10 years of Samples From Mars!! 🥳
10 years since I created this business and 10 years since making my first sample.
Yep, I started this thing before I’d ever sampled anything (other than a record), with only a few pieces of gear to my name. I was tired of not being able to afford the gear that made the sounds I wanted.
I’d been producing music but had become too precious about it - The fear of rejection was holding me back - I needed something I couldn’t fear - something that didn’t exist yet.
So I started Samples From Mars (which was “a temporary name, until I find something better”). There was nothing to be precious about bc the SFM world as you know it today didn’t exist, beyond an ugly Wordpress site I’d hacked together with product names like 808 Samples Library (oh, the SEO days).
After reading the 4 Hour Work Week (lol at “4 hr”) I’d learned the importance of putting a product out into the world immediately, before it feels ready (it never will), to see if there’s viability, and then to iterate on that, based on feedback. Tweak as needed, Rinse and Repeat 🔄
I struggled for years but eventually was able to build the studio you see above, from customer sales (which am eternally grateful for 🙏🏻). And from the sheer amount of time I’d put in, I’d become an “expert”.
(Better than the gear and studio was the team I was able to build - which I’ll dedicate an entire post to later but worth mentioning now!) ❤️
The point of the story is - I’ve had the most success with the thing I was least precious about. It’s CRAZY how much fear holds us back, and disguises the excuses we make (often in the guise of perfectionism).
So I urge you - if you have a goal, a dream, of any kind - figure out how you can act on it in small, incremental steps, and bring your creations into the world before they are “ready” and before they are the “best” they can be. They will only become better after you’ve done that.
Immerse yourself in the process (what you can control) and learn from / be cool with whatever the outcome is (what you can’t control).
K brb, have to go do this all over again with music. Here’s to the next 10 years! 🥂
Doing a workshop at the legendary @stonesthrowstudios in LA with @nickhook January 24, 2026 - link in bio for details!
Slide 1: Stones Throw Studio 😍
Slide 2: Our 2nd SFM Workshop 🎹
Slide 3: Our 1st SFM x Nick Hook Workshop 🤌🏼
