What do you listen to while you work? I listen to a lot of music and a few different podcasts (as well as the occasional “book on tape”). I like listening to music that’s “in season.” With autumn here and winter around the corner, I have started listing to a lot more folk, singer/songwriter, and introspective types of music. Duke Ellington is great this time of year.

How do you listen? We have speakers around our office that are hooked up to an Apple Airport. I can play music wirelessly through my iTunes. I took it even one step further and downloaded theRemote app on my iPhone, so I can even control what’s playing when I’m away from my desk. I also use headphones for the podcasts and books or when I need to buckle down and focus on what I’m doing.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? Pitchfork, All Music, and NPR’s All Songs Considered are my go-to sources for reading about current music and music history. All Songs is currently running a 24-hour stream of every song they’ve played on the show for the past 10 years. It’s pretty amazing. Hype Machine is great for streaming tracks and testing out new artists. I used to be forced to go to the artist’s MySpace page, but find that site to be really ugly and hard to use (sorry, MySpace users!). I also just signed up for Last.fm, which is great for OCD people like myself to track every song ever played.

Does music influence your work? As much as I love music, I don’t think it influences me as much as, say, album covers do. Although I think it’s important to absorb as much of the arts like fashion, art, and design as possible. The collective consciousness can be very influential and knowing what is out there is crucial.

Where do you find music recommendations? I find most of my music from All Songs. I also check a few blogs regularly to find new music. I just stumbled upon The Perfect Five, a blog that posts five songs every week covering categories like Classic, Remix, and Covers. I’m a little obsessive about discovering new music (and have been since I was a teenager) so scouring the Internet is a common pastime. I also enjoy discovering older music just as much as more contemporary stuff. I use Shazam often when I’m out and have used it to find new music at a bar, shopping, or even on commercials.

If your work was a song or a musician, what or who would it be? I would have to say the Magnetic Fields. I like my work to be conceptual, clever, and always something different. It should get the idea across, but should have a little wink and a nod in there as well.

RICKY’S PLAYLIST

Billie Holiday, Warpaint

Cut and Run, Electrelane

Innudir Skinni, Ólöf Arnalds

Trapdoor, Salem

Perfidia, Xavier Cugat

Life Magazine, Cold Cave

The Suburbs, Arcade Fire

Holland, 1945, Neutral Milk Hotel

Icebound Storm, Laura Veirs

My Baby, Julia Stone

Swan Song, Giant Drag

Siboney, Connie Francis

Images: Ricky Ferrer