What is the longest break you ever took from making music and was it difficult getting back into it ?

For nearly all of 2015 i was tucked away in the studio and thats when i made the most progress and then life sort of got in the way , (mostly my fault) i had a bit of a substence abuse problem , and that only hindered my creativity , along with my finances , so i had to sell everything including my kontakt komplete audio 6 , my senn hd 600, my dt880 , my pc where i did the majortiy of my work , my krk rokit 5's, novation mk sl II, all of it gone for less than a fraction of the price !! Lets just say a lot of people got lucky on craiglist

In 2016 i started to get back on my feet but still nowhere near ready to return to the studio although i did compose a few stuff here and there..

When my mind is foggy i cant work at my best , i thought taking adderal would take me to the next level and it did but not with anything artful

Sure all of a sudden i was labeling everything on my mixer , i had everything color coded , all of my files were organized , all of the clutter was out of the way and that should of made me more productive right ?

But all it did was boost my confidence , and made me work quicker using techniques i already knew how to do , and that didnt necessarily make my tracks any better.

I have been sober for over a year and a half now , im on a new diet and i excercise regularly (best shape i been in years) and im just now getting the bug again , i open up my daw once a day , because for me getting back into that rhythm is going to take some work i find myself relearning things , so im taking baby steps and if i get that aha moment again ill be ready. Ill be satisfied and wont feel like my life is going to waste if i do one creative thing a day even if its tiny.

Last edited by LoveHate on May-18-2017 at 17:52

Well done on getting yourself sorted out - I wouldnt force it, just make some music when you feel like it

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I feel you with the foggy mind, it was hitting me hard last few years, but I have an anxiety disorder so, but it seems better now and im not taking pharma. I took a long break and changed my outlook, coupled with some other things, basically I stopped being as creative as I was before I stopped, but I treat it as an instantaneous thing and it could prop up again if the factors are in place, im not really worried about it, just worried about other things, like my rent going up an insane price.

Back in 2012 I thought it would be a good idea to study a new profession (keeping in mind I'm over 30 years old), so I studied to be a lab technician for two years. Naturally I couldn't finance this studying any other way than working full time at the same time. So during daytime I was at work, and as soon as the shift ended, I drove to school. So that was two years I spent leaving the house before 6 am and getting back somewhere after 9 pm. Naturally couldn't even think of producing during that time.
I guess I must've overworked myself just a tiny bit, because I kinda collapsed and fell into a pretty serious depression and had to be medicated for it. Now, the medication worked pretty damn well, but a downside to it was that it completely killed my creativity. I didn't have a single musical thought in my head, and eventually I just kinda gave up.
Now that I'm well and off the meds, it feels like the floodgates have opened. Like every single idea I couldn't get out just bursts out of me all at once.

So yeah, that was about a four year break that I took. But things are now better than ever.

Edit:
Which is why I named my EP (which comes out tomorrow, wink wink nudge nudge) "Better Days."

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Latest releases:
Endless Cycles [Capital Heaven]
The Charlatan [Morphosis]

Last edited by Mr.Mystery on May-19-2017 at 03:32

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Originally posted by Mr.Mystery Back in 2012 I thought it would be a good idea to study a new profession (keeping in mind I'm over 30 years old), so I studied to be a lab technician for two years. Naturally I couldn't finance this studying any other way than working full time at the same time. So during daytime I was at work, and as soon as the shift ended, I drove to school. So that was two years I spent leaving the house before 6 am and getting back somewhere after 9 pm. Naturally couldn't even think of producing during that time. I guess I must've overworked myself just a tiny bit, because I kinda collapsed and fell into a pretty serious depression and had to be medicated for it. Now, the medication worked pretty damn well, but a downside to it was that it completely killed my creativity. I didn't have a single musical thought in my head, and eventually I just kinda gave up. Now that I'm well and off the meds, it feels like the floodgates have opened. Like every single idea I couldn't get out just bursts out of me all at once. So yeah, that was about a four year break that I took. But things are now better than ever. Edit: Which is why I named my EP (which comes out tomorrow, wink wink nudge nudge) "Better Days."

props that takes some major determination working a full time job, and going to school at any age !!!

and congrats on that , going to give a it a proper listen when i get home.

Sadly, this period I'm in right now has been the longest I've not made music, either with a daw or my decks. Probably the best part of a year now.

I moved, business things got so hectic, tons of things got in the way, and the music kit still isn't even set up yet. Hopefully shit will calm down so I can get back in to it but it's going to be rusty as fuck when I first power it all up.

Wanted to say props to you all for working through the problems, especially getting off meds and back on the horse. It's an understatement to say it's easy but it always amazes me when I hear stories of meds completely affecting things like creativity, drive and musicality. Congrats guys. Keep the plur and pump out some unicorn.

Does only producing a new track every few months count? I fight depression and writers block a lot, so I put out maybe 3-4 tracks a year.

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Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On djshire don't give a fuck.

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Originally posted by Intellekshual Rave to the grave.

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Originally posted by wotyzoid djshire, you're a cool nigga.

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Originally posted by Taipan Agreed. You da man!

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Originally posted by Zak McKracken ive discovered that moving often is killing creativity as I start on scratch everytime putting together a nice Zen "studio" (workstation really). The more I move the more and longer breaks do I have as I use more and more time to put together a room where inspiration is flowing.

Moving does kill you. It's often why prolific producers have such nice studios and you get comfortable only working in your zen little space.

Having said this, whenever i get like that and start procrastinating based on the fact the studio isn't looking fresh enough for me to grace it, I look up pictures of Mylo's studio and remember he made Destroy Rock and Roll, including Drop the Pressure:

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Originally posted by djshire Does only producing a new track every few months count? I fight depression and writers block a lot, so I put out maybe 3-4 tracks a year.

Nope, that's pretty fucking prolific compared to my output over the last two years.

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Originally posted by djshire Does only producing a new track every few months count? I fight depression and writers block a lot, so I put out maybe 3-4 tracks a year.

It all comes down to how you feel about it, really. That sounds about the same amount of tracks I put out a year (this year being a strangely productive exception) and I'm completely happy about it. Of course, if you'd like to do more but can't, that can really get you down.

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Latest releases:
Endless Cycles [Capital Heaven]
The Charlatan [Morphosis]

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Originally posted by DJ RANN Moving does kill you. It's often why prolific producers have such nice studios and you get comfortable only working in your zen little space. Having said this, whenever i get like that and start procrastinating based on the fact the studio isn't looking fresh enough for me to grace it, I look up pictures of Mylo's studio and remember he made Destroy Rock and Roll, including Drop the Pressure:

That table doesn't look safe.

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Latest releases:
Endless Cycles [Capital Heaven]
The Charlatan [Morphosis]

ive had 2 big breaks, one for about 4 years where i gave up, and another more recently nearly 3 years

completely agree moving does fuck things up! Splitting up with long term ex, selling the house AND moving - now thats a fucker

In 2014 i started to get on a bit of a roll, few garage tunes out - fairly well recieved, half decent label. Then we moved to a house with a detached garage. Converted the garage into a studio (took quite a few months) then we split up and i had to move out

the ensuing chaos/drama (and chasing women around) put a complete stop to most musical stuff, although i managed to keep up a bit of piano practise

3 years on, 1 fully refurbished flat later I am only just feeling settled again and finding my feet. It seems like making music is the hardest thing to walk away from, always seem to come back to it hen the time is right

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Last edited by chris marsh on Oct-25-2017 at 23:07