Like my taste in books, my music taste knows no genre. I grew up with “boomer” parents, so we listened to a lot of classic rock of the 60s and 70s. My mom instilled the love of The Beatles, The Doors, Joni Mitchell, Jefferson Airplane (you will never convince me that Grace Slick isn’t one of the best raw talents to live), and the Mamas & the Papas. My dad introduced me to Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd and Queen right along side the classics of country like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Reba McEntire, and of course Dolly Parton.
However, I’m a child of the 70s and was a teenager in the EARLY 90s and listened to music of the 80s and distinctly remember having a grunge, punk, ska phases of my own (shhh). I wasn’t part of the Backstreet vs N*Sync arguments as my boyband days lasted until I was about fourteen when I moved past New Kids on the Block. And I don’t care what anyone says, 90s country hits a little different.
On top of all that, I grew up playing the piano and learned a little dulcimer all while participating in various types of dance. I have been singing since I was a small child, and often you will find Broadway and Opera mixed into my playlists right along side some hard rock, pop, ballads, and all of those listed above.
All of that said…artists currently on repeat lately…in no particular order:
Dead Poet Society
Shinedown
The Warning
Rammstein
Papa Roach
The Civil Wars
The Sweeplings
Three Days Grace
Christina Aguilera
Hoozier
Teddy Swims
Larkin Poe
Fleetwood Mac
Atlus
Dorothy
Maggie Rose
Adele
Lauren Spencer Smith
Wage War
Asking Alexandria
Jared Benjamin
What do I listen to when I’m writing?
Nothing with words.
Seriously. If I play music with words, it’s SLOW going with the writing.
(I still try though.)
I know a lot of people write and listen to favorite songs, or create playlists which operate like a movie score for their WIP. But because of my background in music, singing, and being a bit of an aspiring polyglot, if a song has words I will sing along, no matter the language. A bit distracting when writing, honestly. And yet, even instrumental music can start to pull my attention away as the musical theory side of my brain starts to anticipate what will come next in a song.
However, I often create mood playlists for each project I’m working on. I will mostly play them while getting in the mindset to write, or if a scene has been nagging at my brain but I’m not sure what to write.
E.N. Gussler 