bad banana blog

An Interview with "Weird Al" Yankovic

I’ll be heading to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity next week on behalf of Cannes Centrale (where you can follow along, whether you're going or not). To get myself ready to walk into the world’s most creative lion’s den, so to speak, I asked a few of my friends if they’d chat with me about the State of Creativity in 2011.

Next up: “Weird Al” Yankovic, three-time Grammy award winning artist whose 13th studio album, “Alpocalypse,” will be released June 21. Al gets serious with me about his creative process.

You had your first hit in 1982 and have no doubt seen it all in this business in the years since. Loaded question, I know, but what's the state of creativity in the music business in 2011?

Wow, starting with the easy ones, huh? Well, it’s tempting to be flip and say that the industry is creatively bankrupt at this point, but of course that’s not really accurate. Pop music has always been kind of ridiculous. It’s nothing new. Pop music is always changing, always morphing, but much of it seems to be variations on the same stale universal themes—albeit, in some cases, today we’re likely to hear much more graphic or provocative iterations of those themes.

I think a lot of the creativity in the music industry these days is coming from the marketing side—the industry as they knew it collapsed a decade ago, and they’ve been struggling to stay afloat. When your back is against the wall like that, you tend to get very creative very quickly.

Any kid can post a parody song or video on YouTube in a matter of minutes. I guess that's both good and bad. How has technology changed the way you approach what you do?

The Internet has been a double-edged sword for people in the music business. In this post-Napster world, a new generation has grown up thinking that all music is free for the taking, which doesn’t exactly help artists’ sales numbers. But at the same time, the Internet is an incredible promotional tool—with a little marketing skill, you can make millions of people aware of your wonderful new album that they’re most likely just going to download for free anyway.

A couple other Internet pet peeves: There are a lot of “funny” songs floating around the web with my name attached to them, even though—surprise—they’re not really by me. Honestly, it does my reputation no favors when people are tricked into thinking that some vulgar or mediocre song is part of my oeuvre. Also, there are tens of thousands of people on YouTube doing song parodies—that’s great for them, I suppose, but that means that I’ll never again be the only (and certainly not the first) person to parody any given hit song. But, I just put my blinders on and proceed boldly ahead, hoping people won’t notice that I’m the 20,000th person on the planet to do a Miley Cyrus parody.

29 Ways to Stay Creative

 

Via To-Fu Design, Sapporo, Japan.

An Interview with Roger von Oech

 

I’ll be heading to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity next week on behalf of Cannes Centrale (where you can follow along, whether you're going or not). To get myself ready to walk into the world’s most creative lion’s den, so to speak, I asked a few of my friends if they’d chat with me about the State of Creativity in 2011.

First up: Roger von Oech, creativity expert and author of the seminal how-to book on enhancing personal creativity, “A Whack on the Side of the Head.”

How has the role or importance of creativity in business changed over the past twenty years?

Creativity in business has always been important, but until say 15-20 years ago, top management typically expected it from a narrow segment of the company (R&D, engineering, and parts of marketing and advertising). Today, creativity is encouraged in many more functions that were previously told to do things “by the book” (finance, distribution and fulfillment, inventory management, etc.).

Over the past 25 years or so, more and more responsibility to adapting to change and making improvements has been pushed out from executives to the people doing a specific job. Thus we see companies encouraging many, many small changes. This used to be called “continuous improvement” (or whatever the Japanese equivalent was). Today, it’s called innovation. Creativity has been democratized.

We live in an amazing time where the answer to almost any question is just a few clicks away. Some experts are saying this isn’t necessarily a good thing. We’re not learning as much. Not remembering as much. If an idea is a new combination of existing elements, what happens if our brains aren’t holding as many elements? Will our ideas get smaller?

I agree with your central premise here. In order to be creative, you have to have the basic materials with which to create: facts, information, knowledge, experience, and whatever else you can find. If you don’t have this storehouse of diverse materials, it’s more difficult to make new (and unusual) combinations. Also, if an idea or concept isn’t in your head (as opposed to being at the end of a Google search), it’s very difficult to drag it up into consciousness. I personally am glad that I’ve spent a lifetime trying to acquire knowledge and experiences in a variety of different areas.

I think a good memory is a blessing. I also believe it is a skill that can be practiced and developed. If you get lazy (“let the machines do the work”), it can atrophy. This obviously has negative consequences on one’s creative abilities.

Eccentricity and the Creative Mind

"I am a completely horizontal author. I can't think unless I'm lying down, either in bed or stretched on a couch and with a cigarette and coffee handy. I've got to be puffing and sipping." -Truman Capote (pictured above)

My friend (and long-time friend of this blog), Mark McGuinness, has written a wonderful piece at 99 Percent about eccentricity and creative work habits. As a creative coach, Mark has closely observed the work habits of creative people from all kinds of disciplines, and has come to view eccentricity as more than just a quaint offshoot of a creative lifestyle. In Mark's opinion, eccentricity is essential. Read the whole piece here.

Creativity, Lateral Thinking, and Humor

 

In this televised course that ran in the early 1980s, Edward de Bono discusses why creative people are oftentimes very rigid, how lateral thinking is vital for progress, and why humor is the most significant characteristic of the human mind. An informative glimpse into the human mind, as well as into a 1980s BBC studio audience. (Plus, check out that intro.)

Overcoming Creative Block

Scott Hansen asked 25 artists and creators the same question: What do you do to inspire your creativity when you find yourself in a rut? Read the answers over on Scott's blog, ISO50. And be sure to read the additional tips left by readers in the comments section. A must read for any creative.

Via Creative Creativity.

Motivating Creative People

If you're responsible for managing and inspiring creative minds, you need to download this amazing free resource: How to Motivate Creative People (Including Yourself).
    This isn't some feeble e-book written by a wannabe looking for attention. This is an exhaustive and valuable 58-page resource written by Mark McGuinness. If you're not familiar with Mark through his Wishful Thinking blog (go subscribe), Mark has spent more than ten years coaching creative professionals in all types of media, including novelists, actors, film directors, architects, and visual artists. He has a master's degree on the subject and a passion for inspiring creative professionals and organizations to reach their full creative potential. He's also a poet, so he knows full well the highs and lows of a personal creative journey.
    As a creative professional, this e-book will help you understand your creative process, develop your talent, and find more satisfaction in your work. As a manager or leader, you'll learn how to get better work out of creative people, how to facilitate creative collaboration, and how to understand and influence many different types of people. And, most importantly, why offering rewards can actually harm creative performance.
    If you're a creative director like me, it's a must-read. And did I mention it's free (with no registration required)?

Photo via.

Open

 

Eight years ago today, my creative partner and I left our agency jobs to establish our own studio.
    Creating a business from scratch (which we have helped others do since) is a very liberating exercise. From establishing philosophies, to setting up billing, to determining the types of clients we hoped to attract, every decision was made fresh with the overall goal of doing the best possible work.
    Which is why we decided to create an open studio environment.
    Without a doubt, that decision has been one of the largest contributing factors to the success of our studio over the years. Although there have been some challenges and frustrations along the way.
    Last year, for our seventh anniversary, I wrote a post offering up seven lessons we learned about starting our own business. This year, I offer up eight lessons we've learned about setting up an open work space.

Be prepared to hate it at first.

It took six months for us to get used to it. During that time, we felt every eyeball on us. We didn't know how to take private phone calls. We didn't know what to do when someone walked into the front door. Trust us, you get over it.

Go wide open and go big.

In our studio, the smaller work area (also open) is separated from the rest of the studio with a cardboard screen. All that extra studio space provides some privacy for those times when one must take a private call or get some alone time. The ability to get up, move to a quiet corner, or walk away from the group, is key.

Create little areas for a little privacy.

Set up your space with little pods. Tables. Chairs. Thinking areas. Meeting areas. And supply people with nearby tools for capturing creative ideas. Pads of paper. Nearby pencils. Chalkboard or dry erase boards on wheels. Heck, we even have chalkboard walls in the restroom.

Cut the cords as much as possible.

Everyone needs a workstation as a home base. But with WiFi, laptops, and mobile phones, your people should have the ability to truly use the various privacy areas around the studio. We've gone eight years operating entirely on mobile phones. Which means when we absolutely need privacy or a change of scenery, we can work from a park, coffee shop, or even home.

Understand that it's not for everyone.

Make sure you recruit accordingly. In our experience, the best creative people crave this type of an environment and a spirit of teamwork will prevail. On the other hand, manipulative, project-hoarding, non-collaborative, and dishonest people will not last long. That's the best part.

Create face privacy, not monitor privacy.

With work stations, we try to set it up so nobody is looking directly at someone else. On the other hand, we try to make it easy to see monitors. It's not that we're keeping tabs on people. It's that all projects are ultimately studio projects, and if anybody can tip in an idea or offer a suggestion, they should do so. Often, you can see the body language of someone struggling with a project. Instead of having to ask for help, people can walk by and offer it. 

Build music into the environment.

Our studio is wired for sound in zones. We can adjust each zone's volume, or even turn off a zone (which we do for meetings). But for the most part, our studio is jumping with an eclectic mix of music. Music adds energy to the environment, but also provides noise to cover close conversations or some phone calls. It eliminates accidental eavesdropping. And if someone doesn't like the music, they can always put on headphones.

Embrace the chaos.

At times, it's going to be loud, chaotic, and hard to concentrate. Turn on your radar and see if the creative solution you're looking for is really floating around in the chaos around you. You'll be surprised how often it is, which is the greatest creative benefit of all. Walk around. See what other people are working on. Tip in an idea on someone else's project. In our experience, your work will get better as a result.

The photos above represent phase two of our open space experiment. We moved into this new, slightly larger space in March of this year. You can see more photos here.

Silly Walks and Creative Ruts

Comic genius John Cleese sat down for an interview a few years ago and had a lot to say about creativity and the creative process. I keep coming back to this passage, where he discusses the importance of whim...

I knew a wonderful teacher once—a tutor. He tutored my stepsons and my elder daughter. He said to me, "Always start where the energy is."
    People make an awful mistake by starting where the energy isn't. If you're feeling very world-weary—and sometimes we're all in that boat—you have to sit down with something that's going to engage you. That doesn't mean you just switch on the TV and watch a cartoon, but it does mean asking, What would be fun? Maybe take a piece of paper and a pencil and start drawing silly things. Go for a walk. Just sit very quietly watching your breathing. Anything. Just allow the whim to get you going.   
    Now, you can't do this all of the time; it's too disconnected. But I think in that particular frame of mind, when you run out of energy and motivation, I think you have to go right down to the instinct, right down to a whim.
    I'm coming up on 60, and I'm wondering where my life will begin to go. I need to take a slightly different direction. I talked to a very wise man, and he said, "If you're trying to find a new direction, don't plan it, because this [pointing to his head] has been planning your life up to now. You can't plan something new with the same old apparatus." He said, "Leave a gap. Leave a space, and just do things on auto for a while. Just see where these whims take you."
    It's like creativity. You have to follow it without knowing where you're going. If you try to control where you're going, you're back in the same process. It's like asking a piece of machinery that's broken to mend itself.

Via Creative Creativity. Image via.

What An Artist Has To Say

There's a nice little interview with Pixar's Andrew Stanton over at Groucho Reviews. Of course, he talks about his latest directorial effort, Wall-E, which opens this week. But as the individual who oversees the development of all Pixar features and shorts, it's his view of testing movies that really caught my eye. Or, more accurately, not testing movies...

We never think of who are audience is. We always just made the movies we want to see. And I'm just immature enough. And everybody else here is just immature enough that we figure that anything silly and juvenile, you know, is probably gonna cover for the kids.
    ...But frankly, if I started to try and guess what other people want, i would make a bad movie. One of the things that was a revelation to us in Toy Story is that we hit a real wall...because we were constantly trying to second-guess or give what the executives wanted at Disney. And when we...almost were threatened to lose the whole job, we spent a couple weeks alone and just said, "Screw it. We have nothing to lose. Just go with what we want to see." And that became what you know as Toy Story now.
    So we've learned ever since then: "I'm just gonna go with my gut. I'm going to trust it." That's why I go see other filmmaker's movies. I don't go to see them to try and guess what my demographic is and what I want. I'm not a pollster. I'm not someone—I'm not a number. I'm a person. And I want to go see what an artist has to say.

Check out the whole interview here.