Cool thread, MattAY. I dig it.
If I'm feeling good and happy, or if I want to feel happy then hell, I'll listen to
Happy by Pharrell Williams. I know it's very cliche' and eye rolling, but I like it.
I'm also a fan of Owl City, due to it being so calming and relaxing for me. Good examples include
Fireflies and
Vanilla Twilight.
When I'm drawing cartoons (mostly
GR Strips) I try to listen to a lot of upbeat kinda music. I've taken a liking to listening to old classics by Elvis Presley, such as
Blue Sway Shoes and
Hound Dog.
When I'm drawing more, I dunno, "serious" things (like concepts, ideas, characters etc) I like to listen to a lot of symphonic metal such as Nightwish and Within Temptation. Below is a few songs for both. I love the epic, almost supernatural feel to it.
Nightwish -
Ghost River,
Storytime,
Nemo,
Aramanth,
The Poet and the Pendulum,
Ever Dream.
Within Temptation -
A Demon's Fate,
Iron.
I also listen to a lot of orchestra-style sound tracks from video games, but I won't list 'em as the list can go on.
This is going to sound super dumb but when I'm at the gym lifting heavy weight (weight that I've never tried lifting before), I'll try to use music to help motivate me and psyche me up. This is "normal" yeah, but my choice of music though is a bit odd and not so normal... I like to listen to
The Suicide Mission theme from Mass Effect 2 or the
main theme of Skyrim. I'll only attempt the lift once the epic orchestra choir thing kicks in.
I like these themes because for me, it really gives me a "This is it, I have to do this" kind of feeling.
Before a judo fight, I used to try and listen to heavy metal but I honestly might switch it out for the Mass Effect/Skyrim stuff. The music I used to listen to before a competition was mostly Disturbed, songs include
Indestructible and
Warriorfor example. Might scrap 'em though.
There's a few songs I refuse to listen to, or maybe can't. One song in particular which I'll list is
Your Guardian Angel by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. The reason I can't listen to this song (despite listing it here and even having it on my iPhone) is because it heavily reminds me of one of my closest friends, who sadly passed away near the end of 2010. It's strange because I can't listen to this song, yet it's on my phone but I can't bring myself to delete it.