I love books. They are my other passion
I do write stories as well as music but they always take so long, compared to songs
that music always wins and they remain waiting to be finished
I believe it helps the songwriting process enormously. It's not just that you're digesting language and turns of phrase, you're also opening your imagination up to someone else's characters, images and landscapes. It keeps the creative brain in motion.
Could not agree more. I think just on that level it can influence your creative ability so much.
Robert Rankin is a genius, seriously. His stories the the things that happen in them are unbelievable. He's a musician too
so music often, although not all the time, appears in his stories.
A good one to try out which features music heavily is "The Da-Da-Di-Da-Da Code."
The idea's that run through it are great.
If I make a list of people I enjoyed reading it would look like this
Ramsey Campbell - British horror
Douglas Adams - British sci-fi/humour
Brian Lumley - British Horror - The Necroscope series (Incredible)
Wally Lamb - For his book ( I Know This Much Is True.)
Dean Koontz - American Thriller/Horror
Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine - For the book (Last Chance To See) About species of animal facing extinction but with Adam's humour.
J.K.Rowling - Harry Potter of course
I Have just realised how long this list could get so I'll stop there
I would be interested in an extended list mate, because I'm always looking for my next book to read
I do the same as you. I use it as a tool to help me get to sleep. Sometimes I get no further than a page, sometimes I'll be
reading for half an hour. Even just a few pages at a time it is surprising how quickly you can finish a book though, don't you think?
To answer your question Ram, I haven't yet used anything consciously from a book, but I did use something I saw on tv.
It was an American reality type show where a camera crew were filming a detective. The detective was himself filming outside a motel.
His clients husband was inside having it away with a woman and he was getting it as evidence through a small gap in the curtains.
He showed it to his client, the mans wife, and she was distraught of course...
So it influenced me to write "Bang Bang".
In the song a woman find out by seeing photographs that her husband sleeps with another woman in a motel. She goes there and
bursts through the door and confronts them. But instead of being ashamed or sorry, he tells her she never ever mean't anything to him and
she can keep her wedding ring because it means nothing to him.
So she kills him. She shoots him but gets away with it. Puts on the greiving widow act. But then
she begins to feel such guilt and loneliness that she end up taking her own life.
It was the first song I wrote since giving up writing many years ago and the very first song I posted on this forum
When I listened to it recently I really enjoyed the song but because it was my very first song and recording, the sound quality is
terrible. That's another one I definately want on the album though. So Re-mixing of that one will be on the cards soon.
