Toyota and UPROXX have teamed up for The Next Gear, a series that puts emerging creatives in the passenger seat of the All-Electric C-HR. Joining the creatives in the driver’s seat is Grammy-nominated DJ, producer, and songwriter Illenium, ready to talk creativity, big dreams, and how to build a career that lasts. In his episode, LA stylist and designer Toreno Winn left the ride with tips on getting to the Next Gear, how to build a fanbase that sticks with you through every experiment, and how to stop sitting on finished work and get it out into the world.
We left the episode with a ton of advice worth writing down — on holding things back, on building a world instead of a look, on working with a new creative team, and on when to evolve versus start over. This editorial, presented in partnership with Toyota, features everything Toreno came away with, from Illenium, an artist who’s already shifted into the Next Gear.
On building a fanbase
Meet your fans in the comments and at the meetups.
“When I first started out, I was so engaged. I was blown away that I was getting fans… I would be on Facebook fan pages and I’d see meetups at these shows… I’m still friends with some of the OG fans from like 2015. Genuine friendships. We have totally different parts of our lives now.”
Caring what they think has a limit.
“Always being present and always being engaged and really caring about their opinions — to an extent. You have to be your own artist.”
On finishing your work
Nothing is ever going to be ready.
“There’s never going to be a perfect scenario where everything is ready. Ever.”
Put things out rough instead of waiting.
“I went with, more exposure is better, and let things be rough around the edges. I’m a perfectionist in some aspects, but a lot of times, especially with your art, the art can be part of not being perfect.”
Learn to love the chaos
“You have to be able to adapt and live in that gray area where it’s kind of constant chaos, but it’s also a great atmosphere to just keep flowing through and figure out how to ride that creative wave.”
On building a world
The work starts with the story.
“When I’m getting ready to write an album, I really think about the story first, and the overall vibe, and what am I really inspired by… It doesn’t need to be perfectly dialed, but I like to write those things down.”
Measure every other piece against it.
“Every time I get a song that I’m really excited about, that I feel like fits that palette, then I’ll think of it in that way.”
Keep your world consistent
“I love cyberpunk vibes. Post-apocalyptic, Dune, tech — all the same kind of stuff that goes into the world building that I nerd out on. It’s so dependent on the right style and the right colors.”
On working with a new creative team
Learn the world you’re all building together.
“That’s such a big aspect of it — knowing the world, because most artists really care about the world they’re creating… it comes down to a simple question — What am I really interested in at the moment?”
Challenge your team without pulling them out of the vibe.
“Finding ways to be creative and do something new that challenges you and who you are working with, but don’t go so overboard that the vibe is off.”
On evolving vs. reinventing
You don’t need to reinvent yourself every time.
“You create your brand, you create your image. You don’t necessarily need to reinvent yourself every time you do something new. You have your core, and you’ve made that for a reason. So how do we build on it?”
The full reset every cycle is exhausting.
“A lot of artists are like, we need a complete rebrand every project. And I think that’s exhausting. But you don’t want to get stale and bored. You have to find ways to keep things exciting for you.”
Focus on what’s most important to you.
“Some people are absolute geniuses and every album they put out changes things for five to ten years. I love that, and I can so appreciate that. But whenever I get to writing, that’s not necessarily what I’m thinking about.”
Getting To The Next Gear
You’ll know when it’s working.
“Maybe eight years ago, my second tour, I could see pretty much all of the venues starting to fill up with people wearing my jerseys… That’s when I knew everything was really working, because it was spreading.”
Be addicted to what you are building.
“My team and I would sit down and be like, what do we want this world to be? Creating that with people, and then seeing that really explode out of the show — it’s the coolest creative endeavor. It’s why I keep doing it. It’s addictive.”
Take the leap.
“That’s my number one advice to anyone who ever asked me, ‘How did you get to where you got to?’ Just take the leap of faith.”
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