logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2023
1h 24m

#649: Rick Rubin, Legendary Producer — T...

Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig
About this episode

Brought to you by Wealthfront high-yield savings account, Peloton Row premium rower for an efficient workout, and You Need A Budget cult-favorite money management app.

Rick Rubin (@RickRubin) is a nine-time GRAMMY-winning producer, one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, and the most successful producer in any genre, according to Rolling Stone. He has collaborated with artists from Tom Petty to Adele, Johnny Cash to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys to Slayer, Kanye West to the Strokes, and System of a Down to Jay-Z. You can find my 2015 interview with Rick at tim.blog/RickRubin.

His new book is THE CREATIVE ACT: A Way of Being

*

This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront! Wealthfront is an app that helps you save and invest your money. Right now, you can earn 3.8% APY—that’s the Annual Percentage Yield—with the Wealthfront Cash Account. That’s more than fifteen times more interest than if you left your money in a savings account at the average bank, according to FDIC.gov. 

It takes just a few minutes to sign up, and then you’ll immediately start earning 3.8% interest on your savings. And when you open an account today, you’ll get an extra fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more.  Visit Wealthfront.com/Tim to get started.

*

This episode is also brought to you by You Need A BudgetYou Need A Budget is a cult-favorite budgeting app for a reason—it works. The app and its simple 4-rule method will change the way you think about money and get you laser focused to live the life you want. With You Need A Budget, you’ll finally experience financial clarity, having all the data points you need to make informed financial decisions. With all that information at your fingertips, you can finally home in on buying that dream house, paying off that last debt, or setting yourself up to retire early. And the You Need A Budget team offers daily, free, live classes—including video courses, bootcamps, and challenges—as well as active fan groups in every corner of the internet. Try the app free for 34 days (no credit card required) at YouNeedABudget.com/Tim.

*

This episode is brought to you by Peloton Row! Peloton Row delivers personalized rowing workouts to help you learn and master your stroke. Form features like Form Assist and Form Ratings & Insights indicate how to improve your stroke in class in real time and provide a post-class breakdown so you can hit the Row harder next time. And with the ability to customize your target metrics, you become an expert at the level and pace that feels good for you. You get all your cardio and strength in one shot, while protecting your joints and ligaments in a high-intensity, low-impact way. Fun fact: you work 86% of your muscles in only 15 minutes.

Right now is the perfect time to get rowing with Peloton Row. Peloton Row offers a variety of classes for all levels plus game-changing features that help you get rowing or advance the rowing you can already do. Explore Peloton Row at OnePeloton.com/Row.

*

[00:00] Start

[06:28] Why Rick wrote The Creative Act.

[09:24] The Tao of Rick Rubin.

[12:16] Making the creative toolbox multi-purposeful.

[15:00] Collaborations: ensuring the best ideas prevail over egos.

[19:50] Creative revisions are experiments, not guaranteed improvements.

[26:44] Knowing when to be defined by or to deviate from an established genre.

[33:07] Why Rick resisted advice to make his first book an autobiography.

[37:10] Even a solo project is a collaboration.

[38:07] Noticing what nobody else sees.

[40:24] Being in the wonderful state “which makes art inevitable.”

[42:22] Craftsperson vs. artist.

[44:29] Good distraction vs. bad distraction.

[46:40] Breaking out of sameness.

[49:24] Filtering out non-constructive feedback.

[51:39] Does artificial intelligence deserve a role in the creative process?

[55:36] What happens when new music catches Rick’s ear?

[56:54] How to be the best music producer possible.

[1:00:17] Artists who seem to best channel wonder from the mundane.

[1:04:12] Managing massive inspirational intake.

[1:05:24] New movies on Rick’s radar.

[1:06:23] Tips for artists who want to endure the ages.

[1:12:06] Pacing the book — as the writer and the reader.

[1:15:39] Parting thoughts.

*

For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.

For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Showplease visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors

Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.

For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.

Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.

Follow Tim:

Twittertwitter.com/tferriss 

Instagraminstagram.com/timferriss

YouTubeyoutube.com/timferriss

Facebookfacebook.com/timferriss 

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss

Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry SeinfeldHugh JackmanDr. Jane GoodallLeBron JamesKevin HartDoris Kearns GoodwinJamie FoxxMatthew McConaugheyEsther PerelElizabeth GilbertTerry CrewsSiaYuval Noah HarariMalcolm GladwellMadeleine AlbrightCheryl StrayedJim CollinsMary Karr, Maria PopovaSam HarrisMichael PhelpsBob IgerEdward NortonArnold SchwarzeneggerNeil StraussKen BurnsMaria SharapovaMarc AndreessenNeil GaimanNeil de Grasse TysonJocko WillinkDaniel EkKelly SlaterDr. Peter AttiaSeth GodinHoward MarksDr. Brené BrownEric SchmidtMichael LewisJoe GebbiaMichael PollanDr. Jordan PetersonVince VaughnBrian KoppelmanRamit SethiDax ShepardTony RobbinsJim DethmerDan HarrisRay DalioNaval RavikantVitalik ButerinElizabeth LesserAmanda PalmerKatie HaunSir Richard BransonChuck PalahniukArianna HuffingtonReid HoffmanBill BurrWhitney CummingsRick RubinDr. Vivek MurthyDarren AronofskyMargaret AtwoodMark ZuckerbergPeter ThielDr. Gabor MatéAnne LamottSarah SilvermanDr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next
Today
#830: Nick Kokonas and Richard Thaler, Nobel Prize Laureate — Realistic Economics, Avoiding The Winner’s Curse, Using Temptation Bundling, and Going Against the Establishment
Richard H. Thaler is the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics and the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Busi ... Show More
1h 57m
Sep 30
#829: James Nestor — Breathing Protocols to Reboot Your Health, Fix Your Sleep, and Boost Performance
James Nestor is a science journalist and the author of the international bestseller Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, with more than three million copies sold in 44 languages.This episode is brought to you by:Helix Sleep premium mattresses: https://HelixSleep.com/Tim (27% of ... Show More
1h 50m
Sep 24
#828: David Senra — How Extreme Winners Think and Win: Lessons from 400+ of History’s Greatest Founders and Investors (Including Buffett, Munger, Rockefeller, Jobs, Ovitz, Zell, and Names You Don’t Know But Should)
David Senra is the host of the Founders podcast. For the past nine years, David has intensely studied the life and work of hundreds of history’s greatest entrepreneurs. His new podcast, David Senra, showcases conversations with the best-of-the-best living founders and extreme win ... Show More
2h 55m
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2024
Tim Ferriss Opens Up: What I Do In A Day, Unfair Advantages & The "Barbell Strategy"
Episode 576: Shaan Puri ( https://twitter.com/ShaanVP ) sits down with Tim Ferriss ( https://twitter.com/tferriss ) to talk about his latest lifestyle experiments and how to spend a perfect 24-hours. Want to see Sam and Shaan’s smiling faces? Head to the MFM YouTube Channel and s ... Show More
1h 13m
Apr 2023
Ramit Sethi: His New Netflix Show, How To Stand Out & Spend Your Money
Episode 446: Sam Parr (@TheSamParr) talks with Ramit Sethi (@ramit) about his new Netflix show, "How To Get Rich" and the "I Will Teach You To Get Rich" podcast, learning to spend money on what you love, how to stand out, and what books he's reading. Click here to sign up for our ... Show More
1h 23m
Nov 2022
Bryan Johnson: How He Is Getting Biologically Younger, Selling His Company for $800 Million, and More
Episode 388: Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@TheSamParr) talk to Bryan Johnson (@bryan_johnson) about starting Braintree - which he sold for hundreds of millions - and is his current businesses as Founder/CEO of Kernel and his own personal project Blueprint, where he's worki ... Show More
1h 12m
Feb 2024
Jay Z's Autobiography
What I learned from reading Decoded by Jay Z. ----Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders at Founders Notes----(1:39) I would practice from the time I woke in the morning until I went to sleep(2:10) Even back then I though I was the best.(2:57) Bourdain: The ... Show More
2h 7m
Feb 2024
TIP609: Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb
On today’s episode, Clay reviews Nassim Taleb’s book – Fooled by Randomness.Nassim Taleb is a Lebanon-born American mathematician and statistician whose work concerns problems of randomness, probability, and uncertainty. He’s very well known for his popular books, including The B ... Show More
1 h
Feb 2024
Money and Lifestyle Habits That Are Wasting Your Paycheck
Want to pay off your debt faster? Stick around! This week, you’ll learn five ways to speed up your debt payoff. Plus, don’t miss my #1 tip for never running out of money before your next paycheck, and Nora Visha joins me to share some of her favorite grocery shopping hacks and af ... Show More
32m 29s
Feb 2024
TIP610: Mastermind Q1, 2024 w/ Tobias Carlisle and Hari Ramachandra
In today's episode, Stig Brodersen speaks to Tobias Carlisle and Hari Ramachandra. Stig only owns five individual stocks, and in this episode, he outlines why he is still bullish on Spotify. Hari’s pick, Disney, has recently been extremely volatile, and Tobias pitches Mueller Ind ... Show More
1h 26m
Feb 2024
How to Grow an Audience When No One Seems to Listen
I’m so f*cking happy to announce that ​my book, Stand The F*ck Out, is officially available for PURCHASE​! To buy the book—and more!—DIRECTLY from us and support our small business, go to: https://book.stfo.ioFree Shipping Worldwide • Ripped Apart by 70+ Marketers • Money-Back Gu ... Show More
53m 5s
Dec 2023
Why “Buy Now Pay Later” is Worse Than Credit Cards
Patrick Bet-David explains the new concept of Buy Now Pay Later and how it has become a popular way to buy things in today's society. It could be tempting for people to get things now and pay for them later. However, these products usually cost a lot more than you think, and ... Show More
10m 25s
Feb 2024
Want Big Money Changes? Change Your Behaviors with Val Agostino
You know, we all are like emotional monkeys that live in the moment regarding money. Have you ever found yourself in the habit of shopping on Amazon late at night only to realize that you don’t really need what you just bought? You are so not alone. The good news, according to Va ... Show More
42m 46s