David Thomas Jones on Songwriting, Music Production, and Creative Instincts
Welcome to The Creative Wayfinder’s Compass, a free blog where creative people can find inspiration through in-depth interviews with innovative minds. This edition focuses on David Thomas Jones. Mr. Jones prefers to keep behind the scenes, but he has a lot of experience in indie circles: he played drums for The Murdocks, bass for Scan Hopper, fronted for Watch Out For Rockets, and collaborated with Noël Wells (SNL, Master of None) with The Fritzl Babies and The Marys. He also wrote two songs for and acted in her movie, Mr. Roosevelt.
David’s insights into intuition, imperfection, and the unpredictable nature of inspiration offer a compelling look at the creative process. His reflections on how ideas emerge organically, why overthinking kills creativity, and how music should make people feel something will resonate with anyone navigating the push-and-pull of artistic work in a modern world.
“I always try to work it out quickly so I don’t start judging it before it’s born. I try to bypass critical thinking and just have it be a subconscious thing that’s manifested, like I had nothing to do with it. Like capturing a dream. The more you explain the dream, the more you lose the essence you want to convey.”
David Thomas Jones
Who are you and what do you create?
I’m David Thomas Jones and sometimes I create music and assist in others making music. I’m a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who’s played different instruments in different types of bands throughout the years.
What first inspired you to pursue your creative path, and how has that inspiration evolved over time?
Almost as far back as I can remember, I was very interested in visual art. My family had a bible that had all these pictures of religious paintings in them and I spent a lot of time looking at them. I spent my time drawing and thought I’d be an artist when I grew up. Then I wanted to be a comic strip artist, so I did that as a kid as well. I got super into music too and even wrote some cheesy songs that I’d perform in front of class in 3rd and 4th grade. I couldn’t play any instruments or anything. I just wanted attention, haha.
When I was in 7th grade my older brother brought home an electric guitar, and I stopped drawing and spent all my time playing guitar, and that led me to learning other instruments and spending all my time on music stuff. So, long story short, I think my desire to be creative was to get attention and as a way to respond to the awe music and visual art made me feel. Although now I think anonymity is pretty cool!
Can you walk us through your creative process? Do you follow specific rituals or habits to get into the flow of your work?
I don’t have any intentional rituals or habits, but I’ve noticed that if I get a little stoned and listen to music I haven’t heard before, that will put me in create mode if the song I’m hearing is good. Also, I’ve found that different instruments inspire me. Like I could pick up a friend’s guitar and come up with something based off the feel and sound of that guitar, and it would be something I wouldn’t come up with playing my own guitar. Same goes for synths.
I kind of feel like different instruments guide you to play different things because you’re interacting with how they feel and the unique sounds they make. But for the most part, I’ll either get a song idea that pops in my head, like a melody, a guitar part, bass part, drum beat, or all of those all at once. And then I mess around with it a bit outside of my head, and if I like what I’m hearing enough, I’ll pursue it further. I’ve changed my approach over time as my circumstances have changed, but I always try to work it out quickly so I don’t start judging it before it’s born. I try to bypass critical thinking and just have it be a subconscious thing that’s manifested, like I had nothing to do with it. Like capturing a dream. The more you explain the dream, the more you lose the essence you want to convey.
The most commercially successful song I’ve had to date came about when I came home from the bar at 2 in the morning and went to this cheesy Yamaha keyboard and played a little marimba riff on it. I wasn’t even thinking. My friend and I looked at each other and laughed about it. The next day, I messed with it a little more, and that turned into a song called “Our Lives.” It was just a little drunken musing that I thought was funny, but then I turned it into a whole song. I read that “Satisfaction” by the Stones came about in a similar way. Keith Richards was just laying drunk on the floor, noodling on his guitar, and came up with the hook for the song. Ideas come all the time in weird ways. It’s just a matter of acting on what you’re receiving.
What themes, ideas, or emotions do you find yourself returning to in your work, and how have they shifted over time?
Isolation, quiet despair, absurdism, humor, strange movements in the periphery of the mind. I think it’s always been like that, but maybe not always in that order.
What’s been your biggest creative breakthrough, and how did it change the way you approach your art or writing?
I realized something can be technically “right” or “good,” but if it doesn’t make someone have an emotional response to it, it doesn’t matter. It’s only good or right if it makes you feel something and preferably makes other people feel something as well. Also, hopefully, the feeling is some degree of transcendence, but even disgust is better than apathy. I don’t know if it’s changed my approach, but it’s changed my intent, and I’m not always successful.
Also, don’t beat people over the head. Hint at things. Create the atmosphere of the room and let people bring their own reality into that room. The audience should be allowed to create meaning and participate. My favorite thing is when I love something that at first made me uncomfortable or confused. I think that’s how art helps people grow.
How do you navigate periods of creative block or self-doubt, and what techniques have helped you push through?
Overthinking what you want to do instead of physically doing it is a trap that’s hard to escape. Sometimes, you just have to stop thinking and do. As far as self-doubt, I think it’s a good pressure that can help someone be better. But first, they have to create something. Then, you can challenge yourself, pick it apart, and ask how you can get it to a point you’re happy with if need be.
There is a point where you might have to wrestle with yourself or your creation, but wait until you have the idea down and it’s well on its way. I think the difference between healthy creative doubt and self-sabotage is simply that with self-sabotage, you never really produce anything. Creative self-doubt is when you spend too much time pouring over every detail trying to find out what isn’t working for you, but still manage to end up with something at the end of the day.
You also have to keep in mind both the forest and the trees. If you spend a lot of time nit-picking something small and thinking that it will solve the whole issue, that might not be the case. When I started recording in a studio setting as opposed to recording on 4-track cassette like I did in a band I was in called Watch Out For Rockets, I would sometimes focus too much on my vocal timbre, delivery, or the wording of some small phrase, and in the end, the things I was focusing on were not really important.
Things can be imperfect. What matters is making people feel something. I also think that that’s a problem with music production now. Recording digitally gives you so many options, and you can drill down on something to infinity but, in the process, lose track of the bigger picture. You can definitely get lost in the options instead of committing to something and moving on to the next thing.
How do feedback and criticism play a role in your process? How do you decide what advice to follow and what to set aside?
If I’m asking for advice or feedback, it’s probably because I’m testing to see if they have the same concerns or worries that I do. So if someone else also points it out, that’s just helping me justify that something needs changing. If their feedback is something that wasn’t on my radar to begin with, there’s a good chance I won’t heed it because I’m not feeling the same way about it.
It can be hard to test your music on people that you’re close to because they may not be into what you’re trying to do. They may not be the intended audience. There are people in my life that I’m really close with, but there may be someone I’ve never met who will resonate with my music. And sometimes people put out music that goes nowhere for years and then it suddenly hits. You just never know, so you have to trust your gut as much as possible.
How do you balance personal creative expression with the commercial or external demands of your work?
Poorly. I feel like since we all live in an attention economy, where multitudes of people are influencers, podcasters, political talking heads – all these people are vying for eyes, ears, and attention, and the way a lot of people seem to discover music, from little viral clips, or something that needs to capture attention quickly while someone is mindlessly scrolling, seeps into my considerations when creating something or thinking about releasing something. I don’t think The Dark Side of The Moon would be created today, but I also don’t think I’m Pink Floyd. If I’m working on music FOR someone, I will contribute what I think is right and advocate for my opinions to an extent, but I always defer to the vision of the artist because the goal is creating something that works for their project and vision.
What’s one of the most challenging projects you’ve worked on, and how did you overcome the difficulties you faced?
I think the challenges are always my own laziness. Or not laziness, but answering the question, “Should I even bother doing this, or should I just keep it in my head because it’s not worth the effort?” Actually, that’s laziness…
A lot of songs I’ve made were written as I was recording them because I had no way to demo them other than recording just a snippet of the idea into my voice memos, and I played all the instruments myself. So I was spending time and oftentimes money to record a song just to figure out what the song was. I think I could have done some things better had I been able to flesh them out and tweak them before starting to record them.
How do you stay motivated and disciplined, especially during times when inspiration is lacking or inconsistent?
I don’t fight the lack of inspiration. If I feel bad for not producing some tangible thing for consumption, it clouds the truth that living and experiencing life for one’s self is also an art form that can and should be mastered. Recognize that you’re always creating in some way.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out, or to an artist who’s struggling to find or trust their creative voice?
You have to love it a lot to do it a lot. Find inspiration from other artistic mediums and apply those ideas. If you’re working on something visual, think of music. If you’re working on music, think visually. Color, space, composition, perspective, shadow and light. I’m working on a song right now with someone, and I had what I thought was a really cool synth solo in this one part. When I played it for my friend she said it wouldn’t work with the idea for the music video she was envisioning. She sent me a little video clip she found that she wanted to use for inspiration for the video to the song, and that made me instantly understand what she was going for. I don’t think explaining it with words or referencing musical ideas would have gotten me to the point of understanding like that little video clip did.
Don’t overthink it when inspiration hits. Get the ideas out first, and then if you need to,, you can prune, edit, correct, and think about it critically. It’s OK to feel like you might be ripping off someone or you don’t have your own stamp on what you’re doing. It’s all part of the process of realizing your voice. It will happen sooner or later.
M.K. Hancock here. Thank you for reading another edition of “The Creative Wayfinder’s Compass,” a privately owned publication for the express purpose of putting resources in the creative and capable hands of those looking for them. David Thomas Jones’s reflections on music and creativity remind us that inspiration thrives in spontaneity, and that perfection isn’t the goal, connection is. His approach to songwriting and production reinforces the idea that creative work is about capturing a feeling first and refining later. If you’ve ever struggled with overthinking or creative doubt, his words might just be the reminder you need to trust your instincts and create anyway.
If you’re ready to take the next step in your own creative journey, explore the rest of The Creative Wayfinder’s Compass and discover what my coaching looks like. I’m here to help, and I also offer adjustable rates and times depending on the circumstances. My services are customized since every path is unique, and not everyone needs the same things. Reach out if you are curious or have any questions, and I’ll be happy to hear from you.
Creativity thrives in the tension between intuition and refinement. How do you navigate that balance in your own work? Share your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe for more candid conversations with musicians, artists, and creative minds right in your inbox as soon as they’re published.
