Music, Budgies & Emotions

Music plays a vital role throughout Remember Newvember. I couldn’t write without having the radio on, or a playlist piping out through the inadequate speakers of my laptop. Much to my surprise, the music of choice did not come through the essence of the main character; rather it was channelled through the bird she reluctantly adopts. The bird has a penchant for spouting out hardcore punk music lyrics at the most inopportune moments. 



Budgie-Boo - the bird that led me to music

The inspiration for the bird came from a girlfriend who found her own budgie on her front lawn. The evolution of music came from my very distant childhood. Somewhere, locked deep inside, was the memory of listening to very raunchy, inappropriate music I could only savour when my parents weren’t home (sorry mom & dad). Band names such as “Day Glo Abortions”, “Circle Jerks”, “7 Seconds”, “My Dog Popper” and “Mr. Nobody” swept into my mind the moment the bird made his own dramatic appearance. Some of these bands are known throughout North America and Europe and are still playing while others I only remember from various “all ages’ shows” or performances in small bars.

The music brought me back to a time in my life when I was more receptive to new experiences; obviously this was before marriage and children which seems to have a grounding effect on most people.  The remembered feelings the music evoked put me in the right frame of mind to continuously search out new adventures for Willow to try in her daily life.

Without an auditory stimulant, I tend to be easily distracted. Music filters into my mind, sifts through my imagination and helps to pull out the bits that need to be released into the story. It induces feelings that lie dormant, waiting for liberation through words and world-building.

Writing without music is tantamount to swimming without goggles. Goggles aren’t essential to the skill of swimming, they don’t make you go faster or improve your technique. In fact, they are rather goofy-looking, however they do offer a sense of comfort and gives the swimmer the ability to see just a bit more clearly. Music does the same for writers. It does not improve technique or imagination, but it does allow the writer to dig deep to find suppressed emotions that might not otherwise make it into the page. Music makes my vision much more perspicuous; it's a powerful tool.

Lucky for me, I married a musician – so it’s never in short supply.