Creativity Lessons with the Rolling Stones Keith Richards and Mick Jagger
For more than 50 years, the Rolling Stones have been performing and releasing new albums. In 2019, they released a compilation album, “Honk,” part of which was recorded on their live tour. It takes a lot of work and skill for a band to remain together and productive in the music industry since 1962. Here are some insights to their creative processes.
Grab your passion
“I just wanted to make records,” says Keith Richards. He didn’t know what to do when he started out; he had to learn about recording. “If you’re 14 and you’re playing and your friends are taking the piss out of you, tell them to grow up.” Grab your creative passion, go through the learning process to make it happen, and don’t let anyone stop you with negativity.
Complete the first project
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had to be like Paul McCartney and John Lennon of the Beatles. They had to write their own songs if they wanted a longer career. Richards was not a songwriter, so their Manager Andrew Oldham locked them in a kitchen for a couple of nights and said, “don’t come out until you have a song.” Richards didn’t think he could do it, but they came out after having written a song. “Once you’ve written the first one it’s easy… at least you know you can do it.” For creativity to become innovation, you have to finish what you started.
Use different techniques
Mick Jagger would “write lyrics in a book” or make them up as he went along. Then he would use the guitar and keyboards. Different instruments create different songs. Writing with a drummer in the room was helpful as well, but computers allow the songwriter to have a drumbeat without the drummer, now. “The more ways you do it the better it is because you get more variety.”
Take a break
While Keith Richards claims to have never been in a creative rut, he says it’s important for him to leave it alone. “I never push.” He’ll take a break “for a week or so… because you’ve really done enough.” It’s the down time that’s important for the creative process. It helps you fill the creative well and allows your mind to process what you’ve been working on. But “you get drawn back… It’s not going to leave you alone… It’s an addiction.”
Handle criticism
Most of the time, people will tell you that criticism doesn’t matter. Mick Jagger disagrees. “You want your own self-approval first… and then your friends have to like… Your peer group has to like it… You want the public to like it, and you want the critics to like it. You want everyone to like it so it can work on many levels.” If you’re the only one who likes an album, it’s not a success. However, you have to like it first.
