Carefree Attitudes Unlocking Artistic Flow Potential

Incidentally while finding out how useful a little bit of purposeful chaos can be when it comes to better cooking I have found how beneficial it is to make music in a similar manner. Carefree and self-amused, laughing oneself silly about audacious experiments in familiar surroundings and skillsets.

Recently I was stoked to participate in the SMA music challenge on steem with the theme "psytrance" - probably my favorite genre of music overall. But you see, that is the problem really - I care too much about it. So much so that I could not bring myself to release the track I had been working on in the midst of all the things going on in my life right now requiring my time and attention. So I missed the deadline for this most important track I really wanted to participate with. And why? Because when I work on psy I become clingy, attached and overly critical of what I am doing. I move slowly and I doubt too quickly. I am hesitant, which is pretty much the opposite of flowing with the experience.

The process starts to become actual work and less like play, and before you know it the passion has turned into a chore and the worries overtake the sense of ability and ease of the creative process.

The funny thing is: This current SMA round is themed "hardstyle", a genre I am by no means a fan of, at all. None of my musician friends dig it either, we find it grotesque and stupid most of the time and we'd never imagine ever making a hardstyle track voluntarily.

But then came this round of SMA and I really wanted to make something happen. Partly because I knew I would be anything but attached to the result.

It was a giant permission slip for introducing some major chaos into my workflow, throwing things together against all rules while always trying to calibrate lower in terms of complexity and technical requirement in order to get to a genuine hardstyle feel of the tracks I had scouted before I started to work on this recent SMA entry.

Well, the chaos soon entered the track in a most marvellous way. A good friend from the Netherlands came to visit these days who had just started to make electronic music himself, and two of my other good musician friends happened to come by. And while none of us like hardstyle at all we had a marvellous time working out the bones of the track we are about to release for SMA at the end of the week. Carefree working, trying forbidden things and making brave decisions because we simply laughed our asses silly about what we were creating and because none of care whether this hardstyle track turns out to be horrible and stupid or in fact ingenius.

We thought that was kinda the point, aiming for stupid is so much fun to do, ahahaha. And so we really enjoyed the creative process way more than in any of our serious solo or collaboration projects where we get too stuck on making everything perfect, tidy and clean.

The realization started to dawn on all of us that the "proper way" to make music is to surrender to the track and to try not to clutch to it too tightly. Things need to flow, cups need to spill and the workplace has to become messy and carefree without much consideration for collateral damage. Like a good old construction site without helmets or warning vests because: Don't care. Plus: You'll always gain priceless mileage in your chosen skillset if you work this way.

What came out so far is dimensions better than any of us had ever hoped to create, especially in this style we never voluntarily listen to in our free time.

And so, the introduction of purposeful chaos, of working efficiently and quickly instead of carefully and overworried was pure balm for the soul and a major uplift in our musical carreers in the grand scheme of things. Already, and the track isn't even done.

Only later did I draw the comparison to the recent experiences in the kitchen, getting better results because of purposeful and conscious surrender to the new and dirty way of doing things with a smile. Unattached, booya!!

If you want to listen to the track make sure to check back on Monday. And (especially note to self), if you ever get stuck with your artistic endeavor: Loosen up. You're taking it all way too seriously! Seriously.

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