A Full Day in the Recording Studio in Berlin | Working on my new song "Cosmic Skeletons"

[@NickdelaForce]

Man, having a bit of a catchup with your videos tonight.. I’ve been deep in the trenches of a client project I can’t wait to wrap up… this was THE video I needed to watch, I LOVE this track.. it started sounding good and by the end of the video I was blown away.. I could really feel it! Suitably inspired and energised after that. Staying up later than I should to write things I want to, instead of the things I should be. The next chapter.

[@MeAndTheGhostsMusic]

I love your videos, mate. Also, Berlin's close to my heart as i lived there for years and have a lot of people close to me still there. Hope you pick up more views as its criminal you don't with the amount of quality in your content. I guess it isn't about that though. But seriously, i find your stuff extremely inspiring and for an artist like myself, i need that kick up the arse sometimes. Always looking out for your content. Thanks

[@jimkroft]

Ah, Ryan, this is so heartening and I can't say how much I appreciate both the feedback and encouragement. As we all know, sometimes in the arts those feedback loops can be thin, and getting your work out a bit of a battle. I thought for years about sharing more of my process, but always worried it would detract from the process itself. I'm finding that now, instead of it taking away from it, it helps to keep me going - both in terms of what I discover in myself by deepening my relationship and understanding of the creative process, but just as much, in terms of a deepening outer connection - to the long dream of having a degree of community with what one puts out into the world. As such, words are really reviving, especially on YT, where it can be quite unforgiving in terms of the effort-to-respond ratio. My last video totally tanked haha! But as you say, I think having a reason to do it which is beyond the reach itself is massively educating. I also really felt your words about needing a kick-up-the-arse too! It's always part of the battle of keeping motivated, especially during those long periods when you are writing or creating stuff in a vacuum or void. But then again, part of that challenge is that to keep in the game asks for so much energy, if you are engaging with the content game. It's never a clear decision, but for me personally, I came to the end of one road, and realised that it was a needs-must situation. It helped reconcile with social media, and say "right, this is a valid too, its time to stop resisting it and trying to work it out". Still on that journey. Thank you again for your affirmative words - you lifted up a fella and in my experience, that energy always comes round full circle. Take care, keep on and keep in touch! Jim

[@jonirwin6212]

Inspiring to the max! I am an accountant, very far from being an artist, but I find this content extremely motivational for any task/project at hand

[@jimkroft]

Means just as much to me Jon! Thank you for sharing. A lot of the tools I've learnt (and am learning) come from having to juggle really hard between the film/client side of life, and then pivoting into the personal/creative side (music, podcast, newsletter). It's really easy to try to keep everything going by being manic, but I'm too old now to compensate with energy that's not there. It's gradually teaching me to get more organised, but also to learn how to "context shift" - a term I learnt from Cal Newport. I don't know if you know his work, but I'm a big fan (he has a KZbin). His big focus is on the concept of "Deep Work", and i find that so helpful - especially learning to zero in, cut out distractions and assign one task for a certain amount of time. I also find the Pomodoro technique really helpful, especially when feeling unmotivated. Saying, right, even if I'm distracted I still have the mental stamina to do one thing with focus for half an hour. Helps me a lot. Thank you again for your encouragement - totally keeps me going - and especially this feedback - because its really good to know that the productivity side is landing too. Inspiring me for next week! Take care, Jim

[@janicegobey9931]

What an exciting glimpse into your creative life, amazing, love the collaboration too! And of course, Berlin is close to my heart, so lovely to see the city! Wishing you every success, you so deserve it!

[@jimkroft]

Dear Janice, thank you so much for both watching this video and feedback back! I really had a great session with this one. Funnily enough, I'm giving my mixing engineer the feedback on "Cosmic Skeletons" today, so it's getting really close now. I'm really proud of this song. Kinda crazy it was the last to arrive on the album - so glad it did. Have a great day - I'm setting up the release here! Take care, Jim