The Recipient - Music That Inspired A Novel.

For those of you who know me, I have been described as a very musical writer and indeed, music is an integral part of my writing process. They are sources of inspiration that help me to conjure mood, create and refine scenes and lend an atmosphere to my work. 

During the writing of The Recipient, I drew upon my love of music once again and though it doesn't feature as prominently in this story as it did in my previous novels "The Hambledown Dream" and "Gifts of the Peramangk", there is a strong musical undercurrent that informs The Recipient. 

In that vein, I'd like to present a playlist of songs that were influential in the journey of The Recipient and a little bit of the story behind their contribution.

When I came to putting together the teaser trailer for The Recipient, I approached Aberdeen based rock band ElevenEleven to seek permission to use a track off their 2010 EP "Memoirs - Part One". Titled simply "Prologue" - this instrumental piece provided the perfect atmospherics I was looking for in creating a teaser that would draw the reader into the world of The Recipient. It's rumbling bass intro combined with frenetic guitar licks from Eliot Leonard and powerful drum riffs from Ross Senkbeil underpin the foreboding visuals in the 84 second trailer and I'm really pleased that the band allowed me to use the track. 

You can find more of ElevenEleven's music at their official Bandcamp page.

I've long been a fan of the Foo Fighters and when I was writing some of the very first scenes of The Recipient, I was listening their 2008 album "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace". I eventually incorporated the first track off that album into one of the introductory scenes where we meet Casey Schillinge, 3 years after her life saving heart transplant. I was particularly drawn to these lyrics in the song - I'm the voice inside your head / You refuse to hear / I'm the face that you have to face / Mirrored in your stare. They fit with the battle that Casey Schillinge is waging inside her own head with the nightmares that plague her. Though she doesn't yet know why those nightmares are there, she has a sense that they are not her but, rather, someone else's. 

Visit the Foo Fighters at their official site.

Right the way back at the very beginning of The Recipient - even before I knew what this novel was going to be about, I was listening to Kate Miller-Heidke's 2012 album Night Flight. Whilst I was holidaying on Kangaroo Island, I became really drawn to two tracks off that album - "Ride This Feeling" and "Sarah'.

Last year, as I was approaching the completion of the first draft of the manuscript, I returned to Kate's album and became captivated by these lines from the song "Ride This Feeling";

"And I'm gonna ride this feeling / As far as it goes / I'm gonna ride this feeling / I don't know, I don't know / Whether I'm flying or falling / I'm gonna ride this feeling..."

These lines came to represent Casey Schillinge's determination to find out why she is experiencing her horrible nightmares. As she propels herself further into the mystery, Casey becomes single minded, she follows her gut - she 'rides her feeling' until she discovers the truth of her circumstance. 

I approached Kate's management team and Kate herself to ask permission to reproduce those lyrics as a quote at the beginning of the book and, to my utter delight, they kindly allowed me to do so. 

It was Miller-Heidke's track "Sarah" that really helped me to shape the tragic back story that would eventually underpin the entire novel. "Sarah" is about a girl who goes missing at a music festival and turns up much later having no recollection of where she went. I took that idea and re-purposed it and it became a critical element in The Recipient. 

Visit Kate Miller-Heidke at her official site. 

During the writing of the latter part of The Recipient, when I was clear about the direction it was going to go, I was introduced to Melbourne based rock outfit Heaven the Axe by my brother. Fronted by quite possibly the most powerful rock chick I've ever heard in Phoebe Pinnock, their track "Enemy" became anthemic for the emerging battle Casey Schillinge wages within herself and without - against the unfolding conspiracy surrouding her donor and her tragic fate. Dark forces are disturbed by Casey's persistence and an Enemy will emerge that will threatens her life all over again. 

Visit Heaven the Axe at their official site.

Nashville based folk-rock band Swear & Shake have occupied a special place in my heart and my music playlist since I discovered them back in 2012. They are a sublime musical outfit who explore wondrous places and states of mind - in no small part due to the hypnotic vocal talent of Kari Spieler and Adam McHeffey. 

Their track "The Light", off their 2012 LP "Maple Ridge" offers a sense of reflection that informs the conclusion of the journey of my protagonist Casey Schillinge and I was really inspired by the soulful - almost hymnal - quality of this particular song.

Visit Swear & Shake at their official site.  

The Recipient will be out in stores everywhere from May 1st, 2016. Pre-Order you copy now from Amazon, The Book Depository, Boomerang Books (Australia) and where ever good books are sold.

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DFA.

Dave Grohl Saved My Life.

Rarely, if ever, have I considered people of celebrity to have anything useful to say. Other than promoting their product - their film, T.V. show or their album - I usually find anything they utter beyond that is just hot air, filler, bullshit. Unless of course they've put in an appearance on the now defunct British T.V. institution 'Parkinson' then I kinda think 'Well, yeah...if they're intelligent enough to submit to an hour being quizzed by, arguably, the finest interviewer in the world then I'll take notice. 


Otherwise their only requirement as an entertainer is to entertain me, not give me a running commentary on the geopolitical ramifications of climate change, or the morality of government commitments to foreign aid or whether I should eat meat or not. Go make an album, let the appropriate people handle those other issues.

There are few people who I admire in this world because I'm not really into the kind of vacuous hero worship of celebrity, movie stars, performers or sports people. I think it stems from a couple of instances where I was disappointed as a kid. Like, I met some character from a kid's show from the 1980's - I think it was the kangaroo from Shirl's Neighbourhood' - who, none of you outside of Australia will have any idea of what I'm talking about. But anyway, he turned out to be a complete arse and I do remember being brought to tears - I was 6 years old remember.


And most sports people then, as they are now, are just plain dumb - unable to converse much beyond delivering stupid cliche's during interviews - and that's when they're not busy putting their foot in it.


But I do and have made particular exceptions.

Early in 2005 I was going through a pretty awful time. My marriage had fallen apart after seven years, of which most of the years - I thought - were happy. In the months leading up to the separation, I had been diagnosed with severe depression and I was being treated for it.  Up until that point, I had placed a supreme amount of importance on marriage and I valued it greatly - even though I will admit, that there were times where I totally sucked at it. There was a weight of expectation that I'd place upon myself to succeed and when it all fell apart - my castle, the structure that I had built to house all those expectations collapsed spectacularly. My life, in the first few days and weeks after my wife ended our marriage, spun out of control in a predictable fashion. 


The tranquil life that I had known for the past seven years was suddenly gone, I became withdrawn. I locked myself away from everybody. I indulged in far more red wine than I ever did before and then I discovered brandy so I hit that pretty hard too. I live in a different state to my family so I apart from the phone, there was no one I could talk to face to face which was really isolating. I was essentially alone in the beginning. 


During the very worst of it all I seriously considered suicide numerous times - even got to the point of actually preparing to go through with it. I had a plan - a way out and I had come to a strange kind of peace with it. When your entire world crumbles around you and you feel as though you're left with nothing at all, not being here anymore becomes an attractive option.

So there I was, sitting in the lounge room of the home I was about to lose, half wiped out after a dozen or so brandy and drys, a bottle of pills on the table before me and then Andrew Denton comes on. 


Andrew Denton is Australia's equivalent to Michael Parkinson. For an hour or so on a Monday night Andrew Denton would conduct one on one interviews with anybody of note in a style that really does pull back the layers of the onion and delves into the person before him in a really satisfying way. Denton's list of interviewees over the years have included the likes of Bill Clinton, Helen Mirren, Sir David Attenborough, Jerry Seinfeld and Rudy Giuliani.

He has also interviewed Dave Grohl.

I've always liked The Foo Fighters though my love from them...(their music I mean)... really solidified around the album 'There Is Nothing Left To Lose'. Personally, I don't think the Foo Fighters have ever released a bad album. And I think that they have only improved with age. Aside from being one of the most disciplined outfits going around, the band also has a sense of humor about them; they've never taken themselves too seriously in the way alot of bands do. It comes through in the many interviews they have done - including their most recent documentary "Back & Forth" - as well as a handful of their music videos, which are basically huge piss takes on the notion of rock stardom. It's totally refreshing.

So yeah, there I was, sitting on the couch in my three day old boxer shot, clutching a bottle of brandy, my mind as black as the night outside and I was kinda half listening to the interview. And the the interview turned a sudden and unexpected corner. Andrew and Dave started talking about Kurt Cobain, the circumstances surrounding his suicide and the impact that it had on Dave Grohl. Through the fog of my grief there was a sudden clarity as my mind switched to the conversation on screen. I knew that Dave had avoided talking a lot about Cobain's suicide in the past, so it was significant that he would begin opening up about it here. 

Dave Grohl at one point said to Andrew Denton "OK, life is so delicate, so short that you really have to take advantage of every day...I am lucky enough to wake up this morning, even if it's the worst day of my life, I still get to be..."

For some reason - those words cut through to my very core. They weren't especially ground breaking words, I mean you hear stuff like that all the time. But, I guess, at that moment it was what I needed to hear.

Grohl went further, "It has a lot to do with why I started this band, because I wasn't done yet. I might die tomorrow, but as long as I spend every day like it's a gift, then I will be fine". I was struck by the quiet intelligence behind those words and the sincerity of the emotion that betrayed Dave's eyes at that moment. For me, he had moved beyond being a fun kinda guy, a cool muso with a sense of humor and had become one of those rare people who a in touch with their own psyche, are aware of their own human condition and have tried to understand it. It is a quality that is common to many creative people and one that resonated with me. For years, I had struggled with trying to become a writer and during those months in 2005 I had all but abandoned it.

There is a moment, a point in the cycle of a negative seismic event like the one I went through where you can either go one way or you can go another. Upon hearing those words from Dave, I decided to choose a path that would be long and hard, filled with set backs and pauses. But, somehow, I knew I had to try and rediscover the best of myself because I sensed, even then that it would ultimately be rewarding.


I began to clean myself up, gradually and I abandoned any notions of leaving this mortal coil. My creative love took a little while to recapture but I did begin to contemplate it again, some I hadn't done for several years.

Depression, deep depression is an affliction that can take years to come out of. I don't know why that is. I'm not sure anybody does. Even now, some six years after I was first diagnosed I still suffer from bouts of deep depression. I don't know where it comes from, it is overwhelming and can often take weeks to come out of. 


But there are certain words that stick in my mind that help me to overcome the dark times that threaten my well being. Dave Grohl's chat with Andrew Denton back in May 2005 was a critical moment in the journey that enabled me to go forward. 


And though I will probably never get the opportunity, I want to say here and now that in a small way Dave Grohl saved my life. And for that I guess I’ll always be thankful...


DFA.

12 - 5 - 2011 The Day Of The Foos.

The quintessential rock band of my generation, the Foo Fighters, landed in Adelaide on December 5th for a one off show at the Adelaide Oval as part of their Wasting Light World Tour. This was an event that I have waited months for - well, to be honest, it's been a three year wait. I have mentioned to a couple of people already that, for me, the show was nigh on a religious experience last night and one that I won't soon forget. My love for the Foo Fighters is no secret and I have talked about the influence that Dave Grohl, in particular, had on me during a difficult period in my life a few years ago

Dave, Chris, Nate, Pat and Taylor were in superb form and delivered a two hour main set that went non stop - repeat NON STOP! Their stamina was just incredible. The show itself was balls to the wall rock, in contrast to their 2008 tour, where their show incorporated a smaller acoustic set. This isn't to say that last night's show was any lesser without that contrast - far from it. 


Highlights for me was their performance of "These Days" which Dave hinted that footage from their Australian tour would be used in an upcoming music video for that song. "Stacked Actors" was another standout - one of my favorite Foo's tracks and "The Pretender" was delivered with enough voltage to light up a small country. They also blew everyone away with Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down" which was really poignant as I just watched a doco on that band on TV earlier this week. There were also moments of comedy during the show including a kind of guitar high noon standoff between Dave and Chris that brought the house down. They were engaging, interactive and enthusiastic to the Adelaide crowd. Hands down, The Foo Fighters are the consummate rock band and are the gold standard that all who call themselves rock musicians should aspire to.


I'm pleased to present a little video compilation of my concert experience. Excuse the audio on the video footage as it pops a little but you'll get the idea.


DFA.

Songs That Inspired The "Dream" - Come Alive - Foo Fighters.

The beginnings of what I like to call Andy's "awakening" were written with this fantastic song by the Foo Fighters in mind. I featured a short description of the song in "The Hambledown Dream" that was designed to serve as a musical accompaniment to the internal battle that Andy was waging with himself.


DFA.