The Synergy between Music and Art

To me, Art and Music are fluid.

I have always taken inspiration from music when it comes to creating art, and as I have moved through music tastes and genres in the past few years I have noticed a distinct synergy between what I listen to and what I create, to the point where I have specific playlists for specific painting styles.

In my earlier days, mostly throughout college and university, the pieces I created were dark and moody (see Hannibal) - and so was the music that I'd listen to while painting. Some examples being Crystal Castles and Flume. I found that listening to this type of music greatly encouraged me to work with dark colours, shadows, and messy backgrounds.

Since moving into Central Manchester, I found a love for techno and tech house music. This city is like no other in terms of what it offers on the music scene, from the legendary Hacienda to the current trailblazer The Warehouse Project which has created opportunities for popular and emerging artists to collaborate while bringing likeminded communities together. As well as the high-profile events and venues, I am lucky enough to live within a short walk of The Northern Quarter, home to unique establishments including Stage & Radio and Soup Kitchen, both small capacity venues that celebrate local and lesser-known talent, allowing those passionate about music to discover and support new artists they might not have come across otherwise. 

After delving deeper into Manchester's music scene and discovering more, I began to feel inspired in a completely different way that I had before and channeled this into colourful, abstract pieces. I adore how tech music is detailed and precise yet to someone who doesn't understand or like it, it can sound like a lot of noise. I feel like the art I have created while inspired by this music is similar in a way - I have used precise measurements and careful detail, yet I understand how it can look random and senseless to someone. As with my earlier artwork, I leveraged the input that music has on my creativity by creating further playlists that I would listen to when I wanted to create more of this specific type of art, key producers here being Patrick Topping, Second City, Eats Everything, Green Velvet, Detlef and more.

Even after the point of creation, appreciating art while listening to the type of music that it was inspired by completely takes it to another level and exhibitions incorporating this as an aspect would be a truly enlightening experience.