After an amazing discussion with Sebastian Hetman yesterday about science fiction, I am thrilled to bring you The Bookshelf Symphony Orchestra, an instrumental concept album created for readers and writers by Austin Farmer! I have listened to instrumental music before but music inspired by fantasy and science fiction books was such a fantastic idea that I could not say no. A shout out to the amazing Timy and Justine at the Storytellers on Tour for bringing this album to my attention.
About The Bookshelf Symphony Orchestra
Over the course of 2 years, Austin Farmer teamed up with brothers Addam and Heath Farmer to help produce, co- arrange, and mix/master the album, bringing over a decade of experience in the music industry to the project. Every song is titled after the novel it was inspired by and couldn’t have been created without those stories. Musical influences on this album include songs from many of the instrumental playlists he’d listen to while writing fiction, including Two Steps From Hell, Bear McCreary, and Joe Hisaishi.
My Listening Experience
Listening to The Bookshelf Symphony Orchestra made me realize how much books and stories inspire us. Whether it is in the form of book reviews or book staging, music is another creative outlet where stories drive innovation.
I enjoyed a nice quite afternoon, getting lost in each of the worlds that Austin created in these songs. Though I have only read The Fold by Peter Clines, this gave me the opportunity to research these other inspirational fantasy and science fiction books. My strategy was to listen to the tracks first and find out more about the books later. Based on the track name and music, I tried to take a wild guess of what genre of book this was and that was such a fantastic experiment because most of the time, I could tell fantasy from science fiction. Even better, I loved the composition for The Fold which I have read. I keep thinking about rereading it.
The music was soothing and something I would listen to again, swapping out the coffee store instrumental albums with this one! 🙂
About Austin Farmer
Austin Farmer is a musician, writer, and filmmaker from Southern California. His music has been featured on Nickelodeon, Fox Sports, and a national Sprint commercial. His short story “Beethoven’s Baton” is featured in Baker Street Irregulars Volume 1 (co-edited by Michael A. Ventrella and NYT Bestselling Author Jonathan Maberry).
Q&A with Austin
1. I have not read Name of the Wind yet. From the cover it feels like dark story, but as I listened to your track, I did not get that feel at all. Tell me about why you love Name of the Wind and your portrayal of it.
Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, Book #1, Published by Daw Books) is such an amazing novel. I’ve actually never read anything like it. From the very beginning, the lyrical, enchanting prose pulls you into a journey that sings off the page, cuts right through to your heart, and sticks with you years after reading.
Without giving away any spoilers, there is a scene in the novel where Kvothe writes a song called “Warm Grass and Cool Breeze”. This scene resonated with me so deeply that I felt like I finally learned how to write a song as well. It was such a surreal moment; I wish I can translate that moment into words properly, but the only way I could express that was by creating my own version of Kvothe’s song.
2. What is your process of writing the music for your tracks? Do you read the book, focus on a particular scene from it, or are you going for the overarching feel of the book?
Creating The Bookshelf Symphony Orchestra was a completely different songwriting process from anything else I’ve ever done. I’ve been in rock bands for over a decade, and I never imagined I’d release an experimental, orchestral concept album like this. Each song was inspired by a scene, chapter, or an act from the novel it is titled after.
I wrote most of the songs either in a coffeeshop or in a library, all on my laptop and home computer with the help of my brothers. Everything you hear is all digital samples of real orchestra players, and this couldn’t have come alive without my production team—my brothers, Addam and Heath.
I attended a book signing for The Name of the Wind (Warm Grass and Cool Breeze) at Mysterious Galaxy Books in San Diego, California. I remember that during the Q&A, I wanted very badly to tell Patrick Rothfuss how much that scene impacted me, but the place was literally packed to the brim with people and I got embarrassed that I wasn’t asking a question and didn’t submit the question on the note paper slips being passed around to do so. After that, I channeled that energy and feeling of gratitude into the song. I’m so happy I did. I have re-read this scene so many times.
3. Do you have another album in the making with a different set of books?
Thanks for asking! My goal is to create a sequel to the Bookshelf Symphony Orchestra one day, maybe featuring other composers or artists. I selfishly want to see new book-related music released into the world; I think it would be so fun for a book release to have a few songs created by artists honoring that music. I’m also working on a few different projects right now in different genres and I can’t wait to share those with you. Thanks so much for listening!
Buy The Name of the Wind: 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition through @Dawbooks here. Be sure to check out Patrick Rothfuss (@PatrickRothfuss) online.
You can connect with Austin on Twitter or his website.
** Go listen to The Bookshelf Symphony Orchestra today and let me know your thoughts. Also, check out the other blogs on this tour – full schedule is here.! **
Cover Photo by Joyce McCown on Unsplash
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