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 Toyota C-HR. We paired these emerging creatives with Grammy-nominated DJ, producer, and songwriter Illenium to talk creativity, big dreams, and how to build a career that lasts. Throughout the series, Illenium served as The Next Gear’s Amplifier — part curator, part connector, and part mentor for DJ and producer St. Mary, stylist and designer Toreno Winn, and singer, songwriter, and producer Otis Kane.
For our final workbook, we built it out of the wisdom Illenium brought to all three episodes. Across the episodes, he kept circling back to how he decides what to measure, what he’s chosen not to be great at, and who gets a vote on his work. We’ve built that into this workbook, which offers actionable advice and creative practices you can run on whatever you’re creating right now.
This workbook does not assume you tour, have a team, or have anything out. But if you’re a creator in any field, these tools will help you take things to The Next Gear.
SECTION 1 — WHAT’S IN YOUR CONTROL
“There’s so many things that have to go right — luck has to be on your side. Timing is out of your control. But the things in your control are being really tapped in with your audience and relating with them…. Be very focused in the present, living in the moment, making the best music you can and putting everything into that. Then planning the next thing you want to achieve, and what it takes to get that done.” — Illenium
SECTION 2 — LEARNING TO SAY ‘YES,’ AND ‘NO’
“I was of the mindset at the beginning of my career: get in front of as many people as humanly possible. Even if it’s not your thing. So I took everything. And then I think there’s a time where you need to cut back on that and focus on your stuff, and really have your headlining shows be something special.” — Illenium
SECTION 3 — EVALUATING YOUR OWN WORK
“I can tell when [the work is] right — once it’s there and I see it, I’m like, ‘oh yeah that’s fire, that fits with everything perfectly.’ But I do not have the eye to actually pick it.” — Illenium
SECTION 4 — THE PEOPLE WHO BET ON YOU
“There was a five or six month period where my manager put food on my table. I’d dropped out of college and I was delivering sushi at the time. He was like, quit your job, just focus on music for six months, let’s see what happens. I wouldn’t be here without that.” — Illenium
