It was almost unbelievable that they (John and Scott) let me do this but I’m super grateful and this memory will last me a life time. Thanks Dr. Peterson for hearing out one of the songs inspired by a lecture of yours I heard about ‘ideas’:

This is a song ('Have you ever wondered' I started writing in May 2017 after a Peterson lecture questioning where ideas come from, do you own them, do they own you? If you want a copy of the demo song that I left for Dr Peterson in an envelope, send me a message either on my instagram or facebook page and I’ll send you the link! Thanks also to my favourite brother in the world Mark for coming to Aus for my 30th and going outside of his comfort zone tonight.

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FULL STORY:

I never thought they would actually let me do this but here's what happened!

I bought VIP meet and greet tickets a few months ago and convinced my brother to fly out from Edmonton to Brisbane to come with me. He didn't really want to make the trip but since it was my 30th birthday, I had some guilt trip tokens lined up. We went Skydiving the day before the show but the real thrill came during the Feb 28th Peterson event when against the odds, Scott and John (the organizers/managers) agreed to let me sing a song I wrote to Peterson, IN FRONT OF ALL THE VIP guests!!

Maybe because we got the tickets a few months in advanced, we were fortunate to be almost in the very middle in the front row and I remember when Jordan was talking about music, we actually caught eye contact once...Maybe he knew what was waiting for him after the show?

Before the show I was told that I’d have to check my guitar into the coat check so I went up to the information lady and told her what I was planning. She said she’d let the organizers know, I went back in 15 minutes to re-confirm with her and then went to my super awesome seats in the front row.

After the show, probably because it was around 100 people for the meet and greet, we were told that we wouldn't be able to have an actual conversation with Peterson but I actually brought a guitar with me and last month went to Tel Aviv to record a few songs that were inspired by Peterson lectures... I was prepared and at the same time disappointed when I heard that we wouldn't actually get to spend any real one on one time with the Professor.

I’m not one to give up, I’m not very ‘agreeable’ so I went up the to the security guard, told him what’s up and he pointed out the guy that I should be speaking with when he was on Stage directing people to the meet and greet. There was a lineup, I made sure I was the last one in line so I wouldn’t hold anyone up, told Scott on stage what I’m up to, he asked if I could actually play - I said yes…

I didn’t really hear an answer from Scott, it all happened so fast. When I went up to Peterson I said something along the lines of “Hi Dr. Peterson, my name is Eugene, I came here from Canada, I got my brother from Edmonton to come as well and I’m a musician, lately a lot of the songs that I’ve been writing have been inspired by your talks, would it be ok if I sang one to you?”

His reply was something like “Talk to John” / “we’ll see about that” - John is the tour manager I think? John was also the one taking the pictures, when I gave me the envelope to Peterson, he handed it to John, I shook Jordan’s hand, probably said “nice meeting you” and then went to chat with John. Since I was the last person on stage, John gave me 30 seconds, asking me if I can actually sing, I replied that I sing for a living and he actually agreed! He said that I can do it after the VIP Q/A, asked me where my guitar was and I dashed off the stage to go grab it.

When I returned there was about 10-15 minutes of Q/A left but my mind was already in a different place. I sing on the streets every day and never get nervous but my mouth was dry, heart beat up… Then John comes on with the announcement “we have time for one more question and a song”

Peterson replies surprisingly something like “wow John is hard to convince”

During the last question I was just waiting to unzip my guitar from it’s case. I go up to Peterson, he had a few soda waters beside him, first thing I do is ask for a sip - I asked for the closed one hah, not that he was going to give me the open one. The rest you see in the video.

This will be etched in my memory forever.

Eugene Kurolap
E U G E N E M U S I C

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