END MIDDLE BEGINNING — A Blog About Creativity

The Need to Create

Evan Michael Brown — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 21:09:42 +0000

I don’t create because I love to do it.

I don’t create because it’s a passion or because I have something important to say.

I create out of necessity. Because if I don’t, it’s physically bad for my wellbeing.

It’s like releasing a pressure valve on my brain. I need to get things out of my head solely for my mental and emotional benefit.

I have so many thoughts and ideas in my head at every moment that it’s overwhelming. Not all good ideas, mind you. But I have songs, fully written and arranged, living in my mind and taking up space. I play through them over and over, making adjustments and adding or subtracting parts. I visualize and endlessly tweak them.

Writing a song down or recording a demo doesn’t get it out of my head. Only a final recording can do that. Only the full vision, executed.

After I properly record the song, it’s gone. Just like that. Poof. It exists in tangible form and doesn’t have to live in my brain anymore. I stop thinking about it almost entirely. There’s a sensation of physical relief and a brief moment of peace and quiet before another thing takes its place.

And something will take its place. I have at least four fully formed albums in my head right now.

But it’s not just music. It’s topics I want to write about it, cartoons I want to draw, movie ideas, jokes, ideas for products that I’ll never make, philosophical explorations, you name it. They take up space until they’re real. They build up and shift around and jockey for position. Turning them into reality is an act of retaining my sanity.

I obviously enjoy being creative, but it’s less that creating makes me happy, and more that I need to create in order to have a chance to be happy.

People say they make things because it’s what they love to do, but believe it or not, I actually don’t think of it that way. The enjoyment is not my primary motivator. Brief moments of peace of mind are.

For some of us, creativity isn’t just a pleasant way to pass the time — it’s a compulsory obligation for our mental health. It feels less like pursuing an interest than fulfilling a need.

And that’s why I talk about it so much.

Vexillology

Evan Michael Brown — Tue, 26 May 2026 18:56:51 +0000

Vexillology is the study of the history, design, and symbolism of flags. And I unexpectedly got very into it recently. I’ve got a thing for flags now.

I’ve always liked simple but clever, meaningful, and symbolic designs like logos. As I learned about flag design, I found vexillology to be a natural extension of that interest.

Naturally, once I learned some of the basic principles of what makes a good flag, I started designing my own. My first projects were flags for my middle school and high school bands.

My first band was called Sunstone, later renamed to Counterflow because we were awesome at naming things. Our original logo was, of course, a sun. The Counterflow logo was made of black and white arrows facing in opposite directions because I was literal as hell and had no concept of subtlety.

So the flag I designed features a sun and parts of black and white arrows facing opposite directions. The three colored sections of this flag represent the three original members. The yellow represents creativity, the white represents the purity of our early musical exploration, and black represents the darkness of our souls that we channeled into rock and roll.

One thing that makes flags fun is that you get to just decide what everything means after the fact. There are some consistent themes in vexillology, and most countries like to act as if all the colors on their flags are super meaningful. But really, they just make it all up retroactively.

In high school, I was in a band called Double Negative. For that flag, the four colored areas represent the four members of the band and the two negative signs represent, uh, negative signs. The white stands for the unity we had in our playing and improvising because we were a jam band, and the red represents the blood of enemy bands that was shed whenever we performed.

I, for one, would be proud to fly these babies in my front yard. If I had a front yard.

What do you think? Do you want to see more flags from me? Well too bad if you don’t — it’s definitely happening in the future. I’m a vexillololologist now.

The Creative Crash

Evan Michael Brown — Tue, 19 May 2026 02:31:42 +0000

You know what fuckin’ sucks? The creative crash.

Sometimes I get so fixated on my creative projects that they’re all I can think about. And when I’m not careful — which I never am — I’ll neglect taking care of inconvenient chores like cleaning my home and eating.

This happened last fall. I was full speed ahead, cranking out music content and video content, working on a huge writing project. I didn’t clean my apartment for three months. I kept forgetting to make meals for myself.

And I got so much done! EP releases, videos, blog posts. I even celebrated by finally cleaning my apartment.

And then I crashed.

I pushed myself too hard. I spread myself too thin. I went into burnout mode. I had full-body fatigue. I lost my motivation. I neglected to take care of inconvenient chores like cleaning my home and eating. I badly needed to recharge, process, and prioritize.

The worst part of a creative crash is that I don’t get to do the one thing that relaxes, regulates, and energizes me. The thing that brings me joy. And I got there partly by going a little too hard on that one thing that brings me joy.

That’s annoying.

Carefully consider the pressure you put on yourself to produce at a high level all the time. Monitor the energy you pour into your creative projects. Be conscientious about adding balance to your life.

Creating is supposed to be fun. Keep it fun, keep it light, and don’t be like me. Chill the fuck out once in a while.

That’s it. That’s the message.

My Apple Watch Hates Me

Evan Michael Brown — Fri, 15 May 2026 03:59:21 +0000

My Apple Watch thinks I’m incompetent. And it may be right.

I’ll be doing my usual thing of sitting on the couch with the posture of al dente linguini, eating Tapatio Doritos, when I’ll feel a buzz on my wrist. My watch is reminding me to do the Hurculean task of standing up.

Then when I do stand, it says, You did it! Way to go!!!

I can’t help but feel a little insulted that getting off my ass and standing for 20 seconds is being treated like an accomplishment of fitness. I’ve climbed mountains with this watch! The least it could do is give me some credit.

But often when I stand up, I walk into the kitchen and put the Doritos away and clean some dishes. Or I walk to my desk and work on some music. So maybe that kind of low bar for celebration is exactly what we need as creative weirdos.

Maybe you should start giving yourself a hearty pat on the back just for taking your painting supplies out. Or for writing the first sentence of the day.

Starting stuff can be a taller order than expected. Sometimes a simple act like standing up can be the difference between getting something done today and getting nothing done.

What’s a basic creative task you can celebrate yourself for today? Maybe getting off your phone and working on a project you’ve been putting off?

Go ahead. I have no more insights to share in this post.

You can do it!!!

Instrumental Versions

Evan Michael Brown — Sun, 10 May 2026 23:16:18 +0000

Maybe you want some stimulating background music while you work.

Maybe you like to hear the intricate musical arrangements behind the vocals in songs.

Maybe you absolutely hate clever and fun lyrics.

Whatever your reason, you like instrumental music. I do, too. I always like when artists release the instrumental versions of songs for all the reasons above. Besides the hating lyrics one.

I always have music playing in the background while I work or lounge or read or whatever. But I work with words most of my days, so lyrics are a distraction in most of my 9-to-5 window. As a result, I listen to a ton of instrumental music. Much of it is originally written without lyrics, but there’s something both interesting and comforting about hearing the vocal-free version of a song you know well.

So I’ve released two of my recent vocal EPs in instrumental versions: Wake Up Weightless and my children’s music release Music For Moppets. Add them to your favorite instrumental playlists.

What Other People Think

Evan Michael Brown — Fri, 08 May 2026 04:44:14 +0000

When I was a teenager, someone told me they liked that I didn't care what people thought about me. My immediate reaction was to think:

Wait, what do people think about me?

No matter how hard we try as creatives, it’s nearly impossible to truly not care what other people think. Any time we share our work, there's a weird mix of feelings ranging from “I'm really proud of this, and I don't give a shit what anyone else thinks,” to “god, I hope people like this.”

And of course we want people to like the things we make. We work hard on them. We want an audience to see their value. That makes it easy to get caught up in the negative feedback.

Constructive critiques can be a vehicle for growth, but maybe criticism isn’t what you need in the moment right after you share your work with the world. Maybe that’s not the time when hearing opinions can help you can grow. Maybe it’s the best time to channel the whole “not caring what anyone thinks” thing as much as you can.

There’s nothing wrong with focusing on the good comments and experiencing the joy of people liking what you’ve made. Those people got what you were going for. Which fucking rules.

When sharing your work, you can be proud of where you are creatively and leave the growing for the next project. Take a beat and enjoy what you’ve done.

My friends said I should throw a party when I released my EP a few months ago. I thought, “Sure but it’s just a few songs and I’ve got so many more I’m working on. It’s not that big a deal.” They said, “But you’ve been working really hard on this for a really long time and you should celebrate it.”

And you know what? They’re right. Throw yourself a little party and celebrate your creative accomplishments, even if that just means going to a restaurant you love.

You made something from nothing. Now is the time to celebrate — not the time to care what anyone else thinks about you.

But also, like… What do people think about me???

People Band Names

Evan Michael Brown — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:30:03 +0000

PSA for musicians: stop giving people names to bands.

Miike Snow, Syd Arthur, Molly Hatchet, Manfred Mann, Mazzy Star, Ira Glass, Cherry Glazerr — it’s confusing. And when I get confused, I get scared. I don’t like being scared.

Maybe we should blame the original culprit, Alice Cooper. They learned their lesson so hard that Alice Cooper is now just the singer’s name instead of the band name like it originally was. You didin’t know that, did you? Learn from Alice Cooper’s mistake.

You can have a person’s name in there as long as there’s something else happening. Alice in Chains? Perfectly acceptable use of Alice. Jimmy Eat World? Chomp away, James.

Hell, just throw in the word “band” afterwards. But don’t do the thing where it’s named after a person who isn’t even in the band Marshall Tucker Band I’m looking in your direction. Or make it a first name only like Lucius so it feels less deceitful. Although that one’s pushing it.

Don’t confuse me. Make major creative decisions based on my opinions and whims. Thanks in advance.

Music For Moppets

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:55:49 +0000

On a family trip when I was very young, I knocked a bowl of Cheerios off a hotel table onto the floor. Luckily, no milk was in the bowl and no family members were harmed in the tragedy.

To deal with the deep emotional trauma caused by the incident, I wrote a song about it. And by “wrote” I mean I hummed a tune and penned the lyrics “Cheerios, fallin’ off the table / Cheerios, and I wasn’t able / To catch them.”

That immortal poetry was part of a batch of songs I wrote during that trip. Silly melodies, nonsense lyrics, no actual knowledge of how to write music.

When I grew up and became an uncle, I dusted off the Cheerios song, fleshed it out with my newly-acquired musical abilities, and recorded it. To my delight, my nephew and niece learned it by heart and sang it back to me regularly. This smashing success led to further children’s music inspiration with the seed of an idea for a song about playing sports with animals. And it really was a seed, just a single lyrical fragment: “And at wide receiver, a golden retriever…” I clearly had better things to do than expand it into a full song, so in my head it stayed for years. A tantalizing hint at what might be.

Years later I wrote a joke song for an online video that wound up getting a respectable number of views. It was catchy enough to inspire comments from people wishing I hadn’t “wasted” the song on a throwaway spoof. I was never able to shake the novelty lyrics from my head and turn it into a serious song, so I found the perfect solution to keep it alive: rewrite it as a children’s song called “Time to Grow.”

Soon after, that line about the football-playing golden retriever spontaneously (and finally) spawned a complete sing-along called “Animal Games.” I recorded an EP with these three kid-friendly jams and shared it with friends and family, but it was never released on streaming services.

So last year I revisited the sessions, replaced some instruments, made a few tweaks, fully remixed and remastered them, updated the cover art, and released them on streaming platforms for the first time in March.

Music for Moppets by Uncle E’s Jamboree features three songs perfect for playtime, mealtime, or anytime a young one is around. I wanted these tracks to be catchy and interesting enough for adults to enjoy them as well. I hope they can bring a smile to the face of someone in your family.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, or wherever you stream music.

Olympic Records

Evan Michael Brown — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:43:23 +0000

When the Olympics come around, I always think about world records.

It seems like every year new records are broken. But every record has a brick-wall limitation somewhere. A point beyond which it’s physically impossible to do any better.

Every speed record approaches zero, but you can’t finish a race in zero seconds. You can’t lift a 10,000 lb weight. You can’t make 100 rotations in a half pipe spin.

Somewhere between the best marathon time and zero seconds is a limit that no human will ever be able to exceed. Future athletes will shave milliseconds off the records. They will continually challenge the notion that we’ve reached that limitation. We’ll never really know where that limit lives.

But it does live somewhere.

There are some natural limitations in creating, too. While practice, time, and hard work can help people accomplish incredible things, not everyone who picks up a guitar has the ability to someday become a super technical shredder (myself included). But unlike a stopwatch that goes in a linear direction toward zero, creativity has the benefit of being able to change course when you hit a wall. You can rethink. You can explore new areas of your mind. You can push yourself into new territory and try different tools.

When you’ve hit the brick wall in whatever race you’re running, you haven’t reached the end of your potential. All you have to do is take a turn and find a new race to run.

Or better yet, make your own race. Then you’re always the world record holder.

Wake Up Weightless

Evan Michael Brown — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 02:06:24 +0000

Sometimes you just need to get art out of your head.

I’ve had these songs living in my brain for a long time. Years for some of them.

Over time I’ve reworked and rearranged them mentally. A couple years ago, I finally felt ready to bring them to fruition. The songs were in a place compositionally that felt right, and I was in a place from a technical skill standpoint where I was confident I could execute their recording to my vision.

So I got to work.

And I worked and I worked and I worked. Off and on, for more than two years. I recorded guitars, found synth sounds, experimented with arrangements, recorded vocals, mixed and remixed, mastered and remastered.

And it’s finally done and out in the world. I’m really proud of this EP. It’s the first release from my new alt-rock project, aptly named End Middle Beginning. And it’s the first of many releases that are already in the works.

I’d love for you to listen. Maybe even add the songs you like most to your playlists or share them with friends. The links are below.

Listen to Wake Up Weightless: SPOTIFY / APPLE MUSIC / BANDCAMP

Why Creativity Is Important for All of Us

Evan Michael Brown — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:26:56 +0000

Sometimes life feels like I’m underwater, desperately searching for even the tiniest straw where I can get a few precious sips of sweet, sweet oxygen. And that’s why I make the content that I make.

Creativity is a topic I’m passionate about. I love the conversations that come out of it. The endless perspectives and strategies and contradictions.

But most of all I think creativity is important. Because, like I said, sometimes life feels like I’m underwater searching for that tiny straw, or it feels like I’m in a dark room looking for even a tiny pinhole of light for a little relief from the darkness.

And I get that light and that oxygen by being creative and by experiencing the things that other people have poured themselves into. Things people like you have expressed yourself through creatively. I love seeing what you go out of your way to put out in the world.

So beyond adding my own contributions on my website and social channels, I feel compelled to encourage others to do it, too. I like to help people who want to be more creative but aren’t sure how to get there. I like to help people feel empowered to be creative, and I love connecting with people who are insanely skilled and talented and are making amazing things

I don’t think it’s just me who needs to make these connections. I think if we’re all doing our part to make pinholes and tiny straws, even when it feels like what you’re creating is tiny or insignificant in the grand scheme, it still really means something.

Because a dark room with a billion pinholes is a hell of a lot brighter. And a body of water with a billion straws is a hell of a lot easier to breathe in.

I think creativity helps make it a little easier to breathe for all of us. A world full of people being creative and doing things that bring them joy and satisfaction is an infinitely easier and better world to live in.

That’s why the main theme of my content is using creativity to feel joy and feel satisfaction with your life regardless of what else is going on.

So I hope to see you on my journey. Follow me. Or don’t, if this doesn’t speak to you. I want to connect with people who want to do this, who believe in the cause, and who want to share the experience. And have a lot of fun along the way.

I’m looking forward to seeing you around here. I hope you’re creating great things.

Be Reborn and Fail Repeatedly

Evan Michael Brown — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 17:55:07 +0000

You may think of new years and birthdays as a kind of yearly rebirth, which is true — but also unnecessary.

Not that you shouldn’t use them as an excuse to regroup, plan creative projects, start new habits and things like that. Go ahead and clean that slate. Get a fresh start.

But these don’t have to be yearly milestones. You don’t have to wait that long to make grand plans and big changes. There are many opportunities for rebirth throughout the year. Every month is a rebirth. Every week. Every day. You can be reborn hour to hour if you want.

Every time you wake up, you are creatively reborn. Every day is a chance to try again. A chance to reinvent your identity or get rid of bad creative habits or fix a past mistake or start a new project or abandon one that’s holding you back.

And yes, every day is a new chance to fail at all of those things, too. But your past failures mean nothing once you’re reborn. The pain they caused may still be there, but that’s just your own ghost haunting you and reminding you that you can be better and learn from your failures.

But with every new day, those failures are gone. Right now, and every moment in the future, are all that exist anymore. Every day you choose who you get to be creatively from the moment you wake up. Every day you get to try again. You can try and fail. You can fail every day, over and over again, and still you’ll get another chance as long as you wake up tomorrow.

That opportunity to try, to be reborn and to go after the things that drive you creatively, will keep happening repeatedly for the rest of your life. There’s always another chance, but you never get the ones back that you didn’t take advantage of.

So use them.

Reflect on the Year

Evan Michael Brown — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 06:48:51 +0000

It’s easy to always be looking ahead. The next project, the next big idea, the next piece of content to feed the machine.

But as 2025 wraps up, take a moment to reflect.

What did you accomplish this year? What have you accomplished in the past few years? What are you proud of? What didn’t turn out how you hoped?

Most importantly, how have you improved? It’s easy to miss the incremental progress we make in our creative skills.

Revisit something you made a few years ago. You’re probably way better than you were then. You’ve made real progress, and you’re going to keep getting better.

If you made something awesome a few years ago that you haven’t been able to match, let it remind you what you’re capable of. Then eat a bunch of candy and pie and celebrate a new year full of creative potential. You’ve earned it. And you have work to do in 2026.

The Loneliness of Creativity

Evan Michael Brown — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 01:06:34 +0000

The act of creating can be lonely.

Much of the time it’s a solo pursuit, with hours spent in focused solitude. It’s an exercise in connecting inwardly, in self-expression. It’s a piece of yourself that you share with the world. But what is self-expression if not to seek connection? Specifically, connection with someone who recognizes themselves in the thing you’ve created. It’s a kindredness. A moment of shared humanity.

But a lot of the time, that connection doesn’t come. Or it’s much smaller than you hoped for.

When you put a representation of your thoughts, ideas, and feelings out into the public, you risk being criticiized or written off. Even worse, you risk being ignored or unnoticed. Because when we express ourselves, we’re hoping to be heard. To feel seen. We want to feel a little less alone in our experience of life. And sometimes when you let yourself be vulnerable, no one recognizes it. You don’t get comments or likes or views. No one rewards you for the risk you’ve taken in trying to connect with them. In bravely putting yourself out there through your art.

But if you really care about something, it means you could get your heart broken. And if you find yourself getting you heart broken in life, it means you’re going after the things that matter to you. You’re living a life of substance and creating art that’s meaningful.

In some ways, you’re lucky to feel that pain. Because the people who don’t take that risk aren’t really living. The only way to feel the deepest joy is to open yourself to feeling the deepest hurt. And that’s what being creative is. It’s taking that risk and putting it into something tangible to share with the world.

And really, when it comes to the art you make, the only person that you truly need to connect with is yourself. If you’re the only person who connects with it, and that makes you feel sad, you can take that pain and put it into your next project.

Just know this: for all the times you shout into the void and no one speaks back, for all the times you open your heart and there’s no one there to embrace it, someone else didn’t try at all. They didn’t go after the thing they loved with reckless abandon like you did. And while you have a moment of sadness, you’ll be able to look back say you did what you were meant to do. The ones who didn’t try? They’ll look back with regret and say, “I wish I’d given that a shot.”

You’ll have a piece of art that you made. They’ll have nothing to show for their lack of effort.

If you’re really being authentic, someone will connect with something you create someday. It may not be today. It may not be in the next year. But someone will be moved by what you do. Someone will make you feel seen, and make you feel like the things you do matter.

And all that work that goes into the profoundly human act of creativity will make you feel a little less alone.

So don’t stop trying.

Be Like John Williams

Evan Michael Brown — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 22:18:50 +0000

We need to talk about Home Alone — and one very important creative lesson.

That movie had no business actually being good. It should have been another forgettable, soulless, slapstick holiday throwaway cash-grab that pandered to children who dragged their reluctant parents to the theater.

But a weird thing happened: everyone who made Home Alone took it seriously.

The pacing of the writing and direction is perfect. The dialog is very funny. The movie has heart and actual holiday cheer. The casting is unimpeachable. I mean, Macaulay Culkin, Catherine O’Hara, John Candy, Daniel Stern… They got Joe Pesci to play the bad guy in a kids’ movie and he didn’t just take home a paycheck. He went all in.

But perhaps most importantly is the icon John Williams.

Music could make or break Home Alone and the audience’s ability to take it seriously. Williams treated a kids’ movie like an Oscar-contending masterpiece and turned in one of the greatest film scores of his entire career. And that’s saying something considering how ridiculous his career has been. When it comes to Home Alone, I’m talking top five John Williams scores, easily. It’s better than Jaws and Superman.

Yeah I said it. Fight me.

It has at least three or four timeless themes that we’ll forever associate with the holiday season, plus he adds in some clever nods to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker to make sure the score feels extra festive.

The lesson here is: be like John Williams. Do your best work, every time. Every chance you get.

You want to look back and be happy with what you created, of course. But you also never know when what you work on will be a stone-cold classic — and then you’ll really be pissed that you didn’t do your best work.

In fact, your best work has the potential to make something a classic. Williams’ score took a film that might not have fully clicked and elevated it to legend status.

You can’t know for sure if what you’re working on is destined to be seen by a shit-ton of people. So do your best work every time, even if you think no one will notice. Be like John Williams. Approach every project like it could be your last and your best. And win five Oscars!

(Although he’s been nominated 54 times, so actually his win percentage isn’t that great. Still a hell of a lot better than mine.)

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!

Exhibit A [Remastered]

Evan Michael Brown — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 08:01:00 +0000

In 2022 I launched an electronic music project called Musematic. I call it compositional electronic music, because it draws on my experience as a composer to take you on a sonic journey through the vibes of the downtempo genre.

Before I revive the project with new music, I wanted to revisit the debut release, Exhibit A. While I was overall very happy with how this EP originally turned out, I’ve long felt something was lacking from its sound.

So I remastered all four of the tracks to get them closer to how I originally envisioned them. Now they sound fuller, warmer, livelier, and with enhanced bass.

The full EP is streaming 12/12/25, but you can listen to the first remastered track, “Oxblood & Olive,” now. It’s on your preferred streaming service, including SPOTIFY, APPLE MUSIC, and BANDCAMP.

Why Guilty Pleasures are Bulls#&%

Evan Michael Brown — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 19:37:39 +0000

No matter when you read this, some popular cultural thing is happening soon.

A sporting event, a holiday, a huge concert tour, pumpkin spice latte season — something that excites a lot of people. And that means it also strikes a nerve in the opposite direction for those who don’t “get” that popular thing. Or straight up hate it.

The haters will try to counter the excitement with clever zings and takedowns, which is, of course, our right as thoughtful, witty humans. But there are those who want to knock the popular thing down a peg, and there are those who want to knock down the people who like it.

And look, I love a good zinger. They can be funny. They can be insightful. They can be innocent. But they can also be kinda shitty, particularly when they’re mean spirited or come from people who seem angry they have to hear about something that doesn’t fit their taste.

It doesn’t matter what you love, someone is gonna make fun of you for it. I think that’s rooted in the jealousy of joy.

And to some extent, I get it. For example: I hate cilantro. I don’t want to hate cilantro. It’s in half my favorite foods! And because of that, I’m envious of everyone that loves it. They get to experience a joy that I don’t. But I don’t attack those people for liking cilantro, because that would be objectively stupid.

When someone isn’t getting enough joy out of their life, their knee-jerk reaction can be to bring other people’s happiness down to their level. As if throwing your negativity at someone will somehow reduce it in yourself. It won’t. It’s not a zero sum game. When you make someone else unhappy, you’re still just as unhappy yourself.

The same is true for positivity. When you make someone’s day, it doesn’t mean you have less happiness for yourself. It’s quite the opposite. What you give is what you grow.

So: embrace what brings you joy. Guilty pleasures? Bullshit! Like what you like without a shred of guilt. Love what you love. Most importantly, create the things you want to create. No matter what you do, someone will try to tear you down for it, so why not make the things that make you happy?

Especially when you know that the haters are just jealous of your joy.

Don’t let the bastards grind you down. Joy is a scarce enough resource as it is. Ignore the people who try to take it away from you. Love your comic books or your fantasy movies. Love that so-called “guilty pleasure” band.

No matter how much they fucking suck.

The Five Stages of Creating

Evan Michael Brown — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 19:50:35 +0000

Every time I get hired to write music, I go through the same five stages.

Stage 1: total panic

The tyranny of the blank page.

Where do I even start? There’s so much work to do. I’m gonna screw this up. Every time I’ve done this in the past was a fluke. This is the moment everyone finds out I’m a fraud

Stage 2: Crippling self doubt

I’ve gotten started, but I’m testing out ideas that aren’t very inspired.

It’s not sounding great, it feels kind of amateurish, and I’m doubting my ability to turn what I’m working on into a polished, professional product.

Stage 3: hints of emerging confidence

After a lot of experimentation, I stumble upon something that clicks.

Maybe it’s a musical phrase or a sound. Whatever it is, I decide to follow the call and roll with it.

Stage 4: intense second-guessing

Once I commit to the parts that are working, I start fleshing them out and bringing them to life

All while constantly second-guessing every single one of my decisions, of course.

Stage 5: Cautious acceptance of awesomeness

Eventually, I look at all the work I’ve done — all the things I’ve created from nothing — and realize it’s actually pretty cool. I really am able to make something good.

Then I panic, knowing I have to present my work to the person paying me. Who knows if they’ll love it or hate it?

Be Afraid (No, really)

You’ll notice there’s one consistent theme throughout these five stages: fear.

Fear in some form exists almost constantly when I’m creating something. And that’s OK.

It’s normal. It shows that I care about what I’m working on.

But over time I realized that you don’t have to “conquer” your fears.

You don’t have to face them head on or overcome them or learn a lesson from them. You can be afraid and just do things anyway.

Putting yourself out there is scary, but it’s the only way to create something great. So do the things that scare you and just be scared while you’re doing them.

Be afraid. But don’t panic. You got this.

A Mountain in the Road

Evan Michael Brown — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 21:47:48 +0000

Have you ever disagreed with someone? Politically? In this economy??

If so, you might enjoy my new single. It’s out now, and will be part of an EP to be released early next year.

It’s called “Mountain in the Road” and you can listen to it here. It’s on whichever streaming service you like best.

It’s also probably on the streaming service you like least. But there’s no reason to make it harder on yourself. Life is hard enough as it is.

Song title: “Mountain in the Road”

Artist: End Middle Beginning

Listen on: Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and more

Treehouse of Horror

Evan Michael Brown — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 17:53:38 +0000

The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror” episodes are a prime example of the advantages and the pitfalls of creative limitations.

At their best, these episodes are an incredible display of writing economy. They have about six minutes to tell a complete story and pack it with jokes. There's no time to waste and there are no words to spare. So they distill the jokes down to a handful of words, or no words at all — just a visual.

When I used to write advertisements, I had to cut 60-second scripts down to 30-second scripts. Sometimes the writing in the 30-second version was actually better than the 60. In the shorter script, I found a way to say the same things more concisely, more clearly, and more directly.

But sometimes the 30 was definitely worse than the 60. There was something lost from the missing context. That extra 30 seconds gave the writing some breathing room and allowed me to tell a more complete story. It allowed me to better deliver the message.

Similarly, the worst segments in “Treehouse of Horror” episodes feel rushed. The pacing of the jokes feels forced. The stories are unsatisfying, not reaching their full potential because of the time restriction.

When you're working on a creative project, putting restrictions on yourself can force you to distill your message and your method down to the essentials, leading to a tighter, more impactful result. But those same limitations can hold you back from expanding and adding context to let your story breathe. With more freedom, you can add details and flourishes that may seem ornamental, but serve a real purpose.

The next time you're being creative, ask yourself: would a limitation counterintuitively free you up to do better work, or would it remove options needed for the best result? If you're forced to work within a limitation, ask how you can use it to your advantage.

Then one day, when you're writing a classic segment for a Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror” episode, remember to thank the person entirely responsible for your creative success: me.

Happy Halloween!