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Greetings and salutations. It is I, Graham.

Here we are for week two of off topics. This time we are discussing music and playlists, mostly for use while writing. I hear about a lot of writers and programmers using music to get them into their writing mood. I get that, I suppose. I’m not sure about using specific music to help write specific types of scenes though. I am more about using music to help with certain moods I get in, to help mellow me out so that I -can- write. So it’s less about the scene I am working on, and what kind of mood I am in, going into my scheduled writing time.

For example, right now I am in a somewhat melancholy mood, fighting off a summer head cold, and being a bit nostalgic. So I tossed on some old school Kpop. Right now, Face by Nu’est is playing. This is a style of music I get into when bounce around and feel a bit slick. Most of the Kpop I listen to is the harder style that is a cross between boy band pop and rap. Groups like Bigbang, B.A.P, SHINee, EXO-K, etc. are the style I lean into. They bring attitude that helps my mood, remind me of good times when I first got into the style of music, and don’t bring too much English lyrics to intrude on my thought processes. No, I’m not going to get into the politics of how atrocious the record labels are toward Kpop groups. Yes, they are predatory, abusive, and problematic. I guess this kind of falls under the “no ethical consumption” argument.

Following that mood is my other “bouncy” style, which is EDM such as D S3rl, DJ Satomi, and lots and lots of Nightcore. For those unfamiliar, nightcore is a music style where pop, rock, and EDM songs are sped up by about 35%, basically the equivalent of playing a 33.3 RPM vinyl record at 45 RPM instead. This is a lot of the stuff you would hear at a rave or dance club. I find it to be a great pick-me-up when I need one, and a lot of fun to listen to. I very much know this is not everyone’s style. That’s fine. I’m the one listening to it, not you. Haha.

My mainstream playlist is all my rock music. I don’t get into as much hard metal as I used to imagine I did. Sure, I’ll do a bit of bands like Metallica, Rob Zombie, The Hu, Rammstein, KMFDM, etc., but these are about as hard as I tend to go. I grew up on 80s rock and metal, when the really hard stuff was Ozzy, Alice Cooper, and again, Metallica. Once the lyrics move into the level of growling or screaming, I tend to lose interest. Not disparaging that, it’s just not my thing. No, my tastes tend to run toward Bring Me The Horizon, Falling In Reverse, Palaye Royale, Panic! At the Disco, Guns N Roses, AC/DC, Skid Row, and the ultimate kings, Black Veil Brides. These are my go to. Often I will just go to YouTube, click on a random BVB song, and let YouTube create a mix of everything starting there.

When I’m in my Emo mood and I want to stay in a darker mood, I will slip into some Marilyn Manson. This will add in some other moody pieces such as My Chemical Romance, Andy Black’s solo work, Troye Sivan, Alice Cooper, and a few others. Certain Palaye Royale, Bring Me the Horizon, and Panic! At the Disco, songs will find their way into this type of music playlist as well. This grouping is for when I am in a creepier, darker mood. Not depressed, per se. Just more of an Emo/Goth mood, and want to keep things rolling.

Finally, there are two styles I will listen to when I need white noise for writing. Perhaps there is a lot going on with roommates. Maybe I’m in my head too much and need a distraction from the world, without being distracted from my task at hand. Or more often, the cat laying next to my desk is cleaning herself very loudly. Ugh. This is when I dip into my acid techno and dubstep. These let me get lots of steady, rhythmic white noise to drown everything out, without the pesky distraction of throwing lyrics at me. It took me several years to learn the name of the specific style of techno I prefer. Regardless of the name, this style of music is something I typically use when I am trying to ignore all of my surroundings, to try to stay on one particular task, especially if I am having difficulty with that task at the time.

Last, but certainly not least, is my literal white noise. When I really need the blocking power of techno, but my head can’t tolerate the volume at the moment, or I’m not in the mood to be upbeat, I will go to YouTube and toss on a multi-hour thunderstorm track. This will allow me to block everything out without having anything too loud or “happy”.

So that’s me. That’s what I listen to, and why. I can rarely tell you which I will pull up on a particular day, and I will often listen to one style for a couple of hours before switching up to something completely different. After all, I’ve gone through a couple of hours of Kpop. But now I think I am feeling something more like Manson!

Don’t forget to love one another.

Graham.