How do we know if we are creating anything new?

WALK THIS WAY!

Noel Castell brought up a very interesting point in our first podcast Wham! And Beyond. In that edition, Noel discussed the challenges of working as a 'human jukebox' for so long and feeling like anything new he was working on sounded eerily similar to a song he's performed before. When differentiation and innovation are key to progress and success, how do we know if we are creating anything new?

Most innovation isn't about inventing from scratch, just as most creators don't start from scratch. Often, it's about connecting old ideas in new ways.

For instance, one of my old favourites is Walk This Way by Aerosmith. The band typically had a funky New Orleans sound to it, and on the occasion of the song's inception, Joe Perry was trying to move away from the standard 1-4-5 chord progression. He played the first riff from C, then changed it to E and then back to C. What came out was a new sound and a new hit for the band.

This new sound wasn't particularly revolutionary, but it was an adjustment in the way their current audience was used to experiencing music. Like most innovations, it was an iterative advancement, connecting old ideas in new ways. The song peaked at number 10 in the Billboard Top 100 and made Aerosmith a household name in the 70's.

But when the 80's hit, a whole new generation was taking over, and the funky rock era was being replaced by new sounds and new artists. Aerosmith was starting to disappear off the mainstream radio and rap and techno artists were taking over. Then something wild happened. A group called Run DMC asked to cover Walk This Way on their next Album in 1986 called Raising Hell and the song went to number 4 in Billboards charts.

Run DMC brought a unique voice, energy, and lens to an existing conversation. They created a new subgenre of Rap/Rock that ignited a new audience. They essentially brought life back to an old idea by making it relevant to the current audience. Run DMC applied their own values, culture, and experiences to the song and found a new audience through innovative thinking.

The evolution of innovation can be seen in everything we experience. It might be coincidental that the area I live in, Waterloo, was dominated at one time by the textile industry, and is now dominated by the computer industry. I say that because computer programming owes its existence to the Jacquard Loom, which was patented in 1804. The loom used replaceable punch cards to control a sequence of operations to create elaborate tapestries. Through various iterations the punch cards eventually wound up being used for data in computer applications up until the mid 1980's (sadly, I used them).

So, the idea of something being completely new is unlikely, however, the evolution of ideas with iterations to do new things, or adjust to appeal to new audiences is limitless. Play it a different way, apply it to a different process, add in your own flavours, that is how you know what you are creating is new.

Written by Bill Waters July 2025