Steven Donnelly – What does music mean to me?

I remember in my early teens finding some small amount of enjoyment in music in the charts, but I disliked most of it and was not a big music fan – nothing captured me.  It was only when a friend gave me a Jimi Hendix mixtape that I started to discover what amazing music was out there, and the world of music opened up to me.  I was getting excited about music, I listened to so many albums so many times over and over.  I loved discovering music I had never heard before and going back to familiar favorites.  My music “likes” span lots of different genres, styles, categories and tastes. Then there are the influences from my favorite films, TV shows, video games (it was a Sega Megadrive at the time).  Don’t ask me what my favorite song is – there are so many top tier tracks that I will likely talk for hours without ever getting near that elusive answer.  My Spotify likes playlist is a melting pot of influences for me.  The list includes heavy metal, blues, hiphop, EDM, retrowave, folk, soul, classical, rock and even a little pop music from countries all over the world.  Every week I listen to the Discover weekly playlist and find new tracks from bands and artists I have never heard before and still get the same excitement I felt when I was 15. I enjoy music that makes me feel something.  If I notice I am nodding my head, tapping my fingers, or that an emotion is being stirred then I class this as good.  It can be a simple melody, or complex arrangement – if it stirs something in you then you have found a great song.  Then I wanted to start creating music, to get involved, and I have been writing and playing music since picking up the guitar, a long time ago, in my teens (I am about to break through the 40 barrier.  But I will survive as my forefathers always have ?).  From messing about with my first riffs, to joining a band and writing songs and gigging, attempting to understand the theory books and learning music production while enjoying every step of it.

Why Scores and Soundtracks?

About a year ago I was trying to write a string section for a song, but I decided not to use it.  However, I liked the string section I had written so I spent some time writing a full song with it.  What started off as a simple violin, cello and bass section grew arms and legs and ended up with brass instruments, some woodwind and an epic choir (a bit like a battle scene from Lord of the Rings).  I loved it, but I had no clue what to do with it.  I found a video game trailer that had the music removed, downloaded it and played my track over the top of it.  The power of that trailer once the music was added was immense.  I was sucked in!  The exhilaration I felt as the action kicked in and the rising brass and choirs swept me away set me on this path.  I always start a new project by watching the visuals over and over.  Eventually, some ideas begin to form and you cannot beat the feeling when you start to put something together, play it over the visuals and you feel it – often with an audible “yeees”! Then shouting for my wife and kids to come and hear it as well.

Raptor Coast ethos