Step 1. Take one musician and have him record a track written by a composer with sensational lineage.

Step 2 Send said track out to the experimental masters of electronica and hip-hop for remixing.

Step 3. Collect results and compile.

If you think this sounds like a recipe for some avant-pop single, we’d forgive you.

In reality, this is a glimpse into the creative process behind the latest work of our next CreativeMornings/London speaker, classical contemporary cellist Peter Gregson.

Apart from his collaboration with Gabriel Prokofiev, titled Cello Multitrack, Gregson has also worked with some of the greats of the classical contemporary music scene, including Max Richter, Howard Goodall and  Steve Reich.

And in the last two years he’s performed at SXSW, XOYO and MIT and TEDx Alcatraz (where he forms part of the house band).

Need we say more.

Performing -and speaking- at CreativeMornings/London in the intimate Sanderson Billiard Room, this ain’t gonna be your average cello recital.

Read our interview below and make sure to set a reminder for 10:55 on Monday, May 21st.

Well, you wouldn’t want to miss out, would you?

Peter Gregson will be appearing at CreativeMornings/London on Friday May 25th -sponsored by The Sanderson- at at the Billiard Room at The Sanderson Hotel at 50 Berners Street, W1T 3NG. For more information and to reserve tickets, please go to the CreativeMornings London Eventbrite page.

Where do you go when you need to concentrate?

I mostly have a pair of noise cancelling headphones on, so it doesn’t really bother me where I am.. I really like working in busy places, though… if I sit at home for too long I’ll just start fidgeting.

Is it about what you know or who you know?

It’s pretty easy to open the door by knowing the right people, but the key is being asked back; I’d say it’s about both in equal measure. Certainly in a profession like mine (which is one part meritocratic and one part social) it’s very important to get along with people, but you do have to be able to deliver, too!

What’s been the most pivotal point in your life thus far?

Sorry to be cliched, but it would be dropping out of college. It really made me focus my mind on the things I found important. I’ve always been pretty good at self motivation, so it was just a case of getting on with it…

Do you think there’s enough discourse between disciplines?

I’m totally in love with the notion that Leonardo dissected a horse in order to learn how to paint a better one. I don’t think we can ever learn too much from other people and their expertise or passion.

Can you teach innovation?

No, I don’t think so. I do, however, think you can smother it by teaching too prescriptively… so what’s that? Teaching by innovation by omission or something?

Dollar or Yuan?

Right now, America is commercially viable for me as a musician – I’ve never been to China, but I’d love to explore it!

Do you believe in an afterlife?

I’m pretty busy trying to work out what I’m doing right now…

Negative or positive freedom?

Positive.

Ideal holiday?

I’ve wanted to go to Japan for the longest time but just haven’t managed to make it work…

Can you draw?

I’ll let you be the judge of that.

Can you draw us a wave?

Individual or state (or both)?

Both!

Favourite LP?

Format Specificity? Like it. My favourite vinyl was an old recording of Dichterliebe by Schumann we had at school (retro). It was delicious.

However, I’m  really enjoying Ed Sheeran’s album, as well as ‘Mylo Xyloto’ by Coldplay, but am madly rediscovering so much John Adams that you’d think it was going out of style.

Last book read?

It was a double dip: The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst and Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. Both brilliant.

The best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Don’t let anyone tell you you’re lucky. If you put the work in and keep going, it’ll happen.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be where you are?

Ask more questions than you really think necessary.

Jonty describes himself as a country-living gastrophile with a penchant for all things egg.

Our CreativeMornings/London April speaker also revels in understanding the murky area between designers’ confidence and arrogance.

Currently UX Design Director at Albion and previously with Tobias & Tobias, Jonty has over 12 years experience in branding, user experience design, and look & feel across all digital channels.

Having chaired panels at SXSW and appeared for our mates at LDNIA, we’re super excited to be welcoming him to the CreativeMornings/London family.

Our usual interview is -you guessed it- beyond the jump.

Jonty Sharples will be appearing at CreativeMornings/London on Friday April 27th -sponsored by Forward and Sense Worldwide- at the Forward at Floor 2, Centro 4, 20 Mandela St, Camden, NW1 0DU. For more information and to reserve tickets, please go to the CreativeMornings London Eventbrite page.

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Where do you go when you need to concentrate?

My study, being absolutely sure to lock the cat out.

Is it about what you know or who you know?

Isn’t who a bit of what?

;

What’s been the most pivotal point in your life thus far?

My then not-wife moving into the flat next door.

Do you think there’s enough discourse between disciplines?

No

Can you teach innovation?

Yes.

Dollar or Yuan?

Dollar, for the moment.

Do you believe in an afterlife?

Nope.

Negative or positive freedom?

Positive.

Ideal holiday?

In a field with a view. The less people the better.

Can you draw?

Apparently

Can you draw us a wave? (purposely equivocal)

Sine or cosine?

Individual or state (or both)?

As I age I’m more about both. Sure I’ll stop sitting on the fence eventually.

Favourite LP?

Selected Ambient Works Volume II or Dark Side of the Moon or Cold Krush Cuts. All occupy a special place in my heart, and I refuse to choose.

Last book read?

Josh Ozersky’s The Hamburger.

The best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Get your head out of your arse.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be where you are?

Get your head out of your arse. Be enthused, and listen as often as possibl

Not Alice Taylor, but one of her dolls

Alice Taylor founded Makielab, a new toys and games company based in Shoreditch, London, in February 2011. Within their magic lab, they’re making a new kind of future-smashing toy: customisable, 3D-printed, locally made, and game-enabled.

This latest adventure came after nearly four years commissioning games, apps and web TV shows for Channel 4 Education.

Previous to Channel 4 Alice was VP Digital for BBC Worldwide (LA), and previous to that, the brains behind another start up producing Java entertainment software – avatars, forums, chat apps.

Alice is an avid gamer, an innovator and an admirer of the indie spirit, most apparent in indie games and web development. Alice blogs at Wonderlandblog, and her personal tweets are at @wonderlandblog.

Our usual interview is beyond the jump.

Alice Taylor will be appearing at CreativeMornings/London on Friday March 23rd -sponsored by The Sanderson Hotel and Sense Worldwide- at the Billiard Room at The Sanderson Hotel at 50 Berners Street, W1T 3NG. For more information and to reserve tickets, please go to the CreativeMornings London Eventbrite page.

Where do you go when you need to concentrate?

Our workshop back room. There’s a sofa, and it’s self-contained. I’m fond of little coffee shops, too.

Is it about what you know or who you know?

Always both! Can’t dispense with either, don’t even try it.

What’s been the most pivotal point in your life thus far?

Having a kid. Supremely life-changing in many ways. I feel like I’ve had/I am two lives, in some ways.

Do you think there’s enough discourse between disciplines?

Never, ever enough. Even close disciplines – like games development and internet development, say – don’t talk enough, let alone cross-pollination of something less related. I don’t know if there’s a solution per se – it’s usually the result of overwork and not enough time to go browsing around another discipline – but it does mean you see many of the same ideas, mistakes and successes repeated and repeated.

Can you teach innovation?

Of course! You can teach anything. You can learn anything. “Will I be any good at it” is another question entirely, and I suspect that one comes down to some combination of neo

Dollar or Yuan?

Dollar. I am immensely impressed with China, but it’s a while yet before they overthrow the Dollar’s mental image of the Most Powerful Currency In The World: even if it technically isn’t, the whole world /thinks/ it is, and that won’t change for a while. Also, I’ve been to China. It’s messy.

Do you believe in an afterlife?

Of course not.

Negative or positive freedom?

No idea. The Wikipedia page is making my eyes glaze over.

Ideal holiday?

Snowy mountains, mulled wine, some kind of fast downhill transport, sunburnt nose.

Can you draw?

Yep.

Can you draw us a wave?

Yep.

Individual or state (or both)?

Both, but the state should never impinge on civil liberties. EVER.

Favourite LP?

Ever? What. I don’t know. Flash Gordon by Queen :-p

Last book read?

Homeland, by (disclaimer!: husband!) Cory Doctorow. And it’s not out yet. That’s a bit hipster isn’t it. Before that: all 5 books in the Game of Thrones series by George R.R Martin – that one’s a rabbithole.

The best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

“Look both ways before crossing the road”, and “Be nice to people”. I find the busier I get, the more distracted or more of an arse I become, so I try to remember the second bit of advice well, with some but not complete success – to my shame. I’m really really good at crossing roads, though.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be where you are?

You know that thing, “do what you love”? It’s really key. I always wondered, “but what do I love”, and often thought the answer had to be something like “drawing”. But it doesn’t. I really really love videogames, games, play, and toys. I really really love nerds, and comics, and science fiction. I have spent a lot of my life working in and around broadcasters, which is odd, because I don’t really really love television – but for a while I was needed there. I guess it’s given me a broader perspective on stuff than a pure-career would have, so I’m sure it’s all good, and perhaps why I feel able to do a startup that a) crosses disciplines and b) hasn’t quite been done before.

In a nutshell: do what you love, be a neophile, don’t be afraid to try something different, always help new talent.

Kenny Schachter; art dealer, design critic, car lover, collector and commissioner of culture. His various professional and personal activities give him a unique perspective on design, art and, of course, design as art.

First coming to our attention during a panel discussion on the future of the automotive designer (Kenny thinks the increasing impracticality of cars will see them elevated to objects of cultural desire), there’s little doubt that Kenny’ll provide a provocative perspective on the practical, cultural and economic value of design.

Our usual interview is beyond the jump.

Kenny Schachter will be appearing at CreativeMornings/London on Friday February 24th -sponsored by Forward and Sense Worldwide- at Floor 2, Centro 4, 20 Mandela St, Camden, NW1 0DU. For more information and to reserve tickets, please go to the CreativeMornings London Eventbrite page.

Where do you go when you need to concentrate?

my garage converted into an office, though i still share the space with my cars.

Is it about what you know or who you know?

both

What’s been the most pivotal point in your life thus far?

attending the estate sale of andy warhol at sothebys in 1988

Do you think there’s enough discourse between disciplines?

there is not enough discourse in disciplines, yet between them.

Can you teach innovation?

yes

Dollar or Yuan?

swiss franc looks good to me.

Do you believe in an afterlife?

hardly in this life.

Negative or positive freedom?

freedom, yet

Ideal holiday?

sitting in my garage, see above.

Can you draw?

not a stick figure, never stopped me from trying to make art.

Can you draw us a wave?

^^^^

Individual or state (or both)?

individual but nice to be protected and have your garbage picked up.

Favourite LP?

just about anything beetles

Last book read? book?

more of an avid newspaper, periodical and web site reader. but that would be Marina Picasso, Picasso, My Grandfather. (New York: Riverhead Books, 2001)

The best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

there will always be a lot smarter so just work harder; don’t believe your own lies, don’t over leverage.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be where you are?

don’t worry about how you are not supposed to do things, just do them how you see fit.

I’ll admit it.

I let out a squeal of delight when I first watched this.

And I’ve squealed with each subsequent viewing.

This spot is auto-cultural Mixmastery at it’s absolute chicest.

I know, I know. It’s a fashion ad.

But my world feels a little bit richer for watching it.

And that’s a very good thing.

Please, watch fullscreen at fullvolume for fulleffect.

Recently CreativeMornings founder Tina Roth-Eisenberg a.k.a SwissMiss went to see a talk at the Atlanta chapter.

While she was there she was interviewed by Ron Dawson of Dare Dreamer magazine for the video above.

It’s such a neat encapsulation of what attracted me to CreativeMornings and why I was so desperate to bring it to London way back in 2010.

Hat tip to Tina and Ron

After a CreativeMornings Christmas/New Year break, it gives me enormous pleasure to introduce our first speaker for 2012, David Barrie.

In an era where we’re exhorted to be more active in our communities but struggle -perhaps through lack of practice, perhaps due to a lack of suitable infrastructure- David’s been building the platforms and imparting the knowledge to bring communities back together.

His passionate drive for participative urban regeneration has seen projects launched all over the country, successfully harnessing the latent creativity and capability of citizens to bring about positive change.

With a continued focus on how the creative sector can make a positive contribution to broader society, something that Chris Bangle riffed on at CreativeMornings/London August, David’s sure to make another great contribution to the dialogue.

Read our usual interview with David below and make sure to set your alarms for 11:00 am on Monday, January 23 to secure your tickets.

David Barrie will be appearing at CreativeMornings/London on Friday January 27th at Buro Happold at at 71 Newman St, W1T 3AH. For more information and to reserve tickets, please go to the CreativeMornings London Eventbrite page.

Where do you go when you need to concentrate?
Put my headphones on and listen to either Black Dog or Hammock.

Is it about what you know or who you know?
Who you know.

What’s been the most pivotal point in your life thus far?
When my wife had our first child and when I was imprisoned in Liberia in 2000 on false charges of espionage.

Do you think there’s enough discourse between disciplines?
No

Can you teach innovation?
Yes

Dollar or Yuan?
Dollar

Do you believe in an afterlife?
No

Negative or positive freedom? 
Positive

Ideal holiday?
Beach – or secluded sunny hilltop

Can you draw?
No

Can you draw us a wave?
No

Individual or state (or both)?
Individual

Favourite LP?
Recently, EP. Band called Daughter. EP called His Young Heart.
Best LP. Jesus Zola, Conatus.

Last book read?
Peter Ackroyd, Turner

The best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
It’s all about tone.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be where you are?
Know what you love

During the interminable wait to get on a rescheduled flight to Tasmania I started idly flicking through my blog feeds.

More often than not I hit “mark all as read” rather than actually doing any reading.

But my eye was caught by a post by Steve Jones on the Fast Company blog titled Authenticity Vs. Perfection: How To Brand Like A Rock Star.

A lengthy excerpt from a book, my sleep-deprived, caffeine-addled brain skimmed most of it.

But the central thesis is one that has resonated with me since I started my journey into brand strategy in 2005.

Here’s my riff on it: humans are imperfect but imperfection lends individuals their character. It’s character, our unique mix of our perfect and imperfect qualities, that acts as our emotional magnet, attracting or repelling fellow humans. It could be said that the more honest we are about our mix of perfect and imperfect, the more authentic we’re being. And, in my experience at least, authentic people have deeper, more engaged and longer-lasting relationships.

And so it could be (should be?) with brands.

Because we want brands to be our best friends after all.

Cars being my pet subject, my thoughts turned to Cяazy People, the 1990 film staring Dudley Moore as a deranged ad exec. In one scene he crafts a campaign for Volvo with the strapline They’re boxy but they’re good. To which my brain responds emphatically yes and yes when recalling Volvos of the 90s and earlier.

If I think about the last Volvo campaign I can recall, it went something like Naughty Volvos are coming. To which I though What!?

Volvos aren’t naughty. Never have been. Never could be. Not when you have Lamborghini and Ferrari and Fiat so thoroughly owning the naughty step.

Even Seat is more naughty than Volvo.

To suggest that Volvos are naughty denies their real character, which to my mind is made up of equal parts restraint, warmth, practicality, effortlessness and unselfconscious cool.

And it’s this character that most powerfully differentiates them from their desired competition.

Competing on naughty is competing on the same tawdry terms as so many others.

What could be cooler in a world of wannabe naughty brands (Audi and Mercedes want to own this territory too, if not explicitly in advertising copy then implicitly in their design) than honest-to-goodness Scandinavian chic?

No great fan of current Audi and Mercedes product (also inauthentic in the extreme) I got to thinking that they could perhaps try duff drive but interior quality to make a grown man weep and bruising but with more bling than a Compton hooker respectively.

More seriously though, wouldn’t be refreshing if more car brands acknowledged their true, defining characters? How marvellous if vorsprung durch technik had the same authenticity to it today as it did when the A2 was rolling off the lines. How lovely it would be to know that a best or nothing Mercedes really was the best, as it used to be.

Then we might have a chance to fall in love with new cars just as much as my auto industry mates and I fall in love with old ones, all along citing their wealth of character as their most appealing characteristic.

Knuckled on an iPad. Forgive the typos.

In 1951, a Shell advert proclaimed that one went “very fast very gently in a Bentley”.

In that same year, Bentley’s own advertising proclaimed that theirs was “The Silent Sports Car”.

David Ogilvy, in his imperious advert for the ’59 Rolls Royce, went so far as to say that the Bentley alternative was for the diffident.

And even when growing up in the decade that taste largely forgot – the 1980s – Bentley remained the choice of the discreet.

Indeed, all the way up until 2003 a Bentley was a luxuriously appointed ride under the radar.

Then Volkswagen came along and buggered it all up.

No longer was a Bentley solely the choice of uppers with names like Bunty, Binky or Babe.

New money was Bentley’s target. And new money Bentley made.

With peak sales figures coming close to 10,000 for the GT and its sedan sister the Flying Spur, came a time when the Continental Bentleys were vying with the black Mercedes S-Class for Central London ubiquity.

But, with costs shared with the Volkswagen Phaeton, the cash rolled in and I doubt anyone in Crewe (or Wolfsburg) really gave a damn.

I did. Bentley used to be special.

Now it was common as muck.

I thought salvation might arrive in Crewe’s reposte to the marvellous Rolls Ghost.

What arrived was neither reposte nor salvation.

The Grand Bentley – as the pre-launch press material billed it – arrived as a beautifully-built, pig-faced bruiser called the Mulsanne, a car so vulgar as to confirm Rolls Royce’s new role as the luxury car for the discerning (if not discreet).

I honestly thought the state of Bentley’s brand communications – physical or otherwise – couldn’t get worse.

And then this video came along:

Once for the discreet.

Now for the douchebag.

So long, Silent Sports Car.

Rest in peace, my very fast, very gently Bentley.

This month, we’re over the moon to be presenting Beeker Northam, co-founder and head of strategy at Dentsu London.

Currently turning out some amazing work for Greentomatocars, Uniqlo and Nintendo, she’s also had a hand in the geek-love launch of Google Chrome, the mind-blowingly cool Penki iPad light painting app and the Canon Pixma sound sculptures.

In all of her work there’s something delightfully mad scientist going on. Which is fitting, really.

Read on for the usual interview and make sure you get in quick for tickets on Monday November 28th, it’s gonna be a great one.

Beeker Northam will be appearing at CreativeMornings/London on Friday December 2nd at the amazing Kettner’s at 29 Romily St, Soho, W1D 5HP. The even is co-sponsored by Sense Worldwide. For more information and to reserve tickets, please go to the CreativeMornings/London Eventbrite page.

 

Where do you go when you need to concentrate?
I set a timer.

Is it about what you know or who you know? 
Um, how you know?

What’s been the most pivotal point in your life thus far? 
A meeting in Shoreditch in 2009.

Do you think there’s enough discourse between disciplines? 
I couldn’t say, in general. Discourse between good people is usually a good thing. But then there’s also a lot of not-so-useful chatting that happens. And there are lots of things talking can’t get you to.

Can you teach innovation? 
Yes I think so. Given most innovation is incremental, and based on skill and knowledge of material.

Dollar or Yuan? 
I’ve never seen a Yuan. Dollars are quite nice though.

Do you believe in an afterlife? 
No.

Negative or positive freedom? 
Positive.

Ideal holiday? 
Sea-swimming and mountains.

Can you draw? 
I’m learning.

Can you draw us a wave? 
See above Ed.

Individual or state (or both)? 
Both.

Favourite LP? 
It varies between a few different Glenn Gould recordings. And Rumours.

Last book read? 
Middlemarch.

The best piece of advice you’ve ever received? 
(With regard to work), The only thing that matters is the work that gets made.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be where you are? 
Work out what kind of work you want to make, how to get other people excited about it, and the best people you can think of to do it with. The last two bits seem to come from sussing the first bit out.

CreativeMornings is a monthly speaker series and morning gathering of creative types. Each event includes a 15-20 minute lecture, followed by a 20 minute group discussion. The gathering begins at 8:30am with the topic presentation starting at 9:00am and everyone taking off for work at 10am. CreativeMornings are free of charge and is made possible this month by Kettner’s and Sense Worldwide. There are currently 16 chapters: New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Zurich, London, Vancouver, Berlin, Stockholm, Auckland, Atlanta, Boston, Milan, Portland, Seattle and Budapest *phew*