More Than a Feeling, More Than a Blueprint
What Tom Scholz taught me about trusting your process and building in the shadows
I always knew More Than a Feeling. It was one of those songs that lived on the radio when I was a kid. Floating in the background while I rode around in the back seat or hung out at home. But I didn’t really feel it until years later, after I had gotten deep into Third Stage when it was a new release. That album sent me back to Boston’s earlier stuff, and once I hit play on More Than a Feeling with grown ears and a little more perspective, it landed completely different. I wasn’t just hearing the song. I was hearing the story behind it. Tom Scholz, this lowkey genius, building tracks in his basement, getting a record deal on his terms, and somehow convincing the label to release the home recordings as the official album. That hit me.
This song wasn’t just a classic rock anthem. It was proof that you could create something iconic without waiting for permission. Scholz engineered it, musically and literally. He followed his own timeline, built his own process, and trusted his vision. And for creatives and entrepreneurs, that’s a whole sermon in three and a half minutes.
A Song That Knows What You’re Feeling
“More Than a Feeling” wraps its message in melody, but make no mistake, it’s a meditation. On memory. On longing. On the way music can transport you to a moment you thought you’d forgotten. It’s that visceral thing that happens when a chord or a lyric yanks you back to an emotion you didn’t even know was still living inside you.
At its heart, More Than a Feeling is about the power of memory and the emotional weight a song can carry. It’s a meditation on how certain melodies can instantly transport us pulling us back to a moment, a feeling, a person we once knew. The lyrics follow the narrator as he slips into reflection, sparked by the sound of a familiar song that reminds him of “Marianne,” a figure who represents something lost but still deeply felt. But what makes the song resonate is that it’s not just about longing, it’s about how music becomes a vessel for what words can’t always say. It speaks to that universal experience creatives often chase: the attempt to capture something fleeting, something real, and make it last. Scholz and Brad Delp turn personal nostalgia into something expansive, giving listeners permission to feel deeply and to recognize that sometimes a song is more than just sound. It’s a memory made tangible.
But it’s also about the quiet work behind the magic. Scholz wasn’t just writing about a feeling. He was showing us how much intention and care it takes to translate a feeling into a form other people can feel, too. That’s the real artistry. That’s the real challenge for any creative: not just having the feeling, but shaping it into something that lives beyond you.
The Basement Studio and the Power of Not Waiting
Tom Scholz is one of those rare cats who didn’t just make music, he engineered it. Literally. While the labels were chasing the next trend, he was down in his basement, building his own gear, tracking songs late into the night, perfecting tones and transitions on his own timeline. “More Than a Feeling” wasn’t just a song, it was a mission accomplished. Scholz wanted to do it his way, and he did. He used his home recordings to get a record deal and even convinced the label to let those basement tracks be the master recordings.
Think about that. At a time when the music industry was controlled by gatekeepers, he found a way around the gate. He bet on his own ear, his own process, and won. That’s not just creative. That’s entrepreneurial. That’s visionary.
Questions for Creatives to Sit With
Before you rush to ship your next idea or launch your next project, maybe sit with some of these:
Are you shaping your work around someone else’s expectations, or are you listening to your own inner tuning fork?
What would it look like to build your own studio, metaphorically or literally and trust that what you’re crafting there matters?
How much of your best work is still sitting in a folder because you’re waiting for someone else to say it’s time?
What feeling are you trying to turn into form?
And maybe most importantly, what’s your version of “More Than a Feeling”?
The Song as a Map
For me, this track is more than nostalgia. It’s a reminder that greatness doesn’t always announce itself right away. Sometimes it’s tucked away in your back catalog, waiting for you to grow into it. Tom Scholz didn’t ask for permission. He followed the sound in his head, trusted the process, and let the results speak.
And that’s what stuck with me.
Whether you’re a songwriter, an artist, a chef, or building your own brand from scratch, this is your permission slip to keep building your basement studio. To believe that your way might be the right way. Because when you do the work with intention and love, what you create becomes timeless. Something more than just a product. More than a performance.
More than a feeling. And of course using that feeling to celebrate, EVERY day.
Astro Joe Garcia