Existential Music Crisis: When Your Creative Mind Won't Quit (Episode 182)

You learned how to make music. Nobody taught you how to make a living making music.

Every creative hits the wall sooner or later. Why am I here? What is this all for? Why am I even doing music? In Episode 182 of The Career Musician, Nomad gets honest about the existential crisis that can sneak up on musicians, in the practice room, on the gig, or in the middle of a normal Tuesday.

It is a short episode, and a personal one. If you are wrestling with a creative crisis as a musician right now, here is what Nomad wants you to hear.

A creative mind never shuts off

Nomad starts with the upside. As musicians, we are always creating. His mind never shuts off, and he always has a million ideas. His advice to his wife is the same advice he gives you: when you have an idea, write it down, record it, and keep a collection. You never know when you will come back to one and decide it is the one to develop.

He calls it being open to the muse, a vertical connection to the creative forces of the universe. People who don't have that itch often look at you and say they wish they had your talent. But that openness comes with a cost. You feel a lot. You can pick up on everything around you. And that is exactly what makes a creative mind prone to overthinking.

"With that talent comes great responsibility, because again, we're open and susceptible to many things."

Nomad, 1:39

When the crisis shows up on the gig

This is the part every working player will recognize. Nomad can't count how many times he has been on a gig, live or in a session, and gotten stuck in his own head. Why am I doing this? Why is this here? A whole debate inside his own psyche, full of questions he didn't need to torture himself with.

His fix is simple: sometimes it is enough to just be. He reminds himself that he is one of billions of people on this earth, one tiny speck in a universe so vast it is mind-boggling. Ponder it if you want. Have fun with it. Just don't let it stop you from moving forward in your daily routine, your professional life, and especially your relationships with the people you love.

That is Objectivity from the ETHOS code at work. Step back, see the big picture, and get back to the work in front of you. The session still needs you present. Everything you do is an audition, including how you show up when your head is loud.

"Sometimes it's enough to just be. Allow yourself to be."

Nomad, 4:05

Talk it through with your people

Nomad's last piece of advice: don't carry it alone. Go to your family, your loved ones, your trusted sources, and say it out loud. You are in a tough space. You are trying to figure out what it all means, and why you were chosen to be a creative person who has to make a living out of this thing other people call talent.

He admits he has struggled with this himself. That is the point of the episode. You are not broken. As the show notes put it, you are evolving. Give yourself some grace, and share this with someone else in the creative grind who might need it.

The takeaway

A creative mind is a gift, and it will sometimes turn on you. When it does, let yourself be, keep moving, and lean on your people. Then get back to building. If you want a clear next move when the fog lifts, start with the free Get the Gig guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

Watch on YouTube or find every episode on the TCM Podcast page.