I’m a big fan of the book “The Creative Habit” by Twyla Tharp. In it she asks you, the reader, to fill out a questionnaire to understand your creative DNA. The exercise is supposed to be private but I thought it would be interesting to take some of the questions and ask creators that I admire to answer the questions.
Alan Wilkis makes electro-ish, funky, feel good music. I profiled him before on my former site here and Alan’s personal website is here. His new album is called Pink & Purple and it’s very good. Check his stuff out, seriously.
1. What is the best idea you’ve ever had and what made it great?
It’s hard to call my own idea “great” without coming off like a giant douchebag. With that in mind, however, my favorite idea ever (musically, at least) was the Neptune verse in my song “In My Dreams” from my first record, “Babies Dream Big.” The song was basically about going to imaginary parties, first one in the sky, and then another in the ocean… And I remember writing it pretty vividly; I was sitting by a pool in Miami the weekend my sister got married a few years ago, and it just hit me: what if Neptune, god of the sea, was hosting a party underwater in the ocean, and he got up on the mic to MC? Still my favorite lyrics of mine, to date. I guess what made it “great” (ugh, there I go sounding douche-y) was that it was SO out of left-field… When I think take a few steps back from the song, the idea of singing about going to a party underwater, and then Neptune rapping about “riding his seahorses” and “smoking hydro” are just outrageous… But it somehow made sense to me at the time, and I still love it
2. What is the dumbest idea you’ve ever had and what made it stupid?
I think the dumbest idea I had was waiting until after college to get into recording, and computer recording software and all that… I had so much free time in college, sleeping all day, drinking copiously, all the good old college-y things people do. And just absurd amounts of free time… Nowadays, I have to fight to make time for the studio…
Once I got into recording, it wasn’t long before I was making music that I was happy with and sounded “professional” enough to release. If I’d spent the free time when I HAD IT recording music, I’d be so much better at it now + I’d have put out many more records.
So yeah, that was pretty dumb… Oh well.
3. What are your habits? What patterns do you repeat?
I think my biggest habit with songwriting lately is to work in a more loop-based way. I used to write the old-fashioned way, sit down with a guitar or a piano, or write some ideas in my head… But these days I write at the computer almost always, and usually start with a drumbeat or loop of some kind and build from it… It’s like reverse-songwriting… Get the feel and rhythm down first, then build chords and structure, and then eventually melody… But it works for me, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I guess.
4. What are your attitudes toward:
Power: Not so important to me… I think it kind of goes hand in hand with money and success and fame and all that… But it’s not very important to me at the end of the day.
Praise: Praise is nice of course, but it’s very addictive, and the thrill of receiving it fades very quickly. Praise can often be hollow or fickle, too. If it’s “cool” to like something, then it receives praise, regardless of whether it’s actually good or not… However, you often need that sort of praise to reach new listeners and spread the word. So I guess praise is more important for marketing yourself than for the sheer satisfaction of being praised.
Rivals: I find “rivals” or competition essential to the process, a constant source of inspiration. I admire and respect a lot of the people I get compared to (and all of whom are quite a bit more famous than I am…), folks like Chromeo, Jamie Lidell, Calvin Harris, etc… I don’t look really look at them as rivals because they deserve the successes they’ve had – they’re all very talented, and I can always learn from them.
Work: I’m a workaholic, as anyone who’s lived with me can attest. I have a day job, and the moment I get home at night, I’m on my computer working on new tracks, practicing drums, or whatever it is… I honestly get depressed if I don’t feel like I’m being productive with my time… An awesome weekend to me is one spent largely in the studio making music and working my ass off. Everyday I’m hustlin!
Play: Play is important, obviously… But I think it has to be earned
5. Define muse. And who is yours?
A muse is a constant source of inspiration, usually in the form of a person… Mine’s a secret!
6. When you work, do you love the process or the result?
Hard to say which I love more, there are pros and cons to both… But I think I prefer the process more at the end of the day. I never know which way a song is going to go when I start one… It usually begins with one little idea, which I then record, listen to, revise, add to, listen again, revise again, etc… over and over… Song-writing is always a process of discovery for me, and it gets me every time… I love having the finished result, but I always reach a point where I don’t want to hear it anymore… when I cringe at the way I chose to record this, or sing that, or whatever it is… So yeah, the process wins for me, ultimately.
7. What is your greatest dream?
The big dream is to be a ginormous rockstar! The more realistic modest dream is to make a good living making music the way I want to.
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