Creativity Quote by Jan Hammer

Creative work rarely starts with clarity; it starts with motion. Jan Hammer’s line has the breezy modesty of a studio veteran who’s seen inspiration arrive late and unannounced, after the knobs are set and the tape is rolling. “You never know” isn’t a shrug so much as a credo: stop trying to pre-author the magic. The finding happens in the doing.

Coming from a musician best known for sleek, propulsion-driven soundtracks and synth-forward atmospheres, the quote lands like a defense of process over preciousness. Hammer’s career sits at the intersection of improvisation and engineering: jam sessions, late-night takes, machines that can either sterilize a performance or unlock a new one. “Once you really get going” implies a threshold where intention loosens its grip and momentum takes over. That’s the subtext: the self you trust at the start is often the least interesting version of you. The better ideas show up when you’re already committed, already past the point of turning back, when mistakes become material.

There’s also a quiet rebuke here to the myth of the lightning-bolt genius. Hammer frames discovery as something earned, almost physical, like getting up to speed. It’s not mystical; it’s kinetic. In a culture obsessed with optimizing outcomes before taking a step, the quote argues for a more muscular, less curated creativity: begin, build a little velocity, and let the work tell you what it wants to be.