What Do You Think Music Can Do for You?

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I think we all want to be heard and music is a way to let out our inner emotional life sometimes in a way that can't necessarily be understood any other way. It functions different than prose or storytelling in that the music has an emotional base to it even without the words. So you can feel this energy and express whatever's going on inside of you through this form. And for young people who have a lot of energy, it's a great outlet because you can channel all of the power of the energy that you have into let's say punk rock music which was the case when I was growing up.

The flow and the ingredients by which an idea becomes an offering — and life practices which call that alchemy forth. The mystery of it all that can only be named and wondered at — and the ordinary mystery that creativity is a human birthright, a way of being rather than doing, that beckons to us all, in everything we do, from crafting something to conversing to the arranging of furniture in a room.

This is where Krista goes with the rock star music producer Rick Rubin. It's not a conversation about the creative process of the many great musicians he's worked with — but a conversation that is for and about us all.

There are some surprises, too, in his lovely, soothing voice — like the way he finds a metaphor for all of life in pro wrestling. And he leaves the doors of his studio wide open as they speak, so there is a soundtrack of ocean waves.

Rick Rubin has been a singular, transformative creative muse for artists across genres and generations — from the Beastie Boys to Johnny Cash, from Public Enemy to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, from Adele to Jay-Z. To name just a few. His new (and first) book is The Creative Act: A Way of Being. He is co-founder of the record label Def Jam Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. He is also one of the hosts of the podcast, Broken Record.

Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

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