The Art of Musical Creation: An Interview with Arran Sym

Could you tell me a bit about yourself?

My name is Arran. I'm from Scotland. I'm a music producer, artist, engineer... an all-round music person.

Tell me a bit more about what you're doing with music.

I began making music when I was 16 or 17. I became interested in music production, and started off just doing it for fun. For a year or two I was just making music for myself, then one of my friends heard what I was doing, and convinced me I should put it online somewhere. So I posted it on YouTube and that's how I started taking it seriously, and eventually began working with other artists.

How did you find the artists that you worked with?

At that time, it was on blogs. The blog scene was really big, and so I used to always go on Complex, Hypebeast, Noisey, the Fader and all these blogs that were posting new exciting artists. One day I was looking around, and I found some artists that I wanted to work with, so I just reached out to them. After a lot of trying, eventually some got back to me and said “Yeah, let’s work together” and that's how it started.

When did music become a profession rather than just a hobby? When did your mindset change?

For me, it's hard to say because over time, it just gradually became more and more professional. At the beginning it was just for fun. Then for a few years I was working a part-time job and doing music work on the side, it was kind of half and half. But then when I was living in Japan, one day I woke up to go to my part-time job, and it was raining. And I decided, “All right, I'm not going to work. It's raining.” So I got fired. From that point on I managed to make enough to survive from music alone.

In the first few years, did you have any strong motivation or inspiration?

I think I've always had the same motivation: just wanting to make the best music possible.

What does “best music” mean to you? Have you thought about what that means?

To me, it kind of means the music I am most happiest and proud of. So the feeling when you create something that you love is what kind of drives the motivation.

Out of all the songs you've made, which one makes you the happiest?

Usually it's the newest. There are certain songs that when I listen back still give me that feeling. But usually the new song is the one that I'm like, “No, this is the one.”

So your goal, your motivation is to be the best. What happens once you hit that level?

Sometimes when you're creating music, it feels like it reaches that level. You get that feeling when you create something you are super proud of and think “this is the reason that I do this.”

What is the best moment when you're creating music?

It doesn't even have to be a finished song or anything, but sometimes, just when you do something or you execute an idea, and it's exactly what you wanted to do. You get the ideas in your mind perfectly into the music and you listen back to it and you're just like, “Yes. This is it.”

You create not just music, but other things, like 3D art, websites and stuff. Do you feel something similar when you're doing other creative things?

I mean, it's enjoyable and it's fun, and sometimes it's satisfying. But it's not the same feeling. It's like a drug or something for music. Totally lost in that world. But I don't get that same feeling from creating other stuff.

So it was really lucky for you to find it.

Yeah, but I mean, I don't even know if it's “found”. That's music, isn't it?

Going back to when you started, how did it exactly happen? How did you start?

When I was younger, I was always super interested in music and playing the guitar. But then I was watching the 2010 VMAs, which is the Video Music Awards. And Kanye West was performing. For his performance, he used a music production machine called an MPC. It's like a drum machine. So he was using that on stage, and I was like, “What is that thing he's using?” After watching it I started looking online, and found out it's for making music. Then I found out you can buy super cheap versions, and I think eventually, for my birthday or something, my mom bought me one. It was just like a wee device with a few pads on it and that's how I started making music.

Do you still have it?

No, because eventually I got a better one. Then I started selling some beats, so I was able to save up and get a really good one. It's called Maschine. It was quite a new thing at the time, so I ordered it online. Then I was at school and I got an email telling me, “Oh, it's going to be delivered at this time.” So I left school for my lunch and went home and waited for it to arrive. I opened it up and I went, “Oh my God.” That was me. I was just making music all the time. I was doing everything in the living room of my mom's house. Because we lived in a tiny wee house in Scotland. So everybody's trying to watch TV, and I'm in the corner making beats.

What's the worst part of creating music for you? Have you ever thought of giving up being a musician?

No. Never once. Because... have you ever thought about giving up being a person? The question doesn't even really make sense to me. I think, no matter what, I would always make music, even just as a hobby or fun. But the worst part is the days when you're just making shit. Everything you make is shit. When you're looking through all your sounds to create music, everything just sounds terrible. You're sitting there scrolling through sounds for hours. And every drum sound, every piano, every guitar just sounds terrible, and you just say, “What the fuck is this?”

How do you get over it?

If it's one of those days where everything just sounds terrible, usually it's just like, “All right, today is not the day.” But also what I found works quite well, is instead of trying to create something new, go back and work on some old ideas that are unfinished. That can make you feel a bit better and have more confidence. Because you're building on some ideas that have already been started instead of trying to create a whole new piece.

Have you ever been jealous of other creatives or feel they are better than you?

I don't know if it's like jealousy. Sometimes I hear a song that's so good, I'm like, “Fuck, I wish I made that song”. But it's in a kind of happy way where I'm glad somebody made that song. You know what I mean? I'm happy to hear that song. I wish I made it because it's so good, but I'm glad somebody made that song. Otherwise, nobody would have made that song. And I think the world is a better place that that song has been made.

Where does that mindset come from?

I think I just love music. Before anything, I'm a fan of music. So everything else comes after that.

Wow.

I mean, obviously I want to make good music, but I think because before being a musician or before being a music producer, I was just a kid who loved listening to music. Like some of my best memories as a child were being on the bus from LAX to San Francisco for 8 hours or something, listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers in my earphones the whole way, looking out a window, and just having the best time ever. So that's like before anything else. No matter what, I'm always happy to hear good music, so who makes it isn’t important to me.

What is it that you love about music?

It's so pure. Pure human creativity. It comes from nothing. It just comes from an idea in somebody's head. And then it develops into a song that millions of people around the world can all like. From different backgrounds, different countries, different religions, different classes. Everybody can sing along to the Beatles or something. And it just started as an idea in somebody's head. That's just so cool to me.

Tell me about the life you had in Japan. What kind of place was Tokyo for you?

I think Japan is really peaceful. Well, Tokyo, at least, is surprisingly peaceful. Even though it's so chaotic and busy, and noisy. And everyday something interesting happens. It's surprisingly peaceful. For me, at least because although it's so chaotic, it's like structured chaos. Even though the trains have 3 million people get squashed onto them and it seems crazy, that train is going to run on time. And everybody's going to get to where they're going on time and go home. And everything's normal. For me, it's kind of peaceful knowing that no matter how crazy everything is, everything moves and works as it should, mostly.

Have you been musically inspired by that part of Tokyo?

Yeah, I think so. I think the music I was making when I lived in Tokyo and I was working with Japanese artists was very different from the music I normally make. It felt like my idea and image of Tokyo, I guess.

I guess you had some kind of image about Japan before you moved. How did it change?

I mean, I think a lot of people's ideas of Japan before they go are very idealistic and kind of like a fairy tale or something. Everything is futuristic. And then you get to Japan and everything's kind of old and dated, and you still have to stamp things, and you still have to submit paper forms everywhere and people are still faxing. It’s difficult to make a bank transfer. You can't even open a bank account. And you're like, ‘What the fuck is going on here?’. So a lot of things feel like they are kind of 20 years behind in Japan. So that stuff is surprising when you go to live there. Because I think when you go on holiday, you don't experience all that stuff. You're just traveling about. The trains are good. They're fast. There's a million places to eat. Everything's open all the time. But then when you live there and you have to do admin and stuff, you're like, “This is unexpected.”

How do you see your future?

Continue to make music. Exploring new kinds of music. Working with new artists. And continuing to try and make great music.

What kind of life do you think you're going to have in 40 years?

I've got no idea, to be honest. I definitely don't think that far ahead. Because even trying to plan one week ahead, things don't work out the same way that you plan. A year is difficult. Five years is difficult. 40 years? Yeah, I can't do that.

What kind of advice would you give to your younger self?

Learn about the business side of music earlier. And understand that no matter how good the music you make is, if you don't know about that side of things, then it will be difficult.

Do you have any advice for beginners? Is it the same thing? How do you learn the business side?

There's so much information online. But I think it's more than just... it's not just about reading the facts. It's also about having the mindset. Because you can know the facts about something, but if you don't have the mindset, then it's not going to be applied. But it was really a mindset change that was important for me. To understand that you've got to focus and know about that stuff and make sure everything is set up properly. Make sure all your rights, your music rights are being managed properly. Make sure you're trying to do everything properly so that if an opportunity does happen, you can be ready to capitalize on it.