Two-Headed Boy

My story of a life-changing song, as performed at OneTrackMinds last November

A couple weeks ago, I attended A Haven for Stories, a week-long writing retreat in the Italian countryside. My second consecutive year, the retreat proved again to be a fantastic setting to develop creative ideas, meet intelligent people, and receive invaluable mentorship and encouragement for my writing.

The idea for this Substack was developed at Haven 2023 at a workshop by author, journalist, and veteran Substacker Alice Vincent. Soundtracks to Adventure was one of many inspired outputs of being in such a creative, supportive environment (and the beautiful surroundings of Villa Pia) with 20+ fellow writers. Thanks to Alice, Elise Valmorbida and Toby Jones for welcoming me twice and providing much-needed positive reinforcement to fuel my writing.

Last year, I arrived at A Haven for Stories with one goal: to finish the autobiographical piece I was performing at OneTrackMinds exactly a month later. OneTrackMinds is my favourite event series in London, a live show that’s accurately described as “TED Talks meets Desert Island Discs”. The show’s concept is, basically: five smart people — often writers, journalists, actors, etc. — speak on-stage for ten minutes each about a song that has changed their life, and then the audience and the speaker listen to the song together. I have attended dozens of OneTrackMinds shows in the past two years, and I love how each speaker interprets the brief differently, the authenticity and unpredictability of the stories. Plus, it's a great way to discover music. (The weekly OTM Substack provides great music news and recommendations, too.)

The first time I sat in the audience at Wilton’s Music Hall, in October 2022, and heard five life stories paired with songs, I made it my #1 goal to speak on that stage. After pestering the show’s lovely organisers, Kristian Brody and Adam Shakinovsky, for ages, they finally relented. I set about writing and rewriting my story for months. I’ve never put so much time and pressure into writing a single piece – and I studied creative writing at university! I’m happy to report that my performance went well, and it was a major highlight of my 2023. I’m hoping to do the show again next year (hint hint, K & A!) with a story about another life-changing song.

Below is the piece I performed at OneTrackMinds on 25 November 2023 at Wilton’s Music Hall, London.

Speaking at OneTrackMinds, Wilton’s Music Hall, London. 25 November 2023. Photo by Sherry Dobbin.