What I Write To by Rebecca Denton - This Beats Perfect Blog Tour

Today I'm really happy to be hosting this wonderful guest post by debut author, Rebecca Denton, for This Beats Perfect.  This Beats Perfect sounds really amazing. I'm loving books about music and fandom lately. Here is the summary for this book, then over to Rebecca...

Amelie Ayres has impeccable taste in music. Bowie. Bush. Bob. So when she finds herself backstage at The Keep’s only UK gig she expects to hate it; after all they are world’s most tragic band. In fact she feels a grudging respect – not (obviously) for their music, but for the work that goes in to making them megastars. And when lead singer, ‘Maxx’, is not dressed up as a cross between Elvis and a My Little Pony, he is actually rather normal, talented and has creative struggles not too dissimilar to her own.

But the next morning she wakes up rolls over and discovers a million new @’s on social media. Overnight a photo of her backstage has made her a subject of global speculation. Suddenly the world needs to know #Who’sThatGirl? – but for all the wrong reasons.

All Amelie wants is to play her music. She’s got the guitar, the songs, the soul and, in the safety of her bedroom, she’s got the voice. But when it comes to getting up on stage, she struggles with self-doubt.

Immaculate’s a concept. Flawless is fake. But just sometimes music – and hearts – can rock a perfect beat. 

Rebecca Denton ... Follow Rebecca on Twitter ... Rebecca Denton on Facebook ... Add This Beats Perfect to Goodreads

I’m one of those people that works well with a ton of distraction. The TV on, the radio on, music, whatever - for some reason I’m more comfortable working when there’s noise. There’s something nice about dipping out of the world you’re creating and having a constant atmosphere of inspiration to dip in and out of.

Last year, the Nobel’s caused great controversy by awarding the prize for literature to Bob Dylan.  There were lots of book folk angered by this for various reasons, the New York Times had a piece that simply argued by giving the award to him, a musician, a writer missed out.  And in these times of declining long form reading, that is a damn shame.

But when it comes to telling stories, in my opinion lyrics can be as potent as any poetry.  Here are a couple of the artists that inspired me when I was writing This Beats Perfect.

Regina Spektor

You might know her as the writer of the OISTNB theme song, but there’s so much more to her than that track. If there was ever an artist that made me want to start writing, Regina Spektor was the one. When I saw her play in a pokey little place off Tottenham Court Road over 10 years ago, she sat at a piano and sang/told these brilliant, eccentric stories that were just so mind-blowingly creative.  After a decade of guitar rock I felt like someone blew open a door to a whole new room.  I feel the recorded music sadly lacks that raw brilliance I saw live back then. But it’s still magic.

Tom Waits

Nothing makes me happier than songwriters who are theatrical and flamboyant storytellers and therefore I heart Tom Waits. As an artist, he is the *real deal* my friends – and there is no one I’d rather see live right now. Preferably in a dark, dingy wine bar in Berlin or Paris.  Prepare for heartbreak:

Get a taste of his theatrics; check out this classic interview with a perplexed Australian. This interview was apparently the inspiration for Heath Ledgers The Joker.