Be a Better Artist – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In this episode we explore the effects of deleting your social media apps from your phone.

Markus Junnikkala is a Composer from Finland.

https://www.markusjunnikkala.com/

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00:00) – The Decision to Delete the Apps

(00:01:44) – The Power of Getting Fed Up

(00:02:44) – Scrolling in the Bathroom

(00:03:34) – Breaks That Don’t Recharge

(00:04:56) – Information Overload Isn’t Learning

(00:06:30) – Willpower is Limited, Use It Wisely

(00:07:48) – You’re Fighting Tech Giants

(00:08:23) – A Moment in Nature and Self-Reflection

(00:09:25) – Saving Willpower for What Matters

(00:11:42) – Protein Bars and Mindful Choices

(00:13:28) – Addicted, Quit, Repeat

(00:14:44) – Can Social Media Be Fixed?

(00:16:14) – Strategic Consumption

(00:17:48) – Failed Experiments in Self-Limiting

(00:30:04) – Someday, You’ll Wish for That Time

(00:32:13) – The Poison is in the Dose

(00:33:02) – Delete the Apps, Keep the Account

(00:33:50) – Final Thoughts and How to Connect

Magnus Pålsson is a composer best known for their soundtrack for the video game VVVVVV under the artist name Souleye. He opens up about ego death, creativity, and building a gamified platform for personal growth. A raw, inspiring conversation about transformation, vulnerability, and what it means to live truthfully in a digital age.

MAGNUS LINKS:

Website: https://www.magnuspalsson.com/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2wguicPfR7ne0MDX7mYPRq?si=z153KlHtQPGc0SzT4I1KSw

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/fi/artist/magnus-p%C3%A5lsson/806918599

Bandcamp: https://souleyedigitalmusic.bandcamp.com/album/pppppp-the-vvvvvv-soundtrack

X: https://x.com/MagnusRender

Markus Junnikkala is a Composer from Finland.

https://www.markusjunnikkala.com/

Support this podcast by becoming a member:

https://markusjunnikkala.com/membership/

Want me to answer your question?

Ask it on social media:

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https://www.facebook.com/markusjunnikkala/

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https://www.reddit.com/user/markusjunnikkala/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markusjunnikkala/

Subscribing, sharing, and liking helps the podcast.

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00:00) - Technical Issues and Settling In  

(00:02:00) - Moving to Portugal for Economic Reasons  

(00:04:00) - From Music to Investments and Personal Growth  

(00:08:00) - Gamifying Personal Development  

(00:12:00) - Transparency, Public Growth, and Personal Accountability  

(00:16:00) - Magnus’s Ego Death Experience  

(00:24:00) - Living Without an Ego and Resetting Perceptions  

(00:28:00) - Integrating the Shadow and Emotional Maturity  

(00:34:00) - Impact on Creativity and Expressing a Wider Emotional Range  

(00:40:00) - Music, Hopefulness, and Emotional Complexity  

(00:46:00) - The Return of the Inner Voice  

(00:53:00) - Managing the Ego's Influence in Daily Life  

(00:57:00) - Relational Meditation and Circling Practice Explained  

(01:03:00) - Building a Gamified Growth Platform  

(01:09:00) - Truth, Trolling, and Documenting Transformation  

(01:17:00) - Philosophy, AI, and the Search for Truth  

(01:19:00) - Facing AI and Redefining Human Connection  

(01:23:00) - Human Imperfections and the Future of Authenticity  

(01:27:00) - AI Adapting to Mimic Humanity  

(01:31:00) - The Futility and Beauty of Seeking Truth  

(01:35:00) - Finding Joy in Simplicity and Process  

(01:39:00) - Early Music Career and Unexpected Opportunities  

(01:44:00) - The Strange Story Behind Magnus’s First Game Soundtrack  

(01:49:00) - Creative Integrity Versus External Expectations  

(01:55:00) - Sustaining Creativity Amidst Day Jobs and Long Commutes  

(02:00:00) - Using Old-School Trackers to Compose Legendary Music  

(02:04:00) - Evolving Creativity and Embracing New Horizons  

(02:10:00) - Gaming, Childhood Inspirations, and Musical Beginnings  

(02:15:00) - The Role of Play and Joy in Developing Skills  

(02:20:00) - Building a New Life Focused on Passion Projects  

(02:30:00) - Creating a Gamified Platform for Growth and Connection  

(02:38:00) - Life Philosophy: Living Authentically and Courageously  

(02:45:00) - Final Reflections and Closing Thoughts

Danimal Cannon (Dan Behrens) is an artist and musician best known for his guitar-driven Gameboy/chiptune music. He's also a mixing and mastering engineer, and has toured and performed live extensively.

DANIMAL CANNON LINKS:

Website: https://www.danimalcannon.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0AqwYovalxngrN9eVyiUXg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danimalcannonmusic

X: https://twitter.com/armcannon

Bandcamp: https://danimalcannon.bandcamp.com/music

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1RFcDZxxdM1jEchZNxJMAs?si=wmbYBTnVT7K-teJIiioqCA

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/danimal-cannon/617198535

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:02:03) Finland trivia

(00:03:59) About Danimal Cannon

(00:09:37) Importance of music production

(00:12:36) Working with non-musician clients

(00:16:36) How people perceive music

(00:20:30) Relationship between composition, arrangement, and orchestration

(00:26:16) Danimal Cannon’s mixing process

(00:30:51) Danimal Cannon’s reference audio tracks

(00:33:11) Markus’ musical background

(00:38:51) Reference audio tracks (continued)

(00:45:30) Thoughts on Hans Zimmer

(00:52:30) Oblivion (movie) OST by M83 and Joseph Trapanese

(00:55:29) Working on the video game Soundfall OST

(00:58:52) Modern sample libraries

(01:06:32) Soundfall OST continued

(01:08:13) Creative constraints, creative block

(01:17:15) Current work and life situation

(01:21:23) Current gaming industry landscape

(01:22:05) Balancing personal life with work

(01:29:16) Luck and Preparation

(01:31:28) Future of the industry and AI

(01:45:01) Dealing with change

(01:47:29) Staying a student and preparing

(01:50:43) Perfectionism

(01:54:07) Studying video game music

(02:00:01) Chiptune music and the indie video game industry

(02:01:30) Modern music technology

(02:06:13) Music tool user interfaces, Sample libraries

(02:10:12) How Danimal Cannon got into music

(02:15:04) Central musical concepts

(02:18:20) Musical notation/scores

(02:30:02) Music engineering

(02:33:04) Guitar playing

(02:35:37) Collaboration, ego, competitiveness, trusting yourself

(02:43:06) Retaining creativity; Obsession

(02:49:13) Balancing personal life with work, Loneliness in creativity

(03:05:03) Definition of an Artist

(03:08:10) Sending a message to everyone’s smartphone

Creatives need to be open. It's what allows them to see the depth and nuance of life. You then take those observations, and speak of them through your creative medium. But that openness is a two-way street. While it feeds your creativity, it can leave you open to attack. In this episode, we discuss why it's still important to remain open, and how one can manage this state constructively and effectively.

In this episode we talk about complaining and how it drains your time, energy, and willpower. I discuss my past experiences with it, as well as some of the approaches I've taken to reduce the amount of it, and how it has positively impacted my life.

In this episode we explore attitudes as tools that you should be able to deploy at will to explore and enforce certain perspectives against the outcomes you want to see in life.

Despite our current emotions and feelings, we can choose to act in contrast to those emotions. We can choose to follow a set of actions that support us in moving towards the outcomes we want to see, despite how we're feeling right now.

Attitudes are one of the tools that we can use to recontextualize the situations we're in, to rekindle a new, more empowering and energizing approach that supports us in getting to where we want to go.

In today's episode we explore the idea of how learning new things, expanding your understanding, equates to moving around to discover new perspectives. You must not let yourself become stagnant in life when it comes to your mind. You have to keep moving. Learn new things. Garner new perspectives. Observe problems from multiple angles. This is how you revivify your outlook on life and maintain a more realistic picture of what's possible and how to move past barriers. You do so by learning. By experiencing. By expanding your understanding. You must entertain the possibility that a different, better perspective is out there. Pick up that new book. Start listening to that new podcast. Change is possible. You just lack a key piece of information.

We're back. It's been a heck of a year, but for me there can be no life without BABA, so let's go.

In this episode we talk about the need for management for creative people, especially for those who work alone, and how you can use a schedule to assure stuff gets done faster, more effectively, and more reliably.

BABA interviews will be coming back, so let me know if there's an artist you'd like me to interview.

Thanks for sticking around. Your interest means the world to me.

It's been a while since I released an episode, but I haven't been sitting on my laurels. I've been tremendously prolific, filming over 100+ episodes of this podcast, but the audio is not salvageable unfortunately.

In this episode, we talk about how all creatives can look at these types of "lost and wasted work" -scenarios, and how to orient themselves towards these challenges in the most constructive and positive manner possible.

I want to thank you for sticking around, and for tuning in once again. This podcast is a deeply meaningful and important mission for me. I want to do better in the future, and deliver you the best possible content I can make.

As always, let me know if there's a topic you'd like me to discuss!

Stefan Runstrom is the owner and founder of Circles Drum Samples, a sample library development company focusing on drum sampling. He's also an audio engineer, a drummer, and is known from the band Tickle Me Pink.

We talk about music, business, music business, sample library development, creativity, recording, dogs, life balance, finding the right business partners, marketing, branding, and drumming.