As part of the tour, James takes over the blog today and chats about the music he listened while he wrote this. All the music will be at the bottom of the post so you guys can listen to it. So, I hand it over to James...
Music is so important to the writing process. As a writer, I use music to evoke a character or create an atmosphere. While writing new teen thriller, Hollow Pike, I used a mix. For the nightmare scenes, I downloaded soundtracks to films like The Shining or Scream. If it was a scene with Lis London and her friends, I plundered Paramore albums or Suede (which I listened to when I was fifteen!).Once the book was finished, I would hear songs and think ‘that is SO Hollow Pike’. I started to build up a playlist, which you can access here! Here’s a track by track breakdown of how each song is perfect for the story.
1. Bird Engine – ‘Phantom Limb’: If there was a Hollow Pike TV series, this would be the theme tune. ‘I don’t like the look of this at all…’
2. Oh Land – ‘Wolf and I’: This haunting ballad really evokes that state somewhere between sleep and waking, and I think captures Lis’s dreams perfectly.
3. Florrie – ‘She Always Gets What She Wants’: This is the Laura Rigg song. Read the book and you’ll see why!
4. Stuart Warwick – ‘Misplaced Hearts’: More dream territory, but this one also sums up how lonely Lis is when she first arrives in Hollow Pike.
5. Nicola Roberts – ‘Sticks + Stones’: Lis has a hard time at school, but tries to keep her head up. This song really captures the private anguish of bullying.
6. Dragonette – ‘Animale’: Chapter 5 sees a big party for the characters, and this is perfect ‘entrance’ music to strut to!
7. Sleigh Bells – ‘Kids’: Another perfect strutting song. You hear this and you need to slow-motion catwalk. Perfect for Kitty, Delilah and Jack and their ‘battle march’!
8. Cocknbullkid – ‘Adulthood’: ‘Is this it?’ the singer asks of growing up. Lis and her friends have some big problems to tackle. No one ever said it was going to be easy, Lis.
9. Metronomy – ‘She Wants’: This one is about Lis and Danny. There’s a lot of intimacy and desire in this song. I suppose this is Danny’s love song to Lis.10. Zola Jesus – ‘Night’: And this is Lis’s love song to Danny!
11. Foster The People – ‘Houdini’: A perfect song for the ‘sleepover scene’ with Lis and her friends and a lot of ice-cream!
12. Us Baby Bear Bones – ‘Ghosts’: Lis is haunted by Hollow Pike, and this song really describes her feelings about the town.
13. Teeth of the Sea – ‘Cemetery Magus’: At the end, Lis is in great danger as she finally faces her real life nightmare. This song is the chase song.
14. Suede – ‘Beautiful Ones’. If I had one wish, it’s that Girls Aloud would cover this for the end credits. It’s never going to happen, but there I SAID IT.
A lot of the artists aren’t so well-known, but I hope you enjoy! Stick it on in the background and open Hollow Pike at page 1…
Cemetery Magus by Teeth of the Sea
Ooh I'm really looking forward to listening to these tracks.
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