Alter Doggo

I often wonder why dogs end up looking like their owners.

Maybe we’re drawn to dogs that remind us of ourselves.

Or maybe we start to adopt each other’s characteristics as we connect.

Whatever it is, it reminds me of how the most loving artists and fans leave an impression on one another.

Audience

When does a stranger become an audience?

When they’ve listened to us once?

When they start following us on socials?

When they’ve seen us at a gig?

Maybe it’s any moment someone’s willing to listen to what we have to say.

And in that moment, it’s worth saying something for both of us, not just ourselves.

Needle

I saw a girl come in the emergency department with spectacular tattoos.

Full sleeve both arms and up to her neck, even piercings on every piece of facial cartilage.

But when we told her we’d need a drop of blood for tests, she broke down into tears.

She was scared of needles.

But amidst the crushing irony I could believe that..

To her, a needle in a parlour represented beauty, whereas in hospital her mortality.

At least, this helped me feel less judgemental about it.

Grace

Ray is a nervous dog. And unfortunately, he will bark at any dog larger than him.

Fortunately most dogs are graceful enough to not bite. They have no real reason to.

When a stranger barks, it’s entirely up to us to take offence or leave it.

But taking bait is seldom graceful. Taking it means we felt threatened by the small dog.

The classiest thing to do is to deny what barking strangers want most - attention.

Keep it classy.

Pristine

Within the sprawling landscape of Kew Gardens stands a giant green house called the Palm House.

It is floor-to-ceiling glass panes, with a chaotic display of tropical plants inside.

The surface is covered with emerald patina and the space bursts with good vibes.

This place is everything pristine is scared of.

To wear its blemishes proudly, to allow uncertainty shape its personality, and to embrace imperfection.

And maybe when we get over a fragile priority like pristine..

We could grow like the Palm House too.

Carrot

I am definitely addicted to my phone.

But I take advantage of this by dangling it behind my morning routine.

Shower, meditate, practice instrument. All before I let myself pick up the phone.

This makes sure I get a few things done before I get screen time.

But having done this for a few months.. the real carrot is the peace I feel from a screen free start to my day.

Manual

I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of hefty manuals.

And when an idea requires an incredibly long preamble to understand, it zaps the joy out of it for me.

Creating simple ideas that bang is not an act of laziness.

Simple ideas that smack you in the soul follows enormous efforts refining what the idea is.

And giving ideas a chance to fly require us to unshackle it from the burden of cumbersome explanations.

Glass

All ego is made of glass.

It is transparent, and smashes easily.

Calling someones ego fragile is like saying the sky is blue. The ego by definition needs to uphold itself.

So where we fall short is pretending like we don’t even have an ego, and miss the opportunity to address its fragility.

In reality, every one has one and is carelessly smashing it into each other.

Handle with care.

Vulnerability

What do you care about?

Is it obvious from what you create?

Do you feel vulnerable when you share it?

Because if you do, you’re right on track.

Encoding

Music is more than just sound; it’s a language that carries emotional weight.

Encoded within its notes and rhythms are the power to convey feelings, inspire change, and connect souls.

To love music is to believe in its ability to make the world a better, more harmonious place.

Music is love, encoded.

Underdog

In my house, Ray is the underdog. Always ready to show his belly in submission.

So on the rare occasion he wins a play fight, it makes my heart swell with pride.

By definition, underdogs are against the odds.

And artists who choose to show up and create do so against the slim odds of making a living from their craft.

So every time you show up, it makes those rooting for you swell with pride too.

Keep going.

Coco

I’m not particularly sweet toothed.

But I do like dark chocolate.

And it comes down to the tension in its bitter sweetness.

I love listening to people who talk about difficult moments with humour.

Or nice moments with gritty honesty.

A bitter sweet idea adds depth to our emotions.

Kitchen Dance

When a jam comes on in the kitchen, my wife does a small dance.

First it starts with a hip wiggle, then come the disco fingers.

These small moments are where I find the most joy.

Sometimes that’s all that really matters.

Sapien

Emotions crave simplicity; they want the message to beeline from intention straight to the soul.

When we complicate our feelings—whether we’re devastated, sad, or in love—the harder it becomes to actually feel.

Even Shakespeare’s intricate works distill down to elemental themes of love, revenge, and morality.

We are human first, artist second.

Graffiti

My sausage dog Otis is meticulous when it comes to marking on his walk. Every corner of the walk is spritzed with his scent.

And on this same walk, graffiti tags are scrawled all over street furniture.

Neither really adds beauty to this space. Both acts only really serve themselves.

But graffiti ascends to the realm of art when it is less about self-expression, but more a dialogue with the space it occupies.

And when artists like Banksy take this concept to another level and deliver social commentary, it resonates on a wider stage.

Graffiti hits harder when it respects its space, not serve the ego.

Wow

Ideas that resonate spread like wildfire.

But asking people to share our work doesn’t work that well. No one likes to share something unless they want to.

So a better strategy is to decide on an emotional promise, then do everything we can to utterly shatter those expectations.

Go deeper, weirder, harder, softer, trippier, sadder, happier.

Beyond what anyone thought possible.

And when people feel totally mind blown..

They will eagerly spread the word to their tribe.

And

The golden rule of improvised comedy is ‘the magic of and’.

Never let a statement die, always pick up a joke and develop the theme.

And it turns out, this mindset is golden for composing too.

Every idea that’s thrown in deserves to be responded to, even if it’s with intentional silence.

Otherwise the voices in a track are just characters speaking over each other, or worse, statements followed by unintentional awkward silence.

If a composition sounds refined but feels boring, consider the magic of and.

Meme

My phone pings as my wife and I watch a rerun of a property show.

She’s secretly sent me a meme of a bedraggled chihuahua captioned “when you’re not a morning person”.

And I quietly giggle as she shifts her focus on my reaction. It’s a spot on metaphor of me in the morning.

And I’m reminded that metaphors are key to memes that feel relatable.

Success

If we accept the premise that every human has their own unique individual quality, then every success is individual too.

Every win, every victory and triumph comes with a hidden cost that goes largely unmentioned in most highlight reels.

The authentic artist may sacrifice financial security for ground breaking projects, and the entrepreneur may trade family time for revenue.

Success is a complex and multifaceted concept that is often over simplified.

And I find it pays more to be happy for the success of others, than to envy it.

Fun

Looking back, I spent my early life genuinely believing it was better to be fun than boring.

And although exciting, this belief definitely misguided me in stressful ways.

Fun fuels life in amazing ways, but a compulsion for ‘fun’ eventually becomes toxic because it simply fails to recognise many wholesome things can look dull.

Patience, humility, listening, kindness.

And eventually after many fucking stressful life lessons, I realise lasting happiness is a careful balancing act between fun and the mundane.