Who is your musical muse?

[DreadedDinosaur]

Do you listen to a specific song or band to get the create juices flowing? how does it effect your story?
I listen to Blind Guardian mostly when writing and drawing Dreaded Dinosaur Man.
check them out here

and here is my comic launching tomorrow!

Dreaded Dinosaur Man | Tapas

Themes from Blind guardian songs end up in my writing. the home planet takes its name from one of there songs, which in turn was inspired by sci fi books by Michael Moorecock

[ar-ninetysix]

Well, if I had to pick just one group.. Itsue is probably the one for me.

Instrumentals are incredibly solid all around and I could honestly still listen to them even without their singer, Mizuki. But tbh she just brings it all together. From what I can gather, many of her lyrics seem to center around solitude and moving on from heartbreak. I can definitely feel that through the way she sings.

I'm writing a comic about demon hunters in modern day Japan, but it's hard to just label it as action bc about half of it is set-up for the characters. Maybe the interactions and themes are a bit melodramatic, but I do think it's the best way to deliver the story I envisioned lol so I kinda look for moody music to fit the vibe. Itsue happens to cover quite a lot and the themes kinda overlap together, which makes them like the ideal band to listen to, in my case~

[allenT]

When i want to remind myself how the scenes feels like musically, I listen to new age/ anime movie/ arthouse movie/ game soundtracks for references: simple soothing tracks(and a bit oriental), to capture the feels for my world environments, some are mood music that really fits introspective scenes.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Blind Guardian. Nice.

Okay...here we go...my list of musical muses for Dragon Sparking:

DragonForce
Freedom Call
Iron Savior
Dark Moor
Running Wild
Powerman 5000
Demon Hunter
As I Lay Dying
Killswitch Engage
Wage War
Hatebreed
Breakdown of Sanity
Iron Attack!
A crowd of rebellion
Impellitteri
Rob Rock
Dio
Striker
Black Sabbath
Circle of Dust
Impending Doom
Judas Priest
Terror
Saving Grace
xDisciplexADx

I'm probably missing some and there's room for new ones as well. My playlist of comic inspirational tracks is over 200 metal and hardcore songs now. But the first 6 in that list above are the ones that started it all for me.

For me, it's a mixture of the lyrics, and the instrumentation that helps me craft the world and draw the characters in motion. I listen to approximately 8hours of metal music daily, it keeps the inspiration moving.

Playlist link:

Dragon Sparking: Inspirations Playlist

DragonForce song that really got the ball rolling over 10 years ago.

Song that inspired the name of my comic

[therosesword]

It depends on what I'm working on. When I was writing Dead Souls Doing the Samba (takes place in a monastery) I had a 7 hour Gregorian chant playlist that I'd use. (I know... sorry, this is in "art/comics" but I couldn't resist)

Dead Souls Doing the Samba | Tapas

[Kelheor]

Blind Guardian is always a great choice

I prefer to listen to music with little to no words or something I won't pay attention to when I am drawing, so have a playlist that mostly consists of Folklore OST, Arcana's Petrichor album and Dargaard - it's dark, moody and keeping the suspense. I made it when we were working on our first comic (dark fantasy) in 2016, and it still holds with other comics, like Hexameron, Harvest Night, Everything You Need and Fairy Price, all of which have that dark idea in them.

[paracosmosfiction]

I wouldn't say I have one particular muse or artist. My taste in music is very eclectic. That said, I do have specific songs I match as themes or as tone setters to specific episodes. I also have songs that I set as the theme for the entire arc of my story as a whole.

For instance, this is the theme I've set for book one of the Devil's Colt saga.

And this is the theme for book two.

[Llyrel]

I don't tend to listen to music with lyrics as I'm writing, buuuuut... W.A.S.P. and Sonata Arctica are to blame for a lot of my ideas

• The idea of giving Adrian a Harley Davidson was recycled from another character of mine, who was heavily inspired by W.A.S.P. songs and had a motorbike like the one seen in the Wild Child video. The character/story idea was eventually scrapped, the bike stayed :'D
• A summary of Aaron's character can be found in W.A.S.P.'s Rebel in the F.D.G. and (partially) Mean Man. The life of Nikki Sixx as told in The Heroin Diaries also served as a little bit of inspiration for him;
• The entire K.F.D. album inspired the idea for another character (who's supposed to make an appearance in season two, soooo... might take a while for him to show up, lol).
• * Another character (also meant to appear in season two) was inspired by Sonata Arctica's The boy who wanted to be a real puppet.
• Jorn = Sonata Arctica's Broken. Period :'D

Also, I don't know what it is with Sixx:A.M., but like 90% of their songs always manage to be a perfect fit for my characters and story :'D not an "inspiration" per se (except maybe for The Heroin Diaries), since most of their songs usually came out after I already had a certain idea for a certain character... but they always fit :'D songs like Skin, Wolf At Your Door and the entirety of the Prayers For The Damned album are just the perfect soundtrack for a bunch of my characters.

Last but not least: a lot of my characters' clothing styles are inspired by different alternative music styles (goth for Jorn, 80s glam rock for Aaron, grunge for Chris and so on)

[Stargazer31]

Definitly Bjork. Army of Me inspired Sigrun's character arc, and several of my chapters are named after her songs.

[liaroger]

It really depends on what story and scene I'm working on, and the pov character. For my current chapter, it's mostly sea shanties because the entire chapter takes place on a ship. (duh)

And then Paganini of course. Obviously. Especially this sonata (not just Caprice 24 and La Campanella, though I do love those XD)

That reminds me, I actually have to write a shanty for worldbuilding and expo reasons.