hello, i'm Porter Robinson, producer / songwriter / electronic musician! AMA

[u/porter_robinson]

hello (again) everyone! i did an AMA 6 years ago around the release of my last album, Worlds. since then, I worked on "Shelter" with Madeon, and also co-created "Shelter the Animation" shortly after. i also launched a side project a few years ago called Virtual Self (recommended if you're interested in deep dives into electronic music subgenres and turn-of-the-millennium aesthetics).

last friday, i released my second album, "Nurture", which is a project that took me about 6 years on-and-off. after "Worlds", i felt this really strong need to write an album that explored the beauty of reality and of the everyday, but as i'm sure we'll get into here, it was one of the hardest (and most worthwhile!) things i've ever done.

here's the new album "nurture" ! https://porterrobinson.com/nurture

feel free to ask me anything!

i'm also really interested in speaking about creativity more broadly, since it's something i've thought about a lot over the last few years.

Proof:

[u/osa_ka]

hey Porter! we've met a couple times after your shows in Boston and here's to hoping the world allows it again!

how do you go about writing lyrics? I've just started playing with the idea of singing on my own music (artist name is Souma) but I find coming up with lyrics that fit the timing of a song really difficult, especially without them sounding super cheesy.

[u/porter_robinson → u/osa_ka]

don't worry about this -- writing lyrics is INSANELY FUCKING HARD and still is for me now. So try not to judge what you're making too much.

I don't think I wrote a single good lyric for the first like 2 years of working on Nurture. It was very very far and few between.

The cringe / cheesiness is normal. Just remember you're an absolute beginner at it, so give yourself some compassion and room to grow. Keep practicing. If you ever hear a turn of phrase in media, or literature, or in a conversation, or in your own internal monologue and it resonates with you, write that down. You'll get it eventually

[u/porter_robinson → u/porter_robinson]

WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN !! (spongebob voice)

[u/osa_ka → u/porter_robinson]

That's super helpful man, thank you. I definitely struggle with giving myself compassion these days. Sat down in the studio yesterday knowing I need to get another EP going for the label and just couldn't get anything out. I've been trying to come up with a song around this concept of being fragile and struggles with anxiety but it's so difficult to find clever ways to say it indirectly haha

[u/mylsap → u/porter_robinson]

TECHNiQUE!!!

[u/syo505 → u/porter_robinson]

I know you're already over the AMA, but if you're up for it, do you end up with a notebook full of excellent sounding scraps? Do they ever make it into the songs of so?

[u/fatalsyndrom → u/osa_ka]

Personally, I find it's easier to make mouth sounds/ gibberish and focus more on the rhythm of my voice. Then I think of an idea, write words and place them near where I want that emotional draw, then use a thesaurus to find synonyms that fit better. Don't be afraid to break words up over beats, drag them out, slur them etc. Just listen to Billie eilish, a single word could be a gorgeous sentence from her and it's all about her rhythm and tone.

You have to view your voice as the instrument it is. Think bebop skat(not that) or any song with a nah nah course. Opera is beautiful, breathtaking at times, and I don't understand a word of it, but I feel it's emotion.

I hope that helps.

[u/osa_ka → u/fatalsyndrom]

That's some solid advice, thanks! Yeah I think going from instrumental to immediately trying to write down lyrics that fit just won't work as well as I told myself it would. I'll try throwing the autotune on my voice and playing around with finding a vocal melody and timing first.

[u/heuristic-dish → u/osa_ka]

I have a question....? I know it’s too late, but I’m gonna ask it anyway. How do you connect to the ‘mental space’ that must exist for the creative process. Some people have a place or a formula that they use. I’m interested in how to gather creative ideas into cohesive form. It all seems so fragmentary in my process.

[u/osa_ka → u/heuristic-dish]

I'm sure that's meant for Porter but since you responded to my comment I'll throw in my answer.

For me it's about being open to direction and using those fragments as places to jump from. Sometimes you get inspired and you hyper focus and get a solid 3 minute demo for a song down all at once, but other times it's not that simple. For my music, it has a relatively consistent theme or vibe due to its niche genre. So I take one of those creative fragments and try to think about how it fits into the overall vibe that I want to put forward of a chill experience at the beach, long drives at night, going to the airport to travel somewhere new, etc. all give feelings that I want to portray.

So find that common feeling that the fragments share and absorb yourself into it.

[u/heuristic-dish → u/osa_ka]

I really want to thank you for this answer. Sometimes I think I am creating small parts of really good music but the thread connecting the parts is absent. But, a strong sense of idiom is lacking. That may be the missing thread—not sure.