You're A Musician
10 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 3 years ago -You used to play music. Or you’ve always wanted to. Either way, you’re not making music now! And to be honest, you kind of wish you were. In short weekly episodes, host Cole MacKinnon discusses songwriting, creativity, and what it's like getting back into music-making after years away.
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Episodes
Confidence as a musician (and sticking to your vision)
March 25, 2021 20:00 - 5 minutes - 3.78 MBCole: " It’s funny how often we say “Hang on, is this good enough?” which can also be interpreted as “am I good enough?" I think there are a lot of people out there who are very close to pulling the trigger on a new song or video, or are wanting to do a livestream, or are planning to play live shows again when the world opens back up, but they can’t get past that - feeling just a bit inadequate." -- 🎙 New episodes of “You’re A Musician” are uploaded every week. 💥 PS - I’m releasing a n...
The relationship between sleep, creativity, and your music
March 22, 2021 19:00 - 6 minutes - 4.45 MBCole: "If someone asked me about the number one variable or factor that impacts your ability to be creative - I would say sleep. It’s honestly crazy how much better you can perform after getting even one more hour of sleep each night. On the flipside, there’s also an interesting opposing theory called “creative insomnia”, which is the idea that... not getting enough sleep can actually spark creativity for you. What do you think?" -- 🎙 New episodes of “You’re A Musician” are uploaded ever...
The importance of releasing your work (and not being too precious about it!)
March 18, 2021 09:00 - 6 minutes - 4.15 MBCole: " Something really interesting about this story is that the writer spent almost 10 years working on this book. Apparently he wasn’t able to just stop writing and ship it. So the article says that’s the only reason anyone knows about Cold Mountain or Charles Frazier is because someone in his circle had to intervene and actually move his art forward for him. How long would he have just sat on it, and kept revising it, and would it ever have made it out the door? That’s super interesti...
Music with vocals vs. instrumental music
March 15, 2021 14:00 - 5 minutes - 4.13 MBCole: "I love this concept: Without lyrics, the listener actually has more room to interpret and discover what the song could mean for THEM specifically. I read this on a YouTube video the other day: "Melodies have a language of their own." And I think that’s well said - without lyrics, the listener is free to interpret the meaning, the emotions, the direction of the song without any lyrics presenting a meaning for them." -- 🎙 New episodes of “You’re A Musician” are uploaded every week. ...
Why it’s important to capture and record your musical ideas
March 11, 2021 15:00 - 6 minutes - 4.62 MBCole: Yes, definitely DO document your ideas - get them down, capture them before they’re gone. Because there's a good chance you'll forget them, or at least, forget parts of them! It’s just so valuable to capture creativity like that. It’s the musician’s sketchbook. A great bonus, I’ve found, is the clarity of mind you get from listening back to your song sketches the following day - it definitely helps to qualify the ideas as worth pursuing or perhaps banking for a later date. " -- 🎙 N...
Prefer to create music by yourself or with others?
March 08, 2021 10:00 - 8 minutes - 5.69 MBCole: "Songwriting on your own vs. songwriting with other musicians. I personally find that nothing beats writing on your own. I think that's because the ideas are coming in so quickly. That intro was too long, I’m going to play it back 2-3 times, trim it, move it up a bit. Oh - now that piano isn’t really working for me, I’m going to scrap that. These micro-adjustments are so fast that it always seems most efficient to do it myself." -- 🎙 New episodes of “You’re A Musician” are upl...
Why you don't have to persuade your friends to become your fans
March 03, 2021 20:00 - 8 minutes - 5.83 MBCole: “Releasing music again got me thinking about an important principle that I think is worth sharing with musicians and creators: Your own network isn’t always going to be the right audience for your music. And that’s totally ok. Your audience exists, and is out there." -- 🎙 New episodes of “You’re A Musician” are uploaded every week. 💥 PS - I’m releasing a new song every month. Listen to the music HERE. Connect with me here: Instagram: @colemackinnon Spotify: Cole MacKinnon Webs...
First impressions of getting back into music and the creative process
February 24, 2021 22:00 - 6 minutes - 4.6 MBCole: And I’ve gotta tell you - the music just POURED out. It was crazy. I demoed 9-10 song ideas within about 10 days - and that was just when I had time to actually work on it. And I think the things you create when you’re in that state, that kind of “early creativity” state, are often some of the best or purest artistic expressions you can make. It’s this joyous kind of flow state where you’re just laying things down as fast as you can think of them. -- 🎙 New episodes of “You’re A Mus...
How sad music can actually make you feel the happiest
February 24, 2021 22:00 - 6 minutes - 4.76 MBCole: “I think it's important to remember that your musical tastes don’t always align with what you’re presenting as a person - as a human out there in the world interacting with other people, who you work with, or your family. Some of us have these interesting alter egos when it comes to art - from a quiet person who loves really loud, explicit hip-hop to a tough-looking person who loves classical music. That’s what’s so great about having different artistic sides or interests - you can ...
Welcome to the show + the importance of creative outlets
February 24, 2021 22:00 - 7 minutes - 5.36 MBCole: "The focus of this first season is really about rediscovering the act of being creative. If it's something that really lives in you, like it does for me, and you've given it up, like I did - then how can you go about reclaiming that, getting back into it, at any level, personally or professionally? What made you leave in the first place? As you hear more of my story and how my return to music is progressing - does that resonate with you, and do you have a similar type of story?" ...