Nils Frahm performing in Norwich — Photo by me

Nils Frahm is one of my favourite musicians. I've seen him live four or five times now and each time he's blown me away.

I read this great interview with him this morning where he talks about creativity, composition and on being original. I highly recommend you give it a quick read. The video is great too.

This passage really stuck out to me:

With composition, I’m doing something I’ve learned from other musicians, I’ve learned from other artists, I’ve learned from life. Most of my musical ideas are coming from other people’s musical ideas. And so we are all connected. It would be silly to say that it’s all mine. Nothing really is mine. There are 12 notes in an octave. Was that my idea to use 12 notes in an octave? No, but I still use it. For me, it’s actually a comforting thought that I’m not doing something totally, totally unique. You only exist through all the beautiful music you’ve heard. All the boring experiences and all the beautiful experiences I’m having… Everything jumps in as a source of inspiration. If it sounds right, then I’m happy, no matter how I got there. I just want to make beautiful music.

Creativity and being original relies on exposing ourselves to as many ideas as possible. We are the summation of those influences. Taking one idea and placing it in the context of another — that's originality.

If you haven't heard any Nils Frahm's music this is a good place to start. Read the full interview with Nils here.