Try something different

I sat up with a start and glanced at my watch. It was 4.30am, I was damp with sweat and far too hot, despite the frost descending outside.

I lay there for a bit trying to slow down my heart.

But it was no use. I was awake.

So I got up as quietly as I could, hoping not to wake my wife and headed downstairs.

The first thing I did was check my emails.

Nothing.

It felt like the bad old days of private equity when my stress was through the roof and checking emails in the middle of the night was fairly standard practice.

You see I’d sent a “cold” email to a hero of mine. And I was shit scared what he’d say.

So far, he’d said nothing.

Stuck in Our Ways

I’ve always been a scientist. I mean I’ve never worked in a lab. But my brain has always been wired that way.

I found the sciences easy at school. I just got them.

Writing an essay. Reading Shakespeare (total nonsense). Painting a picture. That was always hard for me.

I just wasn’t creative.

I liked facts. Logic. Formulae. They just made sense to me.

But this last month, I’ve been composing a piece of music.

For a business.

For a brand.

A kind of sonic landscape for a brand that I love.

They hadn’t asked me to do it. They weren’t expecting it. But I did it anyway.

I spent 100+ hours on it. Far, far too long. But I was working in a vacuum with no feedback, no guidance and no direction. And so I was second guessing myself at every turn. Every minor decision an impossibility. A distraction.

When it was finished (if these things can ever be finished), I wasn’t sure what to do with it. It’s probably the most “creative” thing I’ve ever done.

I was happy with how it turned out. But I was scared to share it with anyone. Even my wife.

I very nearly just filed it away and moved on to something else.

But in the end, I thought, “Fuck it” and sent it to the CEO along with a short video explaining why he was getting this random email.

For 48 hours there was nothing.

I was checking my emails so often I got RSI in my thumb.

Then I got an email back from him:

“I can’t tell you how much I think on every level; this is just utterly brilliant and beautiful.” DH

I’d love to play you the track and show you the video but the company does (amazingly) want to use it. So, for now, it has to remain confidential.

But you’ll hear it in 2025. And I hope you like it too.

The point of all this is, yes, to share a small success. A stepping stone towards…what? I don’t know.

But really the point is to remind you to be brave, to try something different, to step outside your comfort zone.

You're not what you’ve always been.

The future has not yet been written.

You never know what will happen next.

So just do it. Try something. And let me know how it goes.

Cheers,

Jon "John Williams" Kaye

P.S. My latest track is called "Unspoken" and it's getting some love on Spotify (2,100 streams in the first week) so for all of you who have already checked it out, thank you so much.