Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Shoegaze & the Places It Has Taken Me...

There's always been an inextricable link between the music I love and my writing. Once an idea hits me, I'll jot a few sentences down, maybe a page or two if I'm lucky, but there's always a certain kind of soundtrack that comes with the words appearing in my mind.

Most recently, I've been listening to a lot of old shoegaze bands, music that is reminiscent of being stranded in space or strapped in and on your way there already (Slowdive, Low, Starflyer 59, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and to some extent, the more recent Hum and Superdrag). These have all influenced my way of thinking to the point of fostering the bare nugget of a story in the back of my mind while I'm at work. The albums will play (it's a 13-hour playlist) and certain guitar strums or kick drum rhythms evoke a stark image that is unshakeable and unavoidable and ends up being the impetus for a scene or the start of a new book. I have a few of these "nuggets" laying around, waiting for me to come back to them if they're worth pursuing, thankfully, but some may never see completion. C'est la vie, I suppose. Not every story is meant to be told or written down.

That the language of music and writing can be so harmonious should come as no surprise. Like the written word, music is created to say things in a way that cannot be said in any other form. From the slave spirituals to the fusion of jazz to the screeching of guitars pressed up against speakers to force the controlled noise of feedback into something the brain can relate to on an emotional level. Sometimes you just have to listen through the noise to find out what lies beneath. So many of my short stories (and my most recent novel work) have something deeper and more interesting lying just under the surface; there is something more tangible than I previously imagined swimming in the nuance of the words already there and often, it's the music I listen to while writing that helps to taunt it out.

A few videos for your enjoyment:

                                          Starflyer 59 - "Monterey"



                                          Lush - "Desire Lines"


                                          Hum - "Afternoon with the Axolotls"

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