Happy Holidays! Looking back on 2024, I set out to refocus all of this Bunn stuff and this is what happened.
I published a video all about it last February. Surprisingly, what I didn’t realize at the time of publishing, was how far off of the actual path I really was. In that video, I assumed that my social media practices were the main thing I needed to remedy. But soon after re-jigging my weekly efforts surrounding platforms and publishing, it became obvious that all of this stuff was external to the real issue. That issue being, I wasn’t crystal clear as to exactly what I cared about in making music at this stage in my life.
Going into 2025, these are the 3 things that I am thinking about the most:
Go Where It’s Warm
One of the most significant takeaways from the last 10 years is to not worry about content. It’s very easy in this world to get into a habit of chasing a publishing schedule, vanity metrics, and attempt to satisfy an algorithm. The goal (my interest), is to connect with people who are truely interested in similar things, folks that I identify with, that I can have real, meaningful interactions with. Not just a large number of random people. Places like Facebook, Instagram and/or TikTok are not places where people with similar interests to myself hangout. I don’t need to concern myself with what kind of content to make for a platform that my crowd doesn’t use. Just focus on making and listening to music that I’m stoked on, and the relationships that share similar interests in those aesthetics. I think the saying that best encapsulates the sentiment is “go where it’s warm”.
Quantity, Quantity, Quantity
I used to try and think up “great ideas” out of thin air. What I’ve discovered is that the easiest way (for me) to cultivate a lot of ideas and get to a few really good ones is to iterate on one or two super simple concepts. If I can do this in a free flowing enough manner, before I know it I can stumble into hundreds of interesting bits. Last winter, I spent an entire month experimenting with this, just iterating on simple ideas. In the end, I came up with over 160 very usable riffs and bits. Some of which have since developed into greater compositions that I’m pretty stoked on.
Enjoy It.
Of course having some sort of greater goal and at least a bit of a strategy is useful. But if it isn’t enjoyable, there isn’t much use to do it. Previous to 2024, I got into this bad habit of just getting things done. I was racing from one thing to the next. For the past year I’ve given myself the permission to just sit in a project. To iterate on a single idea until I’ve fully exhausted it’s potential. To feel the notes, to listen over and over, to watch over and over. To really engage with every second of what you are creating.
Looking Forward
I’ll be ringing in 2025 back out on the Pacific Northwest Coast, writing ocean riffs and putting together mini cinematic films. Also, it just so happens to be warmer here than the blizzards of Ontario. So I’ve actually gone where it’s warm… Hahaaa!
I’d love to hear about what’s on your horizon for 2025. Let me know in the comment section below!