THE RADICAL CREATIVITY NEWSLETTER

Hey Reader, I want to share with you a comment I read this morning. "How do you not have a song over 5,000 streams but are giving constant production / writing advice on youtube? Mixes would make most producers scream “ LOGICCCCC”! In a blind test" I'm not sharing this comment to sulk in negativity, I'm sharing this for a very important reason. Normally if I see a comment that upsets me, I delete it. Most people who have something negative to say are speaking from a place of insecurity. But I...

October 21, 2025 • Trev Barnes Why Talent Alone Is Not Enough I got my start in the music industry as a live performer. Whether it was leading bands, sitting in with bands, or solo shows, my world revolved around live music. Day after day my time was spent loading a ton of heavy gear into my 2006 Honda Element, driving an hour to the show, playing 4 hours for a handful of people, breaking down, loading back up, and getting home somewhere around 3 in the morning. This was nothing short of...

October 14, 2025 • Trev Barnes How to Sound Original “Good artists copy, great artists steal,” - Pablo Picasso If that’s your first time hearing this quote, it may sound pretty jarring. Hear me out. When I have new students join the Music Production Bootcamp, we hop on a Discovery Call. This call is focused on understanding the direction we want to take your music for the next 12 weeks of the program. I always ask a simple question, “Who do you sound like?”. About 60% of the time, I get a...

I Don't Feel Like an Artist The vicious trap of art vs. content. TREV BARNES • AUG 05 ⏵ I was listening to this playlist while writing this. "I don't want to be a content creator, I want to be an artist." Does that sentence mean anything to you? Since you're on my newsletter, I'm going to assume that it does. Being a full-time creative means having to put yourself where the eyes are. The reality that I've learned is that nobody is just going to just walk into your shop. You're going to have...