Creating Without Excuses: Late (Joe) on Finding Inspiration and Adapting to AI in Music

At Cutback, we’re building Selects, an AI-powered assistant editor that helps video creators turn long hours of footage into meaningful stories faster. But we know tools don’t exist in a vacuum. Behind every edit is a human creator with unique challenges, inspirations, and workflows. That’s why we launched the Time for More Podcast: to explore the real, behind-the-scenes experiences of artists, musicians, editors, and founders navigating today’s creative landscape.

In the second episode, we spoke with LA-based musician, Late (Joe), about how to stay inspired to write music every day and maintain your creative kick.

Hosted by Tom and Chan, two co-founders of Cutback, the company behind Selects, this episode continues a series exploring the behind-the-scenes stories of modern creatives in a crowded industry.

Missed the other episodes of the “Time for More” Podcast featuring Late? Check out the music production podcasts to stay in the loop: “Time for More” Podcast Episode 1 Recap | “Time for More” Podcast Episode 3 Recap | “Time for More” Podcast Episode 4 Recap

Key Topics Covered

1. Breaking Creative Excuses

Late starts by calling out one of the most common creative traps: waiting for the right mood or the right time to make art.

He explains how breaking that mindset transformed his productivity and got rid of creative block. Instead of depending on a “vibe,” he built discipline, learning to write, record, and perform regardless of setting. That change, he says, made him more consistent and confident as both a musician and voice actor who creates impactful art.

2. Why We Get Emotional at Night

The conversation turns unexpectedly funny, and somewhat scientific, when Late and the hosts debate why people tend to get emotional at night.

They joke about “drunk texts” and “midnight inspiration,” but also land on an interesting insight: nighttime naturally lowers external distractions, creating space for emotional depth and room for authentic art. That heightened feeling can fuel songwriting, but relying on it exclusively can also limit an artist’s creative process and freedom.

The takeaway? Inspiration is a state you can train, not chase.

3. AI in Music: Friend or Foe?

As the conversation evolves, Late opens up about his mixed feelings toward AI in the music industry. While he uses ChatGPT to refine scripts for his voice‑acting projects and help make other creative decisions, he admits he’s hesitant about tools that generate music.

Tom and Chan compare this to video editing, where similar fears exist, yet automation often leads to new creative genres, not extinction. Just like MIDI never replaced real guitars, AI‑generated sounds may complement, not erase, human artistry.

4. Mixing Art and Technology

Late also discusses AI tools like eMaster, which automate mixing and mastering, traditionally a costly process handled by professional engineers and production legends.

He argues that while this may reduce some studio jobs, it also democratizes music production and studio techniques, helping indie artists release tracks faster and at lower cost.

5. Cultural and Personal Growth

The episode closes on a reflective note about failure, discipline, and cultural differences.

Late and the hosts talk about how Korean culture’s fear of failure contrasts with the U.S. creative mindset that celebrates experimentation. In Korea, only the best in industry knowledge and production skills are celebrated, whilst the content machine in the U.S. is more accepting of different skill levels.

How Selects Fits In

Just like musicians, video creators face the same creative hurdles, limited time, perfectionism, and messy workflows. That’s where Selects, Cutback’s AI video‑editing tool, comes in.

For this podcast, the team recorded using three cameras and three microphones. Normally, syncing that footage manually would take hours. With Selects’ multicam and audio‑sync features, they could instantly align every shot, cut silences, and create usable clips for each speaker, turning one long conversation into multiple short, shareable videos.

By removing the tedious parts of post‑production, Selects gives creators more time to do what really matters: tell stories that feel human.

Watch the Full Episode of the “Time For More” Podcast

What did you think of the podcast? Leave a comment on the YouTube channel. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

For more in-depth knowledge about the ins and outs of video editing, check out our latest posts on the Cutback blog or our YouTube channel. You can also join Cutback’s Discord community of like-minded video editors.