Never Post’s Mike Rugnetta on the creative process and the value of reliable power

Mike Rugnetta is simply a writer, podcast host, producer, audio engineer, educator, musician, sound designer, and father. In short, the man wears a batch of hats. He’s the cocreator and big of the award-winning Never Post, an perfectly must-listen podcast astir the internet, arsenic good arsenic Fun City, a TTRPG podcast wherever he’s the GM. He’s besides hosted two different Crash Course bid and PBS’s Idea Channel.

If you’re reasoning that sounds for illustration a lot, you’re not wrong. It made america want to cognize really Mike stays focused pinch truthful overmuch connected his plate, and what devices are astir indispensable to him pinch his hectic schedule. But, what we sewage was truthful overmuch much than that. Mike has a batch to opportunity astir the imaginative process, the worth of reliable electricity, and really the nonaccomplishment of the headphone jack is grounds of our societal collapse.

What is your astir indispensable tool?

At first, I wanted to opportunity my audio interface. It’s the first portion of instrumentality I move connected each time and the past I move off. It’s an RME Fireface UCX II and the 2nd astir reliable portion of cogwheel I own. The first is my headphones.

I’ve had the aforesaid brace of Sony MDR-7506’s for astir 20 years. I usage them each day. I spot them much than immoderate group I’ve known for arsenic long. Only precocious person they started showing the telltale signs of headphone age, but I deliberation I’ll beryllium capable to make a repair and get different fewer years retired of them.

There are immoderate group who opportunity you can’t operation connected headphones. These group are cowards. I emotion mine, and I operation astir everything connected them. On this, Andrew Scheps and I agree (though Andrew says he replaces his beautiful regularly; possibly I should, too.)

Which is the astir underappreciated?

Let maine show you, it’s reliable power. The landlord of my workplace building and I are presently progressive successful a prolonged conflict pinch Con Edison to get them to reside the building’s debased powerfulness service. New York City had a drawstring of brawny snowstorms this winter, and the building mislaid powerfulness for complete a week. When it came back, powerfulness remained successful near-brownout conditions, pinch really debased work voltage.

Normal work is astir 122V. I’m looking astatine my powerfulness conditioner correct now and it says 114V. It often goes arsenic debased arsenic 107V. This causes each kinds of weird problems, galore of which I person workarounds for except … the minisplit successful my abstraction can’t tally connected voltage this low. So I haven’t had ductless power aliases AC for astir a month. I brought successful a model unit, but it’s large and really inefficient and connects to the net moreover erstwhile I show it not to and turns connected and disconnected randomly for reasons I can’t determine. I’m reminded of the printer tweet; I really don’t want to person to bargain a handgun.

Anyway, agelong communicative short: Kiss your reliable powerfulness outlets. (EDITORS’ NOTE: Please do not buss your powerfulness outlets.)

What is the first app you instal connected a caller telephone aliases computer?

The reply for some of these is Firefox, Firefox Focus, specifically connected my phone. If that’s boring, Signal and Bandcamp would beryllium adjacent connected a caller phone, since I usage those constantly. On a caller computer, erstwhile Firefox is installed, I’m downloading Alfred and Max simultaneously.

What is 1 point you wish you could alteration astir your phone?

If I had a “particular group of skills,” I would Taken personification adjacent to whoever happens to beryllium moving Apple this week, and my ransom would beryllium putting headphone jacks backmost successful iPhones. The 3.5mm jack is 1 of humanity’s top accomplishments, and its deletion from immoderate of my different favourite devices makes maine consciousness for illustration nine is crumbling astir my feet. Some weirdos get connected the net and wax apocalyptical astir birthrates and immigration, but their prejudices and individual failings unsighted them to the real, actual, rotten halfway of societal collapse: ports.

What sites do you person pinned to your tab bar?

I person 3 email accounts for various activity things. Then my individual calendar, followed by Never Post’s (a podcast I make astir the internet) accumulation Airtable. Up until recently, I had much breathtaking things pinned, for illustration lines, aliases the Max forum aliases Beta database (disclosure: I do a small spot of activity for Cycling ’74), aliases my OldReader relationship – but I recovered that keeping those things pinned meant I publication them less.

How galore tabs do you person unfastened correct now?

Eighteen, and really, it’s only that galore because of worldly I’ve opened to reply these questions. I would opportunity 10 is mean for me, 20 is simply a lot. I americium not a ton-of-tabs guy.

Which societal media level do you usage the astir (if any)?

I’m successful my 40s, truthful you already cognize the reply is Bluesky.

What is your happy spot online?

It is 1,000% and without a doubt, Bandcamp. A nosy spot of lore: Many years ago, I sewage java pinch Joe Holt, my machine subject coach from college, and he said, “I’m progressive successful this nosy caller startup, wherever we’re going to waste integer music. Can I show you the name? You person to committedness not to laugh.” If I retrieve correctly, my Bandcamp instrumentality relationship is #4 and the first belonging to personification who did not activity astatine the company.

I want to emotion Bandcamp unconditionally for each these reasons and more, but alas, it does look — done various business maneuvers — a drawstring of its owners whitethorn person successfully busted a union. I’m genuinely unsure, but location person been no Bandcamp United updates since 2023, and the union’s FAQ states explicitly that “[current owner] Songtradr has not recognized the union” (emphasis original).

I utilized to telephone Bandcamp “the only bully website,” but now I admit the truth: There is nary specified point arsenic a “good website.”

What is your favourite gadget you’ve ever owned?

There are a fewer gadgets that, upon first holding, I’ve thought “Oh! Everything is different now!” The iPhone was one. The Switch was another. But each feels arsenic though it’s chasing the pathbreaking value of what, to me, is the original gadget, the ur-device: The first Gameboy. So overmuch of really we conceive of what’s cardinal to the creation of devices coming (absent, of course, a relationship to the internet) feels for illustration it was first prototyped successful the original Gameboy design. Plus, I still person mine, and it still works; my woman does too. I cannot opportunity the aforesaid for our first mates of iPhones.

Which was the astir disappointing?

The happiest time of the past half-decade of my life was the time my girl was born. The 2nd was the time I was capable to waste and acquisition successful my Touchbar MacBook Pro for an M1, upon which I americium presently typing answers to these questions. The Touchbar MacBook Pro — for illustration the subprime owe crisis, for illustration the various grifts of the existent American administration, for illustration the endless revelations of the Epstein Files — is further illustration that the powerful will ne'er beryllium asked to reply for their crimes, nary matter really heinous and antisocial.

What crippled do you person the fondest memories of?

The summertime aft Super Metroid came out, I was surviving connected Cape Cod. I don’t deliberation I went extracurricular once.

Which tech inclination do you wish would spell away?

What creation are you astir proud of?

I emotion each my children equally.

Which are you slightest proud of?

I dislike each my children equally.

Ok, much earnestly: I’ve made hundreds, if not 1000+, “creations” (if you count individual episodes of ongoing shows). There are dozens of things I look backmost connected fondly and an adjacent aliases greater number wherever I spot each the ways I could person done better. I’m proud of it all. Making things is simply a batch of activity earlier you moreover see the trouble of really sharing those things pinch an audience, which is often joyful but besides challenging successful adjacent measure, and successful ways which astonishment me, moreover having now done it for arsenic agelong arsenic I have.

All this being said, I do deliberation Float City (20 episodes, afloat sound-designed superfuture ttrpg communicative pinch immoderate bananas unplanned twists) is very good.

What’s the champion portion of proposal you’ve ever received?

More than once, I’ve heard personification I respect opportunity immoderate type of “No 1 will return your life earnestly for you.” Often, expansive life proposal assumes a benignant of cleanable agency, which we don’t each have. Student loans, caregiving responsibilities, differing levels of ability, aliases wellness mean that telling personification to “just get retired there” aliases “drop everything, and make a stake connected yourself” aliases immoderate is simply a full nonstarter. Sometimes the astir adjuvant point is to beryllium reminded that you do person agency wrong your ain life, though it whitethorn beryllium remote, forgotten, unused, underdeveloped.

I deliberation of this proposal arsenic a reminder to look for the ways I person power complete my life and usage them successful work of my goals. For me, that is what “taking life seriously” means; it is thing nary 1 other tin do for me.

What is your existent obsession?

Other than the standbys (synthesizers, post-structuralist theory), I’ve conscionable vanished a agelong of designing and building a fewer pieces of “problem-solution furniture” for my studio, which was hugely gratifying, not to mention cost-effective. The results are neither perfect, nor pretty, but they’re mine, and I’m guessing I’ll get astatine slightest a decade of usage retired of them. One is moreover a redesigned portion of problem-solution furnishings I built in, like, 2010, to clasp records. Now it holds synths!

But wait, okay, possibly that’s not existent enough… I’m besides astir to put together a Never Post episode astir Doom, truthful I’m playing done each the astir beloved / discussed Doom and Quake mods / WADs / TCs, et cetera, and it’s a blast. The astir caller Quake Brutalist Game Jam is possibly the coolest point I’ve ever seen; it feels meticulous to opportunity I americium obsessed pinch it.

What do you do erstwhile you request to focus?

Ninety percent of my occupation is sitting quietly, either penning aliases mixing / editing / scoring — truthful I’ve sewage a batch of believe focusing and person almost benignant of designed my life astir needing to beryllium capable to “Get In The Zone.” The only notifs connected my telephone are text, email, and activity Slack; my workplace is successful the backmost of the building, disconnected the street, nether a large tree, and adjacent but not in my apartment, which I deliberation is really key. All my clients and coworkers are remote, truthful during business hours, it’s ever conscionable maine (and sometimes my dog).

The biggest problem I tally into is not needfully focus, but information — usually astir the clerical stuff: emails, invoices, your various papers-work (I americium my ain mini business, which intends I americium besides the unwilling bureaucrat of my ain life). Normally, to get rolling connected these sorts of tasks, each I request is immoderate music; I’m listening to this comp of Italian electro-acoustic euphony correct now. I’ve besides been served good by the astir caller merchandise from the English kraut/post-rock outfit Gnod.

What do you do erstwhile you’re emotion stuck?

When I get stuck, it tends to beryllium for 2 reasons:

Sometimes these are related.

One persists arsenic agelong arsenic I’m successful denial astir needing to do the activity of fixing immoderate is successful beforehand of me. This tin return a batch of different shapes. Maybe a portion of penning isn’t starring to the conclusions I thought it would, but I support trying to steer it back. Maybe a sound creation task is producing only hideous results, but I stubbornly deliberation it should beryllium otherwise. Normally, addressing these issues intends going back. But going back is not progress, truthful it tin consciousness intolerable (even irresponsible) to make that choice. The irony being: It would beryllium quicker to commencement complete than to hack done the overgrown wilderness wherever I’ve ended up.

I often deliberation of it this way: Rach imaginative endeavor is defined by a benignant of momentum. Ideas aliases sounds aliases images aliases shapes propose 1 different successful a benignant of sequence, aliases arrangement, wrong each individual work. Imagining and past responding to this momentum and series is, I think, the halfway of the intuitive process astir group travel to make things (be it an essay, painting, movie, song…).

Often, arsenic artists, we discuss pinch that imagined sequence, arsenic well. We ideate something, we ideate what others whitethorn imagine, and we affirm aliases subvert those expectations to varying degrees, often aggregate times wrong a work. While putting thing together, a activity whitethorn “suggest” thing unexpected happens next; the momentum pushes america and our imaginative output into unfamiliar territory. This is really we whitethorn beryllium amazed by our ain creations. They look to nutrient demands, almost. People often opportunity the portion “wants” aliases “wants to be” immoderate specified thing. And sometimes what the portion “wants” is not what we want... truthful we participate a subversive narration pinch our ain work.

Being creatively stuck is often, I find, the consequence of a guidance to the adjacent thought successful the series aliases arrangement, truthful suggested by the piece’s momentum — moving against that momentum, trying to subvert it, aliases simply refusing it, often slows activity down. You extremity up struggling to find a coherent measurement guardant pinch activity that has ended up location uninteresting, risky, scary, aliases possibly conscionable manually difficult. It tin return a while to acclimate to this caller territory. Distance helps immeasurably, here. If you can, conscionable locomotion distant for a while. But barring that (it is simply a luxury to beryllium capable to do so, particularly if you make things for a living), you whitethorn request to fig retired immoderate diverging path, a hidden exit. This brings america to the 2nd type of stuck.

Most often, I get stuck because I can’t ideate what comes next. There is nary momentum, I’ve mislaid it, aliases it’s brought maine location I spot conscionable isn’t correct for what I’m trying to accomplish. What then? Where to next? I find the fastest, easiest measurement to lick this rumor is to spell entertain myself. Doing this feels akin to going back -– sitting down to publication a book, watch a movie, whatever, while I should beryllium progressing connected immoderate task feels irresponsible. But successful bid to cognize what your options are, you must cognize what’s possible. The champion measurement to appraise yourself of anticipation is done the activity of others.

When was the past clip you went location without your phone?

This morning, stepping the dog.

What’s the past portion of beingness media you bought?

I went to the Brooklyn Indie Comics Showcase this play pinch my daughter. We bought her stickers of cats and maine a zine artbook from my pal Jeff Thompson. The much expected reply present whitethorn be: EMG & Battista, The Bridge EP, TTT034 (12”, 2015) — really great, distorted, skronky, leftfield techno from mysterious London explanation Trilogy Tapes. Grabbed this while I was successful London visiting family earlier successful the month.

What do you deliberation is worthy splurging on?

Anything you’re gonna usage for a while! I americium a immense believer successful spending somewhat much to deliberation astir objects somewhat less. The classical illustration present is boots, but I deliberation this measurement astir furniture, workplace equipment, room implements, etc. If we’re talking astir a genuinely unjustified cost, though, I tin tolerate extremes for the cleanable overgarment and the cleanable sandwich.

What would the tagline for your biopic be?

“Words, and sounds, and the sounds of words.”

What’s the past GIF aliases meme you used?