The Stranger Will editing Soundtrack

The Stranger Will editing soundtrack

This is a guest post by Caleb J Ross as part of his Stranger Will Tour for Strange blog tour. He will be guest-posting beginning with the release of his novel Stranger Will in March 2011 to the release of his second novel, I Didn’t Mean to Be Kevin and novella, As a Machine and Parts, in November 2011. If you have connections to a lit blog of any type, professional journal or personal site, please contact him. To be a groupie and follow this tour,subscribe to the Caleb J Ross blog RSS feed. Follow him on Twitter: @calebjross.com. Friend him on Facebook: Facebook.com/rosscaleb

Last year, Justin Holt was kind enough to post my Charactered Pieces: stories playlist. The chronology of that book and Stranger Will is transposed in terms of when they were written vs. when they were published, so though Charactered Pieces found shelf space first, Stranger Will was actually written first. This is all to say that the following playlist reflects a much earlier, and in some respects much more embarrassing, time in my life.
I wasn’t yet aware Tom Waits, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ scores, or Bohren Und der Club of Gore, at the time, so what now makes up about half of my writing music simply didn’t exist as far as I was concerned. But, I pushed through with what I had. And per unconscious influences, I am certain Stranger Will would have been a much different book, and not necessarily a better one, had I been piping in then what I listen to now. I have the following to thank for what would become my first published novel.

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Nirvana
Nirvana was my first music obsession, so of course it makes sense that the band would find its place in any of my creative endeavors. When I was learning guitar, Nirvana’s music was the first I played. When I was learning to skate, Nirvana was there. When I wrote, Nirvana kept me focused. The notorious apathy of Nirvana’s lyrics may well have influenced the overall theme of Stranger Will. However, I assure you nobody marries Courtney Love in my novel.

Deftones
Deftones remains one of my favorite bands of all time. Their music, even as it has changed over their almost two decades of production, simply does not disappoint. That being said, I honestly don’t know how I was able to write to it, especially the music they were producing during the early 20-aughts. Some of their later stuff is much softer and more appropriate for a writer’s contemplation than the earlier crunching guitar riffs and pounding drums. For example, Saturday Night Wrist has some great instrumental stuff and vocalist Chino Moreno’s side project, Team Sleep, had some beautiful sounds.

Korn
I was that guy, the one with dreadlocks who preached Korn as the second coming to stale, hair metal enthusiasts. They had poppier bass and deeper percussion than any band before them and any band after. And for those reasons, like Deftones, I don’t know how I wrote to their music. But I did. I remember playing it softly, though, and letting the deeper caverns sort of rumble my floor. I think that sense of impending earthquake is what fueled me.

Tool
Tool’s more symphonic songs were really my first introduction to the magic of lyric-less music. To me, every single Tool song, in the hands of less bands, would be stretched and thinned into an entire album. The way they cram so much into every song consistently amazes me. This over-stimulation I think is what keeps the neurons firing and the words flowing.

Kaki King
Quite a jump in style, right. Kaki King was probably my second introduction to the magic of lyric-less music. This was the Legs to Make Us Longer days, not the follow-up shame, Until We Felt Red… She is stunning to watch as a performer, all that sound coming from a single guitar, and perhaps it is my association with her live visuals that allows me to fully appreciate the sounds, and in turn feel like a worthless sack of crap if I don’t at least try to produce something magical as well.