In Rotation
I have been using music recently as a means to trigger different moods and creative energy. My love for so many different genres combined with the way different albums and songs have bound to different parts of my life leave me able to use music as a tool to fine tune my creative drive. Using the familiar notes and melodies of personal favorites brings back memories of life spent listening to them and can put me in a place of reflection or nostalgia.
When I write, ambient music cures all distractions, warm tones and soundscapes wrap around my mind like a thousand pillows and leave me to focus when I feel there is no hope to get any real writing done.
Dance music stirs up a mixture of emotion for me because it gets me energized yet also manages to sharpen my focus with its driving simplicity and steady pace. I dig a little deeper into electronic music often as well because the creativity and sound design of the genera can go a long way into putting my mind somewhere totally unfamiliar.
There have even been times recently where I have been looking back to my as a teenage years and digging out old Deftones or other like minded heavier rock outfits to add a little angst to my mind which I have found to be oddly therapeutic in pulling my thoughts away from other busy work or distractions.
Music, film, even television at times, are usually classified purely as entertainment but I often see them in a more essential light. There is a reason the old “what albums would you want with you stranded on a desert island” is so hard to answer. Because more often than not, for many of us, these forms of entertainment are so much more than just entertainment, they become part of us.
This is what came to mind when I sat down to write something to accompany this image. My slow growing collection of records is a nod to my love for music and I have plans to eventually start a series of posts featuring my favorite records one post at a time.
The record playing here is by Small Sur and is one of my favorites so far this year, a year that has been pretty overwhelming so far with so much great new music coming out. You can check them out here. They only made 300 of these so if you enjoy what you hear, grab one while they are around!
Small Sur…some beautiful tunes on that record man. Great shot as always.
Dance music does exactly that to me, too. Great & gentle article, as always. Thank you.
I’ve been visiting your site for quite some time but this is the first time I’m commenting :) I just want to say that I love your shots and I hope you continue posting :)
Love this ~ what a wonderful capture and expression. :)