NEVER PLAY TO THE GALLERY & More Creative Secrets from BOWIE
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2024
- NEVER PLAY TO THE GALLERY & More Creative Secrets from BOWIE
In this first video of the Creativity is Everywhere series, Mike takes a deep dive into five distinct aspects of David Bowie’s creative process.
Covered in the video are David’s famous thoughts about playing to the gallery, his use of the cut up technique that he learned from other creatives such as William Burroughs, songwriting tips, effortless inspiration, learning the craft, letting creative ideas happen in their own time, and other inspiring lessons in creativity.
0:00 Introduction
1:57 Secret 1: Effortlessness
3:27 Secret 2: Learn your craft
4:30 Secret 3: Let go of the old, move into the new
7:32 Secret 4: Let it happen on its own time, not yours
9:08 Secret 5: Never play to the gallery
10:53 Recap and Conclusion
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this was brilliant, a very inspiring reminder of the basics and how they apply to him as much as everyone else - great job
Thanks so much!
The biggest secret to his success remains unrevealed here. Almost all of his best recordings were made in collaboration with others. Whether Mick Ronson, Tony Visconti, Iggy Pop, Nile Rodgers, Carlos Alomar or others on occasion, his best work of the 70s and 80s constantly featured it. I am not sure he ever made a recording in this era that was truly just him and interchangeable sidemen. Its something that Tony Visconti, who knew him as well as anyone ever has, has always noted. Bowie worked best when he was bouncing ideas and getting inspiration from others. That is not a knock on Bowie in any way and its actually something I admire about him.
This is right on the money - and definitely not a knock on Bowie!
Very good point. Robert Fripp and Mike Garson come to mind too. Bowie had an ear for more experimental and creative musicians and made them a prominent feature of his recordings. Mike Garson said Bowie allowed him free reign on the song Aladdin Sane to play what he wanted which was the modernist classical kind of piano playing that's such a prominent feature of that song. Fripp too was very adventurous on Bowie recordings. Allowing highly creative musicians you admire free reign to contribute using their own voice adds a lot to music. And Bowie was the force that tied it all together into coherent catchy songs. Quite unique in popular music.
@@MysticOblong Collaboration of creatives is key. He was the gifted at bringing it together , adding his own twist and stepping up to the gallery.
@@SuzanneO707 very much agree. collaboration ('group genius' Sawyer). Moreover, Bowie had a special way of adopting and adapting arts and styles from other music and beyond. anthony newly, iggy pop, lou reed, a lot of Japanese culture, ...
..and, as Paul McCartney put it - it helps to be a genious...
There has been something missing from the 50+ jobs that I’ve had...I never worked for myself.
“Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs” -Farrah Gray
Change it
What makes you think there's a self worth working on
@@jameskeelinggaming2319Best not impose your feelings of self upon others.
The Great man raises the only point that matters to me... Learn your craft, practice till you bleed... Then just trust that the art knows what it wants to be.
One of my idols. Even at 69 yrs. old, Bowie's photo hangs prominently above my worktable in my studio space. He inspires me to create until my last breath as he did so extraordinarily. Thanks for this vid.
I love that advice of not playing to the gallery. As a yoga teacher I was asked to include ab exercises in the class, this isn’t what yoga is, & I had no intention of altering it in that way. I very much enjoyed creating classes & keeping true to the tradition of yoga (to the best of my knowledge)regardless of who it resonated with. I feel that it would have taken away from my authenticity, in essence making the class less beautiful & less effective. Modern yoga has really been butchered! I’ve taken classes that where called yoga that have completely strayed away from what yoga is.😔Anyway…
♥️David Bowie
love this
Yoga teacher here - totally agree 😊❤
I feel blessed to have lived in the same time as Bowie. He will be talked about for generations.
After one generation he will lose 80% of the public memory. After three, he will barely be rememberd other than rare docs. Like the Beatles. Most people,on the street under 45 had no idea about them till the Disney movie remake.
I saw him perform once, I shared the air with him, he was a gift.
@@morbidmanmusiconly time knows
@morbidmanmusic sorry mate, I dont know where you are talking from (USA?), but that is bollocks. In the UK, people under 45 definitely know who the Beatles were and will know the lyrics to their main hits. They are just in the public consciousness and everyone knows them. To a lesser extent, the same goes for the Rolling Stones, Bowie, Pink Floyd and some others.
There's loads of people who know older music even if they aren't huge fans, as well as there being music nerds like me who appreciate all the older music.
“Never play to the gallery” is not only great advice for musicians, but for life in general as well
Can't ever get enough of Bowie. Thank you!
I was lucky enough to meet David Bowie in 1999. When he shook my hand, I hoped some of his creativity spores would rub off on me. They didn't. He was one of a kind and a true genius who is sorely missed.
He have a firm handshake?
@@bongdong6483 He did have a firm handshake that felt business-like. However, his hand also felt slender and slightly feminine. He had the hands of an artist.
I think you've misunderstood how creative people pollinate 😂
I worked in a creative industry and I totally relate to not forcing things into a schedule. Those of us in the "creative department" would drive the account managers crazy because it looked like we were goofing off, wasting times. But the most productive work method was to step away from the project after a period of intense concentration and let our brains work on it in the background, connecting thoughts in ways we wouldn't do consciously. Over and over, in the middle of distracting ourselves an idea, or part of an idea, or a different direction would present itself, and off we'd go in another flurry of creativity. The worst, least productive work was when we were up against deadlines. Needing to have good ideas RIGHT NOW is not conducive to fresh ideas.
Spot on. I felt his genius was his ability to insist on his own pace , space and keeping one step ahead. I love that he was constantly experimental, evolving His generous humble spirit, the trips and falls were part of the process.
I wasn't afraid to stick to his guns and was a master of pushing creative boundaries. He never lost that, despite his own admittance of bloopers.
Of course he had a beautiful voice, mesmorizing grace, physicality and stage craft.
What stands out for me was how he connected with the audience and collaborated with great musicians, such as the bass player lady.
Miss him but his legacy lives on.
Ha, the Beatles were quite the opposite way
@@joebrewer4529 - "We need a complete album by tomorrow? How about this?"
@@alchristensen8121 the Beatles can do it I can do it
Thankyou .As a lifetime Bowie fan , I loved this .I was fortunate enough to see him love twice during his career, and iv got to tell you ,it was just brilliant ,both himself and all the phenomenonal musicians who worked alongside him.
this is applicable to anyone who is creating (which to me is every human being) - musicians or not. Thanks for this - clearly David Bowie was in the flow of the universe and your simple breakdown of it helps the viewer understand how to just Be and trust the process
thanks
That's my hope, that musicians and non-musicians alike will find something they can draw from this in their own field.
This is excellent! Bowie's creative process has always intrigued me. I'm so glad this was posted. From a fan of 40+ years Thank you. ⚡⚡⚡✌🏼
I remember Bowie's Anthony Newlay phase, his Bob Dylan phase (complete with curly perm), British Folk phase, his capitalising on the Moon Shot with Space Oddity, his Heavy/Prog Rock phase, so many different attempts to get noticed before finally getting off the ground (permanently) in '72 with Ziggy. All these were his previous attempts at stardom and if that wasn't "playing to the gallery", then I don't know what is.
It's easy to give advice like that when you can basically release any old crap because you've already got a fan base which is sufficient to ensure enough sales.
I've loved the vast majority of Bowie's work since early in the 70s , and I feel his rapid change in styles was originally bandwagon jumping which evolved into the restless-feet mentality we came to expect from him. Let's not forget that a short while earlier The Beatles had been the first musicians to evolve into something musically unrecognisable to how they had began. That went unnoticed by no-one, and especially not Bowie. Bowie's change in sound had a fair amount to do with the employment of different backing musicians, and as with the Spiders, when the riffs and fills had been exhausted, he moved on.
"Play to the gallery" by all means and keep your fingers crossed, because most record companies only ever want a safe bet. I can't help but feel Bowie lifted this quote from Brian Eno who actually began with, and has stuck to, that very philosophy.
Really appreciate your easygoing, non-hyped delivery style. Refreshing amidst today’s noisy, shrill, Adderrall-driven talking heads. 👍🏽
Great info. These pointers came just in time for. I’m creatively climbing out a rut. I’m a huge Bowie fan also. Keep it up. Thanks Stay Blessed!!!
I'm happy it was helpful for you. Part of my motivation is to provide some inspiration for people in a creative rut or block. Thank you for the comment!
Excellent conversation agree with you 100% the best part is you gotta put in the work and then creativity might flow!
1. Flow.
2. Practice.
3. Experiment.
4. Pause.
5. Pleasure.
Wow! Great video. Keep up the good work.
Interesting video! Good selection of clips, and well explained!
Totally loved your in depth analysis of Mr. Bowie , would love to see more of your content of this topic.
Thank you so much! This was my first video on this topic and I intend to keep it going. There is so much to be learned from the iconic artists.
Good stuff man, creativity is often misunderstood as deliberate effort, so great initiative here. 💯
That cut-up technique can be done with an app, I suppose, but I've found it works just as well with an actual typewriter. Typewriters and ribbons are readily available, as is A4 paper, as are scissors and accordion-folders. The main benefit of the older method is fewer distractions.
Thanks for this. David has always been a major inspiration to my creative journey. It’s a great thing to hear a lot of the tidbits of wisdom he dropped over the years all in one place.
Enlightening, thanks ! 🐾
Hi there! this video is beautiful, thank you!
I'm a songwriter, (or at least that's what I try to do) and Bowie always surprised me, you have a lot of data here. These types of investigations are very useful in my opinion. Let's hope the music is filled with brave people like him.
Glad you found the information useful. I'm also hoping it will inspire creativity in others.
LOVE this - first time watcher and now subscriber :)
This is the first episode of Creativity is Everywhere, in which I take a closer look at the creative processes of iconic artists. Who else would like to see covered in this series? I have my own ideas but would love to hear your suggestions too. Let me know in the comments!
Miles, of course, who constantly reinvented his music.
The Grateful Dead
thom yorke!!!
Todd Rundgren
The really big ones are big for a reason - The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd! :)
Thank you. I really enjoyed this--and took notes. I recently had the experience of playing and hearing an internal voice concerned about judging the work, and the good fortune to hear another internal voice say, No, we're doing that any more (we're on a mission to learn what I can bring).
Thanks for letting me know, and glad you found it helpful!
Great video, really useful and encouraging, specially at this point of my creative process where I sometimes feel like I'm wondering for ever... Thank you
Incredible video and very informative. Thanks for putting this together liked and subscribed to your channel
He pley & play, & play, then he felt what work & consistently discipline ⛲🎼💝
Thank~You!!!! This Is So Very Inspiring!!! So Great To Hear David* Bowie* Sharing In These Sweet Golden Nuggets Of Inspirations~* Big Thanks For This Video, Super Appreciated!! 😊🍀🌟🧡🙏✨
"Aladin Sane" .... I've listened to many many times.. my favorite of his.
If we ever go to Mars and beyond one thing that they will bring will be Bowie!
thank you for this excellent video. some very pertinent reminders to any artist. a rewakening to myself, a visual artist.
Hey dude. Loved this. Subscribed.
thanks matey peeps, nice work, helpful to aspiring artists I do not doubt
Thank you, that was surprisingly useful. I'm not a big fan of Bowie's music, but I am a fan of his creative process. I needed to hear "Don't play to the gallery" today. I was worrying that my latest project might be too weird for some people, so yeah, stopped that
Lets not confuse art and entertainment. Entertainment may exist to make people happy. Art is what Bowie describes (i.e. art is for the artist creating it).
I agree. I dont think any rock bands in the UK started out thinking - I want to make some 'entertainment'. That's quite an American concept. They started because they had something to express.
thanks very much for making this
The importance off not looooking at the clock is not only to let creativity to come by it's on, is to olso constantly letting yourself be related to a new context which brings that creativity that generates from the letting go of preconceptions, than that results in novelty such as of david's work.
It doesn't hurt if you're effing talented like Bowie either.
this is really brilliant. The cut-up technique reminded me of "Exquisite corpse", the game used by french surrealists and any oracles. Fantastic, really enjoined this video because it gives right attitude and viable algorithm! Thank you and David Bowie
Awesome video!!!!!!
Thankyou Thankyou ✨👌🏽
Amazing, thank you
Thanks for watching!
Cool video, very thoughtful. Thanks!
The method of cutting up words from a page and piecing them back together to make new poems is not from the 1960s, but from the Dadaist and early Surrealist ca. 1915-1930. It something you learn in art school, in an art history 101 class.
I can relate.
Great video. Even if some of those things have been clear to me, sometimes hearing it from a different angle, a different point of view, helps to anchor it a bit more.
Brilliant Fantastic
oh finally found it, thanks!
Fantastic video. The second point, learning your craft, can many times unlock a creative experience. As you work on the nuts and bolts you stumble upon something new and exciting. You can't expect something creative to appear while you do nothing. Just like a fire doesn't ignite on it's own, a creative idea needs to be sparked by action of some kind.
Great video!
great channel man
1)Loving The Alien 2)Fame 3)Fashion 4)Space Oddity 5)Suffragette City
Nice video man
Thanks for the video, very much enjoyed it!
Since you asked, and given your music, an episode on Eno must be coming, and rightfully so... but I cannot think of a better person for you to explore next than Laurie Anderson, unless you choose to wait until you have a few more episodes under your belt and feel up to the enormity of the task!
Looking forward to whatever you do, cheers!
Those are both great suggestions, thank you! I have received others as well, and now I know I have my work cut out for me. Haha
@@iminusi783 fabulous, have fun!
thank you for this video...
I always remember his/enoism......crash your plane/creativity
Awesome content, hello from milwaukee!
Thanks! Hello from 2 hours to the nort!
As an artist, I Love this!
I understood David Bowie to be saying that writing the music, melody was easy & the tunes flowed like a tap but, the 2nd phase was about writing the songs. I think he was expressing in this area that he was finding it much harder to write the words, or the lyrics, to fit in and complete the song,
You correct thankyou
Putting together random elements like that is called Dadaism
Great video! Thank you.
Glad you liked it, thank you!
Damn I needed dis
The excellent Moonage Daydream docu (from which this video borrows) is a really inspiring film that shows Bowie's creative process.
I just saw it! Very cool
Video molto bello....grazie.....love Bowie
Yes thank you!
nice video man. ilovemylife much in the same way and all the people that I've worked for the we've had good material have some of the traits that you mentioned about.
I think that Beck is very much like myself and David Bowie... or the opposite cuz I'm younger.
goodness to you
Wow great content, underrated video
Thank you! The video and this channel is new so we're just getting started. 👍
There is always a moment when you are hearing something, seeming to be coming from outside of yourself,
probably the subconscious or the muse. It can be like a musical version of a photo negative, a sort of rhythm, emerging from already active external sounds or melody and insinuating the variance in your head. The second moment is when you believe that this is familiar, somehow,
but that's really because you are experiencing the "incoming" intimately for the first time.
The third moment is the race to capture some version of it, whether it be melodic or rhythmic, before it vanishes like smoke.
The fourth is the feeling that comes from having created something. The feeling of creation is supreme and probably trumps
fame, wealth, popularity or even the finished product. If magic exists, then this is it. Something musical emerges from nowhere and all you have to do is listen and then play along. It's the nature of mystery itself.
The last feeling is one of humility, because it didn't actually come from "You". As if you might have caught a metaphorical butterfly in a net.
tHANKS!
You're welcome!
Very good shit dude
This was very inspiring. The idea of doing something non creative is a tactic I've been using lately for my own inspiration. I find if I just go live my life it gives me something to write music about. Otherwise -- I have nothing
Yes! it's really good to divert your attention off of trying to be creative and just be generally aware. The fresh perspective is gives the space for inspiration.
Please make a doc about Stephen Malkmus's Pavement & his creative approach!
You are very interesting. Thank you for putting that together. Ian /Anderson would be a good one.
Thanks for the video - it was very thought provoking. I noticed that someone has suggested Eno - he would be a good subject. Or how about Picasso? Or Andy Warhol? Or is the channel mainly music based?
Thanks for the comment and question. I am music based so I'll probably lean toward musicians for now. But the possibilities with other arts are huge. So maybe someday!
a True Artist is never satisfied, ever searching...
Love the calm delivery and well-considered insights. It's a welcome change from all the music youtubers trying to be exciting all the time, while often not bringing anything of real value. The graphics could use some work tho.
My favourite interview about David Bowie aside from Iman's house tour in here, is when Nile Rodgers interview spoke about how David said to him, that he wanted a new vibe so they went to the New York Library and it's music section. Bam, Let's Dance, China Girl etc. In Moonage Daydream David tells us so much but I don't want to give you spoilers, except to say, stay till after the end credits....after....
Just. AmazeBALLS! 🤟🤯😘
Thank you!
This was very interesting and I can relate to Bowie when he talks about music flowing out and I also remember when nothing would flow out and when I was so intimidated by songwriting. Once you've put in enough effort to try and write due to your passion for music, eventually it will feel effortless to write but I think the passion and curiosity is what gets you to that point.
This video also led me to an interesting idea. What if I were to do the exact opposite of what Bowie suggests?
To be an anarchist of all these rules.
Could it still be a work of value from the perspective I come at the work rather than the process itself?
With an awareness of the flaws of the methods you could willingly break all his rules. That honestly gives me energy because I get excited when I break rules haha
At the end of the day even if you follow the blueprint of modern music and do all the cliché things, there'll still be your personality within it because you are the one observing mainstream music that then forms your own unique perspective and then even trying to emulate that will be unique so I find it an interesting journey to see where flipping Bowie's script takes you.
I think that's how new genres or trends emerge... people just owning their own perspective and interpretation of music they like which then they do in their own way.
Mike echos many of the thoughts I have had about Bowie over the decades. His inventiveness, or "reinventing himself," immediatley separated him from the common practicing artists of those times.
God I miss David Bowie.
The number one lesson of David Bowie is he was him, and you aren't him. I will say as a songwriter who is fortunate enough to live the tap reality, the more you do it, the more it happens, at least for me. Having a recording device like a phone makes a huge difference, and you used to need a digital dictation machine in the past, or a cassette recorder.
Getting used to letting that flow happen whenever it does happen is part of it getting better. I find it also helps me to not just record the one idea, but then force myself on to a verse or a chorus. If you want to be disciplined, you could make yourself go on to a bridge. Then at least you've got the basics of a song. Sometimes you get lucky, and a huge amount of the song comes out at once. Also, lyrics first is a big deal and I have found much easier than music first. Music first can really wreck your songwriting for years, because I think it's harder than words first, but musicians want to be good on guitar and piano first, and, of course, original riffs matter, especially in rock music.
Of course, you still have to get better at it, and you're not likely to be generating David Bowie quality melodies, but the fact is, Bowie took a solid decade to get to the point where he became who he was, and he wasn't just occasionally playing, he was doing it all the time. Then once he had built that muscle, he could just flex it, but as he has said, he didn't rest on his fame, he did force himself into other new places, but that same muscle could still flex in different genres.
Shock! horror! Something useful on youtube, true godsend this channel, thank you IminusI
I wasn't challenged by it. I was validated, as it is how I work. I didn't know what I was doing and had no time frame when it took me ten years to write my book 'I Am is Inside Out' ( 656 pages ) and allowed it to tell me what it wanted to become. It dreamed itself into existence and was released a short time ago. Look out world it is coming amongst you to change your society, mentalities and beliefs. D. Scott Schoen
thank you for this video! I'm a visual artist and this is fascinating to me. I'd love to watch more videos on creativity like yours. Just subscribed! :) Could you make a video on Chris Martin? He's such a creative songwriter.
Thanks for your comment and I'm so happy you enjoy it. I do plan to make more so thank you for subscribing. Honestly I have not heard of Chris Martin but will check him out.
@@iminusi783 thank you! Chris Martin is a singer from the band Coldplay, maybe now you know who he is :)
Ah yes. Better context now, thanks!
You should have mentioned the influence of Brian Eno on David Bowie’s creative process. For example the use of Eno’s concept “Improbable Futures”. My understanding is the when Bowie asked Eno to be his producer, Eno said what he was doing concerning Improbable Futures, and if he wanted him to produce Bowie would have to agree to doing it this way.
Improbable Futures was a method where the musician was not so much a musician, but an actor. For example, Eno would say to the drummer, “You are a drummer in a band in Singapore that is the highest exponent of a style called “Slash”, and there is a civil war raging in the outskirts of the city. Play like you are that person”. He wasn’t saying “play these rhythms” or anything like that, but play a given role of a fictitious person…
Then there was probably involved the use of the deck of cards developed by Brian Eno and his painter friend Peter Schmitt, The Oblique Strategies. Eno and Schmitt independent of one another began to write these cards with a unspecific saying on them, i.e. “Water” or “Honor your error as hidden intention”. When Eno and Schmitt discovered that they were both doing this, they put their card decks together and published them as The Oblique Strategies. When say, you are in a recording studio and the meter is running, and you come up against a creative wall, you pick at random a card from the deck. Whatever the card says will pull out of you some action that is specific to the context you are currently confronted by. It is said that Eno’s deck actually has a card that says “Abandon project”.
The role of religious and culturally iconic music in the formation of current day pop music...Yeah, it a standard but always relevant; from Rev James Cleveland’s influence in R&B to "Danny Boy" by English songwriter Frederic Weatherly becoming an iconic Irish song.
Best Wishes from Germany
Greetings! Makes me think of Bowie's "Berlin Trilogy".
actually an unbelievable story, a superstar is moving to a city where even Germans don't want to live.And Teen this star changes his music 100%, from music for millions to German avant-garde music and still 100% Bowie
@@vjaspers0608 Yes!
That was interesting
Thanks for watching!
His generation did indeed like most music artists, film and inventions that have taken us to today including electronic instruments, cell phones, computer's and so much more
WI represent
Bowie Always ahead of the curve. Even if there was a trend that lasted for a few weeks, he would jump on it. Try to guess what was going and be there first or at least be the first person photographed or recorded doing it. This is impossible now days. To give you an example. When I was 13 years old, the punk rock from the UK took about three years before it got to the United States East Coast. It took another five years before it’s spread out to the West Coast and the heartland. This meant that whatever reaction to that music was simmering in the underground for decades before it eventually became grunge. That can’t happen anymore because everything it’s on Spotify instantaneously. There is no underground music that simmers and develops into its own genre before it is released to the general public.
Creativity exists in everyone... the minute the chores are done, you can begin being creative.
Joni Mitchell is also a good example of number 5
William Burroughs invented the cut-up technique