8 Clicks from Nowhere Productions

A
BLOG
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NOWHERE

  • One Month Incremental

    So, yeah. It’s been a month. Can you believe it?

    Oh, right. I didn’t mention it before today.

    Thing is, I haven’t really been promoting or sharing this blog yet as I built up something of both a back-catalogue of posts and some project momentum, but I thought it worth calling out that after one month of posting every weekday I have… tada! One month worth of posts!

    If you keep reading, you will learn one big theme from me: I am a big proponent of a common idea called incrementalism, the notion that big things don’t happen all at once, but rather by chipping away at a problem with steadfast effort and persistence.

    Writing a little bit each day.

    Mastering a new talent by honing one new skill at a time. 

    Practice, repetition, and patience. 

    Incrementally, bit by bit, line by line, word by word, anything can be done. Well, probably anything… within reason, y’know.

    The steady drip of water can wear away a stone after a long enough time. A person can wear away at a problem with the same incremental effort and patience. 

    And if nothing else, writing every day can build a pretty solid collection of blog posts, even after just one month. Check. Mate.

  • Respect Yourself

    I had a recent reminder that the biggest struggle in finding your creative (and likewise, your professional) voice, more often than not is remembering to respect yourself.

    Generally it is so obvious a thing when you write it or when you read it, but often it is the least obvious thought when we find ourselves mired in a situation or relationship where respect has been compromised.

    If you are one of the lucky few who is bolstered by self-confidence and unhindered by self-doubt, congratulations. Because I would wager the bulk of us need the occasional nudging reminder that when it comes to your creative hearts and souls no one is looking out for you and your interests, your time, your experience and expertise, nor you as a human being with the same attention and care as you are.

    Respect yourself.

    Guard your talents.

    Own your schedule.

    Stand by your skills. 

    And don’t work with people who either disrespect or take advantage of any of those things for their imbalanced benefit.

    But enough whinging… now go make something.

  • Playtime

    In my efforts to learn the eclectic collection of music equipment that has arrived in tiny boxes to my front door since the new year began, I have been playing.

    Literally. Figuratively.

    Isn’t it funny how we use the word “play” to describe the art of making music and also the act of having fun undriven by goal or purpose? I have been playing in both senses, making music in my office-turned-music-studio and also having fun generating soundscapes and beats and little songs undriven by any specific timeline or objective save learning the tools themselves.

    Everyday, for at least the duration that it takes to lay down a three minute track on my recorder, I string together all the pieces with all their snaking wired connections. It usually takes me a few tries, but I get a respectable starter loop going on the looper, I lean into an effect, and I start adding layers and layers and layers. Each day I come up with something new and interesting, and each day I record it because… well, why not?

    But it is all nothing more than play. Play to learn, yes. But just play.

  • Performance Threshold

    For a struggling perfectionist who struggles with the judgement of strangers, the most daunting thing I ever do is share my work.

    I get it. I really get it. No. I really do get it.

    You just gotta push publish. You just gotta climb up on that stage and share your voice. You just gotta, gotta, gotta!

    It’s February and as I publish this post I have no idea yet if the Groundhog has seen her shadow, but whatever the outcome I suspect I have a couple more months of weather too cold to be outside doing creative outdoor things like sketching or nature photo expeditions. (I mean I could and I will, it’s just uncomfortably chilly.) That is to say, I suspect I have a couple more months of indoor time to write words and play music and dabble in code before the allure of summer tempts me away from those projects.

    I need to share something before the end of February. I gotta.

    The turning of a calendar page can be a motivator to step over a threshold, to overcome a mental obstacle. Deadlines, are great motivators. 

    Perhaps this one will serve to help step over the performance threshold. It oughta.

  • Loop and Loop

    Perhaps if you have been reading along, sensing that something is building here in my labs and behind the scenes, you will be wondering wherein all this creative energy is distilling.

    I am far from a breakthrough, but after two full evenings of creative musical play following the so-called completion of my musical set up, I have learned the rawest of basics about my tools.

    A looper pedal, an effects pedal, a synth, and a recorder.

    Creative play is never meant to be shared, but as with many of my other creative endeavours in art, fiction, photography, and beyond, I enjoy the act of documenting progress no matter how unpolished.

    The final step of creativity after all is performance and exhibition of the effort, and to fear such things is not a failing, no, but it is a shame.

    Here is what I created on my first two nights of kitted synth exploration. It is a mess, but it is interesting.

    MP3: Zero One Zero

    …a soundscape

    See you in February.