One thing I love most about music is that it is an endless creation. There is no right and wrong. It is an expression and extension of those making it. You can use any instrument or sound you want to, and even just your own voice and that’s it! I always want to find out more about how people tap into their creative mind. Some people live in that space, and are constantly having new ideas while others have to make a space to be creative. I view the process of being creative as breaking the chains the world puts on us to what something should be. If we just created music to what gets the most plays on the radio then we have a very narrow avenue for people to travel down, and the new things we get will just be dictated by the previous things. If we went to a big music town we would get to see both of these things. We would see people singing popular songs showcasing how well they can do it, but we will also see people performing their own songs in their own way. People want to sing like Whitney Houston, but the real power is that there is only ONE Whitney. The best sound comes from people being authentically them. I understand writing music is not some magical thing that everyone can just go and do with ease. I recently listened to Linkin Park’s 20th anniversary album and guess what I got to hear? I heard a lot of unpolished versions of their hit songs……..and it was absolutely fantastic. I think people get stuck in thinking when they create something it’s going to sound close to perfect, but that is not what I think being creative is about. I think it’s about taking an idea that is raw from something, and finding a way to present it. Not present it with perfect pitch or tempo, but to show the world exactly what it is. In the Linkin Park album I got to hear unfinished versions or their biggest hits, and I got to totally understand how they got to the final product. As soon as someone starts making something for others and starts forgetting about themselves they are putting up walls to box themselves in. One of the best things to see is people just creating in a group. At an open mic night you get to see bands performing rehearsed songs, but you also get to see them go off script and just start playing however they want. It is experimenting in real time, and it can be so amazing to see. When I hear Florence + The Machine I know it is them immediately. Why is that? I think it’s because no one sounds like them. They create their own sound, and their lead singer has a voice that just floors people. People can only imitate her because she is being uniquely herself, and that carries way farther than trying to be mainstream. I’m sure some people heard them at some point and thought it wasn’t that good or they would never do this full time, but if they changed their sound and blocked their creativeness because of that then they would have limited their ceiling into what other people think they could do. What do you do to get into your creative space? What are things that block you or hold you back? Finding our own space to dig deep into our creativeness is something I think we need more of to explore new paths, and the result is going to be hearing way more real music that will reach people in a deeper way.