Inspired #166 - Slow Shudder
Seattle-based pop producer and artist Slow Shudder recently unveiled her latest single, "Time Now for Ghosts." Citing Haruki Murakami and the situation at large as inspirations for the track, we caught up with the boundary pushing artist to delve a little deeper.
Who are your top three musical inspirations?
It’s so tough to choose just three, especially as I feel like they change all the time. Three who come to mind at the moment are TV on the Radio, Regina Spektor, and The xx.
TV on the Radio blew my mind when I first heard them in high school and totally changed the way I think about making music. Their captivating songwriting, immersive arrangements, and unique production choices spanned so many reference points. I often listen back to their early albums and am amazed at how fresh everything sounds, even over a decade later.
Regina Spektor’s songwriting majorly shaped the way that I think about songwriting. Her unapologetic commitment to her ideas gave me so much strength when I was younger and starting to figure out how to make my own ideas tangible. Her fearless experimentation with both form and performance techniques is equally illuminating. I’ll never forget seeing her live and her effortless transition from playing classical piano to hitting a chair with a drumstick and belting. She’s a legend!
I discovered The xx live, catching their set at Bonnaroo in 2010 where I was working in exchange for a pass. I was immersed in their songs from the first note of their set, and seeing them was a catalyst to begin taking my own songwriting and artist project seriously, after mostly working in musical isolation when it came to my own writing. The songwriting and arrangements are mesmerizing and the production is so inventive. I love Romy’s new solo release, “Lifetime”, and have been a big fan of Jamie XX’s solo work for years as well, and their track together, “Loud Places” is one of my all-time faves.
Is there a certain film that inspires you?
Again, there are so many! One film that directly inspired me is Mirror by Andrei Tarkovsky. It’s visually stunning and the experience of watching it feels like you’re traveling between dreams, memories, and reality. For one of my classes at Goldsmiths, it was assigned as a starting point to create an original piece with a group of collaborators from different majors. We ended up just focusing on one scene, but there were so many inspiring moments. Highly recommend checking it out.
What city do you find the most inspiring?
Alright, apologies to the other cities I’ve lived in, which are also inspiring, but for this one it’s London. Hands down. I feel like when I’m there, I’m constantly buzzing with ideas. I love the music scene there and dearly miss being able to collaborate with my London-based friends in person and play shows with them. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to get a visa to move back.
Who is the most inspiring person to you?
There are a lot of inspiring people in my life but for this one, I’ll say my grandpa. He was an incredibly dedicated jazz pianist and composer who overcame many hardships, from losing his mother as a child to losing his voice to throat cancer later in life. Throughout it all, he managed to compose music and play live shows until he was in his 80s. He began teaching me how to make music before I could even walk and supported my artistic growth throughout my early years. I wish he could see how much I’ve grown, both as a musician and in my career, but am grateful for the 20 years I got with him.
What were your inspirations when writing the track?
There are lots of inspirations for “Time Now for Ghosts”. I began writing it right as lockdown started, when I was having super intense dreams every night. I felt like I was being visited by all of these people from my past and when I’d wake up, it would take a moment to realize what reality I was living within. A few times I went to text someone who appeared in a dream, the first person I was romantically involved with, only to remember that he’d passed away almost four years ago. It was strange because I hadn’t had those kinds of dreams in years, but I think the heightened tension of the coronavirus outbreak was affecting me.
At the same time, I was reading “1Q84” by Haruki Murakami, and “time now for ghosts” is actually a line from that book. The inspiration there is thinking about metaphysical connection across parallel realities and the concept of entanglement within physics, where particles affect one another across a massive distance. For me, that resonates on an emotional level. Even when you lose people, your emotional connection with them remains.
How would you like to inspire people?
I hope my music inspires listeners to access their own emotions and personal narratives in new ways. One of the magical things about music is that a song can be a key to a door within your inner world, unlocking things hidden by your subconscious. I hope my songs can serve as keys in this way.
I also hope that more womxn and gender minorities are inspired to produce when they hear my production, and to DJ when they see me DJ. It’s frustrating that, even in 2020, people are still sometimes surprised that I’m a producer or a DJ because of who I am. I’m proud to be part of a community of artists working to change that perception and create a more inclusive musical landscape.