Where Do Ideas Come From?

1:17 What's good everybody Scoobert Doobert here welcome back to love music more today?I want to get a little less hoteric.

1:39 I want to talk about where ideas come from How do you come up with a song? How do you feel confident in a decision?

1:49 I've been having some really good conversations withPodcast guests that will be upcoming that I'm very excited for you to hear and they've got me thinkingThey got me questioning my own beliefs, which is a great thingnamely the idea ofPutting everything in its right placeNow, I think the part of this is From the personalitydifferences across all of the specializations in music

2:23 I think that the mix engineer to be a great mix engineer isvery cleanvery orderlyveryperfectionistBecause what you're doing is a mix engineer is you're creating a world in the same way that

2:47 You would expect the same from somebody that's doing sound design for a motion pictures with that, but it turns out

2:54 It's different now. Why is that? Why would a mix engineer have to think differentlyWorld building in one way versus somebody that's building forTVs and movies who's also building a world has to think of itOpposite and I think a lot of what's going on is the role that you're playing when you're a mix engineerYou're typically getting

3:23 Tracks that you didn't work on and you are turning them into something that hits you emotionally that fits professionallyThat's genre appropriate all of those things when you're actually creating the worldYou're trying to create an impression of somethingYou're almostIntentionally removing yourself from perfection and you're instead trying to paint with shadows create a mimesis

3:49 Representation. I was also learning about Jay Dilla listening to an audio bookBiography he's one of my favorite producers one of the reasons why he's one of my favorite producers that is that he did something so uniqueto rhythm itself andAndNot very many people get to say that where there is a before and after Jay Dilla in terms of ways thatdrummers and beatmakers conceptualize ofplacement and

4:24 One of the first things that they talked about was his level ofritualism andcleanliness and perfectionismThat spilled into his productionI found that particularly fascinating because I always associated perfectionism in that wayWith the person that comes and cleans up after the musicians

4:43 Like I always think of the production more like you're chucking paint at a canvas like a modern artist like dipping marbles in paint and rolling them around the paper and

4:53 Then the art dealer comes and frames it makes it look nice and gets it into the museumBut to hear the producer think like that.

5:02 It got me thinking it got me thinking like do I need to be cleaner?Like there's a part of me that's always kind ofthought thatMy chaos and it's it's minor compared to some people, but major compared to othersI'm comfortable with a little bit of shifting and Strangeness. I've got my D&D books on my table. I look over.

5:25 I have my triple A card that I probably should put in my wallet It's not perfect on the ground around here. I probably need to dust some thingsAll that said there's a part of me that feels like that is creativity

5:40 Creativity is the looking at the book that shouldn't be on your table and going hmm.

5:47 I should put that in the songBut maybeAside that I've been neglecting for too long is the creativity of blank spaces andI had a great conversationwith David from MixbusTVIt's going out later But I'll preview it because we I just did it today and you know, we talked for over an hour about

6:11 Decision fatigue that sense of you make so many choices that you only have so many choices you can make in a dayYou make enough choices, and then you're out andBy fitting into a routine like he's a big fitness guyVery impressive by the way, very strong manHe he uses that though as his grounding.

6:35 He does it every day at 6 a.m And then he keeps his studio perfectly clean and perfectly in order at all times

6:43 Because he did he wants to eliminate that part of his thinking so you can just totally focus on the job at handWhich is mixing and masteringThat's very attractive to meBut in large part because I'm very much the oppositeIn a lot of my workflows, I view music as water and I fit it in wherever I canI bring my laptop into unlikely places one of like one of my favorite memories is I was working on Swami's and I went

7:11 I went to play some basketball. I've played some basketball and then a group of peopleIt was like an open gym kind of thing that a group of people that way outclassed me like they were definitelyCollege players. Everyone was above 65And I was like, you know itYou guys like they're all clearly friends or whatever.

7:32 Yeah, it's gonna take the take the hoops And I just was making beats while I was watching these random strangers play basketball and I think the beats sound pretty coolIt's it's just added a certain flare.

7:47 So it's kind of this weirdWeird allure of the opposite and to go all the way back I do think that a lot of the energy that you can find new ideas in is from the extremes from the oppositesSo part of what I'm thinking is there might be an untapped part of my mental energy if I really did lean super hard into beingThis like cleans and master for a little while.

8:11 See what see what comes out of it five five months I was gonna say five days, but you know, let's commit.

8:19 Let's go for it go five months, butThat's where I get a lot of my energy forconstantOutput is just like how can you put yourself and your musical sensibilities into an uncomfortable place?And for me a lot of that has been just like the chaos of my life or Circumstance or the end of gonna make some music on the train or I'm gonna make some music in my space orI'm gonna do it before after something

8:47 Like in just the context of it's in between work or it's in between conversations or playing dungeons and dragonsAnd then you jump in and like make some mixed notes all those things

8:58 Influence where your head space is at. I'm also not really a decision fatigue believerI like talking about it because it's good to challenge your own beliefs, but IThink that's a cop out. I think you can make more decisions

9:13 They might not be the right-most decisions, but when you're making creative decisions where there are no wrong decisions

9:20 Might be different with your mastering or something like that your ears can get fatigued certainly, butEven when you're tired something new might come out.

9:29 There's a pointBeyond which where there's no return you just gotta call it and go to bedYou know everybody's mortal, but there is like there also is a certain magic in that late-night sleepy session And sometimes it's totally not productive sometimes it's a total waste of time and if the vibes are badThat's the number one if you're

9:50 In a situation where people are mad at each other and frustrated or or not seeing eye to eye and some deep and profound andExtended period of time that's when you got a call a session doesn't matter if you're perfectly fresh and have made no decisions and you'reCompletely unfatiggedThat's what I really think is the session killer is and the idea killer is that kind of negativeEnergy and emotionDosis can be fine, but

10:18 When the session starts the turnIt's time to turn off the lightsIn a lot of sessions turn especially when it's like high stakes or you're paying a lot of money for a studioThose are some of the things that I think bands have to deal with a lot where it's like you're really stretching outTo invest in yourself and invest in your band and so you're trying to get in that 18-hour day and

10:39 Some days you might have it and some days you won't butThe cop-outs, you know, that's that's the other thing that I think I'm most wary of going so far in the direction of everythingHe's the perfect creator or striving to have everything perfect to create.

10:56 It's just life is so fundamentally imperfect andThings will break and there will be poor situations or likeMy dog will really want some attention now So it's like I can't podcast right now even though that was the ideal time to podcast like I don't play with my dogThat's great.

11:11 I love playing with my dog But like at the same time there are will always be these little roadblocks and I feel like as you get older or whateverThat increases soMaking peace with that and understanding that nothing will be perfect andEmbracing the chaos that comes from that is maybe something coolBut again, I think the idea has come from both the ideas come from the tensionThe ideas arechanneling things and

11:41 All of the rituals and situations are just in different means of channeling them in the same way that being tired or beingTotally fresh like I have a very different energy that I bring to a session if it's in the morning or if it's in the nightVery different if I just eat and know if I've fasted very different

12:00 Fasting is not great for collaboration because I get angry, but when you're solo sometimes fastedCreativity can be fascinating because your brain is just floating in differentSoup IThink all that stuff adds up and like so one of the other things that I really like doing is reading philosophy or trying to put your head into a different placeFor my album KŌAN I was reading a lot of Xen Zen Buddhism stuff

12:32 For Masks and Monsters. I was reading like Derrida and this veryIt sounds like the music a little bit very like deconstructivist absurdistPhilosophy, I don't think I understood half of it, but maybe I'll like maybe that was the point.

12:47 Maybe yours, but I don't really knowI'm not smart enough, but the idea is just to kind of like push yourself push yourself into like a weirdheadspaceDifferent frame of thought The one that I'm really trying to look at right now is TaoismTaoism isReally interesting.

13:05 So like here's here's a little Taoist quote Empty your mind of thoughts let your heart be at peace watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their returnEach separate being in the universe returns to the common sourceReturning to the source's serendity if you don't realize the source you stumble and confusion and sorrowWhen you realize where you come from you naturally become tolerantDisinterested amused

13:33 Kind hearted as a grandmotherdignified as a kingimmersed in the wonder of the TaoYou can deal with whatever life brings you and when death comes you are readySick right?I really like I really like that

13:53 I really like I don't know there's a different sort of profundity to Taoism. I remember I went to a Taoistlecture for one of the preeminent Taoist scholarsThe books Tao Te Ching is like the main source for all this materialAmong many others, but like that's the originRegenation point is least at least as best as I know it

14:19 Febring this guy with questions, and it was so funny because he's just so like you don't get it. I was like, I know I don't get itThat's why I'm hereI want to know the Tao so the would death comes. I'm readyYou know, whatever like maybe I'll maybe I'll get a baby.

14:37 I won't butIt still is interesting to read and it also it makes you think in a different way in the same way The reading poetry can help you write different lyrics or like one of the songs that I did to intentionally start thisAlbum that I'm working on right now us was aBasho poemThe greatest haiku master of all time from Japan and

15:04 Might not have been the most commercial decision that I thought it sounded cool over the beat. So I just layered in

15:11 Some Basho over my groove, but the the goal of that was to like re-center around

15:20 Groupings of fives sevens and fives so like haiku's that's the essential nature at least as I understand itI'm sure that I have a fundamental misunderstanding of it, but that's at least how it was taught to me, butMost music is grouped in fours right one two three four when you group things in fives and sevensthey naturally overlap and

15:40 Flip over the bar line. So those groupings of four you don't need to do the tricky time signature stuff where you'reSmash in five things over where four would be even though that sounds really coolAnd I do like doing that sometimesBut what I find most interesting in it because it's more like pop to me is instead of

16:02 Changing to an odd time signature. You change your stresses so that instead of stressing like oneOne two four you go one two four five

16:15 Like that, you know, let me see if I can do that better. I feel like I need to loop it a little bitSo be a one a five and then a ten right one two three four fiveTen kind of get it.

16:30 It's like allBut there's still you're still keeping that same boom boom boom boom pattern You're not it's not like herky jerky. It's just flowing over in a different way like Kendrick Lamar does stuff like this where it's like you're just punching

16:47 Unexpected accents and there's nothing more unexpected than groupings of fives and sevens high coosAnywayThat's why I did itBut I say that not to pat myself on the back. I say that to explain like that's where my ideas come fromThey come from the random scattered poetry books in my messystudio desk drawerAnd that's okay.

17:10 I should probably clean it though Because there's probably a different idea waiting inside of the void rather than inside of the chaos

17:21 But both is good if you enjoyed this weird podcast you should subscribe for more normal ones andGive me five starsOr something and if you want to hear my music you can go to scoobertdoobert.pizza or search me up scoobertdoobert here on Spotify andGive it a listen here my five seven five Basho haiku over main character energyOne of the first singles from this new record cycle us kicking off in 2025

17:58 I hope this jogs something in youTalking about creativity is always just like such a strange subject and I feel like the only way to do it is to do it often and toDo it way one of my friends says and paint the circle around the bullsI he never quite described the bullsI another way to think think about it is like it's like looking at the sun

18:19 You can kind of get the gist but you stare too long. You realize how futile it is I feel the same way about talking about creativityBut I hopefullyCreatively inspired you in a creative new way to go be more creative than I see you next time