We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Case Hemmes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Case below.
Case, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
In my personal experience, creativity is spurred by the joy that comes with creating. For me, it’s harder to create when I’m feeling doubtful, or disappointed, because those moods bring out a higher level of self-critiquing. What I’ve discovered works best for me is a hard reset. Sometimes, I don’t focus making something new, but find a song that I admire the production on, bounce it to my DAW , and try to re-create it. Sometimes, I’ll find a scene from a movie or TV show, and try to make music that would fit well for underscore. And sometimes, I’ll watch YouTube tips and tricks videos to inspire creativity through learning. Instead of focusing on an end product that I can market, sell, or release, I focus on finding joy from what I do, and learning new things. I think that finding avenues to avert attention from failure, and focus on learning and building can be game changing.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
For my work, I compose underscore and cue for film & tv, produce for a small group of Pop, RnB, and Electronica artists, and mix and master music for various artists. In my compositions I am often drawn towards darker, and sadder melodies and compositions. I know that there are a lot of people that struggle with the weight of the world, and my goal through my music is to show people that they aren’t alone, and hopefully to help them with what they are going through. Although I have mostly specialized in Pop and RnB, I have recently found a lot of intrigue in Chill/Melodic House music, and am excited to be releasing a breakout 4-track House EP in early January.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the three most important qualities to have in early career are a willingness to listen and receive feedback, a healthy dose of confidence and self-importance, and the ability to try new things. A willingness to listen and receive feedback is critical; criticism comes from everywhere and everyone when you’re a creative, and some of my best work is from sending out my projects pre-release to friends and family who aren’t even in the same industry and seeing what they think. Self-confidence and importance is key – there will be many situations that might seem daunting, or that you’re not ready for them. But, taking the risk and putting yourself out there is the only way people are going to pay attention to what you’re creating. And try new things is simple, but when I first started producing, I considered myself a hip/hop producer and only worked with Rap artists. A Pop singer approached me about working together (which I almost turned down) and now my specialty has changed. You never know what direction trying something new will take you.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I alway love collaborating with new people! With a new interest in House music, I’ve been looking for new artists to work with who are into that genre, too. I’m also always looking for new vocalists, writers, and top-liners to work with on sync projects. And as always, I love helping artists achieve their vision for new songs, EP’s, and albums in anyway that I can.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.keplerbeats.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kepler_beats/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3clr7ZOcZJt1Dh2mvIx2GA?si=99c0d33d561749c9
Image Credits
Photographer: Ray Aley Instagram: @rayaleymedia
