The Miscellaneous Goings On Of Tom - Pathetic Fallacy For My Gothic Tendencies

Rain & Darkness

Yes, the weather and nights are drawing in and there is a true stirring of my spirit as I read Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde for the first time since school. Last nights thunder and rain that woke me up at 4am, perfectly sets the mood as to how I've felt that last few months musically and creatively. Overwhelming chaos with mindless noise. I've completely lost my inspiration, so I will be focusing on regaining that soon, this is where Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde come in, I'm hoping exploring some gothic fiction will help me rediscover some of the topics that have fascinated me over the years. Like the duality of man, immortality and just overall ghost stories from that era of amazing gothic writing. In the mean time, I've been cracking on with all the stuff in life that has kept me away from days at a time writing music. This has been a regular feeling for most of my musical friends too, so as long as we reinsure ourselves we can get through the creative slumps. Anyway, you didn't come here to hear me grieve about my longing to be musically productive. You came here to see what music and concepts I've been digesting in preparation for the spooky season. Without further ado, my fellow ghouls, here we go!

What I'm Listening To At This Very Moment

My favourite Danish lady, Myrkur has such a natural ability to write amazing songs with atmospheres that really hit your emotions. An incredibly hardworking musician that can literally do it all in my eyes. Mareridt is such an inspirational album for me, really influenced the first and second Vanaheimr EPs. Ulvinde is everything I love about atmospheric black metal, there is also a traditional folk style element that I feed off of as well. Been a while since I've listened to Mareridt in full, I think that is my mission this week. 

What I've Been Jamming To This Week

Revisiting my love for Germany, and the genre that Rammstein are still firm flag bearers for. Neue Dutsche Härte is an interestingly dark genre in my opinion, making techno/dance elements sound catchy yet so dark and industrial is fascinating for me. Not to mention I love that all the songs I listen to are all sung in German, so you could say I'm doing German language listening exercises. 

Re-firing My Love For Reading and Victorian Gothic Inspiration

I've always love reading, and always will. There are times when I barely read for months but I crave a good story to pull my emotions and introduce me to more fictional lives that I can make real in my mind. Its always been a great way for me to be inspired musically, as the mood of a gothic novel or a high fantasy story can really put your imagination into overdrive and you come up with your own scenarios and characters that you can formulate into a song. It was real mission for me this year to get  reading more regularly again and so far I'm achieving it. From Norse Myths to periods of history I've filled my brain with all sorts. With that in mind, I also think I've overloaded it as a result but when you have a thirst to constantly be learning it means pushing through it sometimes. I've always taken pride in being a book worm and knowledge hunter either way. I encourage all my creative folks out there to delve into a story or subject of interest as you never know where the process will take you. That's why I'm hoping I can really dive head first into creating more interesting and imaginative music.

So, living just down the road from the beautiful city of Bath, I have always adored the architecture and history of the city. On a rainy day, the city feels very Dickensian and gothic and it just fires up my imagination no end. There is a mystical beauty in its greyness and the mist on the rolling hills around the city. From the Royal Crescent to the Pump Rooms, there is always something that will inspire me. This is why I have once again turned my attention to the victorian writings of Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe and Bram Stoker for now, there is something so resonating with Victorian style English for me (I really am a nerd when I say that). I have tried to work on my own gothic novel concepts to translate into musical form but I appreciate that that may take some time. Overall, this could be a little hint as to an idea that I have currently churning away in my busied mind already under the weight of a melancholic stupor. 

Concluding The Rambling

A quick window into the alleys that I am currently venturing down, and how my recent music selections seemingly contradict it. As always though, thankyou so much for the support we're nearly at 3,000 views!