Spotify has revised how I find and consume music. Once, it was listening to the radio and writing down song names. Then it was file-sharing. iTunes was a huge revolution. Spotify, though, has got it right, and it’s excellent, one particular feature in particular…
A little while ago, I came across the mystical Spotify playlist that is the perfect accompaniment to the act of writing. Why have music while writing? It’s a highly subjective point. I like listening to music during the initial writing. Something about pinging on the rhythm of the music inspires the rhythm of the writing. You don’t have to take every beat, but you can borrow a few here and there. However, for editing, I feel like it has to be done in silence, because you want to hear the rhythm that you’ve created and you want to expose it – like some archaeological dig in the desert. The more I’m able to reveal the buried secret, the better the piece is.
The feature in Spotify that I really like is the Radio feature. Spotify knows what you’re listening to and submit playlists for your consideration that might be called ‘Wolf Alice Radio’ or ‘Moon Duo Radio’ or ‘Ethel Cain Radio’. The playlists will feature many songs by the highlighted group or singer, but also adjacent bands and songs that have the same feel. A playlist based on the vibe of one outfit.
I’ve been searching for years for the magical playlist that is just perfect for writing (for me, anyway). It’s so subjective, but I feel like I found it. I would like to humbly submit that Royksopp Radio is that playlist. This playlist is so full of excellent tunes that I bow before it! Royksopp is a Norwegian duo that’s been around for years, doing evocative electronic media with a number of guest singers, belting out astonishing beauty. In fact, I’ve had enough, and am fully intending to fly to Melbourne in February to see these folks live (that’s about 21 hours on an airplane… worth it!). I have other reasons to be in Australia that time of year, but this is icing on the cake. Anyone wanna come with me? I’ll buy the drinks and food (this is absolutely an honest invitation!).
There you have it. I hope you have a listen. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if it is… throw it on. Get wild. Be open. Let the muses enter and take you away, wherever it is that you go, and write something glorious. Profound. Funny. Uplifting and hopeful. Something great!
Discover more from Trent Lewin
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
8 Responses
Interesting, the notioin of writing to music. Never done that, but I like the idea of writing to the rhythm. But how do you write differently, as in different stories, different characters, etc., when you’re listening to the same rhythm, the same playlist you’ve heard before?
Hey, Walt. For me, music puts my brain in just the right mode, but sometimes complete silence is better. That rhythm thing is interesting, though. I am amazed how people can write like the words are pouring out of them. But to put that to a beat, now that’s something.
Hello, Ms Joyce. I think Mr Lewin might say the words are flowing not out of him but through him (not meaning to speak for you Trent so correct me if I’m wrong). And if that’s the case, well maybe there’s no way the words can’t pick up the beat of whatever music might be on? I don’t know, I’ve only ever written in silence. I did once type out a thing with my eyes closed while slightly drunk, with good results. So that’s another method, maybe.
I think that’s right, it’s a flow-through of some kind, like I tapped into something that’s not from me, that didn’t start inside. The writing that hits me the best is utterly unrecognizable as having come from me, as though it came out of nowhere. Maybe I’m borrowing from the music? From life? From some magic muse? I can never answer this question but I’m glad for the feeling.
I do write in silence too, at times. Sometimes, that’s the right thing for the story, and that works too. I never know what the right thing will be until something emerges. At times, that emergent vessel is crap. At others, it’s okay.
A few years ago I had the realization that art intimately connects us all. Mark Rothko listened to Mozart when he painted, but he was really listening to the musicians’ interpretations of Mozart’s compositions and the passion the music made them feel. And Rothko, himself, inspired other artists. That feeling you get when the words flow madly with the music reflects in your work, and no doubt your work inspires others. So intimate, don’t you think?
Just mentioned to Walt that at times, a few new songs that really hit the spot allow me to focus on the mystery of the music, rather than the substance of it, and I pull little threads of inspiration from them and just completely tunnel vision. I don’t always do this and it doesn’t always work, but when it does, I find that I smash the keyboard at a crazy rate. The words just appear at that point. it’s a weird, wonderful. addictive feeling.
So addictive.
I don’t know how it all works, I think it’s the inspiration born of the music rather than the music per se, that drives the writing. I find I’m so fast at writing a new piece when I have five or six new bangers on the headphones, they just propel me in an insane way. They allow me to focus so clearly, and I think that’s the key.