The power of music

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The power of music is incredible.  Especially in our Arctic-like rehearsal space, music provides that extra little bit of motivation just at the points where you’ve run low.  Like fuel…  Or a heater!

I’ve noticed two moments in particular that music serves a particularly vital purpose.

In one case I use music to isolate myself from the group and help my focus when I need complete tunnel vision to train bar-walking (like tightwire, but walking on a scaffold bar).  Tight-wire needs a very particular kind of focused calm and the music I listen to hugely effects how successful I am.  If I put on something too funky I get careless, if I put on something too epic I get over-serious and then stressed.  Today, for example, I did not get it right.   It is (forgive the terrible yet unavoidable pun) a fine balance.

In the other situation, we use music to bring us together.  We condition as a group at the end of the day.  It’s hard-core, everyone’s exhausted and, have I mentioned this already… It’s cold!  But this conditioning also motivates all of us, ensures our physical fitness, and therefor health, is maintained, and brings us together to finish each day as a group.  So it’s important we discipline ourselves to do it.  Cue the music.  And this rehearsal process so far is summed up for me by the song “tthhee ppaarrttyy” by Justice.

So here it is [click to listen], and while you listen to it you can imagine us sweating and groaning in a freezing cold industrial estate somewhere near the Thames barrier.  Or you can join us in spirit and do sit-ups, pull-ups, hand stands and lunges to the point of collapse.

Rosamond Martin