I've spent 25 years in the studio watching musicians with real talent not finish their music. Not because they lacked ability — because friction got in the way. The Quiet Rebel is where I share what those 25 years actually taught me. Practical frameworks, honest conversations, and the 20% of things that create 80% of finished music. No hustle. No gear obsession. Just the tools to help you make the music you actually hear in your head. — Mark
When did you last finish a song?
|
Hi Reader, It finally has a date, 27th July 2026. That is when I will be bringing a whole bunch of likeminded musicians together who all want to finish one song in 14 days. It will include daily encouragement and prompts/suggestions via email, a group WhatsApp tp bring everyone together, and the promise of no gatekeeping, no divas, and nothing demanding, just a bit of fun getting back into the grrove of making music for entertainment. You don't have to release it (if you don't want to). You don't have to play it to anyone (if you don't want to). You don't even have to do the daily challendes (if you don't want to), they are just something to try and help move you towards the end gol of a finihsed song. The group WhatsApp is about support and feedback. What social media started out as before it became someting more negative. Feedback on mixes and song ideas, suggestions on what to try, even maybe someone who wants to help with a part you can't play as well as you would like to. Who knows, you might even find your new writing partner!! Anyway, the date is set, but the list is still open, so if you want to take part, it is FREE, and all you have to do is put your name on the list!! Click here to register Anyway, thanks for reading, and have an awesome weekend. Mark The Quiet Rebel |
The Quiet Rebel // Create more by doing less of what doesn't matter.
I've spent 25 years in the studio watching musicians with real talent not finish their music. Not because they lacked ability — because friction got in the way. The Quiet Rebel is where I share what those 25 years actually taught me. Practical frameworks, honest conversations, and the 20% of things that create 80% of finished music. No hustle. No gear obsession. Just the tools to help you make the music you actually hear in your head. — Mark
Hey Reader, For weeks I watched a number that wasn't moving. I'd built The Finish Line Challenge, a 14-day way to take one song from the hard drive to actually done, and I sent it out into the world with no real idea if anyone would come. Sign-ups trickled in slowly enough that I started rehearsing the version of this where it quietly doesn't work. Where I built a room and nobody walked in. That waiting is its own kind of friction, and nobody warns you about it. You can finish the thing...
Hey Reader, Someone left a comment a while back asking what my tinnitus actually sounds like. Not "do you have it," which people ask a lot. What it actually sounds like. I told them the truth. It's not one tone anymore. It's several, different in each ear, all going at once. A kind of chorus effect on the sound, guitarists will know what a chorus effect does to sound, a gentle phasing up and down, and that's built slowly over thirty years, getting a little worse every decade until it stopped...
Hey Reader, I once set up a band for a level check. Nothing serious, just get the mics roughly right before we started for real. I asked them to run through their most energetic song so I could get some sound in the room, check for peak levels, make sure I had no dud cables, etc. I learnt right back in the beginning to record everything, so as always I hit record. If for nothing else I could play it back for the band to see if they were happy with the overall sound. This time, they were on...