What is a ‘flow state’ and why are they so important to…

When time melts away — For decades, scientists have been attempting to understand what makes the brain focus so intently on a creative task that the world around us slips from grasp. We teamed up with AlphaTheta to ask anu, Joel Mignott and object blue about what flow means to them.

object blue usually feels nervous before taking to the stage. Knowing that there will only be the single, present moment to perform, the London-based DJ and producer can often get “existential”. But on pressing play – and in particular, on a track with triplets – those jitters quickly disappear, and the moment shrinks to pure focus between herself, the music, and the crowd, as she finds herself in the much-treasured ‘flow state’.

A flow state is that fleeting splurge of creativity, when time shifts and warps, and the mind focuses so tightly on a task that it lets go of any external distractions. It’s something that scientists have sought to understand for generations, with one psychologist even calling it “the secret to happiness”.

But what exactly is a flow state? In truth, landing within these creative states of mind are deeply personal experiences. They come and go in an infinite range of ways for different individuals and creative practices, and can be so meditative that they are hard to put a finger on, with consciousness only returning once a task is done.

It’s something that music tech outfit AlphaTheta have been seeking to find out more about in recent times, and to channel in their recent work. Their feature-length documentary, We Become One, saw them reach out to neuroscientists to hear about the impact of dance music on the brain, and of shared musical experiences. The company’s name even references the alpha and theta brainwaves, which scientists have found to be linked to relaxation and focus respectively, and the flow found in the optimal state of mind that DJs reach when they perform and share their music with crowds.

To try and understand flow states more, and particularly how and why creative minds channel it, we teamed up with AlphaTheta and caught up with three of our favourite artists – DJ & producer object blue, DJ & chef Joel Mignott, and DJ & illustrator Anu Ambasna – to find out more about how they find their flows, and why it’s so important to their creative processes.

Anu Ambasna

A stalwart of South London’s music scene, Anu Ambasna – or anu when she’s on the tools – is an DJ and artist who has held down a residency on NTS Radio since its early days. Away from the ones-and-twos, she is also a painter and illustrator, and her comic book drawings touch on anything from the corporate world to DJ culture.

“When I’m deep in my flow state and I’m drawing, it kind of feels like there’s nothing around me,” she says. “There’s no sense of time, and I could have been drawing for 20 minutes, an hour, and I forget about everything and get locked in. It’s very cathartic.”

When drawing and painting, Anu often looks to music to aid in finding her flow, and reaches for specific artists who tap into a corner of her brain where she feels the most creative. “I’m usually listening to Sonic Youth or anything with guitars or feels angsty,” she continues. “For me, creating art is a way to tap into my inner child, especially my teen self, and I like to listen back to the music I was listening to as a teenager when I’m in that [flow] state.”

Joel Mignott

When he’s not cooking intricate meals in the kitchen, chef and DJ Joel Mignott is usually serving up pumping heat to dancefloors. He’s the co-founder of DJ Supper Club, which fuses music and boisterous entertainment to reimagine the usually quiet affair of fine dining.

For Joel, flow is the point when everything comes together. “I think the moments where I’m most in flow state are when I have curated an event, my supper club for example, where there is a convergence of music or food,” he says. “There are so many minute details that go into this big event, and when you get down to the moment when everything’s on and you have to serve for everybody, it’s those moments when I fully phase out everything and get the job in hand done.”

While creative sparks can so often seem like a bolt from the blue, Joel stresses the importance of putting the work in beforehand. “The moments that feel most effortless come with a lot of preparation,” he explains. “When I’ve prepared my DJ sets, I feel comfortable and safe enough to grab it by the horns and let it work for me. The same applies to the kitchen – once you have your meal prepped and you have all of your individual elements, you can just attack it and be in flow state, not thinking about anything because everything’s there for you to take it.”

object blue

With her Martian experimental soundscapes that can move anywhere between heads down electro, gunfinger grime and intricate IDM, object blue is a singular producer and DJ. For her, producing and creating music is a different kind of flow to performing live, and she needs a specific set of circumstances to find it.

“I have to be comfortable, and I can’t have anything ugly around me,” she says. “My desk area is filled with trinkets that I collected and it’s all my aesthetic decision – I chose the paint on the walls, I chose the desk, and they are all aesthetically pleasing. Only when things fall into place like that, I can get into the flow.”

Playing live is a very different situation for her. Rather than being an insular, individual form of creation, instead it’s shared. “When I play music, people are listening and it’s a space I share with them,” she continues. “So I can stop being such a loner and be like, ‘Okay, we’re in this space together.’ And really, all you need for that is a really good soundsystem.”