A Racetrack Worker Wrote “Coal” in 25 Minutes on His Phone
He recorded it on his laptop at the edge of his bed, then left it alone for a long while.
Modern Wisdom · How To Make Your Creativity Beat The Algorithm (Live Performance) - Dylan Gossett - #1155Dylan Gossett was typing lyrics into his phone on top of the dog kennel in his Austin apartment. He and his wife, Julia, were about to go out with some friends from work.
A line had stuck in his head: "They say pressure makes diamonds." He built verse by verse around it until he had "Coal," in about 25 minutes, one of the fastest songs he said he had ever written. None of his friends knew he sang at all, he said, because he did not go around telling people.
At the time, Gossett was living in Austin and working in event operations at the Circuit of the Americas, the racetrack. He had started as an intern and for months lived at the job site in his parents' RV. During Formula 1 season, he said, the outside crews stayed out there and worked brutal stretches, sometimes 20-hour days.
Julia was excited about the new song and started showing friends phone videos of it on Snapchat. Their reaction, he said, was confusion: Dylan, you sing? Gossett said he "didn't do anything with it for, like, a year or two" because he was not on social media and was not putting out music.
When he did release it, he had recorded and engineered it himself on his laptop on the edge of his bed. He said the only job he did not do was mastering. The first release had to be taken down and remastered because the levels were off and did not blend with other music.
He put out that same bedroom recording, remastered. Gossett called it "so sick" that a song he believed in and cut on his laptop could do better than 99% of heavily promoted songs written by teams, calling that open access the good side of the business.
Questions people ask
What does mastering actually do?
Mastering is the final polish before release, when an engineer evens out volume and tone so a song sounds consistent on phones, cars, and streaming services. A home recording can sound fine alone but seem quiet, harsh, or unbalanced next to professional releases. Gossett said that mismatch was why his track had to come down and be remastered.
What is the Circuit of the Americas?
It is a large racing and entertainment complex outside Austin, Texas, best known as the home of the United States Grand Prix for Formula 1. The site also hosts NASCAR races, concerts, and festivals. During big race weeks, event operations can mean very long days and living near the site.
How common is it for a rough home recording to become the hit?
It happens, but it is still the exception. Most major releases are re-recorded, tuned, and mixed by professionals because rough recordings often have noise and balance problems. Gossett kept his laptop recording as the release, apart from remastering.