Ian Dowling: Creative Flow State, Starting a Label, and When Art Becomes Art

Today’s guest is Grammy award winning engineer, mixer, producer, and songwriter Ian Dowling. Ian is based out of the UK and has worked on an uncountable number of gold and platinum records for artists such as Adele, Kasabian, KT Tunstall, and Catfish and the Bottlemen. He does composition work for various television and radio clients, runs two record labels, At Swim Music and Punch Up Records, mentors young engineers, and has a podcast. We have a great chat about removing creative obstacles, listening to what the song wants, AI engineering, hitting the flow state, and when art becomes art.In this episode, we'll dig in on...Hitting your creative flow stateRemoving all creative barriers in the studioLearning to filter the important from the unimportantStarting a record labelWorking with AdeleHow a lack of options can inspire decision makingBeating burnoutDJing and getting into technoFinding label signings on Submit HubThe song is always greater than the technical sideLearn More About Ian Dowling...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdowling/Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamdowlingWebsite: www.iandowling.co.ukLearn More About At Swim Music...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atswimmusic/Website: www.at-swim.comBandcamp: atswimlabel.bandcamp.com Learn More About Punch Up Records...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/punchuprecords/Website: www.punchuprecords.comBandcamp: punchuprecords.bandcamp.com📢 Our Sponsors 📢Listen to Secret Sonics!Sign Up for Complete Producer Network!⬇️ FREE 2025 PLANNING WORKSHOP ⬇️https://www.travisference.com/2025plan📺 WATCH THE SHOW ON YOUTUBE 📺 https://www.youtube.com/@progressionspodConnect with Me:📬 Newsletter: https://www.travisference.com/subscribe📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/progressionspod🎵TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@progressionspod🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/progressionspod🌐 Website: https://www.travisference.com/🙏 Leave a Review or Rating 🙏Apple: https://www.progressionspodcast.com/appleSpotify: https://www.progressionspodcast.com/spotifyAli Abdaal YouTube: HereCredits:Guest: Ian DowlingHost: Travis FerenceEditor: Travis FerenceTheme Music: inter.ference