What Prince Can Teach Us About Removing Friction and Finishing Tracks I had a brilliant idea for a track. Couldn’t wait to get back to it. But I left the project in a mess. Then a last-minute work project sidetracked me, and my attention went elsewhere. When I finally returned to the track weeks later? The spark was gone. I couldn’t sort the woods from the trees. I couldn’t feel or understand the purpose of the original idea. What should I keep? What should I bin? It was ove

Why your internal struggle to finish isn't internal at all Over 25 years of making and coaching electronic music, I started noticing something that changed how I approach finishing tracks. It wasn’t a single moment. It was a pattern that kept repeating. Artists would come to me stuck at the finishing stage. Different people, different tracks, different genres. But when I’d dig into what was blocking them, it was never actually technical. They knew HOW to finish. They just co

A comment landed on my Instagram this week that stopped me dead in my tracks Lana wrote under my post about how most of us fall into DJing: “I’m starting out and I’m offering to DJ for free. My passion for music, whatever genre, is what got me started.” And I felt something shift. A father-to-daughter protective instinct I wasn’t expecting. Because I was staring at myself. Thirty years younger. Spinning records at any opportunity. Not my music - yes. Playing for free - yes. P

I was on a coaching call recently, listening to a familiar story. The producer had been putting in the work. Learning their tools. Improving their process. Shipping tracks. But they’d hit a wall - the music had flatlined. Same level, same results, same silence from the labels they cared about. What they really wanted was to get signed to their favourite label What struck me was how they talked about it: they were hoping to eventually find their own sound. Not discovering it

I was about to fire up a playlist for inspiration, something I’ve done a thousand times, when I stopped. What’s the theme of today’s jam going to be? Do I lead with sound design, try to build around a unique sound? Or do I follow a feeling, something I want to express? Maybe I just need to limber up first. Listen to a few favourite tracks, catch a spark. A bass line I like. An arp that pulls me in. Then off I go. But on this particular day, I paused. And a thought landed: “He

Could asking for feedback be hijacking your tracks? Some years ago, I buried a track on my hard drive. Not because it was bad. Because I asked one person what they thought. I don’t even remember what they said exactly. But I remember how it made me feel. Like maybe I’d been kidding myself. Like those weeks of work - the late nights, the tiny decisions, the moments where everything finally clicked - maybe none of it mattered. My confidence was shot. I hit pause on the project

The copyright reality every producer needs to know Last week, a producer I know got his track pulled from Spotify. Same Splice sample. Same melody. Different artist got there first. Here's the thing - I used to think having a valid sample license was enough protection. Drag, drop, publish, right? But the game has changed, and if you're still approaching samples the old way, you're playing with fire. Let me break down why making samples your own isn't just good practice anymo