Name: Rick Reed
Nationality: American
Occupation: Composer, sound artist
Current release: Rick Reed's The Symmetry of Telemetry LP is out via Elevator Bath / Sedimental October 6th 2023.

If you enjoyed this Rick Reed interview, you can stay up to date on his music via his bandcamp profile. He is also on Instagram. 



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

It seems as I've gotten older, I always need some kind of creative project to constantly be working on. As David Lynch once famously wrote, and I'm paraphrasing, "you gotta have a set-up, this way you can catch the dreams when they come." Which means you need to have your instruments / paint, and a place to work when you get these ideas.

I have two set-ups, actually three, but two I use frequently. One is my music equipment, the other is for painting, visual stuff. I don't really think of dreams or politics, etc. I might see a film, maybe a video on YouTube, a Russian science fiction film from the late 50's/60's, maybe a NASA film sounds of the planets, or how satellites work, maybe footage of the Northern Lights, numbers stations, etc. That kind of thing.

Something in them will always stimulate me to create.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

No, not generally. There's such a thing as the terror of the blank canvas. That is, what will you paint? As soon as you make the first few brush strokes, the first sounds, it'll kind of create itself, it'll show you what it needs to look / sound like.

I wish I did think ahead about my work, but it's always kind of a 'first there's nothing, then it exists', kind of creative process with me.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

Well, sort of. In the case of my music, I need to have my equipment laid out in a way I understand.

I use several effects devices that I need to function within a certain signal path. So, I try to always hook them up the same way.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

I do like a certain kind of lighting when I record at home. Nothing too intricate, just not a bare light bulb dangling from the ceiling.

I'm very susceptible to bad lighting. Brings me down in fact.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

This sort of relates to the above question. Sometimes it can be very difficult, other times it comes very easily.

My deal now is that I have to almost put a deadline on a project, or else I'll put it off to the point of not doing it.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Well, couldn't it be both?

My visual art may come out almost instantaneous, but I usually know pretty quick which piece is good and what needs to be tossed. Is this just a snap decision, or is it years and years of experience, me knowing what sort of quality I want a piece to have? Some sort of standard?

Sometimes it could indeed be both. Sometimes you can be both the creator, and the audience.

Once you've started, how does the work gradually emerge?

Well, sometimes I feel like I never quite finish a track. I might have 30 different layers, still not quite there! Even most of the stuff I've released, when listening back, it always sounds like it needs a bit more polishing.

I think I'm fairly common in that regard -- everybody that creates something probably has felt that way at one time or another. Might be the number one reason why some people never show or release their work, they're too afraid of people laughing at their unfinished masterpieces.

You really can't think this way, unless you want your work to remain under your bed for the duration of your lifetime, then ultimately have your work carted off to the dump when you're gone. YIKES!

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

Again, this is related to my top answer. I have certain standards that I want my work to have. I want to be taken somewhere I've never been before. I will allow my work to wander off on its own, but I also want to be in control of it.

On something like an LP, with 20 mins a side, I want to have pieces that don't duplicate what I've just done on the previous track. So, I do have to try and guide the ideas more than usual.

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

Hmmm, this may be part of the creative process. I'd just say roll with it, baby!

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

You know, I would say no, but, I am aware that it's entirely possible to enter a state of mind where you're not aware of time passing. I don't practice meditation, but I feel sometimes like being engrossed in work can be very soothing to the mind.

Maybe this isn't really a spiritual thing, but it does make one feel like you're a little closer to a realm outside of yourself. I mean, I don't hear any harps playing, but I do feel connected to the cosmos. I've always thought, especially during a live performance, that this was the only time during your week where you're (in theory) 100% present.

You're surfing on the edge of thought, not worrying about bills, relationships, just the sounds you're making. Maybe that is spiritual.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

Whew! The way I used to work is key to why I have so few releases out. I used to work on a piece of music, record it, make a copy, listen to it in my car for a week, go back, tweak something, copy it again, listen to it for another week, then deciding I really don't like it, abandon that track, or maybe rearrange it.

I try not to be that meticulous now. I try to feel now that I'm right the first time and let it be what it is.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?

I used to do everything myself. But now, I've found a second pair of ears to be extremely useful.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

If your work ethic is good, you simply return and start again. If you feel compelled to step away as not to diminish the golden glow of what you've made, that's okay too. It'll come back. Even if it takes months,

I find I never go back to where I left off, but in a new spot, further on down the road. You may not be creating, but you never stop being creative.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I wish I was more creative in things like cooking, or filing papers, but I'm kind of hopeless in that regard.

I have a friend that's incredibly imaginative in her dishes, in a way that I feel is very artistic. But no. There're things I can do and some I can't. I'm cool with that.

How does being involved in art/music make you feel, as a person?

When I was a kid growing up, I may have had moments of wanting to be a Policeman, Fireman, Astronaut, etc. But the only thing I've ever really wanted to do was be an artist.

I'm lousy on the business side, but pretty good on the production side. I like to think I have good work habits, I take care of my equipment, anticipate future problems (replacement of bad cords, mixers), so I like to think I'm reasonably successful, at least to myself, in being an artist, and being true to my core beliefs.

And I've done it without wearing a beret.