‘Time’ is defined as…
- “The measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues.”
- “The point or period when something occurs.”
But when put into practice and dealt with in real life, there is so much more to it (especially in creative industries like music).
So for the first episode of the Magnetic Meaning podcast, we decided to bring on Adam Stark to talk about all of the different ways a producer relates and deals with ‘Time.’
Who Is Adam Stark?
Adam Stark is a Denver-based producer and DJ who has been slowly building the foundations of a lasting career in electronic music for the better part of a decade. Brick by brick, he slowly grew in notoriety off the back of his local live shows, support from industry heavyweights, and simply being the easiest guy in the scene to work with.
These qualities aren’t often seen in many other industry personalities, and Adam is reaping the rewards of his generosity and devotion to his craft.
In the past year alone Adam has toured with Ilan Bluestone, signed with his favorite labels, and continued to throw wildly successful parties.
No producer I know knows the value of Time and maximizing the scarcity of it more than Adam Stark, which makes him the ideal candidate to discuss the topic.
Why A Producer’s Time Is The Most Valuable Resource
Believe it or not, we only have so many hours on this Earth before our time is up; in one degree or another.
And when music producers are starting out, they are often young and hungry and feel like they have all the time in the world. To a certain extent, they do.
“There’s only so much time in a week, and how you divvy that time up REALLY matters.” – Adam Stark [24:18]
But every day, even every hour, brings you one step closer to a future that you can’t predict. Life may throw unexpected things at you that take priority over music; you might find that you yourself have different priorities, and chasing a career in music for as long as you have just isn’t one of them anymore.
Every single day, there are many other music producers who are chasing the same dream as you are and it all comes down to how much of your finite amount of time are you willing to invest into music.
‘Do you want your music career bad enough? Because it’s okay to want a family more, or a stable income more than your music career. That’s totally fine, but I think a lot of musicians just aren’t willing to be that honest with themselves.’ – Adam Stark [19.40]
How Your Relation To Time Changes As You Age
The aforementioned priorities don’t necessarily have to stop your career dead in your tracks. I know firsthand that even having a baby in the house doesn’t instantly mean your music career has to be put on hold; it just means that your relationship with time changes and shifts.
Scroll to Continue
Adam and I both mentioned this a few times, in our own way, throughout the length of the podcast that your relationship to time and how you view it certainly changes as you age.
“It’s easy to think in your 20s that you have all the time, everything else is far away. I can get into the studio tomorrow. I can answer that email next week, and do all that stuff next week. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found this sort of creeping sense that I’m running out of time…” – Adam Stark [30:15]
Adam’s investment in his own success meant that he missed family moments and events in his sister’s life; all times that cannot be replaced or repeated. As we age and step outside of ourselves a bit more, we realize that investing time in family and others can be just as fulfilling as investing it in ourselves; which makes it all the more of a struggle knowing that you may have to pass such moments by in search of success in music.
For me, it’s doing my best not to bite at the temporal investments I would have made without hesitation in my earlier days. Going out to a club for fun or playing video games all present massive red flags to me for, as fun as they would be, eating away at the precious few hours a week I personally can devote to music.
“All of a sudden, all those temptations that were so easy to bite on in our early 20s all of a sudden have these big red flags.” -Will Vance [33:25]
Where To Best Invest Your Time
With all this in mind, it’s important to dive a bit deeper into where to best invest your time in your music career. Granted, what’s “best” for you in any specific moment or chapter in life will certainly shift so you must be ready to be reactive and adapt if you find that something is no longer working.
Here are the three things Adam has never regretted investing his time into throughout his music career.
Community Building
This one is first and for good reason. Adam pioneered a whole new generation of trance music in Denver through his Denver Trance Family community.
And while building up a local following and accruing as many devoted fans in your local markets can really help you make strides in your career, Adam also notes another important part about being involved his the local scene by saying:
‘The first thing I would suggest is part of networking in your scene is talking to people and recognizing who not to work with. The next thing is to do everything in your power to not be the person people don’t want to work with.” – Adam Stark
Studio Time
Every time you clock into the studio, you are rolling the dice in hopes that something amazing comes out of it. But that can never happen if you don’t at least and at the bare minimum, don’t show up.
Because there really isn’t any secret weapon to making music a serious part of your life; it simply takes putting in 10,000 hours to master your craft. There are many different ways to do this too, so don’t think that you have to devote every single one of those hours to actively producing. After all, production is a multifaceted discipline.
In Your Health
Another temptation that can be all too easy to go along with is to not be mindful of your physical health. But I have long believed that to make the best music of your career, you need to be the best version of yourself that you can be.
And Adam Stark confirmed the notion, even going as far as to advise maybe skipping lunch at the airport while you’re on tour if the only option is to snag a burger at McDonald’s.
Your health and well-being are something you should always prioritize, no matter what.
What Is The Magnetic Meaning Podcast?
Magnetic Meaning is a podcast about words and music that is sponsored by Point Blank Music School. Because too often, people working or pursuing careers in the music industry get so caught up in the excitement, clout, and daily grind of it all that forget this whole industry is just about communication.
Magnetic Meaning unpacks this notion and dissects the words and ideas that connect the music and resonate with those who work with it. Each episode will feature different guests from across the music industry, each doing amazing things in their own right. These guests will each bring a word to the table that has impacted their life or career in one way or another.
From there, we will tackle that word from every conceivable angle in hopes to add a bit more context to what the music industry actually is.
Episodes are published on a bi-weekly basis, first thing every other Thursday.
Shoutout to the sponsors of the podcast, Point Blank Music School. At Point Blank’s brand new LA campus, you are able to study music production and sound engineering, DJing, radio broadcasting, singing and songwriting, and music business, and also benefit from 1-2-1 expert lecturers and a range of exclusive support services, including accessing industry-standard studios all while being supported via Point Blank’s expert team of Studio Assistants, Student Services, Wellbeing, Student Engagement and Events, A&R Mentoring and Careers Advice, exclusive competitions, artist masterclasses and more.
Comments