Writing Music: What Happens When You Mash Yaz With Latin Acid House?
When I get into a writing groove I tend to listen to the same song over and over again. It just becomes a background that I don't even notice but depending on what I'm working on, the right song makes all the difference.
I wrote a short story over the past couple of days while listening to 1989's "Try Yazz" by Bronx natives Two Without Hats about 120 times-- I'm not counting the times I got up and danced because over 20 years after I first heard it on Chicago's WBMX Hot Mix 5 show, it still gets me going.
I've been a fan of Yaz since my brother brought home a copy of Upstairs at Eric's when I was 10, and I've loved house music as long as I can remember. This song was the best of both worlds because it mashes together Yaz's (or Yazoo if you prefer) "Don't Go" with acid house. There's plenty of amazing samples in this one, and I remember when this would play at parties, if you weren't dancing and screaming Esta Loca at the right part, it meant you had three left feet or were seriously anti social.
So why use THIS song to write a story? The way the beat is sped up creates a sense of urgency, and because there's always some slightly new sample layered in on the next 16 or 32-count of the beat, there are constant surprises. You see, in the story I wrote, one character is trying to hurry to keep the other from discovering something. It just fit--and it's a fun. So stand up and press play. I promise, you'll start to move.
I wrote a short story over the past couple of days while listening to 1989's "Try Yazz" by Bronx natives Two Without Hats about 120 times-- I'm not counting the times I got up and danced because over 20 years after I first heard it on Chicago's WBMX Hot Mix 5 show, it still gets me going.
I've been a fan of Yaz since my brother brought home a copy of Upstairs at Eric's when I was 10, and I've loved house music as long as I can remember. This song was the best of both worlds because it mashes together Yaz's (or Yazoo if you prefer) "Don't Go" with acid house. There's plenty of amazing samples in this one, and I remember when this would play at parties, if you weren't dancing and screaming Esta Loca at the right part, it meant you had three left feet or were seriously anti social.
So why use THIS song to write a story? The way the beat is sped up creates a sense of urgency, and because there's always some slightly new sample layered in on the next 16 or 32-count of the beat, there are constant surprises. You see, in the story I wrote, one character is trying to hurry to keep the other from discovering something. It just fit--and it's a fun. So stand up and press play. I promise, you'll start to move.
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