The sounds of violence...

[evilthing69]

I am a huge music fan (and musician) and often listen to "background" music while writing (it helps drown out my ridiculously LOUD neighborhood).  Normally I listen to mostly "punk" : the Misfits, TSOL, 45 Grave, GG Allin ( ), Ramones, Dead Boys, the Adicts, the Damned, the Dwarves, Rozz Williams, Flower Leperds, Samhain, Balzac, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Roky Erickson.

When I write, however, I like more ambiance and tend to listen to CAN, Hawkwind, Zombi, Goblin, Tangerine Dream, Skinny Puppy.  Although nothing beats the ole 3 am dead silence (which my very spoiled cats love to intrude upon).

But this is not all I listen to, of course.

Anyway, I am curious about the musical tastes and habits of other writers, what is listened to while writing (and not writing).

[delboy]

Sadly, I prefer silence whilst writing. If I put music on I end up listening to the music instead of writing. Shame. I suspect my work would be very different if I was writing along to Tom Waits or Jimi Hendrix. Though these days I listen to a lot of jazz, rockabilly, acoustic blues, and even classical.

Derek

[delph_ambi]

Definitely silence for writing. If I'm not writing, I generally listen to classical (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, some Romantic, some contemporary) or Indie rock with a dash of 70s prog rock thrown in.

I never never NEVER listen to jazz or country & western. Hip hop's fine. Blues is good if it's old style Chicago blues. I like a lot of early Motown stuff, and of course Northern Soul. Folk can be alright in small doses, unless it's too pretentious.

However, I'm most likely to be found listening to Led Zeppelin or Muse. Or Baroque opera. Or Wagner. Or Haydn oratorios.
Or... okay, I'll shut up now. Anything other than Mahler.

[Caz]

  When writing, reading and pretty much anything else I listen to the one true God of the airways 'Planet Rock.' Endless Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Black Sabbath,. Gary Moor, Alice Cooper and the rest, who could ask for more.  
 I guess one of these days I'll dust off the old turntable, fit it with a new stylus and once again listen to my stack of vinyl LPs and seven inch singles. The collection is mostly Punk and Ska. The Damned, Stranglers, Clash, Specials and Madness that kinda thing. There's a smattering of Prog Rock some Simple Minds and U2. And I am the proud owner of Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. 
 Happy days.    

[Ed]

I sometimes wonder if I missed one of the important 'growing old memos', because I like a lot of the current chart music, especially dance music, R&B, drum and bass, that type of thing. I've never been into heavy metal. Planet Rock drives me around the bend. I tend to listen to KissFM, which started life as Galaxy101, and plays only dance music and R&B.

I've got a pretty wide taste in music, though. From RHCP to Pavarotti, PiL to the Bodysnatchers, General Levi to Lady Gaga, Elvis Costello to the Smiths. Allsorts. The only stuff I can't listen to is Country and Western and heavy Metal. I once quit a job because the boss played the Bat out of Hell album on the way to and from work every day. I lasted a week and a half and then told him to stick it.

When writing, I tend to get on best when I plug my mp3 player in and zone out. The music acts as a baseline constant that I can hear without it distracting me. It's the only peace I get. My family just won't leave me alone when I want to write. I've tried everything, but if it isn't my wife prodding at me and asking me stuff, it's the kids. I've pretty much reached the point now where I've given up, TBH.

[evilthing69]

Bat Out Of Hell everyday?  My condolences...

That's why when writing I prefer more space/prog/instrumental, and soundtracks (John Carpenter/Tangerine Dream/Goblin, etc), "krautrock"...anything that has a bit of a zone quality to it.  Ed is right.  Sometimes its the only way to get a little peace of mind and be able to focus.

Not a huge metal fan, but Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Rigor Mortis all tops in my book, and I have developed a bit of an interest in some of the stranger, more recent "doom/stoner"/Sabbath influenced acts Like OM and Sun 0))).

Not really into hip hop/rap (the GRAVE DIGGAZ were neat, though, and ICP are entertaining). Country is detestable.

For me its mostly punk rock n roll and "death rock".  Hands down, the two greatest horror rock bands ever were Alice Cooper and the (original) Misfits.  Screaming Lord Sutch and Roky Erickson do deserve mention, though.

[Caz]

I tend to listen to KissFM,

    The thing is when I've been working in a place and somewhere Kiss or it's like is playing I actually become angry. It's a slow process,  but the constant wrong beat has a grinding affect. It's a relief to get away from it.
  The resonance is wrong and I'm gonna guess it's hard wired into the DNA. I know this kinda thing has been used as torture and I understand why it's so affective.    

[Ed]

Seriously, Planet Rock has the same effect on me. I think some people are wired for lead guitar and screechy singing, and others for bass guitar and more rhythmic beats. There doesn't seem to be much crossover

[Grillmeat]

Sadly, I prefer silence whilst writing. If I put music on I end up listening to the music instead of writing.

I have to agree with Del on this one. I can write with normal sounds like traffic and conversation but if I have music going I jump right into the beat and the words and can't get anything down on paper.

[Ed]

I think part of the reason why I can write with music playing is because I'm used to working (in my day job) with music playing. I have always had a radio playing, or a tape player, or more recently a CD playing mp3s, or an mp3 player plugged in with exclusion earphones. If the music's good and loud it spurs me into working faster.

[Woody]

I love music, though I'm a bit retrograde in my taste. But trying to write whilst tunes I enjoy are playing is a definite blocker for me - my mind has a tendency to follow the music rather than focus on constructing the words. So, for me, it has to be silence - there's no other way.

[Pharosian]

I, too, can only write in relative silence. As much as music inspires me, I can't write while it's playing because, like the others have said, I start listening to the music instead of writing. I'll join the ranks here that despise country & western, and I'm not keen on jazz. Other than that, my tastes are fairly broad, ranging from classical to rock to alternative to some heavy metal. Some of my favorites include Rammstein, Rob Zombie, and Metallica; Leonard Cohen; Live, Interpol, and Alan Parsons Project; Sarah McLachlan.

I think the silence/music-while-writing choice is another one of those either/or things akin to Ed's theory about Planet Rock and KissFM. I think it depends on how one's brain is wired. My boss can listen to audiobooks while working at the computer. I can either focus on the computer task or on the audiobook, but not both. He says listening is what *allows* him to focus: otherwise his thoughts are all over the place. Having one part of his brain occupied by the audiobook frees up the other part to do its work. I wonder if that's similar to what you writers experience who listen to music while you write.

[Caz]

  I guess that the music I listen to whilst writing and reading lodges itself into part of my brain that is reserved for background sounds. It's funny though, as soon as the DJ or the news cuts in then my concentration falls apart. It's the spoken word rather than music or singing that ruins the mood. It's the same at work, I can't read the paper if I sit in the canteen, a porta cabin with a rusty sink and an inch of dust everywhere, there's too many babbling voices contending with my inner voice for attention....
  I think the thing with the music is that its familiar and just drifts across the old brain box. Spoken word may carry more importance and so require more of my attention... It's a theory, Jim, but not as we know it.   

[Bec]

I can't listen to music while writing, because I end up singing and that distracts me, probably because the sound is pretty bad. I like the sound of the washing machine when I'm writing, though.

When not writing, I like to listen to Rhydian Roberts, Elton John, or Queen. Sometimes a bit of AC/DC or Mika, depending on my mood. Oh, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

[Rev. Austin]

I listen to everything from old jazz through to 1950's lounge, or something with excellent lyrics (anything by The Paper Chase or Joy Division) or just loud (like Godflesh or The Dillinger Escape Plan).  I can listen to pretty much anything when writing, basically 

Although currently on my 'writing playlist' is Flow by Foetus, a compilation of crooner and jazz standards, and a Techno Animal album.