Podcast - Soundtracking with Bruce Springsteen

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“We’re always trying to find someone whose broken pieces fit with our broken pieces.”

Last Autumn I spent a quiet afternoon hiding out at the cinema watching Bruce Springsteen’s film Western Stars. I have to confess I don’t know his music too well but the movie, well, the movie is just beautiful. It’s a sweeping meditation. A performance film intercut with stories about the songs and stunning footage of the American landscape. It makes you feel like you’re out on the open road, under an endless starry sky and in a bar with your best friends at the same time. The songs are accompanied by a 30 piece orchestra and Springsteen’s unmistakable vocal.

This gorgeous interview digs deeper into why he made the movie. Springsteen talks about how he wanted to immerse himself in thoughts about “love and difficulty of love” and asks “how do you move from being an individual into a life that’s filled with… communal experience.” The discussion is dotted with clips of music from the film and it’s just lovely. A perfect listen for a walk out in the fresh air.

Episode 177: Bruce Springsteen & Thom Zimny On The Music Of Western Stars

It's been a very good week for Soundtracking, with our little film music podcast nominated for two gongs at the UK's premier audio industry awards, the ARIAs. And who better to celebrate with than one of the biggest names in the music business, Bruce Springsteen.

Santa Lucia Day In Copenhagen

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In December I returned to Copenhagen for a few days escape. I explored some new areas including Christianshavn where I wandered down a picture perfect street called Wildersgade. I also visited the Glyptotek gallery for a second time and spent a while looking around the magnificent sculptures including the two huge lions in one of the lobbies. It’s wonderful that the word for lion in Danish is løve.

One of the main reasons I visited was to experience the Santa Lucia Day celebrations that take place each year on December 13th. In Scandinavia this date coincided with Winter Solstice and the day celebrates light coming back into the darkness. You can read more about the tradition here. I heard about a lovely, quirky custom that the kayak clubs of Copenhagen embrace. As the light fades, they cover their kayaks in fairylights and take to the canal. Hundreds of them drifting along the water. Crowds gathered and there was a lovely sense of calm as we all watched spellbound.

Glimpses Of Green In Boston

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I travelled to Boston for the first time in April and was lucky enough to have a full day to wander around the city after I had finished work. The sky was bright blue and I walked almost ten miles taking in the sights, capturing little glimpses of green.

A Quiet Weekend In The Cotswolds

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We weren't expecting quite so much snow this weekend but still managed to have a lovely, cosy time in the Cotswolds. It's so good to have a change of scenery once in a while and to take some time just to explore and appreciate good company and good conversation.

6 Music Loves New York (& So Do I)

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This week, here in the UK, 6 Music have been celebrating New York with a series of brilliant programmes and playlists. Until I visited last year, I hadn't been to NYC for over 20 years. In fact I could hardly say I'd been there at all as that first trip was only a fleeting 24 hours in which all we really did was rush up to the top of the Empire State Building and rather than feeling in awe of the city, we simply felt giddy about being so far away from home unsupervised. But then I found myself booked to go back to help to organise an event.

The first trip over was a 48 hour whirlwind recce. We landed late on the Monday night and at 5am on Tuesday morning I lay wide awake in my hotel room one block away from Central Park. What else to do but get up and walk? I decided I would head to Radio City Hall and zig-zagged across the blocks, round the side of the park and straight down Broadway. I stood and stared up at the vertical signs feeling excited and disorientated with commuters around me, my wide eyes giving me away as a jet-lagged tourist. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped for coffee and a bagel and then took a detour past Carnegie Hall, which I've wanted to see since listening to Ryan Adams' beautiful album of the night he played there. The city had me hooked.

We returned a few weeks after the recce to deliver the event and threw ourselves wholeheartedly into the city. I found myself feeling completely intoxicated by its creativity, energy and movement. It's clearer than London with wider streets. You can see it more easily, have more perspective. There's noise and madness but I also found so many quiet, creative corners.

When I first went to New York, all those years ago, to see the Empire State building and nothing else, I was on my way to spend a summer working in the Rocky Mountains. I met an American guy who made me a mix-tape. It included New York State Of Mind by Billy Joel and one lyric resonated more than the rest, "Been high in the Rockies, under the evergreens." On this trip to NYC, a group of us went to a brilliant piano bar in Greenwich Village one night. At 2am after one too many glasses of red, I paid twenty bucks for the pianist to play the song. The waitress stepped out from behind the bar. leant casually against the piano and belted out the words like a Broadway star. One lyric resonated more than the rest, "I don't have any reasons, I left them all behind... I'm in a New York state of mind." It's a moment I'll remember all my life. What a town.

Words On The Street

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As you'll be starting to realise if you read this page regularly, I love spotting little details as I walk around the city, things that others may not have noticed. Here are a few of my spots from New York.

Ace Hotel - New York

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I was lucky enough to be working in New York last month. What a town! I had no idea how much I would love it. One of the places we visited was the Ace Hotel. I had read it was a place where writers, film makers and artists go for meetings and to work on their projects and sure enough the lobby was full of creative types chattering around MacBooks. I loved the feel of the hotel and all the little details in everything. It made me feel really inspired.

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Little Bits Of New York

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I always think the best way to really get the feel of a city is to walk. This week I was lucky enough to go to New York and got up super early for a stroll. I love to walk slowly and spot little details such as words and reflections. Here are just a few of my snaps.

Sunday Song - Too Young

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"I knew a time was gone and it took me like ages, just to understand I was afraid to be a simple guy."

I'm not sure what made me think of this song by the brilliant Phoenix. It puts me right in the middle of the feeling that I have when I watch Lost In Translation. A feeling of escapism, connection, adventure... Of being in another country without a friend in the world but somehow that being the most exciting, adrenaline rush in the world. I think I know what the Monday movie is going to be : )