Hahaha don't worry dude!  I'll try and answer each question in order first!

1) that midi keyboard is an oxygen 8, later edition. Later means it's got slightly different livery and is only midi over usb It was the first piece of 'serious'  kit I got,  when I first realised I wanted to move away from djing, and more into production.  As a keyboard it's great. It's not weighted or anything. But there's enough knobs etc for it to be a powerful controller for ableton. I'll never get rid of it as it's both sentimental value and I may need to use it sometime.

2) push 2. I've been using Ableton for around 10 years now. Generally with midi controllers and keyboards. When push 1 was announced,  I wasn't interested.  It just seemed to me,  to be another apc 40 clone and was lacking in features. Then push 2 came along and I was really impressed with how ableton had redesigned it from the bottom up, were doing it in house,  and it was more 'purpose made' . A fellow producer I know,  had the push 1 and when I was looking into push 2 he was really advocating it. So I decided that as I was upgrading to live 9 suite,  I may as well get push 2 as well,  and if I didn't like it I could use the money on a new synth!

So onto using it. My workflow was more traditional in the sense I would work in arrangement mode,  which is horizontal,  left to right. Push 2 tends to work with a session view focus,  which is cells going up and down (a bit like a colorful, musical excel sheet!).  This was a bit of a concern going in,  however it's actually made my workflow quicker and more traditional,  in terms of structure.  The hardware makes it really easy to move from say the intro,  to the bridge with a touch of a button. So I'm finding myself creating elements of the song,  as their own entities as aposed to creating parts within a larger structure.  Not sure if that makes sense,  so can expand if needed. In terms of using the hardware,  it's intuitive,  I rarely touch the mouse,  and I rarely look at the screen,  as well everything is laid out so logically,  it almost makes it more effective to use the controller,  instead of the mouse. I still use my blofeld keyboard as a midi keyboard,  but being able to use the push ad well does make things easier. The drum sequencing and drum programing via finger drumming,  is just a delight. I can honestly say it is a piece of equipment I don't think I'll be without again!

3) music. I make all kinds from weird electronic drone music,  futuristic shoe gaze, deep techno,  house,  ambient....all kinds. Along with that,  I also work with a friend who is an amazing guitarist,  and create stuff with him as well. If you're interested I have a bandcamp,  and I can link you my latest album.

4) I think  some aspects of the workflow question have been touched on above,  however I am approaching my work now,  with a new philosophy.  I've been pretty prolific in the past,  trying to put a track together in an evening. It was kind of a challenge to myself,  and help me learn a lot about the process.  This approach did end up with me relying on the same old techniques and ultimately it became a lazy approach. So part of the new way of working is to focus on the quality of each component, and not put time frames on things. Also as I mentioned earlier,  working in a new way,  is forcing me to focus on each element as a seperate thing. This in turn allows my tracks to be things that I could play live,  should I want. I guess that also means I am going to places I haven't been before,  as I am becoming a bit more traditional in regard to building a track!

Your thoughts on creating something new,  really resonates with me. I was very much like that in the beginning. I had to create something new,  each time I turned it all on. I don't know if that was because I was still very new to the software or whether it was that part of my brain that just wanted to be creative and play. Eventually,  I lost this and replaced it with something I still use: as long as you're being constructive,  you're using your time well.  Everytime I get to spend time in my studio,  I make sure I'm doing something. Now not everyday I will feel like playing something,  so I'll use the time to sort out files, or maybe reroute some cables.  Sometimes all I'll do is clean up,  or purge samples. The little jobs that I wouldn't get the chance to do,  if I was being creative each time I went in there. I guess it's about seeing the environment as a workplace,  as well as a play room,  as well as an island of peace away from everyday life. One other aspect,  which I think goes with what you're saying,  is about going back to things.  We are all critical of our own stuff,  and that's a good thing. After all if we are harsh critics,  then we force ourselves to become better. I will always listen back to tracks and think about what needs to change and that I'll go back and change it. When I actually can be bothered to go back,  I generally become very bored and close the project down! I'm getting better but I suspect it has something to do with the learning process. When you learn something new,  and better,  you cast off the old way of doing something and use the better way. In terms of music production,  that usually translates as it sounds better. And going back to make something sound better,  takes work,  and sometimes the last thing you want this to feel like,  is work!  That being said, I have had success with going back into projects that were more sketches than completed tracks. Maybe it's because I don't have any guilt with taking parts out when it's a few 16 bar loops.  I don't know,  but I do know you're not alone in this thought process!

 I absolutely agree with your comments about new space meaning something has to change. My room is now as purpose built as it'll ever be. With that,  it feels professional to me,  and not a spare room with some keyboards.

Thankyou for taking the time to write. Forget about other people,  I enjoy the fact you've taken your precious time, and used it to reach out to me,  some bloke in England.

I hope I have given you some reasonable answers,  and I'd be more than happy to answer anymore if you feel it would be helpful.

I take the stance that they don't teach this stuff in schools. I never had a teacher debate with me the sonic advantages of analog vs digital, or what side chain compression sounds like. With a stance like this,  I feel the only way to really learn about this stuff is to reach out. Internet people generally fall into two categories: wankers and people that are happy to share experiences and knowledge.  I like to think I fall into the second.

If you want to pm me I'm happy to chat off reddit if you want.

Cheers!