I have gone through several phases of weirdness in my writing habits. First, I could only write late at night with heavy metal on the radio. Then, I could only write in the early mornings with no music at all. Now I can’t write a word if someone else is in the room, or even has the potential to enter the room. Sometimes I listen to music, sometimes I don’t. Usually I don’t.

When I do listen to music, it needs to be a certain kind of music to fit the mood of what I’m writing. I can’t write the death scene of an old man if I’m listening to “Master of Puppets” by Metallica, for example. During the course of a writing rush, I am likely to listen to several types of music in succession, again to fit the mood of whatever scene I’m writing. It happens quickly; I write exceptionally quickly, after all—this is a product of writing all day every day for my job—so my mood changes quickly.

Here are my 5 THINGS: five bands/artists I am most likely to listen to while writing, and the tone of the scene I am likely to be writing while listening to said artists.

1) Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer.

These are the brain children of Maynard James Keenan, who writes the most amazing lyrics. Seriously. This is more than just butt-rock. Tool is so melodic yet so angry. A Perfect Circle is melodic and at times beautiful. Puscifer is full on weird.
TONE: Dark.
WHAT IS LIKELY TO BE HAPPENING IN THE SCENE: Murder of some sort, or the contemplation thereof.
SONG I RECOMMEND: From Tool, check out “Aenima” and “Right In Two.” From A Perfect Circle, check out “Judith” and “The Noose.” From Puscifer, listen to “Momma Sed” and “The Mission.”

2) Ray Lamontagne.

Love this guy. His voice is pure gravel, his lyrics mostly sad. His newest album’s got a bit of country to it. Acoustic singer/songwriter all the way, but be prepared for an emotional experience with this guy.
TONE: Melancholy.
WHAT IS LIKELY TO BE HAPPENING IN THE SCENE: A love scene, a suicide, a death in the family, a death of a pet…something brutally sad or equally brutally beautiful.
SONG I RECOMMEND: The two I love most are “You Are The Best Thing”, which was the first dance at my wedding, and “Empty” which should have you crying within the first thirty seconds.

3) Simon and Garfunkel.

Who doesn’t love the classics? Great harmonies, a variety of tones, no one emotion from this great duo.

TONE: Playful, poignant, possibly drugged out.
WHAT IS LIKELY TO BE HAPPENING IN THE SCENE: A road trip, a coming of age first kiss, some sort of lighthearted trouble, or a cold New York City winter.
SONG I RECOMMEND: “Cecilia”, “The Boxer”, “Hazy Shade of Winter”

4) Anything by Jack White.

He is a guitar god. He is odd. He is unique. His voice is not a good one, but he makes it good by strangling it, by wrestling with it. His guitar playing is anything but smooth; it is chaotic, it is a fight scene, it is a car chase, it is a high school party, a mad dash from the monster.

TONE: Frenetic.
WHAT IS LIKELY TO BE HAPPENING IN THE SCENE: A fist fight somewhere in Mexico, circa 1940.
SONG I RECOMMEND: “Level” by the Raconteurs, “Icky Thump” by the White Stripes, “Blue Veins” by the Raconteurs

5) Explosions in the Sky.
TONE: Anywhere from triumphant to melancholy, or even whimsical.
WHAT IS LIKELY TO BE HAPPENING IN THE SCENE: The end of the story happens while this is playing. Always. Either that, or a baby’s birth. Something monumental.
SONG I RECOMMEND: “Your Hand in Mine” and “So Long, Lonesome”