After my show i Stockholm a while ago, a couple of listeners came up to me and wanted to talk about various topics on creative work - ranging from moral values, how to get stuff done, deep listening, what DAW to use and various plugins and software. Turns out people who listen to Cotton Mouth are very smart, humble and knowledgeable about music. Below are some stuff I mentioned in those discussions.

Musicians get bombarded with content trying to sell them easy fixes to make “professional” music in the blink of an eye nowadays. 

How to make a Dark0 type beat! This plugin makes automatic chord progressions! Mix and master your track with one simple trick! 

I’ve been making electronic music for 15 years or so and let me tell you: You’d be better off without all that. Here are some things that have worked for me over the years.

• Don’t spends tons of money on stuff. There are hundreds of great free plugins. And when it comes to hardware, second hand marketplaces are overflowing with perfectly usable MIDI controllers and synths that are over 10 years old but super cheap and work perfectly. Much of my gear is second hand finds. 

• Try to work with tools slightly above your skill level now and then. This will keep you in your Beginners Mind, where you are free and more willing to experiment. Pro’s become conservative. Happy accidents can become the seed to make truly unique music. 

• Give yourself the freedom to disregard all traditions and music theory, when and how it suits your music best. If it sounds good to you, go for it. But if you want to do something specific that requires you to learn some aspect of traditional music theory — study that. It’s possible to do both depending on the situation. You don’t have to choose sides.

• Learn to undersand that the making of music is a separate activity from sharing it, releasing it, counting streams and all that. The magic of making the actual music is what’s important. It’s impossible to become a good runner if you are only interested in the goal of getting a better physique. You need to find the flow and joy of running itself, and eventually drop any other goal all together.

Love