Yup. Now that you bring it up, though, I can't remember ever having talked to other musicians about it.

I don't write my own stuff, but anything can trigger my "internal radio" - if I see a snippet of any kind of notation, I'll be singing it all day. When I had to do sightreading exercises back in school, I'd find myself humming the piece weeks later. I even had an incident over the summer when I saw trout advertised on sale at a market and couldn't get the Schubert's "Forelle" (Trout) out of my head all day.

When I heard that Prince didn't allow recording devices in interviews, I kind of wondered why that should be a problem because I can also correctly recall pretty much anything with rhythm - conversations, gunshots, machine noise. I didn't realize that was unusual until I was in my late 20s. I thought other people just weren't paying attention.

The only time it ever kept me awake was when I was trying to write music, because I was afraid I'd forget what I was hearing.

I had full songs and full 'episodes' wake me up in the middle of the night. Happened all the time, so I guess. Would have to get up and write it all down before trying to go back to sleep.

anangellooksdown said:

Today I watched a video interview of Prince from the early-mid 2000s where he says he hears music so much that it's hard to get to sleep. Obviously I have heard many times in many different ways, this thing about him hearing music or being music and I've heard others say it can be a burden but obviously he loved playing it. I know he said he was in "studio rehab. Do other musicians (anyone even?) have this same blessing/dilemma/whatever-it-is? And why do you think he had it? Did it make things burdensome for him? Why the sleep issue? Was it really that strong? [Edited 9/27/16 19:01pm]

I experience this every day all day. It is a curse. It was a blessing when I was younger. After what happened, I refused to get rid of the music, because I was too devasted to go into my studio. Out of agony, I began recording up to six plus fully arranged songs a day/night. But, I put them away, and no one will ever hear them.

I have people waiting for new music and I am losing money but I don't care. I just want the music to get out of me. I doubt that I will share music with anyone ever again. I'll just get record and record and record. I stay up for days with a few breaks because there is ear fatigue.

I spend days mixing and mastering again with short breaks. Altough I usually mix as I record, I have to go back and tweak and edit because I don't do rough mixes or demos. When I am done I am exhausted.

And then I crash for a few hours and do it all over again. I wish I couldn't write another song ever again. Screw the money. I'll survive. Before I had my own studio, I would use two cassette recorders and pray for the day that I could get the music out the way I heard it in my head. Be careful for what you wish for.

My daughter regularly has whole songs coming into her head, and she sometimes has to get up in the evenings to write them down (in proper verses and rhymes), then goes back to sleep. She has always been very creative and it seems that inspiration flows naturally through her. It amazes me, she's only 7 but started doing this since she was about 4, as soon as she started writing (phonetically first). She also recently started recording music (uses options and buttons on the professional Yamaha piano recorder that I still haven't got the hang of yet) and sing her own songs. I used to sing to her a lot when she was a baby, breasfed her to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and always talked about music with her (she's a big Prince fan too).

anangellooksdown said:

Today I watched a video interview of Prince from the early-mid 2000s where he says he hears music so much that it's hard to get to sleep. Obviously I have heard many times in many different ways, this thing about him hearing music or being music and I've heard others say it can be a burden but obviously he loved playing it. I know he said he was in "studio rehab. Do other musicians (anyone even?) have this same blessing/dilemma/whatever-it-is? And why do you think he had it? Did it make things burdensome for him? Why the sleep issue? Was it really that strong? [Edited 9/27/16 19:01pm]

I am always humming something and I have lots of ideas, but i don't have the luxury of working on them. too many daily hassles, I'm sure it would be different without the jobs,'friends' and so on bugging me all the time. It's impossible to keep the outside world from fucking up my creativity, the world isn't very forgiving of artists. but yes, I have heard music in my head, especially when you've been working on it, and I used to get into this state when i was a teen where I could hear full symphonies. it's a lot of work, music, and once you start on some idea, you often don't want to stop. That's not my problem these days, my problem is getting the worlds bullshit out of my way and keeping my world small. people resent you when you tell them you are practicing, yes, even hate you for it.

groovez said:

anangellooksdown said:

Today I watched a video interview of Prince from the early-mid 2000s where he says he hears music so much that it's hard to get to sleep. Obviously I have heard many times in many different ways, this thing about him hearing music or being music and I've heard others say it can be a burden but obviously he loved playing it. I know he said he was in "studio rehab. Do other musicians (anyone even?) have this same blessing/dilemma/whatever-it-is? And why do you think he had it? Did it make things burdensome for him? Why the sleep issue? Was it really that strong? [Edited 9/27/16 19:01pm]

I experience this every day all day. It is a curse. It was a blessing when I was younger. After what happened, I refused to get rid of the music, because I was too devasted to go into my studio. Out of agony, I began recording up to six plus fully arranged songs a day/night. But, I put them away, and no one will ever hear them.

I have people waiting for new music and I am losing money but I don't care. I just want the music to get out of me. I doubt that I will share music with anyone ever again. I'll just get record and record and record. I stay up for days with a few breaks because there is ear fatigue.

I spend days mixing and mastering again with short breaks. Altough I usually mix as I record, I have to go back and tweak and edit because I don't do rough mixes or demos. When I am done I am exhausted.

And then I crash for a few hours and do it all over again. I wish I couldn't write another song ever again. Screw the money. I'll survive. Before I had my own studio, I would use two cassette recorders and pray for the day that I could get the music out the way I heard it in my head. Be careful for what you wish for.

you are lucky, i wish i was in that situation. give you a couple days of my life you'd probably be begging for your studio. let me work for you fucker.

I read an interview where P said as an adult he now understood why his father and mother broke up and his father couldn't live with anyone fulltime because the other person's heartbeat would enter his hearing and mess with the music in his head, screwing it up.

LBrent said:

anangellooksdown said:

LBrent said:

I read an interview where P said as an adult he now understood why his father and mother broke up and his father couldn't live with anyone fulltime because the other person's heartbeat would enter his hearing and mess with the music in his head, screwing it up.

Wow. Well, I guess Prince made progress then because he lived with at least 2 women we know of full time for quite some time.

Reiading is fundamental.

I said HIS FATHER couldn't live wth anyone...

Sheesh

LBrent said:

anangellooksdown said:

LBrent said:

Reiading is fundamental.

I said HIS FATHER couldn't live wth anyone...

Sheesh

"Reiading"? lol. Yes, it is. I know what you said. Did you get what I said?

M'kay. I can't continue to waste time replying to you. Carry on.

PeteSilas said:

groovez said:

I experience this every day all day. It is a curse. It was a blessing when I was younger. After what happened, I refused to get rid of the music, because I was too devasted to go into my studio. Out of agony, I began recording up to six plus fully arranged songs a day/night. But, I put them away, and no one will ever hear them.

I have people waiting for new music and I am losing money but I don't care. I just want the music to get out of me. I doubt that I will share music with anyone ever again. I'll just get record and record and record. I stay up for days with a few breaks because there is ear fatigue.

I spend days mixing and mastering again with short breaks. Altough I usually mix as I record, I have to go back and tweak and edit because I don't do rough mixes or demos. When I am done I am exhausted.

And then I crash for a few hours and do it all over again. I wish I couldn't write another song ever again. Screw the money. I'll survive. Before I had my own studio, I would use two cassette recorders and pray for the day that I could get the music out the way I heard it in my head. Be careful for what you wish for.

you are lucky, i wish i was in that situation. give you a couple days of my life you'd probably be begging for your studio. let me work for you fucker.

Being called a fucker aside (I don't know if it's good or bad), tell me more, and you just might get a well paying job.

groovez said:

PeteSilas said:

you are lucky, i wish i was in that situation. give you a couple days of my life you'd probably be begging for your studio. let me work for you fucker.

Being called a fucker aside (I don't know if it's good or bad), tell me more, and you just might get a well paying job.

you sir aren't a fucker, it's a term, i doubt if you'd dig my stuff, it's a little left of center, i've been rejected by jam and lewis aside from others. I have a soundcloud if you'd like to hear it. I do write different styles though.

callimnate said:

Unfortunately, now that we know he lived in pain, you have to ask how much of that inspiration was forced upon simply because he couldn't sleep.

trust me, when you're called, youre called (as p once said) Prince had a wonderful life aside from these issues that happened at the end. I cannot and will not feel sorry for him, you want to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for the poor chump working at a steel mill f0r 30 years and hating it.

groovez said:

PeteSilas said:

you are lucky, i wish i was in that situation. give you a couple days of my life you'd probably be begging for your studio. let me work for you fucker.

Being called a fucker aside (I don't know if it's good or bad), tell me more, and you just might get a well paying job.

and you are a luck man i orgnoted a message, don't feel bad if you don't like the stuff, wouldn't be the first.

PeteSilas said:

callimnate said:

PeteSilas said:

trust me, when you're called, youre called (as p once said) Prince had a wonderful life aside from these issues that happened at the end. I cannot and will not feel sorry for him, you want to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for the poor chump working at a steel mill f0r 30 years and hating it.

Actually I was thinking the opposite. Not feeling sorry for him at all. If anything I was trying to imply that he was probably FORCED to stay up and write all day/night due to his constant pain and pills. Whereas previously I believed his musical mind was on 24/7. Now.... I just wonder if he wrote just to avoid feeling the pain, especially late at night.

Hopefully he wasn't in pain all of his life, and he originally had more positive reasons to stay up and create all the great things he created from the start of his career.

CherryMoon57 said:

callimnate said:

PeteSilas said: Actually I was thinking the opposite. Not feeling sorry for him at all. If anything I was trying to imply that he was probably FORCED to stay up and write all day/night due to his constant pain and pills. Whereas previously I believed his musical mind was on 24/7. Now.... I just wonder if he wrote just to avoid feeling the pain, especially late at night.

Hopefully he wasn't in pain all of his life, and he originally had more positive reasons to stay up and create all the great things he created from the start of his career.

This is exactly what I was getting at.

We all know P had music (magic) in his head since day dot. And we all know that a healthy P wrote "masterpieces" back in his heydays.

But now, I just wonder if in the past 10-20 years, he just wrote to keep his mind off things, instead of the 'ol inspirations or dreams.

callimnate said:

CherryMoon57 said:

Hopefully he wasn't in pain all of his life, and he originally had more positive reasons to stay up and create all the great things he created from the start of his career.

This is exactly what I was getting at.

We all know P had music (magic) in his head since day dot. And we all know that a healthy P wrote "masterpieces" back in his heydays.

But now, I just wonder if in the past 10-20 years, he just wrote to keep his mind off things, instead of the 'ol inspirations or dreams.

he once called it a curse but I'd put everything I own on him just saying it for drama. You know, like Patti Labelle once admitted how she talks about retiring and how much she gives in a performance but she said "it's just drama". us creative types love it, just like boxers, you know how many times Muhammad Ali retired? How much he complained about training in his later years as champion? well, same thing, when he would speak to his old trainer he said how nice it would be just to be in a gym sweating. Dundee said something like "yes it would, but we can't do that anymore".

I find that when I don't release it I get irritated and mean. Sometimes I can't sleep at night. With that said I lack a lot of the tools and ability to translate what I'm hearing in my head into sounds, and that is my biggest problem. I'm working to fix that by the end of 2016 and will update to see how that goes.

.

Also - none of this is a joke - creativity can be a strange thing depending on who you are and what if means to you. I wouldn't want to live without it but a big part is learning to live with it in the first place. Mostly it is a joy but you can't always tell that that is the case.

that's where i am right now, i'm constantly frustrated by the lack of time and privacy i get. you can't really do anything unless you're alone. I hate being rude to each and every dumbshit who comes along and wants to start talking and as a result i just tapdance around people and situations to get any practice. this world is a horrible place for artists, i think it was ee cummings who said that poets have to deal with a world that is working 24/7 to make them like everyone else. it's true, no one in my life has ever understood, they might understand if it paid but it doesn't so all they can do is harass you. they see nothing redeeming in it. It was the same when I was trying to be a fighter, some ways worse because the people who call the shots in that business treat you like shit and do nothing to help you. It's all quite discouraging. but, i'll probably be practicing today anyway.

PeteSilas said:

that's where i am right now, i'm constantly frustrated by the lack of time and privacy i get. you can't really do anything unless you're alone. I hate being rude to each and every dumbshit who comes along and wants to start talking and as a result i just tapdance around people and situations to get any practice. this world is a horrible place for artists, i think it was ee cummings who said that poets have to deal with a world that is working 24/7 to make them like everyone else. it's true, no one in my life has ever understood, they might understand if it paid but it doesn't so all they can do is harass you. they see nothing redeeming in it. It was the same when I was trying to be a fighter, some ways worse because the people who call the shots in that business treat you like shit and do nothing to help you. It's all quite discouraging. but, i'll probably be practicing today anyway.

Was never a professional fighter, or an amateur fighter for that matter, but I understand the creative mind needs SPACE. And for me, for years, I fought the need to satisfy friends' and families' need for me to be "socially acceptable." I want to be acceptable with what God made me. If I'm aloof, oh well, if I need to be in the studio half the night, 'love me for who I am anyway.' At this point in my life, I've learned that I have FAR better peace of mind living the truth than the many years I felt I was being untrue to my creative self. BE U, that's what God made you to be.

i'm trying my best

roxy831 said:

PeteSilas said:

that's where i am right now, i'm constantly frustrated by the lack of time and privacy i get. you can't really do anything unless you're alone. I hate being rude to each and every dumbshit who comes along and wants to start talking and as a result i just tapdance around people and situations to get any practice. this world is a horrible place for artists, i think it was ee cummings who said that poets have to deal with a world that is working 24/7 to make them like everyone else. it's true, no one in my life has ever understood, they might understand if it paid but it doesn't so all they can do is harass you. they see nothing redeeming in it. It was the same when I was trying to be a fighter, some ways worse because the people who call the shots in that business treat you like shit and do nothing to help you. It's all quite discouraging. but, i'll probably be practicing today anyway.

Was never a professional fighter, or an amateur fighter for that matter, but I understand the creative mind needs SPACE. And for me, for years, I fought the need to satisfy friends' and families' need for me to be "socially acceptable." I want to be acceptable with what God made me. If I'm aloof, oh well, if I need to be in the studio half the night, 'love me for who I am anyway.' At this point in my life, I've learned that I have FAR better peace of mind living the truth than the many years I felt I was being untrue to my creative self. BE U, that's what God made you to be.

Have you all seen the Fellini film 8 1/2? If you have recently you'll know what I'm talking about - my whole life I've felt like Guido - attempting to be alone to work and having to deal with friends, family, (the world) who all accidentally stop me from doing so because they care about me or sometimes need me for things. It is all an act of juggling.