048. If You Want Unconventional Results, Choose an Unconventional Path | feat. Nothing_Neue

Why This Episode Matters:

This episode is a deep, grounded reminder that longevity in music doesn’t come from chasing trends or algorithms. It comes from doing the work, living life, and letting experience shape the sound. Recorded in person at Nothing_Neue’s Brooklyn studio, the conversation is reflective, practical, and quietly powerful.

Who is Nothing_Neue:

Nothing_Neue is a Brooklyn-based producer and artist whose work sits at the intersection of broken beat, soul, hip-hop, and experimental rhythm. Alongside his own artistic output, he works within the music tech world, giving him a rare dual perspective on creativity, industry pressure, and identity.

What We Dive Into:

* Why living life is essential to making meaningful music

* The danger of chasing “radio friendly” or algorithm-approved sounds

* Separating your artistic identity from your day job

* Morning practice, discipline, and removing creative pressure

* Letting unfinished ideas have value instead of forcing outcomes

* Why support has to be active, not passive

* Choosing an unconventional path and accepting unconventional results

Three Key Takeaways:

* You can’t skip life and expect great art: Music gets better when it’s informed by lived experience, not constant output.

* Unconventional paths come with unconventional timelines: If you choose authenticity, you have to accept results that don’t mirror anyone else’s.

* Practice removes pressure: When music has a guaranteed place in your day, everything else becomes bonus time.

Before You Go:

If you’ve been forcing productivity or measuring your work against someone else’s success, take a step back. Build your walls, rooms, and houses before worrying about the final home. Progress isn’t always loud.

Chapters:

0:00 – In-studio intro from Brooklyn

0:57 – D’Angelo, life experience, and making music too close to the work

2:46 – Why living life improves creativity

4:04 – Gym vs bike analogy for creative process

4:46 – Printing demos and listening away from the studio

6:45 – Distance, objectivity, and breaking critical habits

9:28 – Substances, creativity, and emotional avoidance

11:42 – Pain, avoidance, and emotional honesty

13:48 – Family, mortality, and confronting old wounds

16:55 – Reprioritizing time, discipline, and energy

19:57 – Discovering The Big Leap and the upper-limit problem

24:38 – Self-imposed ceilings and early musical validation

28:46 – Playlist Retreat, imposter syndrome, and belonging

32:54 – Music as a communal experience

36:12 – Letting ego step aside for collaboration

40:41 – Translating inspiration into technique

45:24 – How Nothing Neue practices instruments

48:54 – Learning taste, preference, and musical language

52:02 – Weed, reading, and rethinking time

55:18 – Walls, Rooms, Houses, Homes creative framework

58:53 – Morning practice and removing pressure

1:03:18 – Weekday vs weekend creative routines

1:05:24 – Recent releases and upcoming remixes

1:06:27 – Favorite hardware and inspirations

1:07:41 – Artists that changed his thinking

1:07:57 – Best free tools and YouTube as education

1:12:55 – Learning fundamentals vs chasing shortcuts

1:17:44 – Rapid-fire questions

1:18:33 – Loneliness in the music industry

1:20:06 – Underrated “product” for creatives

1:21:26 – Advice ignored and advice worth ignoring

1:23:24 – Authenticity over chasing radio success

1:24:40 – Undoing algorithms and passive consumption

1:27:21 – Active support, community, and closing thoughts

1:29:02 – Final recap and ProducerHead outro

List of References from the Interview:

Songs / Artists

* D’Angelo

* Lyric Jones

Books

* Making Records by Phil Ramone

Hardware / Tools

* SP-404

* Alpha Juno

* Serato

Connect with Nothing_Neue:

* YouTube: @NothingNeue

* Instagram: @nothing_neue

* Spotify: Nothing_Neue

* Apple Music: Nothing_Neue

Connect with Toru:

* Website: torubeat.com

* Instagram: @torubeat

* YouTube: @torubeat

* Spotify: Toru

* Apple Music: Toru

Credits:

This episode was co-produced, engineered and edited by Matthew Diaz. From ProducerHead, this is Toru, and in a way, so are you. Peace.