Hello Reader,
When I launched Welcome to the Creative Club, I reached out to A LOT of people.
One of those people was Jeff Felten, who bought the book to support me, not expecting to actually like it. It turns out that he loved it so much that he recommended it to his friend, Tyler Bodkins. Tyler, a musician and producer, reached out after reading the book. It landed somewhere tender.
A friendship started to develop.
While narrating the audiobook, I felt a rhythmic flow to the poems.
I asked if he’d be interested in producing a track for one of the poems in Welcome to the Creative Club.
He said, “Sure, I’ll play around.”
A day later, he sent ambient Muzak sound.
“Tyler, I meant expressing how the poetry hits you through music.”
“Oh shit, not just background sound, but actually creating and producing the track?”
“Yep.”
What started as an experiment with one poem evolved into a spoken word album with eleven tracks.
We agreed we’d keep going until they felt good and right in our bones.
Six months later, Famished was born, and it’s now live on Spotify, and almost all the places you can listen to music, from Tidal to Apple Music.
🎧 Listen on Spotify or Apple Music 🎧
It started with me sharing my take on the vibe for each poem.
Here’s an example: RSVP (kicks off the album):
Vibe: An ode, a warm welcome.
Ceremonial warmth that carries melancholic undertones. Water transforming to steam, messages in shells, spitting whispers, sweat from dancing, and creation as foreplay. That space between human and spirit where art is created.
Rhythmic elements build like rising steam, with moments of clarity breaking through hazier textures. Spaces between notes are as important as the sounds themselves.
Like attending a sacred ritual that’s also a dance party where everyone’s a little sad but beautiful things are being born. Music that fucks you while it baptizes you.
***
This led to “vibe checks”. Tyler would send his first take and I’d share my feedback and immediate gut response, and we’d see if it captured the vibe.
We shared video and voice notes across oceans and time zones, between Copenhagen and South Carolina. Jumped on Zoom calls, sent texts, became part of each other’s stories, from podcasts to weekly video projects and newsletters, all while the vibes were checked.
We trusted one another and our creative process. Given that I have no technical music background, it was highly intuitive. We followed the feeling of each track. It meant dropping ideas of ‘good or bad’, ‘right or wrong’, and being open to a different way of interpreting and expressing emotions and collaborating.
We didn’t overly orchestrate the work. The one time I did read a poem while listening to his track failed miserably. Somehow, the music and the words just matched up organically.
Tyler says the best tracks were effortless. They took the least amount of time to create (maybe not finalize), as though something worked through him, handing him melodies as he sipped espresso. pleasure principle is one of those tracks and one of our favs.
Our creative collaboration was electric, spine-tingling, and fun (I hope it’s one of many projects). It turned me on and lit me up. It showed me how co-creation could be: open, trusting, playful, intuitive, and deeply connected.
Ultimately, we created something new and different together. It’s no longer my poetry or even his tracks, but a new composition, experience, and feeling.
We created Famished to feed the starving artist within you. To invite you back to your innate creativity, give your creativity a gourmet 11-course meal, and show what might lead to malnutrition.
We’re also hoping to show, through our own collaboration, the finger-licking pleasure and satiating power of creativity.
Hope you enjoy the meal (*pulls out your chair*).
Would LOVE to hear what you think.
Keep creating,
