Music, Passion and the Process Vol.1

(This article is from my newsletter #39 - view online or subscribe)

With this first installment I want to introduce a new segment of my newsletter with some behind the scenes stuff. For as long as I have been making, I have had a strong passion for the process. I feel it is in the process of making, the soul of a product is created. It’s where I get to put my thoughts, blood, sweat and tears out there. I believe for every maker, while we share similarities, the process is different. What works for one will not work for the other. With this newsletter you get a look into my world of making.

Hip Hop and creativity

Music has a huge effect on my creative process. I function best with a great beat playing. Even when I listen to audio books in the shop I generally have music running in the background. I never was a fan of simply turning the radio on and have always been very specific with the music of choice flowing from the the speakers in the studio and shop. Frankly I function bad in silence. As with everything else music taste varies and changes with age and I find myself being more and more picky. I guess it is an age thing.

Most of the music I play fits into two categories, Jazz and Hip Hop. For the past ten or so years I have been listening intensely to old school hip hop, especially though not exclusively “East Coast Hip Hop”. I have lately been considering why my main music interest has turned into Hip Hop. I never really understood or had interest in Hip Hop when I was young. It was something that started growing on me in the early 2000. I have come to the conclusion that some of what I enjoy the most about old school Hip Hop scene is the complex lyrics and intensive use of samples. This super focus on detail is where I can see myself in the music and what inspires me.

I wanted to give you a look into my taste of music and have created a playlist on Spotify for some of those shop tunes. I hope you will enjoy it. I would love to hear back from you if you have any music recommendations. I expect to edit this somewhat with every newsletter, so remember to check back.

Listen to my playlist: Anso on the Wheels of Steel

Inspiration as a state of mind

Part of my inspiration comes from browsing pictures. While Instagram is overflowing with pictures it is too easy to get distracted and I generally favor other sources. I found that various visual blogs are excellent to keep the inspiration flowing. It is rarely knife or tool related, but more artistic or even random design and style themed blogs I seek out. For that same reason the pictures I draw inspiration from can be anything from cars and architecture to texture and materials. Without any further introduction or explanations here is a selection of pictures that inspired me this month.

Random Fact #77

Pickled herring with Karina´s homemade curry salad on danish rye bread is one of my lunch favorites.

The movies and more

Those of you, who have followed me for a while, will know that movies are a big part of the Anso universe. I tend to get a little nerdy, memorizing quotes and get a kick out of learning about some of the lesser known anecdotes behind a movie. Just to get it out of the way I do not have a favorite movie but a good top 3 would be Blade Runner, Alien and Pulp Fiction in no particular order. Well maybe somewhat of an order. Ok Blade Runner is my favorite movie….at least right now.

Now if you are nerdy about comic books like, I am you might appreciate this mashup. I am a big fan of Herge´s TinTin, so when I saw this recently I had to save it for this newsletter. Hope you enjoy the reference. Art by Benjamin Del Rio