Inspiration can come from anywhere. You can look for it, but sometimes you don’t even have to.
Today I was listening to the radio in my kitchen. Pretty insignificant you might say. But I was listening to a different station to my norm - one of my housemates had left my radio tuned to BBC 6 Music. It was Lauren Laverne’s show and Tim Burgess from The Charlatans was showcasing some new material, performing live in the studio. It was an eye opener (or ear opener if you will) and I realised I should probably think about broadening my mind and listening to something other than Nick Grimshaw on Radio 1. So I started thinking about the different ways in which we discover music.
Have you ever heard a song on an advert, looked it up on Google, then downloaded it? Legally of course. It can be an advert for anything from shower gel, to an ipad, or a tv programme. You may remember a Channel 4 ad a few years ago for a new teenage drama called Skins, in which the cast were partying to Standing In The Way Of Control by The Gossip. I’m not saying you’ll only have heard of The Gossip because their track was used to advertise Skins, but it must have helped filter their music through to an audience who may not have heard it otherwise. And speaking of tv, music sets the mood in a lot of programmes. I watch Made In Chelsea and this is where I first heard a band called King Charles, as well as M83 who sing the current theme tune, and I’m not ashamed to say it!
If you spend your time out in town getting drunk with friends the chances are you’ll be dancing at some point during the night. Throughout my second and third year at uni every Friday night I could be found at indie club night Ramshakle at the Bristol Academy. One particular night I remember hearing a song, it stopped me dead in my tracks, and I had to know what it was. I ran to the stage to catch the dj’s attention and was told it was a band called The Killers, and the song was Mr Brightside. This was before I had Spotify, Youtube or Myspace, and my iPod would only sync to the computer at my parents house. So at the first opportunity I went to buy the Hot Fuss album, and listened to it all the time on my cd player.
Whilst writing this post I’m listening to Haim, winners of the BBC Sound of 2013, on Spotify.
The ‘related artists’ tab is showing me I might like AlunaGeorge, Alex Winston, The Neighbourhood and Jessie Ware amongst others. Some good suggestions seeing as I’ve already listened to the odd track from a couple of the aforementioned artists, and I’m likely to give the others a listen too. And I was only listening to Haim in the first place because Huw Stephens had been plugging them massively on his Radio 1 show, and I’m easily influenced!
Of course, gigs are a good way of finding new music. I didn’t used to make much of an effort to get to a gig in time to see the support band, but the truth is you never know when you might catch the next big thing. I saw Lily Allen on tour a couple of years ago and her warm up act was the glass shattering La Roux. Some of the notes she sang I’m convinced would only ever be heard by dogs, but she was memorable.
I also love festivals as a source of inspiration. Take Glastonbury, where else would you see the Arctic Monkeys and Shirley Bassey on the same stage on the same day? Sometimes you may stick around after a band has finished, go along to see [insert band name here] in an attempt not to get seperated from your friends, or catch part of a set whilst you’re walking past. Sometimes people ask me why I’m willing to buy Glastonbury tickets without knowing who will be performing? If you listen to mainstream music you’re bound to find some of your favourite festival acts on the Pyramid stage, but take it as an opportunity to learn about music you might not have necessarily heard elsewhere.
I’ve started scanning local gig listings for all the bands playing in the local area, and picking some out at random. Last week my boyfriend suggested we go and see a band that neither of us had heard before play at the Academy. New discoveries, this is where it starts...
