In the stage play and movie "Amadeus," the leading character, a court composer named Salvatori, laments on how God has chosen Mozart over himself, to be the expression of divine creativity. Like a sacred well to be tapped into, creativity is the experience behind all creation, and all that we see around us, but at the same time, can be as elusive as the works of art it produces. When feeling creative, composers talk of tapping in, and when they aren't creative, they refer to it as a creative block. In much the same way, we each tap into this creativity in our everyday lives, and when the juices are particularly flowing, we call it a good day, and the opposite when we feel creatively stagnant.

Composer/musician Donovan recently commented in a conversation with us that tapping in to one's creativity was matter of "getting the human out of the way," thus opening up a pure channel to creativity. Each artist no matter what their art or craft, has their own creative process, which is on one hand uniquely theirs, but on the other hand, part of a universal creative experience. Being creative is itself something requiring constant effort, but while it's happening, can be a seemingly effortless and mystical experience.

In separate interviews, three composers recently talked about their artistic processes, and how they tap into the cosmic well of creativity. Although none exhibit the abundance of effortless creativity that was the epitome of Wolfgang Mozart, Perry Farrell, Steve Vai and Pete Droge, all wear the face of this effortless creativity we often call musical genius.

Perry Farrell

After tiring of his role as one of the founders of the ground-breaking Lollapalooza Festivals, several years ago Perry Farrell decided to break ranks, and start the Enit Festival (shorthand for inter-planetary gathering). Based on the British Raves, the Enit was a rare and endangered breed of festival, whose intent was to bring people together listening to music, planting trees, and communing with the spirit. Also the creative force behind the defunct, yet immortal Jane's Addiction, and Porno For Pyros. Perry has very definite thoughts about the creative experience.

Perry Farrell: If you're opening a new restaurant, you could serve hot dogs and hamburgers, but then why would anybody go to your restaurant. One of things you could do would be make bachelor food, or food cooked in five minutes or less, then bachelors would start going to your restaurant. They could still go to the hot dog and hamburger places, but because you approached it in a fresh way and dared to be adventurous, they come to your restaurant, too. In my artistry, I do the same thing. I look for a fresh view, which is often what's missing. Sometimes I take this concept further and I look at what's in fashion, and I do the opposite. People who do this are always ahead of the game because when everything moves back full circle, they look unique.

Perry Farrell: I often say to people, `I don't always know what I want, but I definitely know what I don't want. From this, often you can reflect, and do the opposite of what the world is doing. You need to develop from there 'cause even if you don't have any other concept except going against the grain, you have a place for further development.

Perry Farrell: Yes, you have to work at being imaginative and creative. It comes from a lot of thinking and trial and error, which means making mistakes. You have to get off your ass and imagine. It's not one of those, 'I sat under a tree, and it happened.' It could happen under a tree, but only after you've thought about it, meditated on it, then maybe you'll get a creative gift.

Perry Farrell: I've often said I leave myself open to miracles, meaning something miraculous and nothing more. When I'm writing and recording, I leave, depending on the song, up to twenty percent up to chance. This is in contrast to people who do movies from scripted storyboards where nothing is left to chance. The nice thing about music is we can leave ourselves open to the miracles, which also makes creating a lot more fun. The restrictions squeeze all the fun out of the art. One of the miracles that happened on the last album was on the song "Kimberly Austin," when after recording ten takes, we decided to give it a rest. When I came back the next day, two of the tapes had overlapped in a kind of double exposure, creating a duet on the vocal. I could have never predicted this, and it's probably the best song on the record.

Steve Vai

Long known for his prowess on guitar, now as of late Steve Vai has embarked on a course as a composer of intricate musical pieces like the grammy-nominated "Alien Love Secrets," and his elemental album, "Fire Garden" (Epic/Sony Music). Last fall's G3 concerts, featuring Steve Vai, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani, was truly a mystical experience for anyone who's ever picked up a guitar. When he's in his element on stage, Steve Vai becomes completely one with his instrument, his performance metamorphosing into some sort of exquisite musical ritual he willingly shares with his captive audience.

Describe the feeling when you creatively tap in and everything comes together?

Steve Vai: That's really what music is all about, and why I'm into it. Sometimes it's hard to get from point A to point B, because point A is the hearing and realization of the entire piece, and point B is the finished product. It takes thirteen minutes to listen to the "Fire Garden Suite," whereas it took months to make, but only seconds to realize it. For me, it was all there in a flash.

Steve Vai: When it's happening it seems so simple like, why didn't I think of this before. But when it's gone, it's as elusive as the wind. It lets you know that you don't own it, and it'll be there occasionally when it wants to be, but when it's there, you're tapped in. I recently played with a 60-piece orchestra, and it was the most incredible musical experience of my life. I wrote the music on a whim. Marcello, one of the engineers, was keying in lead sheets into the computer, and needed a quick song. I picked up my guitar and manuscript paper, and wrote this song with one of the most profound melodies I've ever heard. I gave it to Steven Scott Smalley to orchestrate, and when I finally played it afterwards, the feeling was a high beyond belief. It was such a gift and honor to have this beauty at my fingertips.

Steve Vai: It's a place most of us go to, but sometimes we're not focused on being there. Sometimes I know a certain part of consciousness is off in la-la land, but there's another part that's meandering with the mundane things of the moment. Eventually you just have to let it go and trust it, but it's hard because of the obstacles. You have to demand your consciousness to rise above those things, and deal with the moment as it comes. When I was a kid practicing guitar, trying to make every note sound perfect, my mind would wonder to other things, and I would have to pull it back. Anyone who's really successful at something, it's because they were able focus their consciousness on that one particular thing, without letting extraneousness ideas into their mind.

Steve Vai: Warren Berrigian's whole concept is we all have these psychological blocks, and we have to chop them up, and get rid of them to live life to it's fullest. He feels the instrument of expression to the world is your voice, which is a direct reflection of these psychological blocks. Warren has devised ways for these blocks to come up, and to face them. Initially I was skeptical, but after the sessions, which brought up several childhood traumas, my voice was better. In fact I have one song where I recorded three tracks before and the fourth after, and the first ones were abysmal compared to the fourth one.

Pete Droge

Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Pete Droge echoes a sound descended from the midwest and his childhood hero, Bob Dylan. His album, "Find A Door," on American Recordings is laden with well-crafted melodies, and his composing collaboration with Dave Stewart was used as the title track for the movie, "Beautiful Girls." In person, Pete has a easy-going way about him, aware, yet laid-back.

Pete Droge: It's like my monkey. I'm really hooked on it as a way to get myself through life, and sort through my own feelings, emotions and thoughts, day to day. I get loopy if I'm not creative for very long, and nasty and short-tempered if I'm not working on my music. I've been that way for a long lime. In an interview I read, Rosanne Cash likened the creative muse to an energy that if it doesn't get used, it becomes toxic. It's like an energy inside an artist, and if you neglect it and don't put it to use, it becomes harmful. That made a lot of sense to me because I feel that way when I'm not being creative, expressing myself and playing music.

Pete Droge: I do a lot of things and have no set routine. I'll keep a notebook around, and start writing things I'm thinking because I have a fairly active brain. So I start clicking along, and thinking about things, and little flashes of ideas will pop into my head, and I write them down. One of most common ways I tap in is to pick up a guitar, and start humming and playing around with ideas. I have a few words and phrases that I toss around. I find myself singing them over and over.

Pete Droge: Different things, like "seven days" and "fourteen pages" are ones I use a lot. These are snippets that pop into my head whenever I'm working on a melody or something. Sometimes I feel a chord progression and a melody that resonates in me, and makes me feel something. Then I'll play it and sing to it for a while until an idea dawns which makes sense and expresses something to me. Basically my creative process is one I stay with all the time.

Pete Droge: I feel a sense of accomplishment like I've done something. I've heard that human nature tends to keep people looking for a legacy. Just being human you want and crave to make some sort of impact, and the beauty of songwriting for me is I can do it by myself. It's a very solitary process, and as it is for most songwriters, a therapeutic process, but it's also somehow documenting my life, and I can leave it behind. When people listen to my music and feel something as a result, it's a pretty amazing thing. It could be definitely be called a feeling of euphoria.

This article originally appeared in Magical Blend Magazine.

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