When I feel completely stuck creative wise and nothing is happening and i'm just not getting any musical ideas there are solutions I find helpful to keep going and eventually get creative ideas down. Maybe this is of help to someone, but these are some of the things I do when I feel stuck.
Remix other artists. This is a great way to be creative without forcing yourself to write a new song. Just allowe yourself to have fun with it, be creative and do whatever you want with the song you´re remixing. You can explore creative takes on those songs, try something new, dissect the song and rebuild into something completely new - And while doing that you learn something about the artist you are remixing and you learn a thing or two about yourself and maybe new production techniques as well.
Write to an image. Score something to a random (or not so random) image. Try to capture the emotions you feel looking at that image with sounds and melodies and instruments. Explore and let go of overthinking and let the emotions lead the way.
Create loops of your old stuff! Play with short chunks of looping melodies or rhythmic patterns (drum loops). You might not see how you can use it when you´re doing it, but you might end up with something you can use down the road and is fully yours. This is also just a fun thing to do, just jam something out of the box, playing around with patterns, instruments, weird melodic elements and effects. Just jam and have fun doing it. You will most likely (by accident) find something interesting which can lead to new composition and/or a song.
Listen to artists and music you´ve never listened to before. This is so valuable and important and is super helpful. You hear music you are not familiar with that can spark some fresh ideas when you sit down to write your own songs. And don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone in terms of genres or style of music. Don´t be one of those people who stop listening to new artists and music after the age of 30!
Anyway, here is my take on a song originally written and recorded by a good friend Adam Goldman. Had so much fun playing around with this and ended up with a new track in my library!
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