So much great stuff in…
… this interview with Rick Rubin.
It’s inspirational to see how he doesn’t get impeded by the question marks of a creative process:
I never decide if an idea is good or bad until I try it. So much of what gets in the way of things being good is thinking that we know. And the more that we can remove any baggage we’re carrying with us, and just be in the moment, use our ears, and pay attention to what’s happening, and just listen to the inner voice that directs us, the better. But it’s not the voice in your head. It’s a different voice. It’s not intellect. It’s not a brain function. It’s a body function, like running from a tiger.
But being open to using your instincts instead of going, “Oh, that’s not going to work.” Or listening to the part of your brain that goes, “Oh, that’s out of tune.” Or the part of your brain that says, “That’s too loud.” You have to shut off all of those voices and look for these special moments—these moments that you accept you have no control over. So much of my job is to not think—to be open to what’s there, and then use my intuition to see where it takes me.
All that and the man discovered Chuck D, produced Walk This Way, rediscovered Johnny Cash, produced 21, spotted Under The Bridge in a notebook, produced 99 Problems…
The list goes on and because of that, the man is a genius.
This is what always bugs me about creadivs questioning briefs. How do they know it’s “wrong” until they try.
And frankly, in trying, the brief seems to sort itself out.
It’s only a starter motor, for crying out loud.
Stop being precious ya bellend and get on with some work.
When I say “ya bellend” I’m talking about the creadivs who question briefs not you Benjammin’ (good name for a DJ).
I never thought otherwise.
On that subject, though: I have definitely been given briefs that seemed a bit shit or lazy, and as we are all capable of producing substandard work, I don’t think I was being presumptuous in that assessment.
Sometimes the starter motor is fucked and you need a set of jump leads (not sure how to end this analogy).
The way me and my art director used to deal with that was to do ads to the shit brief, then do more ads to a brief we worked out using ‘common sense.’
That way we didn’t waste any time while the brief was re-written.
Ahhh time. I remember when we used to have time. Great days.