Mark C. Samples | Musicologist
“…ear-opening and
wide-ranging…”
—John Covach, Director, University of Rochester Institute for Popular Music, Professor of Theory, Eastman School of Music
Solie Award-Winner
For Outstanding Collection of Essays, awarded by the American Musicological Society.
About Mark
Dr. Mark Samples is a musicologist who studies how practices of promotion (branding, marketing, advertising) influence the cultural history of music in the United States. He also teaches entrepreneurship strategies to professional musicians across the country. He is an Associate Professor of Music at Central Washington University.
Today I want to share with you Rick Rubin's nine approaches for getting unstuck. In the book he applies these strategies to the Craft Phase of the creation process, but most could be applied to the earlier phases as well (Seed Phase, Experimentation Phase).
Before abandoning a stalled work, Rubin says, "it's worth finding a way to break the sameness and refresh your excitement in the work, as if engaging with it for the first time." (185) As a record producer, Rubin sometimes suggests exercises to his collaborators to encourage this experience. Here are the nine strategies he uses:
ou and I have talked about Rick Rubin's book, The Creative Act, before. Over the course of the book, he describes four phases of the creative process: Seed, Experimentation, Crafting, and Completion. Use these four phases to clarify your own creative process.
The Seed Phase.
Throughout the book, Rubin talks about creative ideas as “seeds.” In this phase, you collect as many potential ideas as possible.
The creative process is anything but obvious—a truth that the outside world can never truly understand. The daily struggle. The adrenaline. The second-guessing. The blood, sweat, and joy.
The myth of the genius artist and the flash of insight is just that, a myth.
It’s only part of the story.
As a creator, you know that the creative process is never just one thing. It’s never just insight, or just hard work. The creative process is made up of intervals, like breathing in and out.
In the spirit of deepening knowledge through the process of review, I want to re-share an essay from this newsletter last summer, on July 10, 2023. At the time, I was deep into an exploration of the creative act through reading Rick Rubin's book.
There are moments in life where you can step out of time and touch awareness. This essay was the product of one of those moments for me. I hope it encourages you today. To collaborate. To relate. To seek out creative partners in unexpected places.
Indifference.
It’s one of our greatest fears as professional creators. We pour our heart and soul into our work, and gather the courage to share it.
And the response is…silence.
Non-response.
Crickets.
The opposite of indifference is remarkability.
Remarkability is the quality of work that gets people talking. It’s when people feel compelled to share their experience of your work with others.
But how can we make remarkable work? I want to share with you two ways.
Who are your mentors?
A trusted mentor has perspective and experience that we don’t have. They have been where we want to go. They have made the film, written the book, faced the criticism. They have picked up the pieces when all seemed lost.
We go to great lengths to cultivate mentors, and when we have one, they are worth more than gold.
Yet there are two common mistakes I see creatives make when interacting with their mentors: disregarding the mentor’s advice, and failing to follow-up with their mentor.
No significant growth happens inside of your comfort zone.
Building muscle, learning a new language, learning a cutting-edge skill in your field. All require you to endure discomfort, stress, and even pain to reach the goal.
Think of two artists. One seeks out a single activity every day that pushes her out of her comfort zone. The other avoids all discomfort and tries to replicate past successes.
After one year, which artist do you think has experienced more creative growth?
In a superstar economy, the best get way more than the almost best.
So how should you respond as a creative artist? Here are two advanced ways you can position yourself to succeed:
Cross-train to become the best at a niche, cutting-edge aspect of your discipline.
Instead of fighting to be hired amid a sea of qualified artists, organize a project that others want to be a part of.
Let’s break it down.
More from Mark
If you could have seen me just before I sat down to write this, you would have thought I had lost my mind.
And let me tell you, to an on-looker, I must have looked like a complete fool.
The cringe-factor was at eleven.
The scene was so awkward that if you had been walking into the room to say hello to me, once you saw what I was doing you would have quietly turned around and tip-toed away hoping that I hadn’t noticed you were there.
So what was I doing?