The Drug of Music: Forgetting About Real Life

I have always felt that music - especially recorded music - is important in daily life. Listening to it can enhance the quality of our day-to-day affairs and it can stand as testament to the emotions we feel. But I want to highlight the words someone else - Rafi Meir - someone who enjoys and supports my music without prior bias (i.e., being a family member, fellow musician, etc.) and has an interesting perspective on the impact of a song:

"This is really just a recommendation to a song for people ... who might be looking for something interesting to listen to, but I'm feeling the need to gab away about why I like it and how it ties into something that becomes more and more important to me with each passing day: writing. So, take some sensible advice and stop reading now, and go listen. I guarantee it's more worthwhile than what I have to say.

That said, I wanted to explain (for some reason, 'why' has been bugging me for hours) music and its relationship to writing for me.

It's actually pretty funny: I can't write without music playing. I doubt I'm alone in that, but if it weren't for this newest addition to my "writing playlist" and other tracks I would be prose-paralyzed. I couldn't write a damn chapter to save my life, good or bad.

The reason for this is because I use music - music that I find that resonates with the subject matter I'm writing at the time. I use it like a drug addict trying to find a high, physically requiring it to reach that disconnected state where I'm not thinking about real life.

That place where I find my own ideas and allow the DNA of the song to seep through to them. This song's DNA has seeped through and I appreciate that it exists."

Thank you Rafi for taking the time to write this and help share my music. My New EP - 'Two-Way Street (Not War)' - is now on Spotify as well as Bandcamp, and will be on iTunes soon.

I will be having release parties for the EP very soon in Victoria, Vancouver & Edmonton and I hope you can attend.

Cheers, - ZP