📅 Thoughts of the Month
The past month I realised music isn’t just about hours in the studio, it’s about everything outside of it too. For too long I’ve tried to give 100% to every pursuit: music, lifting, running, 5-a-side, career, saving for a house, and planning a trip Japan. The result? Burnout and shallow progress across the board.
All of these things take up mental headroom, so I’ve simplified. Gym is now 3x per week. Running once. 5-a-side stays. That frees up recovery and mental energy, which means more focus on music.
The biggest shift has been producing at 7am. One hour, before the world wakes up. That’s 5–6 guaranteed hours a week before work, plus extra if I want later. It’s doubled my studio time without draining me.
It’s all about depth, not width.
🎵What I’ve been working on
7am Sessions — consistent, focused, and more productive than late nights.
Label Submissions — the two tracks I sent last month were rejected again. Instead of seeing that as negative, I’m treating it as reps. No failure = no growth. Every “no” is proof I’m trying.
Finishing — wrapping up another track soon. Each finish sharpens my mixing/mastering process.
Collabs/Feedback — fresh ears have been invaluable. Different strengths = better songs.
Like lifting, progress is built on reps.
💾 New Tools & Creative Fuel
Mindset: Dan Koe — “Your mind is the operating system for reality. If you don’t program it, others will.” His work has shifted how I approach focus, creation, and consumption.
Routine: Blocking social media 9pm–5pm has cut my usage down to 30 mins/day. More clarity, less noise.
Notebook: Every night I write 3 tasks for the next day. Just 3. Enough to move forward, not enough to overwhelm.
Books: Finished Wayward Pines, tense, eerie and addictive. Big fan of Blake Crouch’s books. Now onto American Kingpin, the true story of Silk Road. Wild so far.
TV: Started Severance. Loving the world building, it’s unsettling but fascinating. The split between work and life feels uncomfortably real.
Creative Inspo: Madeon’s Apple Music Takeover. It’s must listen set!
💭 Creative Insight
Do less, but do it better.
Shorter sessions, fewer tasks, fewer distractions = deeper results.
Think of how you could apply this to your life.
🎧 Line In with Lexton Picks
A few standouts from this month’s Line In with Lexton playlist:
Milky - Just The Way You Are — Nostalgic, pure feel good energy.
Tom Ferry, FRDRK - Summer Jam — Smooth groove and melody, perfect late summer vibes.
Disclosure, Anderson Paak - No Cap — Infectious energy and the perfect collab!
👉 Save the playlist here: Line In with Lexton
🎹 Free Resource: Piano Processing Guide
After getting interest from a story I posted last month, I decided to put together my first free guide of how I process pianos to get that Avicii / Sigala sound, the kind that fill the mix and really hit!
Inside the guide you’ll find:
The exact plugin chain I use (with screenshots)
Before & after audio examples
The MIDI file so you can test it yourself
If you’ve ever struggled to get your pianos sounding big, wide, and powerful, this should give you a simple, repeatable chain you can adapt to your own tracks.
This is a free resource — no payment is expected. The price is set to £0+, which means you can download it for free, or add a small tip if you’d like to support my work.
✉️ Stay in the Loop
If any of this resonates with you — morning sessions, doing less but better, failing forward, then hit reply and tell me what you’re working on. Or…
✅ Follow me on Instagram — I’ll be sharing more WIPs, breakdowns, and snippets there soon.
✅ Save Line In with Lexton — Updated monthly with what I’m listening to and inspired by.
✅ Reply to this email – Let me know what you’re working on or stuck with