The Playlist: Artist Carrie Strine & Graphic Designer/Illustrator Tim Lahan

Not only are Carrie Strine and Tim Lahan artists with amazing taste (see Carrie’s textile and photography work here, Tim’s Trademark™ studio here, and his comic blog here), but they’re also the creators of a new Playlist containing both a tune by The Tallest Man on Earth and a song called “The World’s Strongest Man.” Does it get much better than that?

What do you listen to while you work? C: I listen to Morning Edition every morning in the studio, because I find that music is too much for me in the morning. Once I’m rolling I usually listen to the KEXP’s John in the Morning because I have serious issues DJ-ing for myself. I’d much rather trust someone else who gets my music taste to take up that job, or it might take 30 minutes from my work fiddling around with iTunes. I hate to get distracted while I’m working. When Tim’s in the studio, DJ-ing is his full responsibility. It’s something I love about sharing our workspace, and I know he’ll put on something that really improves the mood.

T: When Carrie’s not around, I go into guilty-pleasure mode and play some really loud metal stuff or old punk tunes I used to listen to in high school.

How do you listen? C: I hate headphones, and that defeats the purpose of sharing our workspace. We just use the built-in speakers on our computers.

Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? C: I listen to KEXP with their online stream in the morning every day, but other than that iTunes. T: I just borrow music.

Does music influence your work? C: The most recent Sun Kil Moon album, “Admiral Fell Promises,” made an impression on me while working on my Half to Whole Quilt. Musicians like Mark Kozelek that are reinterpreting folk music in a modern way often align with my work. Tim is the biggest influence on my musical taste, and recommends most things I listen to. I’m lucky—I’m pretty sure he seeks out new music for me sometimes. T: I think a lot of what I listen to plays a part in the way I make things. Often just the energy or intensity of a song I might be listening to may push my work in a certain direction, or enable me to sit down and finish something I’ve been working on for a while but have put on the back burner. As far as where I find music, I scour a lot of blogs to check out new stuff, and if I’m not feeling what’s new, I just go back to listening to my old stuff like Thin Lizzy or New Order.

If your work was a song or a musician, what or who would it be? C: I think I’m a little more rough around the edges and quirky than Sun Kil Moon, so I’d like to think my work is a little more like Tallest Man on Earth. T: For me, it’s a hodge-podge of different stuff depending on what I’m making. Anything from Descendents to Marvin Gaye.

CARRIE & TIM’S PLAYLIST

Love Man, Otis Redding

Castles in the Snow, Twin Shadow

Third and Seneca, Sun Kil Moon

Thousand Ways, The Tallest Man on Earth

If You Think You’re Lonely Now, Bobby Womack

The World’s Strongest Man, Scott Walker

Fight or Fall, Thin Lizzy

This Must Be the Place, Talking Heads

Feel It All Around, Washed Out

You, Gold Panda

Images: Carrie Strine and Tim Lahan

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