As I dove head-first into his album, Stick Season, that was even more apparent.  The album has a strong sense of place, firmly rooted in the American Northeast, with consistent – and extremely personal – themes running through it.

But what struck me the most when I went back and listened to bits and pieces of his first two albums was how his music had evolved.  Stick Season was far more in line with a folk-rock style I enjoy, whereas his first two albums had a heavy pop influence.

How did Noah Kahan explain this evolution in style?

From a profile piece in Boston Magazine, Noah Kahan shares:

In his first years at the label, which released his debut studio album Busyhead in 2019, he wrote radio-aspiring pop balladry—more Lewis Capaldi than Paul Simon, more pumpkin spice than pine scent—because he thought that was what the world wanted. “I felt like I was pushing a boulder up a hill,” he says today. It felt like grunt work, almost as if he were a passenger to his own career. “I was writing music that I wouldn’t listen to,” he says now.

During the pandemic, he returned home to Vermont, where he became introspective and re-evaluated his relationship with his hometown.  He also thought deeply about the type of music he actually wanted to make – which led to him posting a small sample of a new song on TikTok to judge his audience’s reaction. .  While waiting for their response and hearing nothing initially, he says:

“I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to delete this shit,'” he remembers. Instead, he went to sleep (“I probably took, like, an edible or something,” he recalls), and by the next morning, the comments were rolling in.

After a few days, it was clear the music he actually wanted to make, the music that truly resonated with him, also struck a chord with his audience.

That sample became the basis for his hit single, Stick Season, and led him to write the style and type of music that he truly wanted to play – something more edgy, rooted in rock with a tinge of country influence, but still purely folk – rather than pop ballads.

And it worked – Stick Season – and the subsequent re-releases of the album – exploded his career.

It wasn’t just the style of music that helped propel him to the top of rock charts around the world.  It was also his introspective lyrics that in many cases came from his lived experiences – incredibly well written with some impressive storytelling – that spoke to his audiences. As he says:

“My favorite authors write beautifully about places. Instead of trying to describe this massive universal relatability, I wanted to focus on one thing that meant a lot to me and hopefully find something relatable in that.”

So, what are two lessons you can take away from his experience?

First, you need to create personal work that’s for you.  This is especially important if you predominantly do corporate/commercial work – it can be easy to get stuck in the rut of doing only what you think your client wants.  But if you want to express yourself as an artist, you must create work from your own experience. This doesn’t mean you should only make films straight from your personal experience, but you should have a strong, personal attachment to the films you’re making and create them in a style that reflects your vision.

Lastly, share your work with the public!  It doesn’t even need to be finished – start sharing bits of what you’re making.  This can help you get feedback, refine your work, and see what’s working.  At the same time, make sure that what you’re making is true to yourself.

PS – Do you struggle to think of themes and topics that you have a strong personal attachment to?  Check out my mini-course, Finding Yourself as a Documentary Filmmaker to dive deep into your experiences that can help you craft more personally-reflective stories.