Peter Gabriel and creativity

The other night I was laying in bed, letting my mind wander (as I often do - also in the shower), and for some reason an interview with Peter Gabriel I read a long time ago come back to me.

It was a feature in Mix magazine on Gabriel's new (at that time) custom-built recording studio. This was around the time of "The Last Temptation of Christ," for which Gabriel composed and produced the music, so . . . we're probably talking 1989.

Gabriel talked about the creative process, and how computers were changing that process. Remember, this is in the EARLY days of MIDI, digital audio, and Madonna. Sequencing sessions often involved swapping floppies on your single-drive Macintosh Plus (if you were lucky!). Oh, how I could reminisce . . .

Back to the point. Gabriel talked about how he envisioned a system (in his studio and in his process) where he could switch from creative, intuitive, right-brained activities (say, improvising on a keyboard) to the more structured, logical, left-brained activities (creating a composition, making technical decisions, etc.).

I don't remember how he put it, but it was like having a tablet or brush or mouse or some other paradigm, and being able to use both halves of the creative process to their fullest potential. He didn't put it that way, of course - he's way smarter than I am. But it was one of the earliest times that I became aware of the different aspects of the creative process.

Which reminds me, of course, of "The Inner Game of Tennis." There is a time to be intellectual, to work at "thinking" through moves, or to physically step through moves. This is the time when our inner "coach" can be useful, observing our performance and critiquing it. But during a game (or, musicians, during a performance!), that is NOT the time for the coach to be micromanaging. During a performance, the goal should be to be completely present, in the moment, so our body (intellect, instinct, talent) can behave naturally.

Which reminds me, of course, of Aikido and other martial arts. "We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training." Which is just another way of saying, at crunch time (a match, a game, a performance), it's the "lower-level," internalized behaviors that will always be there for us. THAT'S how we know what we REALLY know. You know?

Plus I just think "So" is an AMAZING album!