“I had far more training as a violinist than as a writer, and the curious forms of my fiction and the rhythm of my sentences are best understood as coming from a musicality expressed through words.”
“The stories are filled with nostalgia for a simpler time, so this playlist reflects a ‘90s and Aughts sensibility.”
“Writing fiction has been surprisingly transformative to my relationship with music, though, because I use playlists to work through questions of character and theme, and to provide a mental shortcut to the world I’m writing about.”
“So, if you’re heart-broken, filled with rage over your disappointing ex and his bad behavior, here’s a playlist to see you through.”
“Music is such a time capsule for me, and this playlist reminds me of the person I was in 2001, as well as the people I wrote about in my forthcoming book.”
“Everyone arrives to the writer workbench differently. For me, I need to feel excited about the work in ways that exist outside of writing. I need to dream, and I need music to better visualize the choreography and energy of that dream. Writing is a lonely practice. When no one is around to pump you up in the process, music will always be there. When no one else understands, music finds a way.”
“Dream Facades is about the architecture of reality TV. It explores the feeling of unreality that comes from living in emotionally hollowed-out homes and the resulting yearning to feel real that drives us to look for reality on our TV screens by studying a handful of seminal shows.”
“While those years can sometimes feel like a blur, when I stop and slow down, these are the songs I can still sometimes hear.”
“…Swan Lake, the full discography of Beach House, and the In the Mood for Love soundtrack have long been go-tos for me while writing, as music just generally swollen with drama and emotion.”
“The novel was inspired by my own working-class upbringing in Glasgow, and reflects my love of punk rock. This mixtape has been dictated by my characters, all bands/songs included are name-checked in the book, and the fact that there are so many punk tracks is entirely coincidental!”