What do you listen to while you work? I spent years working in buttoned-up, quiet architectural offices in the city, so I definitely take advantage of having my own non-traditional working environment. The music is always loud when it’s playing in the studio, usually drowning out the din of DUMBO’s bridge traffic. When I need to focus on a specific sewing project, I listen to audiobooks downloaded via the New York Public Library. The NYPL has over 20,000 audiobooks available for download in MP3 format for free, and I average around 12 books a month. (Mostly classics like War and Peace, Proust, everything written by Dickens and Edith Wharton…and now I’m blacksliding into YA with the Hunger Games series.)

How do you listen? In the studio I have set of old speakers plugged into the laptop, or an iPod when I’m listening to an audiobook. When I work at home, the situation is analog. My boyfriend (writer Matt Lombardi) and I have a vinyl collection and a room full of instruments accrued through years of participating in Brooklyn’s DIY music scene. I’ve never been in a band, but Matt and his brother Jay (an artist and designer based in Philadelphia) are constantly making music. It’s so much fun to be around.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? I was an avid user of Muxtape, which sadly got curbed by the RIAA. I’ve been using 8tracks for the past few years as an alternative, which like Muxtape allows users to create mix tapes for their friends by uploading digital music they already own. It’s a wonderful online resource because individuals are authoring each mix to showcase their own discoveries.

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste? Matt makes me 8track mixes, and he has an encyclopedic knowledge of indie and garage rock, which I love. I have very intense work habits, so Matt’s mixes are usually themed (pointedly) on my obsessions: never sleeping, being broke, and WORK. They are amazing. [Hear three of his mixes here: Church of Work, Busted, and Sleep Tired Sleep Tired.]

Does music influence your work? On a recent large scale project, I listened to Bjork on repeat for months…when I listen to “Volta” now or look at the work I produced while listening to that particular album, the two things seem dependent on one another. I have a teenager’s obsessive love of music.

If your work was a song or a musician, what or who would it be? Animal Collective.

EMILY’S PLAYLIST

She Works Hard for the Money, Donna Summer

Never Get Ahead, Bobby Conn

We Gotta Get Out of This Place, The Animals

I Want Some, Make Up

Factory Girl, The Rolling Stones

Work Song, Dan Reeder

Welcome to the Working Week, Elvis Costello

Hold On, John Lennon

Images: Emily Fischer and portrait of Emily from PSFK interview here.

1. Wasted Hours by Arcade Fire from The Playlist: Ben Lambers of Studio Aandacht

2. Autumn Leaves by Cannonball Adderly & Miles Davis from The Playlist: Stylist & Product/Interior Designer Sofie Brünner

3. Mambo Sun by T. Rex from The Playlist: Product Designer Jonah Takagi

4. Time to Pretend by MGMT from The Playlist: Environmental Lifestyle Expert Danny Seo

5. Workin’ Day And Night by Michael Jackson from The Playlist: Artist/illustrator Jonathan Woodward

6. Solar by Thunderball from The Playlist: Graphic Designer & Art Photographer Paul Vanzella

7. The Twilite Kid by The Twilight Singers from The Playlist: Creative Director Eric Karjaluoto

8. When The Sun Goes Down by Steffaloo from The Playlist: Matthew and Kasey Hickey of Turntable Kitchen

9. Everlasting Light by The Black Keys from The Playlist: Graphic Designer Carolyn Sewell

Image sources: Eugene Huh for Eric Karjaluoto, Carolyn Sewell, Sofie Brünner

What do you listen to while you work? I quite like metal. The texture, pulsating rhythms, and general mass of it, all works for me. (While I understand that I’m likely in the minority on this point, I also find that this type of music helps me focus on what I’m doing.) The rest of the time, I listen to a garden variety of acts, ranging from Paul Westerberg and The New Pornographers to Supertramp and Massive Attack. I can’t say that I’m particularly adventurous in my listening, but I remain quite open to anything.

How do you listen? At the office, I plug into those ubiquitous white Apple headphones, attached to a computer. At home, everything runs through a stereo, which has some quite decent speakers. The most enjoyable music listening experience I have these days is with my boys, Oscar and Ari. After my wife, Amea, reads bedtime stories to them, they join me to listen to music on my iPad. The sound quality isn’t very good, but I love introducing them to music. (At the moment, they’re awfully fond of ABBA.)

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? I find Grooveshark quite handy. It’s nice to have access to so much music, and the UI is relatively simple.

Does music influence your work? Not like it used to. When I worked as a painter, I found the connection much closer. Certain music does invigorate me to move faster and feel energetic; nevertheless, the projects I work on are focused more on agreed upon objectives and strategy than my personal voice.

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste? I run home from work most nights, and do so tuned into a program called Q on CBC. The interviews are very good, and the host, Jian Ghomeshi, often introduces interesting new acts. Recently, I found The Rural Alberta Advantage and Austra as a result of his program. I like that he features a number of emerging musicians, and that so many of them are Canadian.

If your work was a song or a musician, what or who would it be? I find the comparison difficult one. While I identify with a lot of different music, I don’t see my work as being analogous to any particular artist or piece of music. In fact, I feel it’s my job to ensure that our agency never feels like it’s coming from any single voice or perspective. In that respect, I suppose we’re a little like a group of session musicians. Our clients bring us in when they need to get the job done, but it’s more about them, than us.

ERIC’S PLAYLIST

I’ll treat this like a mix tape, with the A-Side containing some (lovely) metal, and the B-Side being more reflective of that garden variety of listening habits I mentioned.

A-SIDE

Painkiller, Judas Priest

What Doesn’t Die, Anthrax

That Was Just Your Life, Metallica

Jesus Built My Hotrod, Ministry

Poison Was the Cure, Megadeth

Damage Case, Motörhead

B-SIDE

Tame, Pixies

Hang Down Your Head, Tom Waits

Moves, The New Pornographers

After the Rain, Blue Rodeo

Beast of Burden, The Rolling Stones

The Twilite Kid, The Twilight Singers

Images: Eugene Huh

What do you listen to while you work? Depending on my mood, I like my music to either have a good amount of rock in it (Hot Snakes, Gun Club, or Can), have some good energy (The Go-Team!, CSS, or Cody ChessnuTT), or be mellow and relaxed (Bon Iver, Andrew Bird, or The Books). I also like to listen to This American Life and Radiolab if I am not in the mood for music. And I recently had a baby, so I’ve been slowly introducing kid-friendly artists into the mix, like They Might be Giants, Alexi Murdoch, and Kimya Dawson, so we won’t get stuck listening to traditional kids songs that will make us go mad.

How do you listen? At work, I used to listen to music with headphones through my computer, but I found that I was having to take them on and off so many times that I decided to get some good Harman Kardon speakers instead. While I am working at home, I usually listen to music through my iPod, which is hooked into a good Altec Lansing speaker dock.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? I’ve been listing to music on thesixtyone.com for a little while now. I also like to check out Last.fm every once in a while.

Does music influence your work? That’s a good question. I like to think it has an influence just anything else that inspires me, but I can’t point to any specific element.

Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste? I would say most of my new music is introduced to me by my friends—they are much more on the pulse than I am! We also have our iTunes libraries shared at work so it is fun to browse the various playlists and see what I can discover.

If your work was a song or a musician, what or who would it be? I like to think my work is like The Go! Team. It has a ton of energy, is really fun, and hopefully brings a smile.

ANDY’S PLAYLIST

Can’t You Wait, Geographer

To Rachel or Sharon, Wynn Walent

Flume, Bon Iver

Girl Is On My Mind, The Black Keys

Sex Beat, The Gun Club

Mushroom, Can

Light Sweet Crude, Obits

Bottle Rocket, The Go! Team

Run [I'm A Natural Disaster], Gnarls Barkley

Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex, CSS

Junior Kickstart, The Go! Team

Look Good In Leather, Cody ChessnuTT

Images: Andy Pratt