11 | Don’t Stay In The Waiting Place with Craig Johnston

Alexis sits down with Craig Johnston (aka Delsinki) a Melbourne-based musician and creator/producer of Keep the Circle Unbroken and Sing A Song of Sixpence. They discuss overcoming perfectionism, why it’s okay to let go and release work even if it’s not “perfect,” and the importance of keeping momentum instead of getting stuck in “the waiting place.”

Craig shares insights from his own experience, including the idea that prolific creators like Picasso made thousands of works, not all famous, but all part of the process. They also talk about how the act of creating often brings more fulfilment than the finished product, and why creativity is essential to who we are.

If you’re a creative feeling stuck or unsure, this episode offers encouragement and practical wisdom to keep pushing forward. 

 

If you’d like to see more, you can follow Craig on instagram; @ delsinki

 

This episode was recorded on 30th April 2025 on the lands of the Woiworung Peoples. We hope that this episode inspires you as a creative person and as a human being.

Thanks for listening, catch you on the next episode.

Psst! We are always on the lookout for creative people to share their story and inspire others. Have you got someone in mind who would love to have a chat? Get in contact with us via Instagram @throughthecreativedoor

 

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Creative resources from Craig:

Book: The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron 

 

Let’s get social:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throughthecreativedoor/ 

TikToc: https://www.tiktok.com/@ttcdpodcast

 

CREDITS

Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor

Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel

Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel

 

 Hello, my name is Alexis Nailer, and I am your host here at Through The Creative Door. On behalf of myself and my guests, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. May we pay our respects to all First Nations people and acknowledge elders past and present. On this podcast, I'll be chatting to an array of creative guests, getting a glimpse into their worlds and having some honest and inspiring conversations along the way. I am delighted to welcome you to Through the Creative Door.

 

Craig. Oh my goodness. I am super chuffed that you have come through the creative door. Well, you come through my door. But we're gonna talk about your door in a literal sense. 

 

Very good. Very good. Well, thank you for having me. It's nice to be here. 

 

You are such a talented musician and you have such a repertoire a, a amazing career thus far. Not to put a stop to it, it's gonna keep going, but you're also, uh, a facilitator in so many ways. You organize some amazing events. Um, there's two in particular the keep the Circle. Is that? Yep. 

 

Keep the circle on Broken. Yeah. Keep um, 

 

yeah. Yeah. And then the other one that I loved, I just love the name 'cause it reminds me of, um, uh, like children's books.

 

Yeah. Yeah. 

 

Singer a song of sixepnce. Yeah, yeah, 

 

yeah. I love that. 

 

Yeah. 

 

Um, yeah, so it's just so lovely that you are putting back into community as well as obviously having your amazing career as well.

 

 Oh, you're very kind to say. Well, yeah, those two shows were born out of the lockdown. Really. The first one, keep the Circle Unbroken was just a brainchild of, of, I played in a band, it's, it's pretty defunct now, actually row Jerry Crow because two of the band members, um, have passed on. But yeah, the fiddle player, John Kendall sort of said it. We were having like a Zoom chat, the six of us talking about recording and whatnot during the lockdown, and John said, gee, wouldn't it be good to do.

 

You know, like this, he'd just been watching the Nitty Gritty Dirt band Doco, uh, on SBS when he told I hadn't seen it. And then when he told me basically what it was, I just, my brain went rolling because no one was working. So the catalyst, I guess, was I called Tim Rogers and just sort of said, this is what we think you're doing, would you be involved?

 

And then he said, yes. And after the, that everybody having Tim involved meant that everybody else, I think everybody would've been involved anyway, but just having that, sometimes you need someone to, yeah, you need a monthly name. Yeah, that's right. So. And then, you know, we did the show at, um, at Memo Music Hall, which we had no rehearsal, we just all rocked up on the day.

 

There was, I think probably maybe 25 to 30 musicians and artists involved, and we recorded an album. In hindsight, we should have