Five Bands You Should Be Writing To

Listening to music can inspire your writing, but what about listening to music while you write? Music can be a powerful tool. It can continually inspire you as you write, not just through the lyrics — which might give you new ideas for stories, incidents, or characters — but also emotionally. By creating a mood it can fuel your writing and drive it to places you might not otherwise go.

Also, I find that listening to music as I write can help me block out distractions — both physical ones demanding my attention, like people and noises, but also distractions in my head, random thoughts and “Things You Need To Do” fighting for your attention and telling you to stop wasting time writing stories. By listening to music, especially through headphones, you may find it easier to settle into the writing zone, to shut out those other distractions by filling your ears with sound and clearing your mind, especially with ambient or instrumental music.

So, what music do I like to listen to when I write? Here are five examples that I hope you will try yourselves!

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd, as well as being my favourite band, and one of the greatest rock bands of all time, are an amazing band to write to. The dreamlike soundscapes of tracks like Shine on you Crazy Diamond and Echoes are the perfect place to sit your mind while you are writing, providing a lush backdrop especially brilliant for writing anything of a sci-fi or fantasy nature.

The psychedelic waves of music may also influence your writing, taking it in random and often surreal directions, especially if you choose to listen to the Dark Side of the Moon as you write, you might find yourself in Wonderland, just like Alice—and who knows where your writing will end up. And if you want your writing to delve into truly mad places, stick on Floyd’s soundtrack album to their film, The Wall.

Albums: Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon, Meddle

Tracks: Shine on You Crazy Diamond: Parts I-IX, The Great Gig in the Sky, Echoes

Autechre

For those of you who like to write at night, Autechre is the perfect choice. While I tend to do most of my best writing in the morning, some of my favourite writing sessions have been in the small hours, after I have gone to bed and I cannot sleep. I turn on my laptop, stick in my headphones, sit up in bed and put on some Autechre, and the words begin to flow. I especially find the music great for writing horror to, or any creepy, peculiar tales. I find the trippy, glitchy beats and eerie synths incredibly hypnotic, and the music (often combined with my tiredness and the magical hours of the early morning) often transports me into an almost trance-like state, where my fingers dance to the beats, the tapping of my laptop keys mixing with the music. One of the things I struggle with when I’m writing is that I tend to edit as I go and second-guess what I’m writing, but Autechre is one of the bands that really allows me to free my mind and turn the ideas in my head into words on the page.

Albums: Incunabula, Tri Repetae, Quaristice

Tracks: Basscadet, Eggshell, Eutow

Mogwai

A lot of the music that I listen to while writing is electronic, but where guitar-based ambiance is called for, Scotland’s finest, Mogwai, are hard to beat. They are incredible to write to, especially if you are writing dark, lonely tales or heartfelt, emotional scenes. There is a lot of sadness in Mogwai’s music, but also a lot of hope and happiness that often comes bursting forth in the later stages of the song. Tracks like the 18-minute monster Like Herod from their Government Commissions album break out into furious, feedback-distorted aggression that again can completely change the mood and direction of your words as you write, often in unexpected ways. A word of warning:  make sure you’re not writing about anything remotely sad when New Paths to Helicon Pt 1 comes on, unless you want tears all over your keyboard. This music touches me unlike pretty much any other band, and hopefully it will touch you, and your writing, too.

Albums: Happy Songs for Happy People, Government Commissions, The Hawk is Howling

Tracks: Hunted by a Freak, Cody, New Paths to Helicon Pt. 1

Isis

Metal isn’t my first choice of music when it comes to something to write to, as the aggression and the lyrics, usually shouted and screamed, can be more distracting than ambient, instrumental music. However, many metal bands can be awesome to write to. Bands like Isis, that play Doom or Drone Metal, use chords drenched in reverb to create a slow pace that builds up and up, riffs crashing on top of each other like waves, that create a kind of ‘Wall of Sound’ that is perfect for blocking out any distractions. It can create a dark, aggressive mood and atmosphere, perfect for writing scenes of action or anger. Writing to bands like Isis also seems to get me pumped up and motived for writing more than when I write to more ambient or electronic music–good for if you are feeling low on energy and need a boost.

Albums: Oceanic, Panopticon

Tracks: The Beginning and The End, From Sinking, So Did We

The Future Sound of London

While sharing some drinks with my MA writing mates at our graduation, the subject of writing to music came up in conversation and I remember recommending, above all others at the time, writing to The Future Sound of London. In fact, the song simply titled Max from their Dead Cities album has managed, even though it is only two minutes and forty-nine seconds long, to inspire an entire (possibly novel-length) story in me, which I have yet to write but is living inside my head. The music is just filled with an incredible atmosphere, of distant worlds and forgotten times, amazing for writing anything, but especially science fiction and fantasy. Some of the sounds in these tracks are unlike anything you’ve ever heard, and sat listening to them is the perfect place to go to if you want an inpspiring, creative space to write in. My favourite band to write to–you should definitely check out FSOL.

Albums: Dead Cities, Accelerator, Lifeforms

Tracks: Dead Cities, Papa New Guinea, Dead Skin Cells

Bonus: SomaFM

I know I said five, and this isn’t actually a band, but as a bonus treat from me to all you beautiful FYW readers (it is Christmas, after all!), here is some more music I think you should be listening to while you write. SomaFM is, in my opinion, the best that online radio has to offer.  Currently with 18 channels on the go, SomaFM specialises in ambient and electronic music, much of it absolutely perfect for detaching from distractions and getting into the writing zone. Along with the atmospheric loveliness, there are several different stations with music to inspire you, including the utterly fantastic Secret Agent channel, which is wonderful for writing your latest spy thriller to! An interesting recent addition is Mission Control, a channel that plays actual NASA mission broadcasts mixed with ambient music. Stunning and inspiring!

Stations: Cliqhop, Space Station Soma, Groove Salad

There are literally so many bands and artists that I would have loved to have shared with you in this article; these are some of my favourites. Please let me know what other music you listen to while you write, and if you try (or have tried) any of these bands here, don’t hesitate to share your opinion on whether or not they worked for you.