At a conference the best talks are the ones you get into by mistake. This morning I thought I was attending a ‘do’s and don’ts for music & ads’, but it turned out to be a talk by (film)music composer Christian Henson about… music composition. Being blocked on either side by too many people, I decided to stick it out. Maybe take a nap or something?
Christian’s first slide read, ‘don’t be a fucking racist’. Obviously, I immediately woke up again.
The next 99 slides where his bits of advice for composers, but I found loads of Christian’s ‘instructions’ apply to all of us working in the creative industry and really just everyone working with a passion.
Here’s my top 22:
Don’t be a fucking racists.
Don’t lie about work you didn’t create. (Don’t be a douche.)
Killing yourself by working too hard will not earn you any respect.
Try asking things nicely.
‘Sell’ your idea to the right person, aka the person who will be fired if you don’t do your job well! (Probably the producer.)
Don’t take screw ups out on your team. (When you’re the manager, you are responsible).
When you receive a wetransfer-link, download it IMMEDIATELY. You know they expire. AND CHECK if the file works.
Have you backed up? BACK UP!
Don’t upgrade you OS, software, house, relationship during an important job.
Finishing a job is not finishing your career, use resting time to rest.
Get away from you fucking computer. Walk around, see the world, get inspired.
GO TO BED. Working through the night will not help you drive the project home, that extra hour of sleep WILL give you fresh insights.
The best solution is often the simple solution.
Don’t send feedback via email. You don’t controle the environment in which someone will read your notes.
Don’t work drunk. And especially don’t send work round drunk.
Nurture relationships with people you like to work with.
Surround yourself with good shit.
Fight the inner 5-year old with unrealistic ambitions (who will probably turn out to be boring anyways).
Think about the ‘long game’. Don’t burn out two years into your career.
Eat and drink good shit. Again it’s about the long game AND enjoy the journey!
Work on your own heritage. Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
Last but not least, follow your bliss.