He applies these skills in his trilogy "Actual Life," which explores the feelings of "global synchronicity" he experiences while DJing. In his trilogy, he uses audio clips from his everyday life which he considers to be "souvenirs" that capture the beauty within mundane life. His songs take a clip from a banal conversation that Fred found to be meaningful and he creates music around how it makes him feel. For example, in his song "Maria (we've lost dancing)," Fred deconstructs a monologue from DJ The Blessed Madonna to use as a sample. The lyrics mourn the loss of dancing, connection, and community from the COVID-19 pandemic. Fred uses The Blessed Madonna's words to grieve, mixing in "we've lost dancing" every other line to emphasize the symbolism of being unable to enjoy something as simple as dance.
His current project is a live body of work entitled "USB002," which he updates constantly. He is now touring Europe for 10 weeks during which he will visit 10 cities and release 10 new songs. The cover art of each song is a photo taken from the show from which it was released to celebrate an individual moment.
Fred's creative process focuses on how his songs make him feel and a gut sensation about whether they need to be further edited. He works on his music until he gets an " infinitely complex set of tummy feelings that you have of just like, this is giving me the feeling that I was hoping it would." His creative process is guided by his intuition and whether he feels like his music has captured and communicated the intended message.
Fred Again... frequently live streams the creation of his songs, providing his fans unique insight into his creative process. During these live streams, fans see the different versions of the DJ's songs and how the final product is produced. Fred's facial expressions while he is creating are intensely focused to the point where I feel like I can see his mind working. He uses a DJ mixer, which is an electronic device with different beats loaded to certain buttons. In the clip below, Fred makes the buttons on his mixer look like keys on a piano.
Social media provides him an archive of content and describes it as providing the opportunity to "make art out of actual experience." The story telling and focus on connectivity of his trilogy also appear in his performances. When Fred was able to perform "Actual Life 3" when COVID-19 restrictions were loosened, he showed footage of the live audience to include them in the "here and now in the context of all of these other moments that are being flashed around."
In "Code Breakers," Jennifer Doudna describes chasing the feeling of an "aha moment." Though her process and milestones are less abstract than Fred Again, both rely on their intuition to guide them to a feeling of satisfaction. Doudna's is of course validated by scientific evidence and results, however, both creatives described the same feeling of emotional release when they felt they had achieved their goal. Doudna and Fred Again.. feel that their careers are something they need to be doing and feel similar sensations of euphoria when they accomplish their goals.
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