Working with talented and open-minded collaborators, if you have the chance, can be a way to enter the zone. Nick Cave, when asked how he’s been able to reinvent himself so many times as a musician, says that his bandmates, especially Warren Ellis, simply will not play anything that sounds like what he’s done before. He has surrounded himself with

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In my experience, inspiration is not something that finds you, or offers itself to you, nor for that matter is faith. Inspiration and faith are similar in so far as they both ask something of us. They each require real and constant practical application. For me, inspiration comes only when I practice certain things regularly and rigorously. I must... See more

The Red Hand Files

ISSUE #337 / SEPTEMBER 2025

PHOTOGRAPH BY PALMA REPOLE

I’ve had several disagreements with friends about where you stand on things. Where do you...stand?

ALISTAIR, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Dear Alistair,

I acknowledge that this may be, to you and your friends, an unhelpful admission, but I’m not entirely sure where I stand on anything... See more