Radiohead to Rolls - Grand Visual's ECD Shares His Inspirations

YouTube

I’ve always been a big believer in self-learning. Once you understand the way your brain learns things, it opens up a whole world of possibilities. And I think that YouTube really shines with creative-learning opportunities.

Unfortunately, I’m old enough to have not had this when I started in this career, instead surrounding myself in various teach-yourself Adobe books, hacking software demo CDs on the front cover of computer magazines and faking it til I made it. I’d always wanted a peer to teach me things without me feeling like I was bothering them.

YouTube provides me with unlimited ways to broaden my creative knowledge in whichever area I feel like. Whether it’s running through a Texturelabs tutorial, doing some deep diving on filmmaking techniques, or falling down a pretty harmless rabbit hole of music theory during lockdown (blame Rick Beato), it means I never settle and I am constantly challenging myself.

Sandwiches

Can I really say sandwiches are one of my three biggest inspirations? Probably not. That would be weird. But they have been a lifelong obsession of mine, stimulated many a creative thunderbolt and been there as a constant throughout my working life.

I’m the kind of sandwich snob who seeks out the make-your-own places… never going off the recommendations on the blackboard, but constantly investigating and exploring weird combinations or slight modifications. In fact, one sandwich shop I used to go to ended up bringing in specific sauces or ingredients because I kept asking for them. 

The holy grail sandwich for me is simpler than the above might suggest: cold brie, hot crispy bacon and mango chutney. You get the hot and the cold, the creaminess of the brie, the crunchiness of the bacon and the sweetness of the chutney. Just like Radiohead, it seems to be all about balanced combinations for me, and I really take that into my creative work on a daily basis.

Radiohead

If you’ve worked with me, you’d be willing to gamble that Radiohead would be in this list somewhere. A few of the team even worked out that if I’m getting stressed at the office, all they need to do is put some Radiohead on, and I’d calm right down. You could say it’s like some form of workplace stress ball.

I know their music is not for everyone. And I’ve built a resistance to defending them when someone says that it’s just depressing. But I truly find it joyful, musically expansive emotionally stimulating and often challenging, requiring a level of listening that isn’t needed for other music. I guess it provides some sort of umami-bomb for my ears every time. 

I don’t think Radiohead is one of those bands where all the musicians flow in the same direction. It’s probably nearer the opposite; you can hear the individual influences and feel the strain of each musician adding their own creative styling into the mix. It should be a mess, but that’s where the magic happens, because it comes together to create something beautiful and collaborative. And, working in the creative industry, it feels like a recipe we strive for every day.