Craig Oldham

Craig Oldham is a Designer, Educator, Writer, Publisher, Curator, Letter-writer, Website-Putter-Upper, Lamenter, Yorkshireman, and founder of the eponymous practice, Office of Craig.

What role does music play in your day-to-day life as a creative?:

For me music is necessary, but malleable, and I often find myself finding the right music for the right frame of mind I want, or need, to be in. Almost soundtracking the work. I’ve read often about film directors and writers that create playlists, tapes, or things to that effect, to get themselves into ‘the world’ they need to be in to create those stories, and I sympathise with that to be honest. I guess it facilitates a sort of connected escapism. Having said that, glancing over my selections I’d hate to guess what people think my state of mind is!

Tell us about your playlist:

I’m sure everyone says they have a diverse taste in music, and I’m genuinely sure that’s true, but that often comes down to this human condition of categorising everything so we can understand it. But I think music suffers from that. Saying you like Pop Music for example doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing to everyone, and I think that’s what makes music so personal. Because it’s a reflection of ones intimate tastes, likes, personal associations, and love, one can feel quite vulnerable creating playlists for public consumption. But as one dear friend of mine always remarks regarding music, how can a pleasure be guilty if you love it? This playlist is a bearing of myself in that sense, but I’ve tried o offer a scope of the music and artists I like and listen to the most. But it does range from film scores for horror movies to pop culture figures, but that’s fine isn’t it? From it’s deeply grim and throbbing start, it perambulates through some pretty unlistenable stuff to a more relaxed conclusion. Make of that what you will…