In this episode, we sit with Mars Hendrik, a musician and coach whose journey from Costa Rica to international stages is really a story about learning to climb — not just toward success, but toward the fullest expression of who you're meant to be.

Mars grew up immersed in a rich blend of musical influences, from Santana's guitar mastery to Sublime's laid-back rebellion, and these early sounds became the foundation for a career that spans over a decade of inspiring audiences across continents. But what makes Mars's story unique isn't just his musical evolution — it's his understanding that true performance is about more than entertainment. It's about transformation.

We explore how Mars has learned to be both artist and guide, helping others find their own voices while continuing to develop his own. His approach to music and coaching reveals someone who understands that potential isn't just waiting to be discovered — it's waiting to be claimed, one courageous step at a time.

What We Talk About:

• Growing up in Costa Rica and the musical influences that shaped his artistic foundation
• The evolution from passionate musician to international performer
• How cultural diversity influences creative expression and artistic identity
• The intersection of music and personal development
• Learning to guide others while continuing your own growth journey
• The role of music in helping people connect with their potential
• Building confidence through creative expression and performance

Resources:

• Connect with Mars Hendrik's music: HERE
• Support the show: Not Today Media

A Note from J.D.: Mars's conversation reminded me that some of the most powerful artists are those who understand that their gift isn't just about what they can create — it's about what they can awaken in others. His approach to music as both personal expression and collective inspiration feels especially relevant in a world hungry for authentic connection and guided growth.

If you're on your own creative climb, whether that's musical, professional, or personal, I hope Mars's story offers you both inspiration and practical wisdom. The summit you're reaching for isn't just about arriving somewhere new — it's about becoming someone new in the process.

Come Back To Earth exists to explore these intersections between creativity, personal growth, and the ongoing work of becoming who we're meant to be. If these conversations resonate with you, consider supporting the show on Substack, where we continue diving deep into the stories that shape us.

Keep climbing. Keep creating. Keep trusting the path.

Theme music by: Lincoln Parish

In this episode, we sit with Lepani, an artist whose journey through the music industry reads like a map of what it costs to lose yourself — and what it takes to find your way back.

Lepani's story begins in the bedroom studio, creating the kind of honest, experimental music that emerges when no one is watching and nothing is at stake except the pure joy of making something beautiful. But as his career progressed and industry pressures mounted, that creative freedom began to erode. What started as artistic guidance slowly became artistic control, until the music he was making felt more like performance than expression.

The toll was real: mental health struggles, creative burnout, and the particular kind of loss that happens when the thing you love most becomes the source of your pain. But this isn't just a story about what the industry can take from artists — it's about what happens when an artist decides to take it back.

Now independent and based in the UK, Lepani is rebuilding his relationship with music on his own terms. He's sharing his story openly, knowing that artistic authenticity and mental health are deeply connected, and that someone else might need to hear they're not alone in the struggle.

What We Talk About:

* The evolution from bedroom pop experiments to industry pressures

* How creative control can be slowly and subtly eroded

* The mental health impact of losing artistic authenticity

* The decision to go independent and what that means

* Rebuilding a sustainable relationship with music and creativity

* The importance of speaking honestly about industry struggles

* Finding freedom in creating for yourself rather than for approval

Resources:

* Listen to Lepani's independent work: HERE

* Support the show: Not Today Media

A Note from J.D.: Lepani's conversation struck me deeply because it illuminates something we don't talk about enough: how the pursuit of musical success can sometimes distance us from the very thing that made us want to make music in the first place. His story isn't unique, but his willingness to speak about it honestly is both brave and necessary.

If you're an artist struggling with similar questions about authenticity, independence, or finding your way back to the joy of creating, I hope this episode offers you both company and courage. The path back to yourself isn't always linear, but it's always worth taking.

Come Back To Earth exists to hold space for these kinds of honest conversations about creativity, mental health, and the ongoing work of staying true to yourself in a world that profits from your compliance. If these stories resonate with you, consider supporting the show on Substack, where we continue exploring these themes with the depth and care they deserve.

Keep creating. Keep questioning. Keep coming back to what's real.

Theme music by: Lincoln Parish

Leave a comment on the episode HERE

Some love stories begin with fireworks.

This one began with a railroad conductor, a circus artist, and a song.

When Michael and Kayo met online, they were each carrying a lifetime of stories—some beautiful, some heavy, and all still echoing in how they showed up in love. Instead of running from their pasts, they did something brave: they wrote through them.

Together, they left the familiar behind and started over in Dixon, New Mexico, where the landscape is wide and the healing feels just a little more possible. Through songwriting, they began to name their traumas, rebuild trust, and give voice to the versions of themselves they were still learning how to love.

This episode is a window into that process—honest, unfiltered, and full of hope.

Whether you’re partnered or on your own path, Michael and Kayo’s story reminds us that healing doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be true.

🔗 Follow Box Canyon Barbies: Website

Theme music by: Lincoln Parish

Leave a comment on the episode HERE

Subscribe to the show: Not Today Media

What happens after you’ve already grown up… but your heart still has some catching up to do?

Composer and songwriter Adam Schumaker calls this next chapter “the second growing up”—a quiet reckoning with love, loss, and the slow understanding that we never stop becoming who we are. From his roots in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to the haunting beauty of his new album Love, Death, Sleep, Money, Adam has learned to turn personal transformation into poetry.

In this conversation, we talk about the sacred mess of middle life, the role music plays in navigating grief and joy, and why songwriting isn’t about finding the answers—it’s about holding space for the questions.

If you’ve ever stood at a threshold and asked, Now what?, this episode is for you.

🔗 Follow Adam: Instagram

Theme music by: Lincoln Parish

Leave a comment on the episode HERE

Subscribe to the show: Not Today Media

There’s a kind of silence that follows grief — a space where music can both vanish and return in unexpected ways.

This week on Come Back To Earth, Aaron Weafer shares his deeply personal journey: growing up around music, stepping into the spotlight late, and then stepping away from it all as mental health struggles and loss took their toll.

But where some might have given up, Aaron found a fragile, honest way back through songwriting. His new songs process divorce, the death of a close friend, and years of sadness that had long gone unspoken.

Before our conversation, I reflect on “Skinny Love” by Bon Iver — a song that holds the delicate balance between pain and hope. It’s the perfect soundtrack to Aaron’s story of rediscovery and healing.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

* The complicated dance between success, identity, and mental health

* How grief can silence us, and how music can bring us back

* The courage it takes to write your pain into something beautiful

* And the slow, winding path of reclaiming joy after loss

This episode is for anyone who knows the weight of sadness — and the power of small, quiet hope.

About Aaron:Aaron Weafer is a musician whose journey spans continents, genres, and emotional landscapes. After years performing with Grammy-winning artists, he stepped away from music to face personal grief and mental health challenges. Today, songwriting is his way back to light. Follow him at @the_weafer and @the_perrysound.

If this episode touched you:Send it to someone navigating loss.Or better yet—send them a song.

Mentions & Links:

* “Skinny Love” by Bon Iver

* Aaron Weafer: @the_weafer | @the_perrysound

* Theme music by: Lincoln Parish

* Subscribe to the show: comebacktoearth.substack.com

When the world shut down, Mike Messer opened a door — or rather, a live stream.

This week on Come Back To Earth, Mike shares how during the uncertainty of the pandemic, he created Adoraborealis, a recording project and a digital sanctuary where “cooped up concerts” became a source of light and community.

With a catchphrase that felt like a warm hug — “I see you and I love you” — Mike spoke his own fears out loud and invited an online audience into a space of forgiveness, hope, and belonging.

Before our conversation, I reflect on “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles — a classic tune that feels like a sunrise after a long night. It’s the perfect anthem for Mike’s story of light returning in the darkest times.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

* How live-streamed music became a lifeline in isolation

* The power of small moments of connection during global uncertainty

* Why forgiveness and encouragement are central to Mike’s art

* Building community in a digital world

* And the hope that music can bring, even through a screen

This episode is for anyone searching for light in a time of darkness.

About Mike:Mike Messer is the creative force behind Adoraborealis, a project born out of pandemic isolation. Through his online “cooped up concerts” from Electric Lennyland, he has fostered a loyal community based on love, light, and encouragement. Find out more about Mike Messer HERE.

If this episode touched you:Send it to someone who could use a little light.Or better yet — send them a song.

Mentions & Links:

* “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles

* Mike Messer’s Adoraborealis: linktr.ee/adoraborealis_MikeMesser

* Theme music by: Lincoln Parish

* Subscribe to the show: comebacktoearth.substack.com

There’s a certain kind of quiet that lives in grief — especially when you’re young.

Especially when you’re already feeling like the outsider.

Especially when no one’s listening.

This week on Come Back To Earth, I talk with singer-songwriter Alexia Avila, who started writing music as a teenager — not for fame or attention, but for survival. After losing her father, navigating bullying, and dealing with mental health struggles that left her feeling misunderstood and alone, she turned to songwriting not just as expression… but as reclamation.

Her first finished song, “My Way,” became an anthem. A declaration. A musical letter to herself that said: “You’re allowed to be here. You’re allowed to speak.”

Before our conversation, I reflect on “Lose You to Love Me” by Selena Gomez — a song about stepping back into your own light after the world tries to dim it. It’s not about triumph. It’s about truth. And Alexia’s story holds that same softness and strength.

In this episode, we explore:

* How music gave her a voice when the world refused to listen

* The emotional weight of being excluded and unseen as a young person

* Her grief journey after losing her father

* What it means to create from a place of pain — and still find beauty there

* And how she continues to support others by sharing her own healing out loud

This episode is for the ones who’ve ever had to write their way back to themselves.

About Alexia:Alexia Avila is a singer-songwriter whose music is rooted in personal truth and emotional resilience. Her single “My Way” speaks to her journey through loss, mental health, and the power of using art to reclaim your story. You can find her music and more on Instagram at @songsbyalexia.

If this episode gave you something to hold onto:Send it to someone who’s learning to speak again.Or better yet — send them a song.

Mentions & Links:

* “Lose You to Love Me” by Selena Gomez

* Alexia’s music: @songsbyalexia

* Theme music by: Lincoln Parish

* Subscribe to the show: comebacktoearth.substack.com

In this Deep Dive bonus episode, we take a deep breath and step into Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car, a song that quietly reshaped what a story song could be. With themes of generational struggle, caretaking, dashed dreams, and the difference between freedom and just motion, this track hits harder the older you get.

It’s not just a song about getting away, it’s about what happens when you don’t.

In this episode:

* A narrative storytelling piece inspired by the emotional world of Fast Car

* A reflective, thematic deep dive into the song’s lyrics

* A meditation on hope, survival, and learning to name what’s not working

Listen if you’ve ever:

* Wanted more than what you were handed

* Worked hard and still felt like it wasn’t enough

* Loved someone who didn’t change

* Dreamed of a new life in a quiet, tired way

Theme music by: Lincoln Parish

Subscribe to the show: Not Today Media

Leave a comment on the episode