Stay ConnectedKeith Mills, founder of the Finish More Music system, reveals the creative strategies and mindsets he teaches to thousands of music producers so you can write more and better music, ready to release and share with the world.
Discover workflow hacks to speed up your writing process, mindset approaches to overcome avoidance, procrastination and perfectionism, and compositional techniques to help you take your underground dance music productions to the next level.
Copyright: © Finish More Music 2019
While many producers try to sound like other artists, my guest today has always chosen to go against the grain.
In this episode I'm sitting down with co-founder and owner of the iconic Hospital records, Drum and Bass legend Tony Colman, who performs and produces as London Elektricity.
With a punk attitude of doing things differently and getting reactions, Tony broke stereotypes and boundaries by doing what he wanted and not what was expected.
"There's no point unless you do it differently"
The culmination of diverse influences led him to discover his place in the world of music…
"Hearing the tune work on the dance floor I just knew this was my future".
Tony talks about the serendipity of his journey and how a negative experience became a positive and defining moment in his life.
Energised from getting burned, he worked hard, followed his muse and went by pure gut instinct to build a successful label with a novel philosophy.
Tony lays out his approach to listening to demos and the emotional response he looks for…
"Music for me works when it's accessing an emotional source within the listener that they may not even be aware of now. That is genius. That is undefinable. That's what people call the ingredient X. And that's what I try and open myself to when I'm listening to new music"
We go deep into the topic of being unique, sourcing obscure sounds and beats, the art of improvisation in the studio, throwing off restrictions and having fun…
"Don't be afraid to break out of your comfort zone…Fear is important. Imposter syndrome is essential. It's part of what helps us to be different and better."
Tony really knows his stuff and this interview has one hell of an empowering message…
With his first music released at age 14, Tim Engelhardt has gone on to consistently release on some of the most respected labels in the industry, playing his music out around the world.
Today Tim talks about his unique journey, what he embraces in his productions and his process of discovery and learning, exploring the possibilities of the tools available…
"there's a tendency for a lot of people to almost discount the stock plugins or devices…just an exploration of the presets can be quite mind blowing sometimes"
The benefits of bringing something new into your workflow whilst minimising the risks of interrupting your creative flow…
"What's really important for me is that there is not that big of a learning curve. So it is very immediate. I don't have to do a lot to make it sound great."
Deciding what to let go of for the greater good of the record…
"you don't necessarily need to add things, you can also take things away…it's easy to overcomplicate…there's a time to bring things in and a time when there isn't"
We deep dive into his workflow from the studio to the clubs to the label, the necessity of deadlines to get motivated to finish…
…and the power of saying no; reserving your creative energy for things that you love and that really inspire you.
This episode is a real eye-opener!
Owner and runner of the iconic label CLR, podcast and radio host, music producer and one of the most in-demand DJs in the world, Chris Liebing is a man who has had a huge impact on the techno scene.
We sat down to talk about starting out as an artist and the importance of building strong relationships and a reputation of trust with the people in the industry who will get your music heard…
The mentors and label owners who are your path to releasing on the labels you love and getting the gigs you dream of.
"Find a good person who is experienced and can guide you, you might be able to avoid a lot of mistakes because if you're a young artist in this world, you're kind of a really nice victim to a lot of experienced business people out there who try to take advantage of you"
Chris spoke about finding like-minded people to work with and surrounding yourself with people who have great knowledge in the business and are good at what they do…
"I would start to build up a relationship with the artist because it's not only about the music it's also about the character, the personality, the person who's behind it…
…I want to find great new artists and I want to support those".
This interview is gold from start to finish…
As a music producer it's all too easy to be influenced by trends, and to end up switching tracks to what's popular at the moment.
My guest today chose to back himself, staying true to his path and having the confidence in himself to go for what he really wanted to go for and remain authentic.
David Penn (Defected, Glasgow Underground) is a house music legend. A man with a career that spans over 25 years that has seen him DJ all over the world and regularly top the music charts.
"I'm in a position that I believe in what I'm doing and it's more freedom for me to make what I have in my mind…that is something that's non-negotiable that isn't up for compromise".
With an infectious enthusiasm for music and an identity of sound that he is well known for, David marries his skills with a rich mixture of funk, soul and jazz influences.
"I have many different influences, but I'm not following anyone…I'm just following my instinct that is working. So I'm happy."
There's a lot to takeaway from this interview.
With releases on Defected, Toolroom, Solid Grooves… Josh Butler is, without doubt, one of the UK's premier House talents.
I sat down with him to cover the full spectrum of what it takes to be a pro artist…
…finding creative flow state, methods for inspiration, road testing tracks, and tips on how to boost your chances of having labels listen to and sign your music.
Josh talks about the dangers of overproducing, of diminishing returns, of reversing all the hard work and the vibe that you've created.
And how he hits his ideal goals for a session…
…entering the elusive flow state, getting lost in the music, not overthinking, not perfecting, not getting distracted…
…surrendering to creativity.
This is an episode that you will take an absolute ton of insights from.
We continue this week with our second special episode hearing about the journeys and lessons from the producers inside of the FMM community.
And today I'm delighted to be speaking to Jonas Klugel who produces and DJs under the name Azpecialguest.
Jonas has had an incredible 12 months, a very accomplished DJ, recently nominated best new Danish artist 2022 and rubbing shoulders on stage with Hans Bieger.
He's now following suit with his productions, hitting the top spots in the Beatport charts and has over 100 finished tracks in the bag.
But rewind just a few short years and things were quite different…
After attending various courses, Jonas imagined he would be able to write music to play out…
…but never really learned how to finish a track, and was finding things slow going.
Dug into a hole of frustration and confusion and a mess on the production front, his music came to a stop.
He had learned some skills but ultimately without the process to consistently put them into pratice. Meanwhile his friends were releasing music, getting bookings and leveling up.
Jonas felt like a failure, stuck on the starting grid, not knowing how to get moving.
In this episode we dig into his journey so that you can hear what flipped the switch for Jonas, and what he changed to get to where he is today.
If you want to know what it takes to progress from being completely stuck with your music to becoming a prolific artist who's able to create with ease and consistently level up the quality of your music, you are going to LOVE this episode.
Today is a very special episode of the series in which we're going to be hearing about the journeys and lessons from some of our producers from the FMM community.
And I'm super excited to share these journeys with you because they'll give you the opportunity to learn from producers just like you…
Producers who have BIG ambitions, and who've wrestled and overcome a variety of challenges to see the amazing results that they are achieving today.
And stories like these are SO powerful because so often just one piece of information is all you need to flick a switch and see a huge change for yourself.
So in the hot seat today I am joined by Amber Sophia and Sean Crower, partners in life as well as partners in music.
Sean and Amber saw an opportunity to combine forces and step into the unknown, taking the scary decision to step away from a lucrative job to pursue creativity.
…Combining a shared love for electronic music, and journalism, and finding the parallels in the idea of telling a story through music.
This was a really candid interview covering relationships, self-imposed pressure, imposter syndrome, and backing yourself to go all in.
The impact of this podcast can't be understated.
One of the things I've noticed that affects so many struggling music producers, and maybe you can relate, is that they have so many false starts.
They show up every day for a short period of time….
…And then it's back to the same old distractions that get them frustrated, overwhelmed, and with absolutely nothing to show for themselves.
Successful people are simply people with successful habits.
We first make our habits. Then our habits make us.
Our habits become who we are. Our habits are part of our being…
…and our being and how we behave, dictates the results we get.
In this episode I'll show you how to finally erase that stop start behavior…
…and instead build rock solid habits that lead to excellence in the studio.
And very quickly you will scale your output, the quality of your music, your releases and the impact you get to have on the scene that you love.
It's yours for the taking.
We're flipping the script on you today, quite literally!
It's always super valuable to hear straight from the horse's mouth, so we're turning the tables and passing the virtual mic into your hands, to dive into your burning questions.
In today's episode we invited you, our listeners, to direct the topics that we would cover and to steer the direction of the show…
What's going to help you on your creative journey to move forward?
This brought up some interesting and recurring topics and I'll be unpacking some thoughts around those and giving some advice.
We love to drive our content in a way that's meaningful to you. That's why we do what we do :-)
So hop in and let's get rolling with that first question…
What would you do if you suddenly lost your hearing?
What impact would this have on your abilities as a music producer?
These things can hit us suddenly and without warning…
And leave you reassessing many aspects of your life!
When I recently and unexpectedly experienced a sudden onset of hearing loss, combined with tinnitus and other ringing artefacts in my ear, it left me battling against damage to my hearing.
And I'll be honest, it's been pretty scary.
In this episode, I'll be sharing with you exactly what happened, my approach to dealing with it and how I intend to manage myself both physically and mentally going forwards.
It's my hope that if you have experienced, or ever encounter something like this, some of my thoughts and the lessons I've learned here will help you to move forward, stay positive, and keep doing what you love doing best.
…And that's making music!
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