Musicians: what is different for you between the times you are more creative and the times you are less creative?

I find I am most creative and expressive after getting very upset. I have written some of my best songs while “blowing off steam”. “I guess that is why they call it the blues!”

There are many times I will simply pick up the guitar uninspired and just play. Those are the times I will work of technique or sounds. After a while the creative juices will start flowing and I am off playing new wild riffs. That is one of the reasons why I love playing music.

I have to be at either end of the emotional spectrum to write. In between I just read.

A lot of my music is written during my “average” days. To write my music I just have to be inspired by something; a sound, a riff, a thought, a smell, anything really.

To write my lyrics, I usually have to go through some sort of trial or tribulation. It takes a lot of digging for me to come up with what I think are good, well thought out lyrics and then I just attach them to one of the songs I’ve written and see if they fit.

Playing for other people is the other end of everything. To play my own stuff, for anyone, I have to be in a pretty good mood because then I care less about how I’ll be critiqued and I just have more confidence. I can play other people’s music all day but I’m pretty shy with my own stuff unless I’m feeling confident in myself and the song.

Word.

This is indeed an interesting question and I’m sure I haven’t thought of what I’m about to type before. I’ve always found myself somewhat poetic and a great musician, but very little of both of those at the same time. I’ve always had a bit of trouble being vocal and playing my guitar at the same time, so I never really wrote music that way. Although, I do write both separately.

Here’s where the relevance comes in. When writing lyrics or poetry, depression is always the best place to be. I can think clearly about what I want to say how it’s needed to be said to sound catchy. Music on the other hand I can write whenever wherever. Although, I believe my mood is most noticeable on the music side. Since, If I’m feeling low, it’s going to sound light and sad and almost wanting to bring a tear to your eye. If I’m angry, it’s going to sound like you should be smashing something while you’re listening to it. When I’m in a good mood, you’d probably be dancing to it, lol.

There, I think I managed to answer effectively. :)

I’m a writer and a poet. I write best when I have had plenty of sleep and it is time to go to bed. If I am writing poetry, I have to have something HIT me, not force it to come. When I want to write something gruesome and bloody, I watch Dexter. If I want to write about pain and things of that sort, I have to have had a bad day I have to be high off life to write anything remotely happy. to write creatively, I have to have absolutely no stress.