Explore every episode of the podcast ProducerHead

Gnarly is a finger drumming artist and producer based in the UK, ten years into a career she built without a single viral video. In this conversation we get into her five year goal system and why she puts it in a drawer, what full time independent music actually looks like month to month, the line between self-belief and self-delusion, and how she thinks about building an audience without chasing the algorithm.

Subscribe free at producerhead.substack.com and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 (a sample pack), Invisible Instruments, and access to The Pocket (in-studio production videos from guests).

Chris Mazuera is a guitarist and producer based in New York whose work spans hip hop, R&B, and jazz. In this clip from episode 040, he makes the case that pursuing music at all requires a kind of healthy delusion — and that every artist you admire operates from the same conviction.

This Loop is from episode 040 feat. Chris Mazuera. Listen to the full conversation wherever you listen.

The essay accompanying this episode is up at producerhead.substack.com.

As a thank you for listening, subscribe at producerhead.substack.com and I'll send you two things for free: Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1, a curated sample pack, and access to The Pocket, an ongoing video archive of guests breaking down their process and workflow in real time.

In this conversation, Machado Mijiga explains the relationship between studying and making music, self-imposed limits as a creative tool, and what it actually felt like to play Lollapalooza and remain anonymous.

Machado Mijiga is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer based in Portland, Oregon. He plays saxophone, piano, and drums across jazz, electronic, and experimental music. Machado has also performed with Portugal the Man at some of the biggest festivals in the US.

Connect with Machado Mijiga:

Machado Mijiga on IG

Machado Mijiga Official Site

Machado Mijiga on Bandcamp

Free To ProducerHead Subscribers:

Subscribe free at producerhead.substack.com and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 (a sample pack), Invisible Instruments, and access to The Pocket (in-studio production videos from guests).

Your skills are either growing or decaying right now, there's no neutral. Let's talk about training creativity.

Part of a six-part series called The Invisible Instruments, this episode breaks down the parallels between physical strength training and creative development: why one session matters less than the streak, why talent is a gift but training is a choice (borrowing Jerry Seinfeld's "thoroughbred horse" idea), and why plateaus aren't dead ends but platforms for the next climb.

Also covered: the recency bias that makes growth feel invisible day to day, why most of what you make will be bad and why that's the process rather than a problem, and the one metric worth tracking instead of chasing daily proof of progress.

Subscribe free at producerhead.substack.com for all six Invisible Instruments write-ups, weekly curation through The Pocket, and the ability to submit your music to Beats in Progress.

You cannot achieve your way out of loneliness. Said another way, success won’t necessarily bring connection, which is the goal of art: to connect by demonstrating that individual experience is unique and universal.

Still, most of us work tirelessly, and alone, in pursuit of goals motivated by the idea that reaching them will bring us closer together.

I am not saying do not set goals. Goals, when thoughtfully defined, are useful to focus energy and develop skills. The expectations and beliefs in them as escape routes to a better life are misguided at best. When you achieve a goal, you will not stop what you are doing to catch the falling confetti. You are more likely to immediately pick another mountain and continue climbing. If the goal was 1,000 subscribers, the next one will be 10,000, and so on.

Extreme focus on the current goal is powerful. When you take aim at a bullseye, it is in your best interest to be staring right into it. And as you do, you are ignoring the rest of the world, including the people around you. In moments of obsession with a goal, it can feel easier to do it alone – and it may be. But, when we remember that this goal will be replaced with another, we remember that how and with whom we travel is more important than whether or not we arrive.

Set a goal. And see it for what it is: a tool, not a substitute for a life or relationship.

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Pocket — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

In this clip from episode 045, AudioHaze makes the case that monumental leaps are complete fantasy. What looks like a breakthrough from the outside is always the product of quiet and invisible labor.

This Loop is an excerpt from episode 045. If you haven't heard the full conversation, start there.

The essay accompanying this episode is up at producerhead.substack.com.

Subscribers to the ProducerHead Substack get:

Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1, a curated sample pack, Invisible Instruments, a collection of writing on the creative and psychological side of making music, and The Pocket, a video library of guests sharing behind the scenes of their sessions.

Subscribe for free at producerhead.substack.com.

Are You Working Blind?

You have a process. You have a way of doing things. And, if you can’t immediately describe it, you’re unconsciously following an invisible process. My point is not that it’s right or wrong, but that it is a choice to work blind. Process is personal and if anyone aside from you designs it, it’s not going to fit.

I’m not here to prescribe process. I am here to share three principles to help you ask yourself better questions, so that your process is consciously bespoke according to your answers.

1. Make Something and Finish Something Daily

When I first started producing, I was lucky enough to ask someone who has made it: “What do I do?” Their response was simple: make a new idea every day.

The ever expanding responsibilities of the modern musician make it easy to forget that you started making music because you heard music that inspired you to try. The catalog of other artists inspired you to explore your own musical capacity. Your catalog is the best of your ideas, and you find your best ideas by making a new one each day. The first step to building your catalog is documenting your ideas.

The only potential downside to making a new idea every day is that you may never finish anything, which is why I suggest developing a daily habit of finishing. It’s not a reasonable expectation to complete a song each day, but you can perform an act to nudge it forward.

When implementing this practice, define progress and success expansively. Making music is not easy. Genuine effort counts, even more important if this is something you plan to do indefinitely.

2. Define Progress in Time-Bound and Input-Based Terms

You know how much time you have to dedicate to music. If you only have five minutes in a day to make music (for more on this, see frequency), don’t make yourself feel bad because you don’t write a whole new song that day. Apply genuine effort to those five minutes to make a new idea. Maybe all you found was a drum loop that you like. Drop it into a track, save the session, and move on. What you started today, you pick up tomorrow. What you have at the end of any particular session is irrelevant. It is about harnessing momentum and linking sessions together over an extended period of time (for more on this, see the marathon method). The individual session is meaningful because of its representation as commitment. You were here today, you will be back tomorrow.

3. Decide what you’re going to do beforehand.

Know what you’re going to do before you sit down. This is especially important when you are working with smaller blocks of time. If you only have 10 minutes available, decide ahead of time that you’re going to spend it programming drums or writing a chord progression. For inspiration, here’s one of my favorite examples of what can be done in 10min.

Counter Argument:

“The blocks of time and the wins seem too small to be worth the attention.”

I hear that. And this is less about objective progress as much as it is about your mindset and relationship with what work looks like. The difference between unconsciously viewing five available minutes as time to kill versus useful to your creativity represents optimism of what constitutes opportunity. It is acceptance that ideal circumstances don’t exist and we therefore seize available moments, not to optimize or squeeze out every last drop, but to express our creativity.

Final Thought To Keep In Mind

We are not as good at estimating task duration as we think. The only way to improve is experience and observation. As you try this out, it’s important not to jump to judgments about something taking longer than it “should.” The goal is not to optimize work, it is to work.

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Pocket — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

Fog Chaser is a producer and artist based in Portland. In today's Loop, he shares the challenges and pressures that emerge while building an audience.

Subscribe free at producerhead.substack.com and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 (a sample pack), Invisible Instruments, and access to The Pocket (in-studio production videos from guests).

There are two types of motivation. One is macro. This is your greater sense of purpose. The micro is the day-to-day. And, in my experience, I’ve found it to be a little more variable.

The most helpful way to maintain micro motivation is to create situations for yourself that generate genuine interest.

That has meant to end sessions at the moment where I perceive the most potential in an idea, which is accompanied by a sense of feeling as though I could work forever.

This sounds counter intuitive and counter productive, but as you’ll hear in this piece, it’s a helpful frame to develop self-awareness and a practical tactic for sustaining your creative process.

For the complete breakdown: The Marathon Method: A Producer’s Tool for Managing Studio Trauma

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Pocket — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

Steps cannot be skipped.

Late London believes the producer arc follows three stages: (1) mastering the basics (2) making volume (3) identifying quality. Whether you agree on the form or not is irrelevant. The insight is the substance underneath: your experience is unlike anyone else’s and you are subject to the same rules as everyone else.

The most direct route to the next phase of your development is to accurately assess and accept your current stage and dedicate your attention to your most immediate challenges.

Productivity culture pressures people to squeeze out every last drop. And artists divert their attention to the search for shortcuts.

The belief is: the most efficient process produces the best art.

The truth: an efficient process for mass production works because the goal is to make each piece indistinguishable from the next. In that context, uniformity is quality. In art, it is failure.

Subscribe for free and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 (a sample pack), Invisible Instruments, and access to The Pocket (in-studio production videos from guests).

The obsession with content creation and a marketing-first emphasis as an artist creates pressure and an incentive structure that leads artists away from themselves.

Birocratic reminds us of the truth: There is no better marketing plan than making good music. Nothing will endear you to potential fans more than that.

It’s so simple and easy to forget this in the noisy world of content. If art is the artist’s product, then the rule of marketing is no different than for any other business. If the product isn’t of quality, no amount of marketing will develop a real relationship. Best case scenario, you sell one product, get one listen. That person’s trust is lost forever because of a hollow promise.

Music is not content. Content is a container for your music. If you want to be an artist, yes you have to share your music, but you do not have to become a content creator. In the same way your art develops over time, so will the way that you deliver it.

If you want to make music privately, you are not any less of an artist.

If you want to be a content creator who makes music, go right ahead.

If you want to build an audience, how will anyone discover your music if it isn’t consistently shared?

If you want to be an artist, put your message in a bottle and send it out to sea. Over and over again. With practice, you will learn to adapt to the ever changing movement of the water.

Subscribe for free and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 (a sample pack), Invisible Instruments, and access to The Pocket (in-studio production videos from guests).

A company can be a source of opportunity, maybe even a partner, but if you want something to rely on, look to community.

No matter what your goals or existing sources of income, a consistent component of a musician’s career is connection to a fan base. Today, this is represented through an email list. And in that sense, it is not different than any other business.

Artists ignore this basic idea. They try to build a creative business without a fan base or believe that someone else will do that for them. An email list lacks the allure of a social media following and monthly listener count — the appearance of success. Social media and streaming platforms don’t ask you to build anything. They actually prefer that you don’t.

Greg David didn’t take a day off in five years and he produced 200 songs in 5 years that generated millions of streams. This extreme focus is also, as he put it, tunnel vision. His life and career were out of balance. He developed a single source of revenue that was controlled by a label. When it came time to move on from that label, he realized that millions of streams meant nothing without an email list to back them up.

Uploading your catalog to Spotify without an audience is like putting up flyers in your city. Millions of people pass by it, some will see it, few will read it, and none will remember it. The appearance of access is not a substitute for connection. That is found through the quiet and patient work of cultivating a community.

The allure of reaching the entire world is a shiny distraction from the humble and meaningful possibility that you can serve your community of fans in the same way as a neighborhood butcher. If you feed people, they will take care of you.

If you want to look successful, put your faith in a corporation. If you want to sustain a career, serve a community. Offer free meals and begin a conversation.

Subscribe for free and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 (a sample pack), Invisible Instruments, and access to The Pocket (in-studio production videos from guests).

You don't need more time. You need to decide when you're spending time and when you're investing time. That is about intention and organization.

This is where Frequency comes in — a simple system to direct your time intentionally.

If you've ever felt you don't have enough time to do what you want, this one's for you.

Full post is up at producerhead.substack.com.

Subscribe to ProducerHead on Substack at producerhead.substack.com and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1, a curated sample pack, Invisible Instruments, a collection of writing on the creative and psychological side of making music, and The Pocket, a video library of guests sharing behind the scenes of their sessions.

Gnarly is a British Sri Lankan producer, finger drummer, and performer based in London. In this clip from episode 025, she makes the case for building a small, engaged audience over chasing viral numbers — and explains why she's never once tried to go viral.

This is a short one. But it might reframe how you think about the whole game.

Listen to the full conversation: Episode 025 — Gnarly Part 1: Working Quickly, Not Frantically.

Subscribe to ProducerHead on Substack at producerhead.substack.com and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1, a curated sample pack, Invisible Instruments, a collection of writing on the creative and psychological side of making music, and The Pocket, a video library of guests sharing behind the scenes of their sessions.

Alsogood is an Italian producer, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader. In this conversation we get into Dilla, instinct over technique, why he intentionally puts himself in rooms where he's the worst musician, and what it actually means to be confident as an artist.

Subscribe free at producerhead.substack.com and immediately receive Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1, Invisible Instruments, and access to The Practice — a behind-the-scenes look at how ProducerHead guests work in the studio.

Connect on IG:

Alsogood

ProducerHead

Toru

Risk is the point – that’s the whole reason you make music in the first place.

Yes, it is scary to make something and share it with people. Yes, it is extra work to tell people about it. But wanting people to hear your music isn’t selfish. It represents why you make music in the first place: to connect with others.

If you don’t risk vulnerability, you will avoid the pain of rejection, but you also completely seal yourself off from the possibility of connection. We are fixated on how many people or views something gets and we forget there are people on the other side. This fixation distracts from the who, the unquantifiable nature of a new fan willing to buy your next record, your next collaborator, or someone who wants to remix your song.

There’s a lot of space between being a content creator and telling people about your music. Becoming someone you’re not is not required nor recommended. But, if you were vulnerable enough to distill your life in song, go one step further and tell someone.

The real tragedy would not be failing to achieve mastery, but that in the process you lost sight of what’s most important: realizing your own voice. A relentless pursuit of mastery can distract from the purpose of art: a unique and personal perspective, expressed freely. Art is the artifact, the expression of the voice, not the voice itself.

We commonly parrot: “learn the rules, so you can break them.” In this conversation, Matt Wyatt says “Honestly, I think that’s overrated. I was certainly taught that, but some of the artists I most revere seemingly didn’t do that.”

That isn’t to say competency doesn’t matter. It is not in your best interest to ignore rules, patterns, or convention altogether. Ignorance will likely lead to conventional results. The problem is that mastery is often talked about as a destination. A level to be reached before the art begins, when it is actually an ongoing commitment to develop your voice.

You know enough words to write a book. Expanding your vocabulary will not write it. The technical blocks you encounter exist on the path to making it. As you write your book, you check the thesaurus for alternative words. In music, you may learn that what you need is not a new chord, but an inversion.

Do not set out to master music. It is a clever way to avoid the real work: to understand you and your craft well enough to present it as a vulnerable artifact for the rest of us.

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Practice — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

Buried in the process, your habits take over. Your automatic selection of instruments and sounds leads to predictable patterns.

If you begin with your fingers you are immediately filtering your imagination through your chops. Instead, ask yourself: What do I hear? As you hum a melody or beatbox a groove you hear in your head, you are not thinking about whether or not you can play it. This is an honest map of your idea. Record it, not because it will necessarily become part of the song, but because it provides you with direction. The way that you sang this melody will imply more than the notes themselves. You will hear tone, timbre, and texture. That can guide which instrument you use, instead of forcing a part through the instrument you already loaded.

When you begin from your imagination and what you hear, you provide a path for fingers to follow, instead of the other way around.

Full Episode: 049. Ideas Over Everything | feat. Moo Latte

Subscribers get access to The Practice — a growing archive of in-studio sessions from guests on the show. Watch how they work. Free to subscribe.

The thing about art is that it’s never finished. It’s a fact that presents a fundamental challenge: you have to decide to let go. To accept imperfection. To move on or to live inside the maze of one project your entire life.

Fog Chaser’s song a month project addresses this challenge directly. His commitment to deadlines and accountability to himself resulted in four, 12-song volumes completed in succession over the past four years.

Now, with thousands of subscribers waiting for Volume 5 he faces another form of the same question. Does he repeat the cycle expected by his audience or change directions?

We make music wanting it to be heard, but what do we do once we’re heard? Fog Chaser acknowledges the privilege and gratitude for the audience and the pressure that accompanies attention. He reminds us that the attention arrived because he began by creating something deeply personal and meaningful to him.

The point is to create and to gift and then repeat. Because the work is never done.

ProducerHead is a publication for independent music producers. Subscribe free and get access to Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 — a free sample pack, The Invisible Instruments — a series of creative frameworks for producers, and The Practice — behind the scenes production sessions from guests on the show.

ELPHNT is an Ableton authority. His extensive experience as a producer, performer, and educator has allowed him to see a common trope play out over and over again.

It’s accepted as the norm, but as he explains here, it doesn’t have to be.

On the one hand, scrolling endlessly for the perfect kick drum is funny.

On the other, it is creative self-sabotage by disorganization.

Here, ELPHNT provides a clear and direct path forward.

Hear the full conversation in Episode 035 — Soul-Crushing Success feat. ELPHNT.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back. Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

ProducerHead is free to subscribe. Subscribers get access to The Practice — an ongoing video archive of in-studio sessions from guests on the show.

Show up to the studio 100 times and make 10 dope songs.

The pressure to create content distracts from the basic truth: making good music is the goal. In order to make good music, you must find yourself in the studio. If you’re not showing up to the studio, you’re not going to make anything, let alone anything good.

Late London says: “Show up to the studio 100 times and make 10 dope songs.”

This perspective also speaks to respect for the challenge inherent in making good music. It represents a conscious setting of expectations to prioritize showing up, removing pressure, and enjoyment in the experience of making music. Output is an artifact of process.

Late’s respect for the challenge of making music is also seen in the way that he participates and interacts with his community. Not having seen each other since college, he immediately asked me to send him a track and did not hesitate to say “this vocal should be loud and proud.”

He limits himself to three working sessions on tracks to avoid over-thinking and exchanges works in process with other producers. They help each other across the finish line to get the best — not the perfect — version of a song and then they move on. This is because he also values forward motion. More can be learned and experienced through continuing than from staying in place.

All of this is filtered through his expansive and dynamic lens of what it is to be a professional. Late London regularly shape-shifts between DJ, Music Producer, Event Producer, Engineer, and Educator — he is mentally flexible in how he arrives. There are many ways to make it as an artist, he reminds us that how we define it is our choice.

ProducerHead is free to subscribe. Subscribers get access to The Practice — an ongoing video archive of in-studio sessions from guests on the show. Late London built a track from scratch in 30 minutes and it is available now.

Freddie Joachim has placements with Joey Badass and J. Cole. Those are proud achievements — but not what he set out to do. They’re a consequence of defining success on his own terms, within what he can actually control. Define success or be doomed to fail.

Hear the full conversation in Episode 042 — Craft Over Clout feat. Freddie Joachim.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back. Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

Brainorchestra is a producer, rapper, and vinyl archivist from New Jersey. He puts out records independently, runs a devoted Patreon community, writes a newsletter, and holds down a job outside of all of it. In this conversation we get into how he digs, how he structures his time, what sustains his belief in himself as an artist, and what it actually looks like to build something independently with intention.

Find Brainorchestra:

brainorchestra.net

patreon.com/brainorchestra

brainorchestra.bandcamp.com

ProducerHead is a podcast about the creative, psychological, and business dimensions of independent music-making.

Subscribe free at producerhead.substack.com — subscribers get access to The Practice, an ongoing video archive of in-studio sessions from guests on the show. Brainorchestra's session is already up.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back. Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

Basic Printer has a term for the gap between making music and doing something with it.

Interfacing with the world. And in his view, that interface is a Rubik’s Cube most independent musicians haven’t even picked up yet.

The full stack mentality isn’t about doing everything alone. It’s about understanding enough of the whole picture to have a real plan, not just a dream. Because as he puts it, there’s a road to run between here and that dream that won’t just show up for you.

What landed for me was how he thinks about the plan itself. Not as a rigid structure but as a trick of the mind. Something to get you out of the chair and moving. The plan leads to the next question, which leads to the next skill, which leads to the show. And by the time you’re there, you’ve already become someone different in the process.

He also said something that doesn’t get said enough: if you keep laying plans and can’t find the motivation to execute any of them, maybe the honest answer is that you don’t actually want this very much. Not as a judgment. As permission. The world asks how serious you are the moment you make your first song. Not everyone has to answer the same way.

The part I keep coming back to is a moment he described on tour in San Diego. Mid-run, out of nowhere, a dip in confidence. Suddenly convinced his music sounded like the Wiggles. Talking to his keyboardist, genuinely questioning whether he could stand behind the stuff he’d made. He said you just know when that’s a real voice or just the dragon you’re slaying.

The fact that he went on stage anyway tells you everything about what kind of stress he’s dealing with.

The good kind.

ProducerHead is a podcast and publication for producers who want conversations that go beyond gear. Subscribe free below and you’ll get access to two tools I made for this community: The Invisible Instruments, a creativity framework for in and out of the studio, and Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1, a royalty-free sample pack. You can also submit music to be featured or send in a work-in-progress for feedback.

From Episode: 038. The Full Stack Musician | feat. Basic Printer

At some point the streaming numbers start to mean something they didn’t used to.

Not because you decided they would. Just because they’re there every morning, attached to rent, and slowly they become the thing you’re measuring yourself against instead of whatever you actually set out to do.

Ian Ewing calls it golden handcuffs. He’s been making a living through streaming for years. By every external measure, it worked. And he’s honest about what that actually feels like from the inside.

The part that’s hardest to admit isn’t the pressure. It’s how quiet it is. You’re not chasing playlists. You’re just aware of them. What fits, what doesn’t. And that awareness, over time, starts shaping decisions you don’t even notice you’re making. In Ian’s words, playlist music has to fit a cookie cutter mold — a McDonald’s french fry, you know exactly what you’re getting. Ambitious music is usually the opposite of that.

He came up on SoundCloud. Cold DMs to producers he loved, no ask, just connection. Some of those became his longest friendships. That world looks nothing like how most people consume music now. You get playlisted, someone plays your track while they’re cleaning their apartment, and they never think about you again. The stream happened. The connection didn’t.

The thousand fans theory was something Ian said he was describing before he had a name for it. Not as a growth strategy. As a different definition of what you’re making music for.

He hasn’t resolved this. He’s mid-transition, working it out in real time, carrying the gratitude and the frustration together, trying to figure out how to reclaim something without walking away from the thing that’s been paying for it.

ProducerHead is a podcast and publication for producers who want conversations that go beyond gear. Subscribe free below and you'll get access to two tools I made for this community: The Invisible Instruments, a creativity framework for in and out of the studio, and Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1, a royalty-free sample pack. You can also submit music to be featured or send in a work-in-progress for feedback.

Most independent musicians think about ownership the wrong way.

They think it means not signing to a major. They think it means keeping their masters. And sure, those things matter. But The Orchestrator — Denver-based jazz saxophonist, Guinness World Record holder, sold-out rooms from the Bluebird to Meow Wolf — is operating at a different level of that conversation. For him, ownership isn’t a stance. It’s infrastructure.

“I can take all my music off Spotify if I want to. I can go sell it. I could throw it in the trash. I can never perform again. I own it. No one can exploit or benefit off of me in any way, shape or form without my explicit permission.”

That’s not a philosophy. That’s a legal and financial position he built deliberately over years.

What makes that possible isn’t just owning your masters. It’s understanding that the music business has multiple revenue streams running in parallel, and most artists only collect from one or two. This is not beyond your comprehension, it’s simple administrative work that often gets overlooked. Regardless of the amount, keep in mind that if your music is being streamed, you’re likely leaving that money to sit in the account of collection agencies. And, it is possible that this money, if left unclaimed for long enough, will end up paid to other parties.

“People just don’t know these things.”

He’s not bitter about it. He’s just clear-eyed. The system isn’t designed to walk you through this. So most artists don’t find out until they’re already leaving money on the table — or until someone in the room asks if they have a set list and they don’t know why.

His message is simple: you made the time to make the music, make sure you are in line to receive the fruits of that work as they arrive.

He saw it happen. Someone played Red Rocks. Incredible. And had no idea what they were leaving behind when the show was over.

If this is your first time here, ProducerHead is a podcast and publication for independent musicians who think seriously about the work. Subscribe free below.

From Episode: 037. Building Complete Creative Independence | feat. The Orchestrator

There’s a story producers tell themselves about the greats.

The story goes that Dilla made Donuts from his hospital bed. Knxwledge never stops dropping projects. And so the lesson becomes: work more, grind harder, output becomes the thing we chase.

Swarvy thinks that’s the wrong read entirely.

When I brought up how producers like those two are celebrated for their output, he re-framed it simply: “You’re carried by a genuine, just a genuine appreciation and love for music.” The output isn’t the thing. It’s just what you receive when you offer deep love and commitment to the work. Charlie Parker, Swarvy says, sounds like he’s smiling the whole time. You can hear it. That’s what was driving the productivity.

What hit me, and I mention this during the conversation, is that Swarvy can work 12, 14-hour mixing sessions and has almost forgotten why. It’s not forcing it. It’s not discipline in the way we usually mean it. It’s stamina built through years of consistent work that comes from genuine curiosity and love. His threshold for hearing the same thing over and over is, by his own account, insanely high. He’ll still be making clear decisions deep in a mix when the artist who made the song has already mentally checked out.

He didn’t develop that by grinding. He developed it by staying a fan.

That thread runs through the whole conversation. Swarvy has thought hard about keeping music fun, not as a productivity hack, but because the moment it stops being fun something is genuinely wrong. He’ll find a record that shifts how he makes things for weeks. He gives himself permission to make terrible beats on purpose just to laugh at them. Practice, he says, is for him. Not for money, not for output, not to stay competitive. The second he started comparing practice time to what it could be earning him, he started losing something real.

We also get into his full mixing philosophy and workflow. The solo-blend-solo-blend approach he runs 50-plus times through a session. Why he works from the center of the mix outward. How he keeps group processing minimal until the individual pieces are already sounding right.

One last thing: Is it a coincidence that the guy making bad beats with random sounds to make himself laugh is the same guy that can work for 14 hour stretches?

If this is your first time here, ProducerHead is a podcast and publication for producers who think seriously about the work. Subscribe free below. You'll get episodes like this one, Loops, and The Pocket.

New here? Start with The Notes You Don’t Play, a free hour-long walk-through of a full beat from scratch, the session, the decisions, and the thinking behind it. [Grab it free here.]

Connect with Swarvy:

* YouTube: Swarvy

* Instagram: @swarvy

* Spotify: Swarvy

* Apple Music: Swarvy

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.gumroad

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Chapters:

0:00 – Intro

0:45 – Early relationship with music & discovering sound

2:30 – Falling in love with mixing vs producing

4:45 – Learning through experimentation (no formal path)

6:30 – What makes music fun again

8:15 – Staying inspired as a listener first

10:00 – Discipline vs burnout in creative work

12:30 – Mental battles, self-doubt, and pressure

15:45 – Going full-time & overworking yourself

18:00 – Building creative endurance

20:15 – Learning without tutorials / figuring it out yourself

23:30 – Music school vs real-world experience

25:45 – Making bad music on purpose (why it matters)

29:30 – Volume over perfection

31:30 – Moving to LA & finding community

34:30 – Being around other creatives

36:45 – Family, balance, and grounding yourself

39:00 – Validation vs internal confidence

41:30 – Practice vs actually finishing songs

44:30 – Zooming out: thinking like a mixer

47:30 – Mixing philosophy (big picture approach)

50:15 – Swarvy’s mixing workflow (solo → blend → repeat)

54:30 – Mastering approach & final touches

57:30 – Executing ideas vs overthinking

59:30 – Breaking and rebuilding ideas

1:02:00 – Mindfulness & presence in creativity

1:05:00 – Favorite projects & reflections

1:07:30 – Content creation vs staying low-key

1:09:30 – Favorite tools, plugins, and gear

1:11:30 – Influences & inspirations

1:15:00 – Final thoughts

Credits:

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz. From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loop, Illogic shares a perspective that runs counter to the romantic myth of the “pure artist.” For him, life outside of music has always been essential to the music itself.

Balancing music with a career and family responsibilities is not a compromise in his eyes. It is a source of inspiration.

From Episode: 036. 30 Years Underground: How Illogic Built a Hip-Hop Legacy Without Selling Out

Join The ProducerHead Community

When you subscribe you’ll get access to the full collection of Invisible Instruments, Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1, a royalty-free sample pack created for the community by Toru, access to ProducerHead Bars write-ups and extended frameworks, and an additional opportunity to have your music featured in The Pocket, a monthly community curation from ProducerHead.

Join The ProducerHead Community

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

ProducerHead Bars is a space for ideas that stand on their own. Short reflections and studio frameworks pulled from experience, conversation, and the ongoing pursuit of becoming a better producer.

This entry focuses on a simple but powerful strategy for overcoming creative paralysis: The Piñata Method.

The Problem: Creative Freeze

Even experienced producers run into moments where they sit down to make music and freeze. Sometimes it looks like procrastination. Scrolling. Cleaning the studio. Doing anything except the thing you actually sat down to do.

But procrastination isn’t necessarily laziness. More often, it’s a signal of overwhelm. When the scope of a project exceeds your perceived ability to navigate it, the brain chooses avoidance instead of action.

The issue isn’t capability. It’s clarity.

The Piñata Method

The Piñata Method is a way to break overwhelming creative projects into pieces until the next step becomes obvious. Instead of staring at the entire goal, you smash the project open and look at what falls out.

Imagine your goal is to complete a 10-track album.

At first glance, that’s a massive undertaking. But if you smash that project open, working backwards, you start to see its components: 10 mastered songs.

Smash those again and you see: 10 mixed songs.

Smash those again and you see: 10 produced tracks.

And before that? Individual production sessions.

By working backwards from the finished goal, you create a clear map from the end point to the very next step. In this example, the path to a finished album starts with something much smaller: Opening your DAW and beginning one session.

Capacity Changes

Your capacity as a producer is not fixed.

Your skills improve. Your schedule changes. Collaborators enter or leave the process. Life shifts.

The Piñata Method accounts for this. The goal remains the same, but the structure of the steps can adapt. If your capacity grows, steps may combine. If your capacity shrinks, you simply break them down again.

The map evolves, but the destination stays intact.

The Takeaway

Creative paralysis rarely comes from a lack of ability. It comes from trying to tackle too much at once.

The Piñata Method reminds you that every large creative accomplishment is just the accumulation of smaller actions.

A wall is laid one brick at a time.

An album is finished one session at a time.

So if you’re feeling stuck, take the project in front of you and smash it open. Break it down until the next step is clear.

Then take that step.

Once you begin moving again, the possibility of everything you’re trying to create returns with you.

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Join The ProducerHead Community

When you subscribe you’ll get access to the full collection of Invisible Instruments, Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1, a royalty-free sample pack created for the community by Toru, access to ProducerHead Bars write-ups and extended frameworks, and an additional opportunity to have your music featured in The Pocket, a monthly community curation from ProducerHead.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loop, Dan Giffin talks about something simple but transformative. Get off the grid.

Coming from a drummer’s background, Dan sees producers get overly locked into the visual structure of their DAWs. The grid becomes law. The lines become rules. But rhythm is not supposed to feel perfect. It is supposed to feel human. Swing the hi hats. Let the snare breathe. Trust the push and pull.

He also challenges the way we rely on visuals when producing and mixing. Spectrum analyzers, waveforms, grids. They all provide information, but they can trick us into producing with our eyes instead of our ears. Dan’s philosophy is clear. Trust your ears before your eyes. Feeling is more important than what you see.

From Episode: 029. Part 1: Getting Out Of Your Head And Into Your Body feat. Dan Giffin

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

Get new episodes and Loops delivered straight to your inbox. Hit that subscribe button if you’re not already part of the community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

Create Without Consequence with The Phronetic

The Phronetic is a Colombian-born, Brooklyn-raised producer, composer, and creative director who emerged from the live beat-making scene around 2017. Since then he's built a career spanning music, videography, and branded content — and in 2023 launched a creative agency merging both.

In this episode we get into making music that invites rather than overwhelms, developing taste through repetition, the real cost of grind culture, and what success actually looks like when you stop measuring it by numbers.

Three things to take away: Invitation beats force. Taste is built through doing. Sustainability is the long game.

If this resonated, the ProducerHead Substack goes deeper — essays, loops, and resources for producers who want to create with more clarity and less noise. Free to subscribe, and there's more waiting for you when you do.

[Subscribe at producerhead.substack.com]

Chapters:

00:00 – The Instrumental Dilemma

00:26 – Welcome from Mexico City

01:34 – Music as Invitation, Not Force

02:55 – The Remix Turning Point

04:33 – Why Lyrics Connect Faster

06:41 – The Connecticut Breakthrough Moment

08:23 – Can Taste Be Taught?

09:44 – Learning Tools vs. Having Vision

10:28 – Teaching Production Like Language

12:11 – Perfectionism and Sound Selection

13:47 – Creation vs. Organization Sessions

15:53 – Limiting Tools to Build Identity

16:39 – Excuses, Blocks, and Self-Doubt

17:21 – Working Alone vs. Collaboration

19:52 – 10 Years In: Rethinking the Grind

21:05 – Early Instagram and Finger Drumming

23:48 – Burnout, Health, and the Cost of Overwork

25:10 – Pressure and Public Deadlines

26:39 – Where Pressure Really Comes From

26:46 – Is Success in Your Control?

28:15 – How Success Evolves Over Time

30:58 – From Beats to Video Editing

33:06 – High-Level Video Advice

34:52 – Visual Identity and Differentiation

37:05 – Do You Even Need to Make Content?

38:33 – The Five Minute Rule and Inertia

40:22 – Aesthetic Shifts in the Beat Community

43:04 – Building a Visual Identity from Color

46:07 – YouTube University and Self-Education

48:04 – Be Careful What You Consume

49:10 – Advice to Younger Self

50:33 – Quick Hits

53:51 – Upcoming Projects and Where to Follow

55:12 – The Creative Act and Final Thoughts

56:17 – Closing Reflections and Outro

Connect with The Phronetic: YouTube, Instagram, Spotify — @thephronetic

Connect with Toru: @torubeat

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loops episode, ELPHNT digs into something deceptively simple: creativity is less about inspiration and more about process. He explains that every artist has a philosophy, whether they consciously define it or not. The key is becoming aware of your patterns, your tendencies, and the processes that make you confident in your work.

ELPHNT shares how his own philosophy centers on minimalism, depth, experimentation, and less is more. Rather than stacking endless sounds, he prefers fewer elements with more texture and character. And when inspiration is nowhere to be found, he leans on a quote from Jack White: you do not wait to feel inspired to upholster a chair. You show up and do the work.

This Loop is about creative discipline. Not romanticizing inspiration. Not waiting for lightning. Just showing up, trusting your process, and upholstering the chair.

From Episode: 035. Soul-Crushing Success: The Counterintuitive Path to Creative Freedom | feat. ELPHNT

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

Get new episodes and Loops delivered straight to your inbox. Hit that subscribe button if you’re not already part of the community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

Why This Episode Matters:

Modern music makes it easy to confuse polish with substance. In this episode, Moo Latte breaks down why musical ideas, not production techniques, are still the core of work that lasts.

From deep listening and sketch-based workflows to creative restraint and long-term sustainability, this conversation reframes productivity, taste, and originality for producers navigating an increasingly automated landscape.

Who is Moo Latte:

Moo Latte is a producer, guitarist, and composer known for emotionally rich compositions that sit somewhere between jazz, soul, hip-hop, and cinematic music. With a background in formal music study and years of production experience, his work emphasizes harmony, movement, and intention over trends.

What We Dive Into:

* Why modern music often relies more on production than composition

* Deep listening as a skill and how it shapes taste over time

* Starting ideas away from the computer

* Singing melodies before choosing instruments

* Call and response as an underused compositional tool

* Why constraints unlock creativity

* Short, timed sketch sessions as an idea engine

* Objectivity through distance and bouncing early

* Content creation burnout and sustainable output

* Why relying too heavily on AI weakens creative problem-solving

Three Key Takeaways:

* Strong ideas survive without sound design: If a song doesn’t work when stripped down to melody and harmony, production won’t save it.

* Constraints create clarity: Limiting instruments, time, and options reduces decision fatigue and sharpens creative intent.

* Creativity is a muscle, not a shortcut: Outsourcing thinking weakens long-term growth. The work is the point.

Before You Go:

Try this for your next session: set a 20-minute timer. Choose a fixed set of instruments. Finish when the timer ends. Bounce it. Don’t judge it. Repeat.

Over time, quantity becomes quality.

Chapters:

0:00 – Intro

1:42 – Moo Latte’s background and musical roots

6:18 – Composition vs production

11:04 – Deep listening and developing taste

16:27 – Singing ideas before producing

22:10 – Harmony, movement, and emotional intent

28:55 – Call and response in composition

34:41 – Sketching ideas quickly

40:12 – Objectivity through distance and bouncing early

45:58 – Finishing vs overworking

51:36 – Content creation and creative burnout

57:44 – Sustainable routines and creative longevity

1:03:22 – Constraints as a creative tool

1:09:48 – Training the creative muscle

1:16:30 – AI, tools, and creative responsibility

1:23:55 – Quick hits

1:31:40 – Final reflections

1:34:50 – Outro

List of References from the Interview:

Artists

* J Dilla

* The Beatles

* BadBadNotGood

* Robert Glasper

Tools / Concepts

* Timed sketch sessions

* Call and response

* Deep listening

* Constraint-based creativity

Connect with Moo Latte:

* YouTube: @moolattemusic

* Instagram: @moolattemusic

* Spotify: Moo Latte

* Apple Music: Moo Latte

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Credits:

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz. From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loops episode, Mark de Clive-Lowe opens up about the long journey toward belonging, identity, and creative truth. Growing up between cultures and never fully feeling like he fit in, Mark describes how that lifelong search eventually led him back to his roots, and deeper into himself.

He shares how reconnecting with his Japanese ancestry transformed not just his life, but his music. By embracing vulnerability and telling personal stories through sound, Mark found a new creative framework where meaning mattered more than aesthetics or technical perfection. Performing music rooted in ancestry and lived experience became the first time he truly felt like he was defining the paradigm, not chasing one.

This Loop is about courage. About letting go of hipness, trends, and external validation in favor of honesty. When you are bold enough to be yourself, the work resonates more deeply, not just with others, but with you.

From Episode: 031. Bold Enough To Be Yourself: Mark de Clive-Lowe

Want more like this? Subscribe to ProducerHead for new episodes, Loops, and creative clarity delivered straight to your inbox.

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

Get new episodes and Loops delivered straight to your inbox. Hit that subscribe button if you’re not already part of the community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

Why This Episode Matters:

This episode is a deep, grounded reminder that longevity in music doesn’t come from chasing trends or algorithms. It comes from doing the work, living life, and letting experience shape the sound. Recorded in person at Nothing_Neue’s Brooklyn studio, the conversation is reflective, practical, and quietly powerful.

Who is Nothing_Neue:

Nothing_Neue is a Brooklyn-based producer and artist whose work sits at the intersection of broken beat, soul, hip-hop, and experimental rhythm. Alongside his own artistic output, he works within the music tech world, giving him a rare dual perspective on creativity, industry pressure, and identity.

What We Dive Into:

* Why living life is essential to making meaningful music

* The danger of chasing “radio friendly” or algorithm-approved sounds

* Separating your artistic identity from your day job

* Morning practice, discipline, and removing creative pressure

* Letting unfinished ideas have value instead of forcing outcomes

* Why support has to be active, not passive

* Choosing an unconventional path and accepting unconventional results

Three Key Takeaways:

* You can’t skip life and expect great art: Music gets better when it’s informed by lived experience, not constant output.

* Unconventional paths come with unconventional timelines: If you choose authenticity, you have to accept results that don’t mirror anyone else’s.

* Practice removes pressure: When music has a guaranteed place in your day, everything else becomes bonus time.

Before You Go:

If you’ve been forcing productivity or measuring your work against someone else’s success, take a step back. Build your walls, rooms, and houses before worrying about the final home. Progress isn’t always loud.

Chapters:

0:00 – In-studio intro from Brooklyn

0:57 – D’Angelo, life experience, and making music too close to the work

2:46 – Why living life improves creativity

4:04 – Gym vs bike analogy for creative process

4:46 – Printing demos and listening away from the studio

6:45 – Distance, objectivity, and breaking critical habits

9:28 – Substances, creativity, and emotional avoidance

11:42 – Pain, avoidance, and emotional honesty

13:48 – Family, mortality, and confronting old wounds

16:55 – Reprioritizing time, discipline, and energy

19:57 – Discovering The Big Leap and the upper-limit problem

24:38 – Self-imposed ceilings and early musical validation

28:46 – Playlist Retreat, imposter syndrome, and belonging

32:54 – Music as a communal experience

36:12 – Letting ego step aside for collaboration

40:41 – Translating inspiration into technique

45:24 – How Nothing Neue practices instruments

48:54 – Learning taste, preference, and musical language

52:02 – Weed, reading, and rethinking time

55:18 – Walls, Rooms, Houses, Homes creative framework

58:53 – Morning practice and removing pressure

1:03:18 – Weekday vs weekend creative routines

1:05:24 – Recent releases and upcoming remixes

1:06:27 – Favorite hardware and inspirations

1:07:41 – Artists that changed his thinking

1:07:57 – Best free tools and YouTube as education

1:12:55 – Learning fundamentals vs chasing shortcuts

1:17:44 – Rapid-fire questions

1:18:33 – Loneliness in the music industry

1:20:06 – Underrated “product” for creatives

1:21:26 – Advice ignored and advice worth ignoring

1:23:24 – Authenticity over chasing radio success

1:24:40 – Undoing algorithms and passive consumption

1:27:21 – Active support, community, and closing thoughts

1:29:02 – Final recap and ProducerHead outro

List of References from the Interview:

Songs / Artists

* D’Angelo

* Lyric Jones

Books

* Making Records by Phil Ramone

Hardware / Tools

* SP-404

* Alpha Juno

* Serato

Connect with Nothing_Neue:

* YouTube: @NothingNeue

* Instagram: @nothing_neue

* Spotify: Nothing_Neue

* Apple Music: Nothing_Neue

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Credits:

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz. From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loop Dustyn Hiett, founder of vvundertone, talks about crafting sound that feels human in a digital world. He explores the balance between analog warmth and modern precision, and why intentional limitations often lead to more expressive results.

Dustyn shares how sound design becomes more meaningful when it is rooted in emotion, texture, and restraint rather than endless options. From shaping tone at the source to committing early and trusting your ears, he emphasizes building workflows that serve feeling first, not trends or tools.

This Loop is about slowing down, choosing character over convenience, and designing a process that lets your music breathe.

From Episode: 021. Dustyn Hiett, Founder of vvundertone, Part 1: Crafting Authentic Soundscapes with Analog Warmth and Digital Precision

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

When you subscribe, you’ll have a chance to submit your released music to be featured, send in works-in-progress for feedback, and you’ll get two free production tools: The Invisible Instruments and Sonic Stimulus, Vol. 1

You’ll receive The Invisible Instruments, a collection of ideas to help you in and out of the studio, plus Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1, a royalty free sample pack created entirely by me, Toru, for the ProducerHead community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

Why This Episode Matters:

This episode isn’t about hacks, gear flexes, or shortcuts. It’s about the internal work that makes a long creative life possible. Birocratic opens up about imposter syndrome, optimism, failure, discipline, and the systems he’s built to protect his relationship with music.

If you’ve ever felt behind, overwhelmed, scattered, or unsure whether you’re doing “enough,” this conversation offers a grounded, human counterpoint to the pressure-filled narrative surrounding modern music careers.

Who is Birocratic:

Birocratic is a producer and artist known for warm, melodic, feel-good instrumentals that sit at the intersection of lofi, beat music, and instrumental pop. Beyond his catalog, he’s a working musician in many forms: producer, bassist, engineer, mixing engineer, and collaborator. In this episode, we hear not just about his music, but how he thinks about building a life that can actually sustain creativity.

What We Dive Into:

* Being “the dumbest person in the room” and why that’s a gift

* Playing bass in a band after years as a solo producer

* Developing your ear through listening, transcription, and real-time adaptation

* Why recording yourself is one of the fastest learning tools

* Optimism, accountability, and separating mistakes from identity

* The concept of “personal, permanent, and pervasive” thinking

* Journaling, reflection, and mental health as creative maintenance

* Morning pages, voice memos, and nightly check-ins

* Structure as a gateway to freedom and flow

* Timers, non-zero days, and realistic consistency

* Saying no, setting boundaries, and protecting creative energy

* Collaboration versus solitude, and why both matter

* Redefining success beyond milestones and external validation

Three Key Takeaways:

* Growth Lives in Discomfort: Putting yourself in rooms where you’re less experienced can be humbling, but it’s one of the fastest paths to real development. Being surrounded by people who are better than you isn’t a failure. It’s an opportunity.

* Structure Protects Inspiration: Clean spaces, clear schedules, timers, and reflection aren’t constraints. They’re what make flow possible. When the basics are handled, your creativity has room to breathe.

* Success Is a Series of Good Days: Success isn’t one moment or metric. It’s built from showing up, doing what you said you’d do, and ending the day feeling aligned. Stack enough of those days, and the bigger picture takes care of itself.

Join the ProducerHead Community

If you’re not subscribed yet, you’ll get access to submit your released music for features, send works-in-progress for feedback, plus two free tools: The Invisible Instruments (a collection of ideas to help you in and out of the studio) and Sonic Stimulus Vol. 1 (a sample pack I made specifically for this community). All free.

Before You Go:

Ask yourself what version of music-making actually feels good in your body and your life. Not what looks impressive online, but what you could realistically sustain for years. Then start building toward that, one small action at a time.

Chapters:

0:00 – Intro

1:48 – Meeting in real life and setting the tone

4:32 – Being the least experienced person in the room

8:10 – Playing bass in a band and learning to truly listen

13:05 – Developing your ear through repetition and mistakes

18:42 – Recording yourself as a learning tool

23:55 – Separating identity from performance

29:40 – Optimism vs negative self-talk

34:28 – Journaling, reflection, and mental maintenance

40:15 – Morning pages and daily check-ins

45:22 – Structure, routines, and creative freedom

51:10 – Timers, non-zero days, and realistic consistency

57:35 – Saying no and protecting creative energy

1:03:40 – Collaboration versus solitude

1:09:15 – Redefining success beyond milestones

1:15:30 – Building a life that supports creativity

1:21:10 – Long-term sustainability and avoiding burnout

1:26:05 – Perspective shifts from touring and collaboration

1:31:40 – Advice to younger producers

1:36:55 – Letting go of comparison

1:41:20 – What keeps music fun

1:46:10 – Current inspirations and creative curiosity

1:51:35 – What’s next for Birocratic

1:56:10 – Final reflections on growth and optimism

2:00:45 – Closing thoughts

2:03:00 – Outro

List of References from the Interview:

Books / Concepts

* Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman

* The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

* Atomic Habits by James Clear

Gear / Tools

* Fender P-Bass

* Ableton Live

Connect with Birocratic:

* YouTube: Birocratic

* Instagram: @birocratic

* Spotify: Birocratic

* Apple Music: Birocratic

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Credits:

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz. From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

The Core Idea

Most producers don’t struggle because they lack ideas. They struggle because they expect the first idea to be good.

Join The ProducerHead Community

Receive the full essay “Nothing to Something” and a free sample pack when you subscribe.

Submit Your Music and Join The ProducerHead Community

Music Feedback Submission – Submit works in progress to receive recorded feedback and ideas

Music Feature Submission – Submit released projects to be featured in community emails

Subscribers get access to full ProducerHead Bars essays, plus exclusive sample packs created for the community.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loop, Greg David breaks down his evolution from sample-based workflows to recording live drums, cutting his own one-shots, and building songs from the ground up. He explains why drums are almost always his starting point and how committing to recording his own kit every day reshaped both his sound and his relationship with music.

Greg shares how giving up sampling “cold turkey” pushed him toward deeper listening, curiosity, and exploration. By making sounds himself, from drum breaks to synth programming, he discovered that you can’t escape your own identity in the music. The result: faster decision-making, stronger instincts, and a sound that’s unmistakably personal.

This Loop is about reclaiming authorship in your process, trading convenience for intention, and rediscovering the joy that comes from truly making music.

From Episode: 019. Greg David: From Loops to Live Takes, Mixing, Dynamics, and Rediscovering the Magic of Music

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

Get new episodes and Loops delivered straight to your inbox. Hit that subscribe button if you’re not already part of the community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loop, Brian Funk breaks down a counterintuitive truth about creativity: you don’t need a grand vision to make meaningful work, you need momentum. He shares how his career grew not from big plans, but from consistent, curious experimentation and embracing constraints as creative fuel.

Brian talks about chipping away at ideas “drop by drop,” turning small problems into solutions, and how making one Ableton instrument for fun eventually led to sound packs, teaching, and becoming an Ableton Certified Trainer. Instead of waiting to feel ready or qualified, he followed what excited him and let learning happen along the way.

This Loop is a reminder that clarity often comes after you start, and that showing up consistently, even without a clear destination, is one of the most powerful creative constraints you can give yourself.

From Episode: 015. Brian Funk - How To Create Constraints And Expand Creativity

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

Get new episodes and Loops delivered straight to your inbox. Hit that subscribe button if you’re not already part of the community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

The Episodes You Couldn’t Stop Running Back

In this special edition of ProducerHead Loops, we’re celebrating the conversations that defined the year. The episodes you streamed, shared, saved, and returned to more than any others. These were the stories, insights, and ideas that stuck with you, shaped your process, and reminded all of us why we make music in the first place.

Here are the Greatest Hits of 2025:

Birocratic

Birocratic breaks down the difference between passive “lean back” listeners and true fans, and why Monthly Listener numbers don’t tell the full story. He explains how depth, consistency, and intentional storytelling convert casual listeners into people who genuinely care about your work. A masterclass in building a lasting audience instead of chasing quick dopamine hits.

From Episode: 008. Part 2: How To Turn Lean Back Listeners Into Real Fans | feat.

Gnarly

Gnarly opens up about how finger drumming and daily beat challenges pulled her out of a dark period in life. Her honesty about using creativity as both discipline and escape resonated deeply with listeners. It’s a reminder that showing up every day, even for small wins, can change everything.

From Episode: 025. Gnarly, Part 1: Finger Drumming Helped Me Escape From a Bad Place

Shrimpnose

Shrimpnose shares some of the year’s most vulnerable reflections on shame, self-criticism, and emotional honesty. He talks about therapy, boundaries, and the courage required to truly know yourself as an artist. A powerful segment for anyone wrestling with internal pressure or creative doubt.

From Episode: 018. Shrimpnose: Shame Is Not A Constructive Emotion, Harnessing Emotions To Develop Creative Freedom, and the Art of Juxtaposition

ELPHNT

ELPHNT challenges the modern obsession with numbers and virality, offering a refreshingly grounded take on creative success. He unpacks the long game: building depth, nurturing real fans, and making work that matters more than metrics. A standout episode for artists looking to reclaim their creative and entrepreneurial direction.

From Episode: 035. Soul-Crushing Success: The Counterintuitive Path to Creative Freedom | feat. ELPHNT

Dan Giffin (Philia)

Dan Giffin shares how speed, intuition, and physicality can unlock creative flow. He explains why real learning happens through doing rather than endless tutorials, and why overthinking is the enemy of progress. This conversation became a fan favorite for its clarity, practicality, and inspiration.

From Episode: 029. Part 1: Getting Out Of Your Head And Into Your Body with Dan Giffin (Philia)

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

Get new episodes and Loops delivered straight to your inbox. Hit that subscribe button and become part of the community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loops episode, Chenoa shares a powerful reminder: if the space you want doesn’t exist, build it. She breaks down the origins of “Bouquet,” the femme-centered monthly artist showcase she runs in Brooklyn. A place designed for safety, expression, and long-form musical storytelling. This Loop is about community as activism, and the small, intentional design choices that make people feel like they finally belong.

From Episode: 014. Part 1: Another’s Success Is Not Your Failure. You Can Do Whatever You Want, Forever. | feat. Chenoa Tarin

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

Get new episodes and Loops delivered straight to your inbox. Hit that subscribe button if you’re not already part of the community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loops episode, Wrex Mason explores how shifting your mindset from “finish everything now” to “treat it like a sketchbook” can unlock more freedom, creativity, and longevity in your music-making. Wrex reminds us that music grows in layers. Let ideas marinate. Add color when inspired. Come back when it feels right. The sketchbook is always there, and so are you.

From Episode: 013. Part 1: There Was A Yesterday. There Is A Tomorrow. Make Music For You Today. | feat. Wrex Mason

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

Get new episodes and Loops delivered straight to your inbox. Hit that subscribe button if you’re not already part of the community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

The Truth:

Creative power is nebulous, making it hard to measure, but it is trained in the same way as physical strength.

Your skill level as a producer is moving right now. The question is: which direction?

Your skills are either growing or decaying---change is constant. Your development is a dynamic consequence of your decisions.

Up close, progress may seem invisible. That’s an illusion of perspective. Growth is happening even when you can’t point to it in a given moment. The key is to trust that consistent, intentional work produces results---whether you feel them today or not.

Creative Strength Training

Strength---physical or creative---is your capacity to do it when you don’t feel like it. It means doing what you said you were going to do. In the gym, that means showing up and doing your workout. In the studio, it means showing up consistently, working through doubt, and carrying ideas to completion.

The version of you that goes to the gym will be stronger than the version that doesn’t. How much stronger depends on: the consistency of your workouts (refer to Frequency) and the quality of design in alignment with your goals (see The Piñata Method). The same holds true in the studio---consistency and intentional practice generate creative power.

The Session Doesn’t Count. The Streak Does.

What we can lift today versus a year from now has less to do with what we accomplish in one session and everything to do with how many sessions we are able to link together.

This is easy to forget if we don’t feel ourselves getting stronger moment to moment. From one day or week to the next you may find that you are lifting the same weight, maybe even a little less. There’s a recency bias inherent in this natural desire for fast results. We can’t remember what it felt like a year ago, but we recognize that compared to yesterday, I’m not lifting any more than I did. The key here is to zoom out. And the longer the recorded history, the more we are able to see. The more we show up on a daily basis, the more recorded history we have in the future. Temperature doesn’t increase every single day, but overall the planet is warmer. As you execute your strength training program according to a schedule aligned with your goals you will notice that it grows in a similar way.

Trust the Practice

We cannot control the rate of growth, but growth is inevitable when we are committed to the plan. If someone were to tell you that they are going to the gym five days a week and are expecting to be stronger a year from now, you wouldn’t question that assumption. How is creative strength any different?

Embracing this is powerful because when we understand that growth is happening, we can commit ourselves to the underlying practice.

“But What About...?”

Talent. I love this idea from Jerry Seinfeld: talent is like being gifted a thoroughbred horse. It’s fast and powerful, but you have to learn to ride it. Unapplied and untrained talent will atrophy over time. Talent is a gift. Training is a choice. Regardless of how much talent you perceive yourself to have or lack, developing skill is your decision.

Decay. If we can grow, we can shrink. In the never-ending quest for growth and improvement, it is easy to take what we have for granted. But, what we have gained is not retained if not maintained. If you miss a day or two at the gym, you probably won’t notice much of a change. But extend this to a week, a month, or even a year and it becomes obvious. The perspective of decline and deterioration is equally powerful in its reminder that our ability is not a static trait.

Plateaus. The paradox of skill development: the more skilled you become, the harder it is to improve. That said, plateaus aren’t dead ends, they are firm ground for forward motion. They are platforms to internalize what you learn until it becomes automatic, generating momentum to carry you to the next level. With accumulated experience, you can refine your goals and adjust how you train. The plateau isn’t where growth stops---it’s where your next climb begins.

Making bad music. No matter how much your skill level grows, you’re not immune to making bad music. The music we share is always our “best of.” The most direct path to making good music is to make music often. Most of what you make will be bad---that’s not a problem, that’s the process that leads to your best work.

As you head to the studio, start tracking one simple metric: How many sessions can you link together? Experimenting, sketching, finishing---they all count. The decisions are within your control. The outcomes will reveal themselves over time. Nothing is static---especially when it feels like it is. Show up. You are getting stronger even when you can’t feel it.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loops episode, Ian Ewing digs into one of the most transformative skills a producer or musician can build: listening. As a drummer and producer known for pocket, feel, and emotional nuance, Ian breaks down how listening leads to thoughtful production.

From Episode: 011. Part 1: Do Less: Making Better Decisions Instead Of More Decisions, Compassionate Discipline, Expanding Your Perspective on Productivity, And Defining Your Own Success | feat. Ian Ewing

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

Get new episodes and Loops delivered straight to your inbox. Hit that subscribe button if you’re not already part of the community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

Why This Episode Matters:

DJ Grumble’s story flips the myth of the “tortured full-time artist” on its head. A medicinal chemist by training, he treats his beat-making with the same rigor as a lab experiment, balancing structure and spontaneity while managing a startup, research deadlines, and a thriving music catalog. His journey shows that creativity and discipline aren’t opposites; they’re two sides of the same molecule.

Explore the Stories Behind the Beats

Love diving into the stories behind the beats? Subscribe to ProducerHead and join producers and creatives exploring the ideas, habits, and inspiration that drive great music.

Who is DJ Grumble:

Producer, DJ, and chemist. Known for a massive catalog of soulful, sample-based beats, DJ Grumble built a cult following through SoundCloud, YouTube, and Bandcamp. DJ Grumble has produced tracks for RIAA-certified gold and platinum artists such as Ari Lennox and Surfaces, and his work has been featured in TV shows, movies, and video games, all while holding a PhD-level background in nano-medicine and now serving as co-founder of a cancer biotech startup in the Bay Area.

What We Dive Into:

* Parallels between scientific experimentation and sampling

* Managing expectations and finding work-life balance

* How to release fearlessly and build a catalog that compounds

* The “quantity vs. quality” myth and the power of consistency

* Business 101 for producers: PROs, SongTrust, and royalties

* Collaboration, taste, and why addition is often subtraction

* Merging two worlds: creativity and chemistry

Three Key Takeaways:

* Consistency > Perfection: Grumble’s catalog exploded when he stopped over-editing and started releasing — one beat every week. He learned that fans, not artists, decide what hits.

* Science and Sound Share the Same DNA: Sampling and chemistry both start with raw materials and transform them through experimentation. Grumble’s scientific mindset fuels his musical process.

* Manage Your Expectations: Whether it’s the lab or the music business, results take time. Success compounds slowly — and you can only collect on your creativity if you understand the systems that pay you.

Before You Go:

What’s your version of the “lab?” The place where you put in steady, focused work that no one sees? Take a page from Grumble’s book: set aside even 30 minutes a day to experiment, release without fear, and let time and repetition refine your craft.

Chapters:

0:00 – Intro

0:27 – From chemistry to beats

2:12 – Parallels between science and sampling

5:48 – Balancing lab work and creativity

7:53 – Quantity vs. quality mindset

9:21 – Sharing music fearlessly

13:31 – Free beats and virality

14:22 – Optimism and managing expectations

19:37 – Business 101: royalties, PROs, and SongTrust

28:00 – Catalog strategy and viral growth

32:26 – Collaboration and cross-pollination

35:22 – Being objective and learning from failure

40:28 – Shortcut tools, taste, and Tracklib

50:03 – Can you teach taste?

53:25 – Advice for upcoming producers

55:07 – Motivation, obligation, and gratitude

57:09 – Upcoming projects and vinyl reissues

58:43 – Favorite gear and plugins

1:21:04 – Habits that sabotage creativity

1:25:12 – Work-life balance and “palate cleanse”

1:28:10 – What people misunderstand about the industry

1:30:48 – Movies, books, and advice

1:39:33 – Books every producer should read

1:42:34 – Integrating both lives: lab + music

1:46:22 – Knowing when a beat is finished

1:49:20 – Closing thoughts

List of References from the Interview:

Songs / Artists:

* MF DOOM & Madlib – Madvillainy

* J Dilla – Donuts

* Pete Rock – Petestrumentals

Books / Authors / Podcasts:

* Perennial Seller by Ryan Holiday

* Atomic Habits by James Clear

* Scratch (documentary by Doug Pray)

* Roald Dahl

* Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Products / Gear:

* Player Pro by Quadmation (DAW)

* Pioneer CDJ-800

* Pioneer DVJ-X1

* Casio RZ-1 Sampler

* Tracklib

* North Pole VST

* Room Machine 844

* RubyTube plugins

Connect with DJ Grumble:

* YouTube: @dj_grumble

* Instagram: @djgrumble

* Spotify: DJ Grumble

* Apple Music: DJ Grumble

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Credits:

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz. From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loops episode, Metic reflects on quality versus quantity, and how the best music often comes from simply showing up and making more of it. He shares what it means to finish songs, recognize quality through consistency, and navigate the business side of releasing music. Metic reminds us that progress in music comes from persistence: clocking in, finishing, and learning as you go, creatively and professionally.

From Episode: 010. Part 1: The Relationship Between Quality and Quantity, How To Develop Your Sound, And Negotiating Contract Terms | feat. Metic

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

Get new episodes and Loops delivered straight to your inbox. Hit that subscribe button if you’re not already part of the community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

Why This Episode Matters:

AudioHaze has quietly built an incredibly respected music education platform online. From forensic artist recreations to heartfelt reflections on creativity, his channel has become a masterclass in curiosity and craft. In this conversation, we get into the realities of being a full-time creator, from loneliness and editing marathons to embracing mic bleed, imperfection, and community. His message? The giant leap you’re waiting for probably doesn’t exist. It’s all about the small, painful, necessary steps.

Who is AudioHaze:

Ricky is the creator behind AudioHaze, a YouTube channel focused on recreating iconic artist sounds through real-world setups and deep music education. His work blends technical expertise, production storytelling, and emotional honesty, showing how creativity thrives not in perfection, but in process. He’s collaborated with musicians to recreate everything from The Beatles rooftop sessions to Vulfpeck performances, always breaking down the “how” and the “why” behind great sound.

What We Dive Into:

* The creative isolation of being a solo creator, and how to build community

* Why you don’t need hardware or new plugins to make something great

* Mic bleed, live setups, and the psychology of real collaboration

* The economics of creating: YouTube, Patreon, sponsors, and building income streams

* Fear as a creative fuel and how to avoid burning out

* The myth of the “big break” and the beauty of slow progress

Three Key Takeaways:

* The Monumental Leap is a Monumental Lie: Every breakthrough comes from hundreds of small, invisible steps. The daily grind is the real magic.

* Create to Connect: The more you open up, even when it’s scary, the more meaningful your work becomes.

* Build Around What You Love, Not What You Fear: Sustainable success comes from balancing ambition with joy, community, and rest.

Before You Go:

Think about your own version of small, consistent steps. What’s one thing you can repeat today that no one will see, but that’ll move you closer to where you want to be a year from now?

Chapters:

0:00 – Intro

1:00 – What AudioHaze Does

3:42 – Isolation in Creative Work

5:07 – Creating Collaboration Energy

9:22 – Embracing Bleed & Imperfection

13:13 – Breaking Isolation

14:55 – Live First, Fix Later

16:54 – Vulnerability & Connection

22:00 – The Cost of Success

24:00 – Reality vs Expectation

29:32 – Process over Plugins

33:20 – Finding Your Process

35:02 – Plugin Philosophy

37:39 – Pressure & Comparison

39:25 – Metrics That Matter

46:13 – Starting From Zero

50:13 – Fear as a Compass

54:20 – Learning Through Experience

55:21 – Monumental Leaps Are B******t

1:00:11 – Where to Find AudioHaze

1:00:49 – Quick Hits

1:05:44 – Closing Thoughts

1:06:21 – Outro

List of References from the Interview:

Songs / Artists:

* Bon Iver

* Phoebe Bridgers

* Rage Against the Machine

* Vulfpeck

* Radiohead

* Bob Boilen (NPR Tiny Desk)

Products / Gear:

* SM57 Microphone

* Goodhertz (Wow Control, Vulf Compressor, Tone Control)

* Scheps Omni Channel

* Universal Audio 1176 / LA-2A

* Ableton Live

* Plunk by AudioHaze

Connect with AudioHaze:

* YouTube: @AudioHaze

* Instagram: @realaudiohaze

* Website: AudioHaze

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Credits:

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz. From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

What are ProducerHead Loops?

Gems from past conversations worth running back.

Perfect for when you need a quick hit of inspiration.

This Loop:

In this ProducerHead Loops episode, Birocratic digs into the art and business of being a modern producer, where creativity meets sustainability. Known for his clean, groove-heavy production style and a career built on mastery of sampling, Biro shares what it takes to stay motivated, make a living, and keep the music authentic.

From Episode: 008. Part 1: The Art Of Sampling, Motivation, and Making Money As A Music Producer | feat. Birocratic

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Subscribe to ProducerHead

Get new episodes and Loops delivered straight to your inbox. Hit that subscribe button if you’re not already part of the community.

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz.

From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.

Why This Episode Matters:

In this episode, Wino Willy opens up about transformation, both personal and creative. He shares how fatherhood, therapy, and music combine to help him overcome depression and obesity, leading to a renewed sense of purpose. His story is one of radical responsibility, taking ownership of change through small steps, community, and gratitude.

Explore the Stories Behind the Beats

Love diving into the stories behind the beats? Subscribe to ProducerHead and join producers and creatives exploring the ideas, habits, and inspiration that drive great music.

Who is Wino Willy:

Wino Willy is a producer, percussionist, and community organizer based in New Orleans. Known for his soulful, sample-rich sound and deep sense of intentionality, he’s collaborated with artists across the underground hip-hop and lo-fi landscape. Beyond the music, he’s a devoted father, husband, and advocate for wellness and connection in creative spaces.

What We Dive Into:

* The link between mental health, movement, and music

* Building sustainable creative habits

* Fatherhood, discipline, and redefining productivity

* Community, collaboration, and the sacred nature of art

Three Key Takeaways:

* Start Small, Stay Consistent: Change doesn’t come from grand gestures it comes from doing the small things daily. A three-minute meditation can become a life-altering habit.

* Community is Wellness: Whether through music scenes, fatherhood groups, or global collaborations, Wino reminds us that healing and creativity thrive in connection.

* Simplicity Creates Depth: The greatest art, and growth, comes from knowing what to leave out. Mastery is doing more with less.

Before You Go:

Ask yourself, what’s one small action you can take today that your future self will thank you for? Whether it’s a three-minute meditation, reaching out to someone in your creative community, or simply expressing gratitude, start there.

Chapters:

0:00 – Intro

0:24 – Toru Intro + Episode Overview

1:00 – Waking Up at 3AM

3:20 – From Depression to Transformation

5:30 – Small Steps, Big Changes

7:55 – Mindset, Self-Talk, and Growth

10:15 – Grace, Grit, and Getting Up Again

12:30 – Motivational Interviewing & The Power of Gratitude

14:50 – Radical Responsibility

18:55 – Redefining Goals

23:10 – Fatherhood and Time Management

25:35 – Leaving the BS Behind

26:05 – Mid-Episode Break

26:50 – Rejecting Hustle Culture

28:20 – Making Music Sacred Again

30:20 – Creative Systems & Consistency

31:55 – Making Your Own Wave

34:15 – Community in Motion

36:30 – Defining Community

38:30 – The Dad Crew and Loud & Clear

40:10 – On Showing Up Before You Feel Ready

42:15 – In-Person Energy > Online Presence

44:20 – Simplicity & Depth

46:30 – On Ego and Mastery

47:50 – Where to Find Wino

48:45 – Quick Hits

50:50 – Upcoming Shows + OKPlayer Feature

52:40 – Closing Reflections

54:10 – Outro

List of References from the Interview:

Songs/Albums:

* “Space Is the Place” – Sun Ra

* “Midnight Marauders” – A Tribe Called Quest

* “Baduizm” – Erykah Badu

Books/Authors/Podcasts:

* Black Boy by Richard Wright

* Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

* Insight Timer app

Connect with INSERT GUEST:

* Instagram: @winowilly

* Spotify: Wino Willy

* Apple Music: Wino Willy

* YouTube: @winowilly1991

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Credits:

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz. From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.