize Foundation and I'm we're just getting ready really to jump off and do some tremendous Things because peace is not just about saying no war If each of us had an individual piece You like to read and are you peaceful while you're reading? Oh, yeah When you're painting Peaceful as can be when you create anything love Peaceful, you know, yeah, it's a great great concept and it's just so broad I love that Kindness and leave awake behind you everywhere you go you bring it with you and then it just butterflies effect Another question on the way out is this wouldn't be simulation if we didn't ask you are we in a simulation? It's very matrixing I Love it. The thing about it is, you know, if we if this is not our real our reality It's pretty good. You know, I kind of like it and I kind of can get used to it You know sure I would say it probably is a simulation in certain ways Sure, but I like that concept. I can handle it You're your you've you've leveled up your attribute of singing and songwriting to max And there's always room to keep to keep growing absolutely, okay, and last question, what do you think's the most beautiful thing in the world? I can't tell you Just oh It has very much I'd have to say love, you know There's nothing like being in love It's real special, you know, it is I recommend it highly I don't necessarily recommend marriage because everybody can't handle marriage you know take some commitment and some other stuff some Consideration, you know and a whole lot of kindness understanding and all of that I definitely love, you know It's just the most glorious thing It is and I that's why I write love song Yeah, come on You can't do any better than that when I say, you know There's just so many words, you know, but it's it's engendering Attendance and Finding that in another person, you know, and it's infinite, isn't it? Yeah, just go on and on and I think if people realize that there'd be a lot happier Yes Pleasure's mine. Yeah, it's all mine. Thank you. So so much. It's my pleasure. Yeah, my joy You are such a welcome wisdom. We have to have you back. No, please do. The UNSF's always open to you We'll let you know when we're back in LA. Thank you. Yeah, this has been such an honor and a pleasure Saying the song all you got to do is call I Love it and there's so much unconditional love for you all. Thank you so much for tuning in we greatly greatly appreciate it We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Let us know what you've been thinking check out the links below Be royal comm. Yes. Also. What is another good link? Well, you can find me online On Twitter at Susay as USA why II? I'm on Facebook I'm on Instagram and scams kind of new to me, but I'm getting it I'm loving it. It's kind of wild. You know, it's like a wild west Yes, it is. So we got all those links below. So check them out. Yeah Keep supporting great artists and entrepreneurs that you highly Want to increase their impact on the world. So go and continue supporting them supporting us So we keep doing cool things like this And lastly go and build the future everyone go and manifest your destiny into the world We love you so much and we will see you soon Thank you, you're wonderful you are wonderful