Counterclockwise Music.

This Song Makes You Feel Good.

When I listen to “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys, I’m instantly transported back to my childhood in the ‘80s. In fact, if I close my eyes while listening to it, I’m…

Odd Time Signatures

That Aren’t Odd.

Rare Rhythms That Move People.

American band Death Cab for Cutie recently released their new album “I Built You a Tower”, and the song “Stone Over Water” is a brilliant example of how…

Wanting Fans Is Not Wanting Validation.

Music is social. No fans = No relationships.

My previous essay, titled “Making Music Is Bad for Mental Health”, was a kind of eulogy to the pre-smartphone fan. You know, that person who…

Making Music Is Bad for Your Mental Health.

Songs need listeners, but most people are too busy scrolling nowadays.

You’ve just finished a new song. You love it! You’re beyond thrilled. You can’t wait for people to hear it,…

Life in a ‘90s Grunge Band.

Comparing the music world of 1996 to 2026.

It’s 9pm. Friday night. December 20th, 1996. Cape Town, South Africa. I walk out on stage. The air is thick with smoke from the fog machine…

Creating Calm Through Song Structure.

How to make a sonic sanctuary, like Tamikrest.

My favourite Saharan rock band Tamikrest just released their new album “Assikel”, and I’ve had it on repeat this week. Why? Well firstly, this is a…

A Couplet a Day,

Keeps Insanity Away.

Daily creative habits for better mental health.

We’ve just moved. Again. For more than a decade now, Kate and I have been averaging about one move per year. Last year we…

Forget Meditation, Listen to Music.

Meditating isn’t effective enough anymore.

As people become more addicted to their phones, society’s obsession with mindfulness meditation grows. I think that’s because the collective unconscious knows that we desperately need to take back…

Writers & Readers Against AI.

If you’re pro-human, join Paul Kingsnorth’s campaign.

The brilliant English writer Paul Kingsnorth recently launched a campaign for everyone who loves humans and human creativity. So if you also miss the good ol’ days…

AI Human vs Human AI.

A brief history of transhuman music.

Most AI-generated songs now sound more human than most human-made songs.

How did music go so horribly wrong? It all happened so fast, too! If you’re a Gen…

Musical Heroes in the AI Age.

Nø Førmat! You need to know about this record label.

Nø Førmat! is an independent record label based in Paris. They’ve been around for over 20 years, and they’re one of my favourite…

We Are the Orchid Children.

A call to highly sensitive musicians.

“Dandelion” children are those resilient and healthy kids who can survive and thrive under most circumstances. “Orchid” children, on the other hand, are those sensitive and fragile kids…

The Music Theory of Fun.

These two things make songs feel good…

In my previous essay Who Killed the Fun, Fun, Fun? I told the story of how music was intentionally transformed from a fun and communal activity into…

Who Killed the Fun, Fun, Fun?

Music used to be our greatest joy, then this happened…

1964. Fun, Fun, Fun. That was a song on the album “Shut Down, Volume 2” by my childhood heroes, The Beach Boys. Go…

Musical Memoirs & Sonic Scrapbooks.

How to find purpose, passion, and meaning in your life.

Okay so what’s a musical memoir? Well, the Oxford Dictionary defines a memoir as “an account written by somebody about their life and experiences”.…

An Effortless New Year’s Resolution.

One simple question that will change your future.

New year’s resolutions don’t work. All the studies on them reveal this same finding. Yet every January 1st, millions of people make them. Again. Knowing that…

The Best Music Is Behind Us.

But that’s a good thing! Here’s why…

This essay began as a “Best Album of 2025” post, where I was going to share my favourite album of the year and what I loved…

The Geography of Musical Scales.

Finding peace in pentatonic places.

It’s thought that pentatonic scales are the most ancient of all the musical scales. Regardless of whether that’s true or not, it’s worth paying attention to these five-note scales…

Music is Mind Control.

Lyrics are little Derren Brown’s in your brain.

Do we have free will? That ancient question actually misses the point, because the concept of free will implies that we’re free to act on our desires.…

This Is The Only Pure Music.

A celebration of non-classical absolute music.

Music has united people for millennia, but nowadays it’s been weaponized to divide us. I’ve personally experienced its uniting effects, though, so I know what’s possible.

You…

Don’t Lie! You Listen to AI Songs.

There’s no way to avoid them, unless you do this…

I’ve been speaking out against AI-generated music for a while now, but people keep telling me (proudly) that they don’t listen to…

Music Is Dead.

Good Riddance!

AI killed the recording star. Now what?

Have you heard AI-generated music? It’s better than most of the music that humans are making nowadays. Even worse than that, though, is the fact that music…

You vs Phone.
Who Will Win?

A musical method to take your attention back!

How many seconds can you sit still and focus on your breathing, without your mind wandering? If you’re like most people nowadays, your answer to…

The Uglification of Music.

Can a return to beauty save music?

Okay I know you’ve just started reading this, but please stop (temporarily), then go and listen to the second movement of J.S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in…

Don’t Trust Me,
I’m an Expert.

Confessions of an INFJ.

I’m a multi award-winning music lecturer with over 30 years of teaching experience, 10 of those years being at one of the UK’s largest colleges. I studied classical guitar,…