Toyota and UPROXX have teamed up for The Next Gear, a new series that puts emerging creatives on a ride-along in 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 the inagural episode, melodic bass and trap DJ and producer St. Mary took the passenger seat to pick Illenium’s brain for some advice on how to level up her career, how to balance music, shows, and socials, and build a sound that’s truly hers.
We came away from the episode feeling genuinely inspired by Illenium’s tips, so we’ve created a companion workbook to accompany the episode that offers actionable advice and creative practices that will help level up your own craft, no matter whereever you are in your journey.
This workbook does not assume you tour, have a team, or have released anything. But if you’re a creator in any field, these tools will help you take things to The Next Gear.
SECTION 1 — BALANCING YOUR TIME
“With shows and everything else, it’s really hard to balance out making music and making sets… then also doing socials. How do you keep up with the speed of everything?” — St. Mary
“It’s genuinely impossible to do everything perfectly all the time. It’s always going to be overwhelming. Try to find the little moments of balance. Work when you’re excited to work. If you get a new idea in your head and you really want to see it through — if you have that flow going on, really take it and run with it, and let the other things go.” — Illenium
WORKSHEET 1.1 — BUILDING THE BALANCE
List everything currently claiming your creative time. Be specific and unflattering. Tag each one C (craft), SOC (socials), or O (everything else — job, school, life).
| Tag | What it is | Hours per week | Who could do it instead? |
|---|---|---|---|
Add up the hours by tag. C: SOC: O:
WORKSHEET 1.2 — FINDING THE TIME
A. “Take a look at your creative process. When does creative inspiration arrive?
Pattern: my most creative hours are:
B. Assign the lanes.
Most creative hours → (peak creative time)
Long grinding blocks → (sets, edits, admin — work you can do when you aren’t in the mood to create something new)
Dead time → (socials, listening, tagging, reference-gathering)
C. Find your workspace Illenium made music on buses and planes because that was the time he had. What’s your bus?
| Dead time I actually have (commute, break, waiting, between classes) | How long | What lane fits there |
|---|---|---|
WORKSHEET 1.3 — HIT RESET
“In general, are there certain things that you do that help you get balanced more?” — St. Mary
“If I’m gone for two weeks, I need at least a weekend off. When I get home I have to try to get back on a normal schedule — force myself to go to bed at midnight and wake up at 8 or 9, get outside, don’t just go straight to the studio.” — Illenium
My Recovery Plan:
SECTION 2 — FINDING YOUR SOUND
“Have you ever felt like you had to fight the tendency of listening to what other people are making and getting a little too influenced by them?” — St. Mary
“It’s part of learning and part of being inspired. Then when you learn that sound, you kind of get inspired by your own music and your own shows and your own connections.” — Illenium
WORKSHEET 2.1 — MAPPING YOUR INFLUENCES
| Artist | What I Take | Where it shows up in my music |
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Check your middle column. What’s sitting in the overlap?
“One of the biggest things as a producer that makes you different is your sample choices — drum choices and synths. Getting something that’s harder to recreate is helpful. Which is tricky, because there are so many sample packs now. Figure out a way to find a little unique bit that you reuse, or use in different ways.” — Illenium
WORKSHEET 2.2 — AUDIT YOUR SIGNATURE
Pull the last five things you made (could be finished or unfinished). [Fewer than five? Use what you have. One is enough to run this.]
WORKSHEET 2.3 — ME OR THE SCENE?
| This track | |
|---|---|
| What in this is unmistakably mine? | |
| What’s here because it’s what’s working right now? | |
| (Or: what’s here because it’s what I always do?) | |
| If the trend died tomorrow, would I still like this? | |
| What would I change if nobody was going to hear it? |
SECTION 3 — FEEDBACK AND WORKSHOPPING
“Sometimes you’re in the studio writing for ten or twelve hours, and then you come out and it’s too early to send. It’s too rough, and you’ve listened to it too much. That time off is really important.” — Illenium
WORKSHEET 3.1 — THE EARS
| Name | What they’re good at hearing | Last time I sent them something |
|---|---|---|
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WORKSHEET 3.2 — THE PLAYBACK PREP
Before you show anyone:
After:
“I rely on my ear, but… there are two other people that I’ll show. You need fresh ears… There’s times where we’ll all think it’s the one, and then it’s not. There’s times where we get it wrong too. There’s never a perfect answer. But having people you rely on that you trust their ear, is important” — Illenium
SECTION 4 — MANAGING GOALS & EXPECTIONS
“What do you think are some of the things that helped you get your project to that next level?” — St. Mary
“When I first moved to Denver and wanted to dedicate my life to this, the goal was to headline Red Rocks in ten years. There’s a difference between expectations and goals. The goal was always — let’s do the biggest thing anyone has ever done. But the expectation was, okay, maybe we can headline Red Rocks in ten years. And we were able to do it in three.” — Illenium
WORKSHEET 4.1 — GOALS VS. EXPECTATIONS
| Write it | |
|---|---|
| The goal (the biggest version, no ceiling, slightly embarrassing to write down) | |
| The expectation (what’s realistic, with a date) | |
| The next goal/achievement | |
| What has to be true for me to reach it | |
| The part of this I’ve been avoiding learning because it’s “not the music part” | |
| The last thing I pulled off that I never let myself feel |
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