From Start To Finish - What I Learned From Working On A Big Personal Project

There is something amazing and terribly depressing about completing a big public facing project.?

I don’t mean that the act of making something is sad. I mean that the moment after you have functionally completed a project and “set it adrift on memory bliss” as it were, that moment can be sad. And frankly a stretch of time after that can also be a little blue.?

It is like all the air has been let out of the room - or the end of a long elevator ride. There is a need to rebalance life. It can also feel like a driving purpose is missing.

On October 4th, I will release a new album of original songs I have written over the last few years. It’s the second full length studio recording I have made. I put my first record out in 2016.

I am nearly finished with all of the work involved in this project. Since January of this year when I decided that I was going to record a new album, I have been spending a huge amount of time on the one million little steps that go into a project like this.

Thinking about completing a big project has made me reflect on both my “day” profession as a Creative Director working in Marketing and Communications, as well as in my “night” profession as an Independent Musician. So much of what we consider the “enjoyable creative process” is front-end loaded in the large projects we take on..

The amount of functional work that often comes after the fun ideation stage, makes up for 90% of the process in my opinion. It’s probably higher than that. I’m not saying that functional work isn’t enjoyable or rewarding. It is just usually very far away from the effort that most people attribute with your “work” as a musician or creative.?

As both a strategist and a trained graphic designer, when I have had the opportunity to work on big campaigns, I have learned to relish the initial ideation stage for what it is, but also find reverence for the production work that actually brings a good idea to life. Ideas die in the details not in the big picture.

For an independent musician putting an album out, it is hard to describe just how much of the effort has little or nothing to do with the music. But that work is critical to any idea seeing the light of day. Literally required.

Sure it started out as music. A phone full of minute-long song ideas labeled with the location I recorded it in, with some of those becoming something more. Then these ideas get played live in front of humans with fresh ears and opinions. And then getting to rehearse and record the material. It is really easy to get energized about playing the songs at live shows and tracking recording sessions. Even the hours spent actively listening to a new mix of a song, trying to objectively confirm you are making the right call in what you are keeping in or leaving out. This is the fun stuff.

But I have found that it’s all the other things that go into putting an album out that really take the majority of the effort. And frankly the tasks don’t fall into the category of fun.?

When I put my first record out in 2016 there was little you could do in terms of managing your own artist profiles on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. You submitted music through digital aggregators and it’s out of your hands after that.?

Fast forward to 2024 and there is way more control artists have on virtually every platform they feature their music on, there are other subscriptions you need to post lyrics, and other platforms you need to sign up on to make your music get out “there”. Tools to manage performance listings, and other tools to sell tickets, and another to sell merch on. You also get to pitch music to editors by filling out long forms and selecting various genre and subgenre info for their systems. And then there is social media. None of this guarantees any success. This is just to get the stuff out to the world.

This is great on one hand, and on the other hand it means that every single one of those platforms or programs requires time, money and accuracy to fill out and attach all of the various requirements. It is in these moments that I felt the furthest away from the singing and storytelling that I was seeking to share.?

The best thing I can share now is some of the salient takeaways I gathered from completing a big project from the moments of inspiration to after the emotional crash that can come with the finality of a phase.

What I Learned About Taking On A Big Personal Project From Having An Idea To Completing The Work.

You will get bored of it.

You will need support from people that both care about you, and are also just trying to do their jobs.

You will need to change things you planned and said out loud to people who were likely listening to you.

It will be more rewarding and successful than you will expect.

It will also be less rewarding and successful than you will expect.

There is value in not having overly detailed expectations, instead have a great plan and do the work.

You will want to have not started the damned project in the first place a few times.

You will have brilliant fleeting moments where you can see it all coming together.

You will get tired of talking about it.

If it’s your project, you have to be the most organized person involved.?

You will find things to distract you from the project by making fun side quests. Stick to the plan most of the time.

You will get through it.

Plan. Plan like no one else is going to plan anything. Then plan some more.

There is value in making a list sometime for no other reason than to check a few things off that you did.

Make time for it, ahead of time. It will probably take a lot of your time and it will feel less like a pain in the butt if you can plan around the time you need to do the project well.

Outside of contractual obligations, you are allowed to take a pause and regroup, and reposition if necessary (if things are really not going to plan).

The completion of a project is mostly running out of things to do for it. It can be initially underwhelming.

It is fair to take time before taking on the next project.

It is fair to never take on such an insanely big project for a bit if you like.

You can also get right back into the next thing if that is your thing.

I have experienced ending projects in both the “get right back up on the horse” way and the “go camping for a bit” way, and I now generally like a bit of reflection time before jumping into the next thing. And as I say that, I am already having conversations about side projects to get into in the fall with other musicians, so breaks are optional if your headspace is ready to keep staying busy.

I strongly suggest that if you haven’t bitten off more than you can chew and have an amazing personal project idea that you haven’t committed to, give it a shot. Just know the wild ride you may be getting yourself into, and make time for it.?

For me, there is something about working on a project so large that it takes many days or weeks or months to complete it. It requires my ability to push through getting bored of the project. That means I need to have a grand vision for what I am wanting to accomplish, and at the times I am feeling less than motivated, I just have to stick to the good plan I made, and do the work. I build a relationship with the goal I made and I am working to see it succeed. It becomes something bigger than just “making art” at that point for me. I am invested at all levels.?

That is what makes it worth the effort. When it is done you really do get to sit back and say “I made that” and you know what it took to get there.

Chris Gostling is a Creative Director and Independent Musician , living in Eastern Ontario with his wife and two cats.