The fatigue in artists in the current zeitgeist is not burnout in the traditional sense anymore. but a much riskier brand of disorientation that is unprecedented.

Ethically shaky platforms like Suno are producing entire songs in seconds. Legal disputes around authorship and plagiarism are finally starting to surface in certain countries, and an industry that has always had a reputation for abusing the very thing it claimed to represent (music), is now a problem that scales the historically bitter irony of the price professional artists pay with their souls to entirely new depths.

It's a climate where questions like “why keep playing at all?” don’t sound dramatic anymore, but just echo an honest enquiry every one of us are looking into at some level or the other with varying degrees of awareness.

My work with Peter Crone ('The Mind Architect'), came at a time when I was already sensing that something in the way we talk about creativity had drifted. 

When I ended up getting coached by him 1 on 1 while graduating his 8th Mastermind, I was not looking for answers about my music career per se. 

But the intensity of the work for over a quarter of the year opened up entirely new avenues of exploration and questions that came with it, ending up being a much-needed form of recalibration rather than the conventional 'transformation' the coaching industry and the likes keep carroting about (though, I should mention that I do not claim immunity on anyone's behalf to that loop, including my own).

Peter has coached some of the highest-level performers across pretty much all fields, including artists and musicians. 

What’s consistent in his approach is the uncanny knack for stepping back far enough for the original question to start looking different. 

While that distance can feel unfamiliar at first (especially when you’re in the thick of an industry that thrives on urgency, positioning, and constant output), it also positions itself exactly at a point where a different kind of (much-needed) clarity gets the opportunity to knock on our door.

This excerpt comes from a moment in our conversation that felt pivotal towards the end. It's the only instance where we talk music. 

Peter's not a musician; in fact,  I've witnessed him crack many a self-effacing joke on his lack of personal musical skills. 

But I can confirm his impeccable taste in music, something in this day and age, is the kind of thing I am re-learning to love and respect in ways I never thought were possible (again.. unprecedented).

It might feel like it passed quickly on the surface, but I'd contend it points to one of the most underrated aspects in our arts ecosystem, especially from us artists ourselves, as we grapple the overwhelm amidst the noise...

What follows is brief, but it carries the signature of Peter’s work. 

Precise. Uncompromising. And refreshingly disruptive in the way it redirects attention back to what was always there, waiting for us to take notice. 

T.L.: I do have one specific question I'd love your take on..which is from one of my younger students who's in their mid twenties, just out of a career in the music industry.

I don't know if you've heard, but it's a very, very dark rhetoric going on in the music industry with all the AI and a lot of the bigger players and their policies and their philosophies they're headed towards...

So their question is, (and I'm really glad they asked this, by the way), that why should we keep playing music now?

Now I know you're not a 'musician', but I have a pretty good idea that you're going to tap into something in that question to cover the reply that might help her.

Peter: I could answer the question with a question.... like, why do you keep breathing? 

It's innate, right? 

It's unavoidable.

For a musician to play music is like, you know, a mum to prepare loving food for her child. 

Like you can't not do it, right?

And so it would deny the life that you are.

Consciousness, life force, 'prana', whatever you want to call it...wants to express itself.

And I think there's so many humans who sadly die with the music within, right? 

Like that. They never got to fully express.

And so I would encourage everybody to not hold back on whatever it is you want to pursue, music being the metaphor. 

Your joys, your pursuits, your hobbies, your aspirations, your start-up company ideas....we're here to create, you know, and so that's why we keep playing is because we're creative beings and we want to explore.

We want to have the feedback of our own capacity to express. And so music is one of those conduits for self-expression, which is to be alive.

T.L. : I guess the disillusion that I see in most of the clients or students I work with is not so much about their music....but they're so overwhelmed with the direction of the music industry.

And I think the music industry is reflective of what's going on in society. 

I try and get them to look away from music industry and try and get the point across that this is really not about the music industry in the first place.

The music industry (is) about one hundred years old, max (?). 

Music has existed since the beginning of time....any 'words of wisdom' to impart on this in the last few seconds we have?

Peter: Just keep living, you know, like again...... life, whether it be psychologically, emotionally, or even physiologically tends to get in a state of disease when it's blocked.

Anyone who studies Chinese medicine knows that typically, physiologically- when we suffer or we're sick, there are some channels that are not working, they're not open.

So we're all vessels, a unique but connected expression of life. 

And so whatever we can do, don't inhibit your self-expression, don't hold yourself back.

Don't thwart the music that's within you. 

To me, that is the greatest gift you can give....we all have a unique voice and it's here to be shared. So don't hide.

We could argue that it's literally all we do have. 

I can remember someone...their context was 'they don't matter...and they don't have a say'. 

So doesn't matter what they say, (they felt) it 'didn't matter'. 

And what I realized is that that's actually all we have.

So that's how important your voice is.  

Like even saying 'I don't have a say' was their say. 

That's how powerful and/or detrimental it can be.

So honour your voice. Honour your words. 

Cos they are creating both you and your reality. 

T.L. Thank you Peter. 

(This article has been edited minimally for context).