Lately, I’ve been on a mission to fuel myself with execution rather than planning.
Here’s a story of how this new philosophy has shaped the birth of my new label Rhytual and it’s first release, my album Axia.
This summer, I decided to finally step up and bring my label to life. I had been dwelling on the idea for about 15 years. There was lots of material and I had made many kinds of plans and ideas in the past. Most of them never happened.
This time I decided:
There is no plan.
Just execution.
I’ll get the ball rolling. And I’ll aim and adjust on the fly. From that moment on it was all about taking swift action.
I wanted to release an album, as I had many albums worth of material anyway.
I named it “Axia,” an ancient Greek term meaning the true worth of actions.
I spent a day finalizing the concept and tracklist, then about a week or two fine-tuning the music, giving each track the attention it deserved.
I took a further few days to do the mastering. I developed a very strange analog chain for it which contributed a lot to the overall sound of the album (I wouldn’t do that for clients but with my own art I have the freedom.)
Then I took a few days to research and sort out distribution, and decided the release date.
This week I’ve been figuring out the launch and promotion. Talking to people. Sending them music. Asking questions. Reading. Watching videos. Getting many new ideas. I still don’t know what everything is going to look like exactly, but things are shaping up nicely. Working on it hard every day.
All of this has happened on the fly, with almost zero planning.
Just focusing fully and acting on whatever task I needed to do at any given moment.
Moving forward in some unorthodox, but very effective ways.
I’ve realised I can make a lot more happen on my own than I would have thought.
Right now I am feeling more motivated than ever. Motivation follows action. Not the other way around.
The album is coming out next Friday (August 4th).
I don’t have any expectations in terms of sales. In fact it’s probably not going to resonate very well with my existing audience because it’s a significant departure from my previous released work. The label will find its audience, but it will take time and much more diligent & consistent work.
Rhytual is not about any specific genre of music, but connecting to the core of my artistry, and to something universal.
With support from people like Laurent Garnier and Gilles Peterson, I have confidence in the music.
External factors aside, in my own world I have already achieved success.
Because I got this far. I showed myself I could do this with good standards.
Now I’m in a great shape to move forward. NOW I have a plan. Things are set up and I have a blueprint to follow for the next releases.
If you want a free sneak peek, I’ve put up an alternative version of the title track “Axia” for you (to be honest, I prefer this one to the one that is on the album).
Click here to download it for free:
https://resoundsound.bandcamp.com/track/axia-the-true-worth-mix
I want to encourage you to consider this idea of putting less emphasis on planning and focusing on action.
Embrace the chaos and uncertainty that comes with it. Because you can handle that, and that’s a process that brings you many serendipitous moments which propel you forward in unexpected ways.
Don’t hesitate to get after your ideas. To be agile, move boldly from conception to execution, and correct course along the way.
You don’t have to have a great plan to start. Just start and make up your plan along the way.
Leave a Reply