One Day author David Nicholls – prog rock, Live Aid and making tapes for girls
Sep 13, 2024
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David Nicholls, the acclaimed author of 'One Day,' shares his journey from writing to curating its Netflix soundtrack. He fondly discusses the art of making mixtapes, revealing how music became a personal greeting card. The conversation meanders through nostalgic memories of Live Aid, his experiences with classic records, and the joy of sharing music through tapes. He reflects on how song choices resonate with identity and evokes emotions over decades, merging personal anecdotes with the universal language of music.
Creating compilation tapes serves as a profound self-expression tool, conveying complex emotions and reflecting personal identity through music selection.
The evolution of music consumption from physical formats to digital streaming illustrates the shifting dynamics in personal connections and memory formation with music.
Deep dives
The Art of Compilation Tapes
Creating compilation tapes serves as a profound means of self-expression, often allowing individuals to convey emotions or sentiments they might struggle to articulate. These carefully curated mixtapes not only reflect personal taste but also act as a way to communicate complex feelings, much like a handwritten love letter. The meticulousness involved in crafting these tapes, from selecting songs to handwritten notes, adds a significant emotional weight, creating a unique snapshot of the creator's personality. As a testament to their value, the laborious process of mixing tracks reinforces how much meaning and intention can be packed into a finite amount of time.
Impact of Music on Personal Identity
Music plays a pivotal role in shaping personal identity and providing a lens through which individuals define themselves and their relationships. Specific genres or artists can signify a person's experiences, aspirations, and social affiliations, influencing their cultural landscape. This is illustrated through the characters in the discussed work, each having distinct musical preferences that mirror their personalities and life paths, contributing to a deeper narrative on emotional connection. The selection of music in pivotal moments can emphasize the psychological nuances and reinforce character development over time.
Navigating the Music Landscape
The path to discovering music has evolved from traditional formats like vinyl and library collections to the modern age of digital streaming, presenting both challenges and opportunities. The nostalgic recount of borrowing vinyl records from libraries showcases a less costly way of exploring music, allowing listeners to experience a wide range of genres without the financial burden of purchasing albums. This accessibility contrasts sharply with today's streaming services, which offer instant gratification but may lack the same personal connection fostered by physical formats. The shift in how individuals engage with music influences not just consumption habits but also the way memories and associations with those songs are formed.
The Collaborator Behind the Soundtrack
The effort involved in creating a soundtrack for visual media underscores the intricate relationship between music and storytelling. By carefully curating songs that resonate with characters and settings, the music coordinator and writers shape the emotional atmosphere and thematic depth of the work. The process includes extensive research into song rights and costs, which can influence the final choices made for the soundtrack, often leading to unexpected yet powerful selections. This meticulous matching of music to narrative not only enhances viewer engagement but also leaves a lasting impact that can resonate emotionally long after the experience.
The Netflix series of David Nicholls’ worldwide hit novel One Day was Top Ten in 89 countries and he’s been heavily involved in its soundtrack album, a process as enjoyable, he says, as devising the compilation tape the fictional Emma made for Dexter in 1989 featuring the Smiths, Prefab Sprout and Public Enemy. We talk to him here about the glorious pitfalls of using pop music to broadcast your personality. All bases covered, from the Geoff Love Orchestra to Joy Orbison, along with …
… prog rock drummer replacement fantasies.
… when a compilation tape is a Valentine’s card.
… music as a way of telegraphing a time.
… what the 1812 Overture does to a five year-old.
… the eternal impact of Shipbuilding and Running Up That Hill.
… “punk terrified me”.
… classic male musical taste paranoia.
… memories of Live Aid – Bowie onstage, Kiki Dee in the car park.
… buying a knock-off cassette of Sgt Pepper.
… remembering every note of a record you haven’t heard for 50 years.