#73: Caroline Shaw - Voice Memo Roulette, the Magic of Old Janky Instruments, and the Story Behind Ringdown's Lady on the Bike

Caroline Shaw is a musician who moves among roles, genres, and mediums, trying to imagine a world of sound that has never been heard before but has always existed. She often works in collaboration with others, as producer, composer, violinist, and vocalist. Shaw is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music, an honorary doctorate from Yale, five Grammys, and a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. She has written and produced for iconic artists and ensembles across the musical spectrum, including Rosalía, Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Tiler Peck, Kanye West, Nas, the LA Phil, the NY Phil, and others. Her recent TV/film/stage scoring projects include “Leonardo Da Vinci” (Ken Burns/PBS), “Fleishman is in Trouble” (FX/Hulu), and “The Sky Is Everywhere” (Josephine Decker/A24). Her favorite color is yellow, and her favorite smell is rosemary.In this week’s episode, Caroline shares the background behind her Ringdown project (a collaboration with her partner Danni Lee) and talks about what it’s like for her to make music with someone she loves. Ringdown’s debut album Lady on the Bike comes out on May 9, 2025 and we talk about the heartwarming story that inspired the album name. From there, we dive into Caroline’s creative process and she outlines a fun exercise called “voice memo roulette”, describes how she builds her songs starting with the harmony first, and the two of us wax poetic on the benefits of Rhymezone.com for lyrical inspiration. To top it all off, we discuss the relationship between environment and creativity, the magic of old, janky instruments, and what Caroline listens for when she’s revising one of her works-in-progress.Website: https://carolineshaw.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolineadelaideshaw/ FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com