How To Make Your Creativity Beat The Algorithm (w/Live Performance) - Dylan Gossett - #1155
September 26, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readDylan Gossett’s breakout hit “Coal” was written in 25 minutes on a laptop balanced on a dog kennel, recorded on the edge of his bed, and initially posted to TikTok with no expectation that anyone would care. Five years later, it has 22 million YouTube plays and launched a touring career. But the episode is not a victory lap. It is a careful, often ambivalent examination of what happens when raw creative impulse meets the machinery of virality, audience expectations, and the creeping temptation to let algorithms and AI do the work for you.
The problem with overnight success
Gossett wrote “Coal” while working brutal 20-hour days at the Circuit of the Americas racetrack in Austin, going through what he calls “everyday struggles” — nothing catastrophic, just the grinding feeling of putting in hours without seeing movement. The song came from that friction, not from a calculated attempt to write a hit. He sat on it for a year or two, only releasing it after a friend with a good ear pushed him to voice memo it, and his wife Julia urged him to post it on TikTok — a platform he says he “can’t stand.”
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of Modern Wisdom
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Live Show Announcement** - Chris Williamson announces upcoming UK and Ireland tour dates, with Dublin sold out and limited tickets remaining elsewhere.
- 2 (00:26) **Opening Performance: "Coal"** - Dylan Gossett performs his breakout song "Coal" live in the studio.
- 3 (04:08) **The Origin Story of "Coal"** - Dylan recounts how the song was written quickly and then sat dormant for nearly two years before being released.
- 4 (08:00) **Latent Leverage & The Dark Context of Success** - Chris and Dylan discuss how periods of struggle create the emotional depth that makes art resonate.
- 5 (13:48) **The Hedonic Treadmill of Goals** - The conversation shifts to how success changes your problems rather than eliminating them.
- 6 (15:00) **Second Performance: "Coal" (Full Verse & Chorus)** - Dylan performs another section of "Coal" live.
- 7 (18:10) **Authenticity vs. Commercialized Authenticity** - The hosts debate whether "unpolished" has become its own marketing strategy.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Dylan Gossett is a country singer, songwriter, and music producer.
Dylan's breakout hit 'Coal' took him from an aspiring musician in Austin, Texas, to a rising name in country music. But what did that seemingly overnight success actually take, how has it changed his life, and what has he learned about making a living doing what he loves?
Expect to learn the creative process behind Dylan’s hit ‘Coal’ and the decisions he made to engineer it for max virality, what it was like being an overnight success, how Dylan’s writing process differs from the typical Nashville music machine, the impacts of AI on songwriting and the music industry as a whole, how to not be captured by your audience and let your creativity thrive, and much more…
Sponsors:
See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals
Get up to $350 off the Eight Sleep Pod 6 at https://eightsleep.com/modernwisdom
Get 35% off your first subscription on the best supplements from Momentous at https://livemomentous.com/modernwisdom
Get the brand new Whoop 5.0 and your first month for free at https://join.whoop.com/modernwisdom
Get 10% discount on all Gymshark products at https://gym.sh/modernwisdom (use code MODERNWISDOM10)
Get ChatGPT to explore ideas, solve problems, and learn faster at https://chatgpt.com
(00:00) The Story Behind Dylan’s Breakout Song ‘Coal’ (09:56) How to Avoid Getting Lost in the Music Industry (18:11) Why Being Unpolished Feels More Authentic (20:50) Is Country Music Having a Renaissance? (22:47) Is the Song Actually Good or Just Viral? (28:07) Why Staying Successful Is Harder Than Getting There (32:29) Inside Dylan’s Songwriting Process (37:28) Do Artists Still Write Their Own Songs? (51:02) Why We Shouldn’t Always Take Shortcuts (01:01:16) Is Emotion the Secret to Dylan’s Music? (01:03:08) Why Sad Men Are Taking Over Country Music (01:09:24) The Hardest Emotions to Turn Into Music (01:14:52) Don’t Lose Yourself Chasing an Audience (01:22:59) A Snippet From Dylan’s New Album
Extra Stuff:
Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books
Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom
Episodes You Might Enjoy:
#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Belie