Interview with Sam Middlebrook – Part II
Many of you asked us for a follow up to our earlier interview with worship leader & artist Sam Middlebrook. There were so many great questions, I thought I would break it down to two posts. Come back tomorrow to hear more from Sam.
Thanks to those of you who turned in so many great questions.
Sam, what are some common accelerators of the creative process?
That's a great question. I'd start with four things I identified about ten years ago that help me be creative. I call them my "Four R's"...
Rest - lots of sleep helps me (when I can get it).
Relationships - There's a friend of mine named Sean Hall who inspires me every time I'm with him - he just oozes art and creativity. You may have someone in your life like that, and if you do, get near to them for a while.
Recreation - I go for a drive, I do something outdoors, anything that changes my environment that isn't work related.
Reading - I start with the Word, and then go to classic theological works like Chesterton, Kierkegaard, and Gary Larson.
What works for me might not work for you. If you're not doing so already, start a songwriting journal. When you're feeling creative, keep a log of your recent activities and try doing them when you're feeling like you're in a slump. One of the dangers of the artistic mentality is that we are often most creative when we're in trouble or down - and the danger lies in when we are tempted to create that trouble or downness in order to recapture that feeling of creativity. The believer's responsibility is not to rely on any of those things, but instead to choose healthy methods of rekindling those artistic postures and creative initiatives.
In the first part of the interview you mentioned the danger of sharing ideas too quickly. Our readers want to know when is the right time to share an idea or a lyric that is being developed.
The right time to share a lyric is after you've detached yourself from it a little. As soon as you can look at it through a somewhat objective lens (and let's face it, we're not very good at this), then share it with someone familiar with the creative process. One tip I'll give on this is that it's always a good idea to tell the person you are sharing your idea with what you're looking for from them. Tell them up front if you're looking for honest feedback, suggested changes, ideas to couple with your original one. If you tell them why you're presenting it to them, you have a greater chance of getting whatever it is you're looking for.
You mentioned that your litmus test for "a good hook" is if your two young kids can sing it back to you. How do you walk the balance between simple/accessible music and artistic achievement? The artist inside all of us wants to be better, do more, be more complex, and grow - how do you do that when you're keeping things so simple?
That's a really great question, one that I can completely identify with. While the artist inside of us wants to grow, do more, and be more complex, the Church needs us to create art that speaks to everyone, not just other artists. One of my loves is fingerstyle acoustic guitar. I love alternate tunings and the sound that six strings and human fingers can create. However, even within the guitar community, there are other guitarists who don't appreciate that style of playing. What I play to please my own ear is not what I might play to please a large crowd. The same principle applies to worship music. I think it's important that we are continually getting better at writing songs for the Church to worship with, and that's where our creative drive should be focused. Our focus should be Christ being glorified by more people today than yesterday. If we're only focused on improving the form of our art, then it begins to lose its functionality - and the function of turning people's eyes to the horrible beauty of the Cross and the hope, life, and identity we have in Christ must be paramount.