Rick Rubin’s crucial advice for kids who want to be musicians
Rick Rubin‘s life is a musical success story for the ages. From his humble punk beginnings to founding Def Jam Records and beyond, Rubin has retained his passion for creating art which has continued to serve him well for the last 40 years. If anybody was ever well-positioned to give advice to the next generation, it’s Rubin.
Rubin’s career has been as varied as humanly imaginable. He’s worked with artists of every genre with his collaborators ranging from Metallica to Ed Sheeran, but Rubin’s hunger remains exactly the same, regardless of who he’s working alongside. Since his teenage years, the producer knew he wanted to work in the music industry and threw himself with both feet into his band before his life took an unexpected turn while at New York University.
When hip-hop took off in the 1980s, Rubin’s record label was at the centre of the scene, and he suddenly became a powerful name in the industry. However, while he seemed like an overnight success story, Rubin had been working in the background for years before finally enjoying the fruits of his labour when Def Jam’s artists stormed the charts.
For Rubin, this was integral to his success, and he recommends every budding artist to throw themselves into working as hard as they can during their formative years. During an episode of Flea’s This Little Light podcast, Rubin passed on his wisdom to the next generation and told the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist: “Play as much as you can, play in front of people as much as you can. Make as many recordings as you can.”
Rubin continued: “Don’t wait for anyone to give you any permission to get involved. Just start. If you want to be a producer, find an artist who needs someone and wants to make something and offer to help them make something.”
He added: “Do it as often as you can. The more you do it, the better it gets. Whether it’ll be on the playing side or on the producing side, practise is everything, and only time, you’ll only get better. If your love for it continues, you’ll only get better.”
Additionally, when asked in more general terms about his advice for young people rather than solely musicians during an episode of The Lex Friedmann Podcast, Rubin replied: “The only advice I would have is to not listen to anyone, to do what you love and make things you love, whatever it is. You be the audience and make the thing for you, the audience.”
The producer added, “You can’t make art with somebody else in mind. I don’t believe it’ll be good.” Rubin also explained that young people shouldn’t feel they should have to stop chasing their dream if they need to get a job to support their artistic desires.
Listen to Flea’s full conversation with Rick Rubin below.
