The strongest person in the gym is not the strongest because they lift the most weight today, but because they lift weight the most days.

I’m not suggesting that creativity is competition. But keep in mind: creativity is not different. The prolific artist is prolific, not because of talent, but their obsession with connecting to it. They have refined their gift through regular meetings with their own limitations. They know that what is currently a limitation will not always be, because as they work, everything about them changes. When they finish the current project, they are on to the next. They don’t work for the thing, but for what working on the thing brings.

Other Ideas Mentioned:

Time: Are You Spending or Investing?

The Piñata Method

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Pocket — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

Share this with someone you care about.

Share

You cannot achieve your way out of loneliness. Said another way, success won’t necessarily bring connection, which is the goal of art: to connect by demonstrating that individual experience is unique and universal.

Still, most of us work tirelessly, and alone, in pursuit of goals motivated by the idea that reaching them will bring us closer together.

I am not saying do not set goals. Goals, when thoughtfully defined, are useful to focus energy and develop skills. The expectations and beliefs in them as escape routes to a better life are misguided at best. When you achieve a goal, you will not stop what you are doing to catch the falling confetti. You are more likely to immediately pick another mountain and continue climbing. If the goal was 1,000 subscribers, the next one will be 10,000, and so on.

Extreme focus on the current goal is powerful. When you take aim at a bullseye, it is in your best interest to be staring right into it. And as you do, you are ignoring the rest of the world, including the people around you. In moments of obsession with a goal, it can feel easier to do it alone – and it may be. But, when we remember that this goal will be replaced with another, we remember that how and with whom we travel is more important than whether or not we arrive.

Set a goal. And see it for what it is: a tool, not a substitute for a life or relationship.

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Pocket — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

Subscribe now

No one knows whether or not you will make it. But, it is almost certain that whether or not you make it will not come down to a single moment. It will however, come down to a single decision: will you show up? When no one else is paying attention and when there is no immediate reward. That is the only reasonable predictor for success because it is the only reasonable predictor for where you will be tomorrow. People often succeed at their jobs, not out of love, but commitment. Do you love music or are you committed to it?

This is not a gentle plea to “trust the process.” It is a call to reframe your relationship with your least favorite details about making music. I’m not talking about being stuck on a lyric or chord progression. I’m talking about an unexpected and obligatory 60min software update that ends with a message that says: now restart your computer. OK. Good. Now, let’s get back to work. Except you realized that your template no longer works as a result of the update you made or your go-to VST is broken, likely as a result of the successful software update.

When this happens to you, your response says everything about your commitment. No one will ask you about this, nor will they want to hear about it. Your response says more about your commitment to your work than your potential or your love for making music.

Obstacles will arise and less than ideal circumstances exist, always. They will slow you down and present detours, but they will not tell you to stop. That is something only you can tell yourself.

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Pocket — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

Subscribe now

Are You Working Blind?

You have a process. You have a way of doing things. And, if you can’t immediately describe it, you’re unconsciously following an invisible process. My point is not that it’s right or wrong, but that it is a choice to work blind. Process is personal and if anyone aside from you designs it, it’s not going to fit.

I’m not here to prescribe process. I am here to share three principles to help you ask yourself better questions, so that your process is consciously bespoke according to your answers.

1. Make Something and Finish Something Daily

When I first started producing, I was lucky enough to ask someone who has made it: “What do I do?” Their response was simple: make a new idea every day.

The ever expanding responsibilities of the modern musician make it easy to forget that you started making music because you heard music that inspired you to try. The catalog of other artists inspired you to explore your own musical capacity. Your catalog is the best of your ideas, and you find your best ideas by making a new one each day. The first step to building your catalog is documenting your ideas.

The only potential downside to making a new idea every day is that you may never finish anything, which is why I suggest developing a daily habit of finishing. It’s not a reasonable expectation to complete a song each day, but you can perform an act to nudge it forward.

When implementing this practice, define progress and success expansively. Making music is not easy. Genuine effort counts, even more important if this is something you plan to do indefinitely.

2. Define Progress in Time-Bound and Input-Based Terms

You know how much time you have to dedicate to music. If you only have five minutes in a day to make music (for more on this, see frequency), don’t make yourself feel bad because you don’t write a whole new song that day. Apply genuine effort to those five minutes to make a new idea. Maybe all you found was a drum loop that you like. Drop it into a track, save the session, and move on. What you started today, you pick up tomorrow. What you have at the end of any particular session is irrelevant. It is about harnessing momentum and linking sessions together over an extended period of time (for more on this, see the marathon method). The individual session is meaningful because of its representation as commitment. You were here today, you will be back tomorrow.

3. Decide what you’re going to do beforehand.

Know what you’re going to do before you sit down. This is especially important when you are working with smaller blocks of time. If you only have 10 minutes available, decide ahead of time that you’re going to spend it programming drums or writing a chord progression. For inspiration, here’s one of my favorite examples of what can be done in 10min.

Counter Argument:

“The blocks of time and the wins seem too small to be worth the attention.”

I hear that. And this is less about objective progress as much as it is about your mindset and relationship with what work looks like. The difference between unconsciously viewing five available minutes as time to kill versus useful to your creativity represents optimism of what constitutes opportunity. It is acceptance that ideal circumstances don’t exist and we therefore seize available moments, not to optimize or squeeze out every last drop, but to express our creativity.

Final Thought To Keep In Mind

We are not as good at estimating task duration as we think. The only way to improve is experience and observation. As you try this out, it’s important not to jump to judgments about something taking longer than it “should.” The goal is not to optimize work, it is to work.

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Pocket — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

Subscribe now

It’s not wrong to want to achieve numbers. Just know that choosing numbers as your north star will sink you.

This is because you don’t control the numbers. So designing your process to chase them is to try and hit a target blindfolded. Your time is better spent focused on what you can control. Make what you enjoy making. You don’t know when your best work is coming, so it’s best to rely on your most abundant energy source: your interest. Build your process to protect it. That is within your control.

And, when your audience arrives, they will find you doing what you want to do. This makes the next step clear. Keep going.

To hear the full conversation:

Subscribe for free and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 (a sample pack), Invisible Instruments, and access to The Pocket (in-studio production videos from guests).

Subscribe now

There are two types of motivation. One is macro. This is your greater sense of purpose. The micro is the day-to-day. And, in my experience, I’ve found it to be a little more variable.

The most helpful way to maintain micro motivation is to create situations for yourself that generate genuine interest.

That has meant to end sessions at the moment where I perceive the most potential in an idea, which is accompanied by a sense of feeling as though I could work forever.

This sounds counter intuitive and counter productive, but as you’ll hear in this piece, it’s a helpful frame to develop self-awareness and a practical tactic for sustaining your creative process.

For the complete breakdown: The Marathon Method: A Producer’s Tool for Managing Studio Trauma

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Pocket — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

Subscribe now

Steps cannot be skipped.

Late London believes the producer arc follows three stages: (1) mastering the basics (2) making volume (3) identifying quality. Whether you agree on the form or not is irrelevant. The insight is the substance underneath: your experience is unlike anyone else’s and you are subject to the same rules as everyone else.

The most direct route to the next phase of your development is to accurately assess and accept your current stage and dedicate your attention to your most immediate challenges.

Productivity culture pressures people to squeeze out every last drop. And artists divert their attention to the search for shortcuts.

The belief is: the most efficient process produces the best art.

The truth: an efficient process for mass production works because the goal is to make each piece indistinguishable from the next. In that context, uniformity is quality. In art, it is failure.

Subscribe for free and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 (a sample pack), Invisible Instruments, and access to The Pocket (in-studio production videos from guests).

Subscribe now

The obsession with content creation and a marketing-first emphasis as an artist creates pressure and an incentive structure that leads artists away from themselves.

Birocratic reminds us of the truth: There is no better marketing plan than making good music. Nothing will endear you to potential fans more than that.

It’s so simple and easy to forget this in the noisy world of content. If art is the artist’s product, then the rule of marketing is no different than for any other business. If the product isn’t of quality, no amount of marketing will develop a real relationship. Best case scenario, you sell one product, get one listen. That person’s trust is lost forever because of a hollow promise.

Music is not content. Content is a container for your music. If you want to be an artist, yes you have to share your music, but you do not have to become a content creator. In the same way your art develops over time, so will the way that you deliver it.

If you want to make music privately, you are not any less of an artist.

If you want to be a content creator who makes music, go right ahead.

If you want to build an audience, how will anyone discover your music if it isn’t consistently shared?

If you want to be an artist, put your message in a bottle and send it out to sea. Over and over again. With practice, you will learn to adapt to the ever changing movement of the water.

Subscribe for free and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 (a sample pack), Invisible Instruments, and access to The Pocket (in-studio production videos from guests).

Subscribe now

A company can be a source of opportunity, maybe even a partner, but if you want something to rely on, look to community.

No matter what your goals or existing sources of income, a consistent component of a musician’s career is connection to a fan base. Today, this is represented through an email list. And in that sense, it is not different than any other business.

Artists ignore this basic idea. They try to build a creative business without a fan base or believe that someone else will do that for them. An email list lacks the allure of a social media following and monthly listener count — the appearance of success. Social media and streaming platforms don’t ask you to build anything. They actually prefer that you don’t.

Greg David didn’t take a day off in five years and he produced 200 songs in 5 years that generated millions of streams. This extreme focus is also, as he put it, tunnel vision. His life and career were out of balance. He developed a single source of revenue that was controlled by a label. When it came time to move on from that label, he realized that millions of streams meant nothing without an email list to back them up.

Uploading your catalog to Spotify without an audience is like putting up flyers in your city. Millions of people pass by it, some will see it, few will read it, and none will remember it. The appearance of access is not a substitute for connection. That is found through the quiet and patient work of cultivating a community.

The allure of reaching the entire world is a shiny distraction from the humble and meaningful possibility that you can serve your community of fans in the same way as a neighborhood butcher. If you feed people, they will take care of you.

If you want to look successful, put your faith in a corporation. If you want to sustain a career, serve a community. Offer free meals and begin a conversation.

Subscribe for free and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 (a sample pack), Invisible Instruments, and access to The Pocket (in-studio production videos from guests).

Subscribe now

Your thoughts, feelings, and values are reflected back to you through how you use your time. Time spent is energy spent. Time invested is energy invested. And time well-invested will always return benefits. We feel like we need to make big bets to win, but I’ve found that small and consistent investments prove powerful over time. Not being in a rush is in itself a strategy. Impatient expectations lead to quitting. If you are able to release expectations or timelines for results, the process becomes a lot more fun. And, oddly enough, results follow.

This is the idea behind Frequency — a simple method I developed for making consistent progress on anything, in whatever time you actually have. The original post is linked below.

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Pocket — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

Subscribe now

Do not tell an artist that numbers don’t matter. They do. The mistake is to believe that they are in and of themselves, accurate measures of artistic value or personal character. The mistake is to accept higher numbers as a proxy for the higher value of our art and ourselves. If we prioritize numbers as the product of our process, we are disconnected from our own artistic purpose.

No matter how big the number you can always add one. To produce for numbers is to produce for comparison. And your task, as an artist is to make the thing, release the thing, and repeat. The audience and the algorithm will decide what it is to them, and when they do, it will not affect what you’ve already decided for yourself.

Artists receive support because they offer music that connects with others. And how do artists make music that connects with others? First an artist must connect with themself. And to connect with yourself, you have to disconnect from the numbers.

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Practice — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

Subscribe now

Wait until you’re ready and you may never begin. There is always something else to learn. Accept that and get to work. If you honor your commitment to your own vision and artistry, your abilities develop along the way, in a way that naturally articulates your voice. You may not become the most technical musician, but the only superlative you seek is to be the most yourself. Remember. This is not a sport. To win the 100m dash is to separate yourself from everyone else in the race. Making music is not a competition. You are trying to express something that connects you to the rest of us. And, if we find ourselves in this place of comparison, we missed the point entirely.

Alsogood tells us he can “sit in a room with Herbie Hancock and feel comfortable.” Where others would be intimidated and focused on the technical deficit, he knows they have a lot to talk about. He knows the catalog and can say, “yo, crazy solo on that album, man.” Alsogood does not undervalue musicianship, in fact, he has intentionally created a situation where he is the worst musician in the room. Because he is curious instead of self-conscious, he is a student, not an impostor. He considers himself “not a session musician, but a producer who knows what he wants.” He recognizes abilities beyond his own and that’s exactly how he’s decided who else is in the room. Abilities are not ornaments to show off, they are instruments of expression.

Herbie says “My main work is to grow and expand, and to investigate what else I’m made of besides being a musician. We all manifest ourselves in a lot of different ways. But most of us define ourselves by that one single thing that we’re probably best known for. And my belief is that we shortchange ourselves in that way, whereas if we define ourselves as a human being first, it includes that and every other aspect of what we are. So when you talk about ‘doing the work’, that’s the work I’m interested in. What can I contribute as a human being?”

Begin now, as a human being and allow your music to be a practice of self-investigation and function as a medium of expression.

Subscribe for free and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1, Invisible Instruments, and access to The Practice.

Subscribe now

Risk is the point – that’s the whole reason you make music in the first place.

Yes, it is scary to make something and share it with people. Yes, it is extra work to tell people about it. But wanting people to hear your music isn’t selfish. It represents why you make music in the first place: to connect with others.

If you don’t risk vulnerability, you will avoid the pain of rejection, but you also completely seal yourself off from the possibility of connection. We are fixated on how many people or views something gets and we forget there are people on the other side. This fixation distracts from the who, the unquantifiable nature of a new fan willing to buy your next record, your next collaborator, or someone who wants to remix your song.

There’s a lot of space between being a content creator and telling people about your music. Becoming someone you’re not is not required nor recommended. But, if you were vulnerable enough to distill your life in song, go one step further and tell someone.

The real tragedy would not be failing to achieve mastery, but that in the process you lost sight of what’s most important: realizing your own voice. A relentless pursuit of mastery can distract from the purpose of art: a unique and personal perspective, expressed freely. Art is the artifact, the expression of the voice, not the voice itself.

We commonly parrot: “learn the rules, so you can break them.” In this conversation, Matt Wyatt says “Honestly, I think that’s overrated. I was certainly taught that, but some of the artists I most revere seemingly didn’t do that.”

That isn’t to say competency doesn’t matter. It is not in your best interest to ignore rules, patterns, or convention altogether. Ignorance will likely lead to conventional results. The problem is that mastery is often talked about as a destination. A level to be reached before the art begins, when it is actually an ongoing commitment to develop your voice.

You know enough words to write a book. Expanding your vocabulary will not write it. The technical blocks you encounter exist on the path to making it. As you write your book, you check the thesaurus for alternative words. In music, you may learn that what you need is not a new chord, but an inversion.

Do not set out to master music. It is a clever way to avoid the real work: to understand you and your craft well enough to present it as a vulnerable artifact for the rest of us.

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Practice — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

Subscribe now

Buried in the process, your habits take over. Your automatic selection of instruments and sounds leads to predictable patterns.

If you begin with your fingers you are immediately filtering your imagination through your chops. Instead, ask yourself: What do I hear? As you hum a melody or beatbox a groove you hear in your head, you are not thinking about whether or not you can play it. This is an honest map of your idea. Record it, not because it will necessarily become part of the song, but because it provides you with direction. The way that you sang this melody will imply more than the notes themselves. You will hear tone, timbre, and texture. That can guide which instrument you use, instead of forcing a part through the instrument you already loaded.

When you begin from your imagination and what you hear, you provide a path for fingers to follow, instead of the other way around.

Full Episode: 049. Ideas Over Everything | feat. Moo Latte

Subscribers get access to The Practice — a growing archive of in-studio sessions from guests on the show. Watch how they work. Free to subscribe.

Subscribe now

The thing about art is that it’s never finished. It’s a fact that presents a fundamental challenge: you have to decide to let go. To accept imperfection. To move on or to live inside the maze of one project your entire life.

Fog Chaser’s song a month project addresses this challenge directly. His commitment to deadlines and accountability to himself resulted in four, 12-song volumes completed in succession over the past four years.

Now, with thousands of subscribers waiting for Volume 5 he faces another form of the same question. Does he repeat the cycle expected by his audience or change directions?

We make music wanting it to be heard, but what do we do once we’re heard? Fog Chaser acknowledges the privilege and gratitude for the audience and the pressure that accompanies attention. He reminds us that the attention arrived because he began by creating something deeply personal and meaningful to him.

The point is to create and to gift and then repeat. Because the work is never done.

In hindsight, I was distracted. Instead of making the thing, I was looking for approval to begin. I was asking myself hypothetical questions about a project that didn’t exist.

And remembering that helped me move forward.

Privately tinkering with gear and ideas until I arrived at the only place I could: the intersection of the seemingly random influences connected through my attraction to them.

The thing about tinkering is, we can convince ourselves we’re making the thing when really, we’re avoiding the part where we let go.

A couple weeks ago, I was in Morelos, Mexico and recorded a performance video. I made the thing.

And today, I let go.

ELPHNT is an Ableton authority. His extensive experience as a producer, performer, and educator has allowed him to see a common trope play out over and over again.

It’s accepted as the norm, but as he explains here, it doesn’t have to be.

On the one hand, scrolling endlessly for the perfect kick drum is funny.

On the other, it is creative self-sabotage by disorganization.

Here, ELPHNT provides a clear and direct path forward.

Hear the full conversation in Episode 035 — Soul-Crushing Success feat. ELPHNT.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back. Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

ProducerHead is free to subscribe. Subscribers get access to The Practice — an ongoing video archive of in-studio sessions from guests on the show.

Subscribe now

Show up to the studio 100 times and make 10 dope songs.

The pressure to create content distracts from the basic truth: making good music is the goal. In order to make good music, you must find yourself in the studio. If you’re not showing up to the studio, you’re not going to make anything, let alone anything good.

Late London says: “Show up to the studio 100 times and make 10 dope songs.”

This perspective also speaks to respect for the challenge inherent in making good music. It represents a conscious setting of expectations to prioritize showing up, removing pressure, and enjoyment in the experience of making music. Output is an artifact of process.

Late’s respect for the challenge of making music is also seen in the way that he participates and interacts with his community. Not having seen each other since college, he immediately asked me to send him a track and did not hesitate to say “this vocal should be loud and proud.”

He limits himself to three working sessions on tracks to avoid over-thinking and exchanges works in process with other producers. They help each other across the finish line to get the best — not the perfect — version of a song and then they move on. This is because he also values forward motion. More can be learned and experienced through continuing than from staying in place.

All of this is filtered through his expansive and dynamic lens of what it is to be a professional. Late London regularly shape-shifts between DJ, Music Producer, Event Producer, Engineer, and Educator — he is mentally flexible in how he arrives. There are many ways to make it as an artist, he reminds us that how we define it is our choice.

ProducerHead is free to subscribe. Subscribers get access to The Practice — an ongoing video archive of in-studio sessions from guests on the show. Late London built a track from scratch in 30 minutes and it is available now.

Subscribe now

The Pocket is late. April was a full month. Parted ways with my podcast production collaborator and kept the episodes coming anyway. That's the job.

Something worth holding onto

Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough.

- Richard Feynman

Worth the time

Marcus King, Chris Dave, DJ Ginyard, Cleo “Pookie” Sample Live At Blue Note NYC

Put this on and vibe out or study it. The restraint and control from the rhythm section. I love to watch how little Chris and DJ move at times. The incredibly simple, subtle, and consistent movements appear so effortless and they really lay the foundation and pocket for everything. Of course, the guitarist in me can’t help but appreciate the licks from Marcus King.

Take this into the studio

Repurpose one session usually spent creating on organizing while you listen to an album, in order, on repeat, for the entire duration of the session.

Maybe it’s physical - untangling that knot of cables.

Maybe it’s digital - pick your top 5 kicks, snares, and hats.

Want feedback on a track in progress? Share it with me.

From the community

Wax-Tex Beats Vol.1 by Brainorchestra

Producer Angle: This is a dude who does not force or rush. He creates the circumstances to let the sounds he needs find him. When he does, he puts together beats that respect space and need nothing to fill them.

Listen: Bandcamp

Hear Brainorchestra on the importance of executing your plan and how to identify opportunity in your own day-to-day on ProducerHead.

Want to be featured? Submit your music here.

Forward this email to a producer you care about.