Creativity Is a Habit- Mark Firehammer on Systems, Story, and Showing Up

Episode Summary

Creativity isn’t a lightning strike—it’s a practice. In this candid conversation, songwriter–novelist–systems thinker Mark Firehammer unpacks why creativity is a habit you can train, and how treating it like a system beats waiting for the muse. We get the backstory of his new novel The Echo and the Voice (published under a pen name that honors his mother’s Swedish family), and the companion album he produced with AI to mirror the protagonist’s awakening—two mediums pointing back to each other to help readers reclaim a silenced voice.

Mark shares industry war stories (serving lunches in Sony’s boardroom, seeing artists reduced to “commodities”), the craft lessons he got from Songwriters Guild president George David Weiss, and why the best art reflects what’s the same in us—what makes us laugh, cry, and lean in. Then we pivot into feeln️ess, his body-first alternative to traditional fitness: nine everyday movements that restored his mobility and joy in his 60s without chasing aesthetics or gym culture. We close with a simple assignment: make a seven-day list of what you loved as a kid, and do one item every day for 30 days. If your voice has gone quiet—or your body feels stuck—this episode is a roadmap back.

Show Notes & Chapters

• [00:00] Cold open: “Creativity isn’t magic—it’s a habit you can train.”

• [03:00] Creativity as muscle + habit; why systems beat chaos.

• [07:00] The pen name that honors his mother’s Swedish lineage—and why “Firehammer” felt too aggressive for the work.

• [09:00] Reading the book’s premise: Jonas Wilder, culture’s “flattening,” and the cost of trading truth for belonging.

• [11:00] AI as bandmate: iterative production to match the song “exactly” as heard in his head; book↔album loop.

• [20:00] Jonas’s father as metaphor for culture; learning to question everything while finding “the window.”

• [25:00] New York in the ’90s: Sony boardroom, the commodity conversation, and choosing art over industry.

• [30:00] Craft lessons from George David Weiss; structure serves story (chorus first, bridges only if there’s something to cross).

• [33:00] Favorite story-songs: Harry Chapin’s “Mr. Tanner,” Eagles classics, Dan Fogelberg deep cuts—why place + people endure.

• [45:00] Feeln️ess origin: from “oof” at 58 to pain-free at 62; natural systems > artificial ideals.

• [48:00] The nine daily tasks (bed/floor, chair, reach, bend, rotate, etc.) and 20 minutes/day to restore function.

• [55:00] Blue Zones inspiration; designing a low-to-the-floor home that keeps you moving.

• [57:00] Homework: list what you loved as a kid; do one item daily for 30 days—awareness → action → joy.

Resources

• Novel: The Echo and the Voice (published under a pen name honoring his mother’s family).

• Companion Album: AI-assisted soundtrack sequenced to “wake you up.”

• Feeln️ess: Nine natural movements for lifelong mobility (Mark’s framework).