For the Love of Music: Emma Jane Palin, Interior Stylist and Writer

Music and design go hand-in-hand for Emma Jane Palin. As an Interior Stylist, Writer and Blogger, Emma Jane’s passion for music is instrumental in both her work and personal life.

As with many people who get the music bug, Emma Jane started early: “I think I've always had a love for music, back from the days of listening to Celine Dion in the car as a youngster and singing along.”

This love of music grew alongside her passion for interior design, which started off with decorating her childhood bedroom and developed into studying graphic design at university. “I just really feel the need to be creative,” she says. “Both in work and out of it, where my main hobbies and interests are going to gigs, reading, going to museums, seeing art galleries, exhibitions, film – essentially anything creative.”

Listening

As you would imagine for an interior stylist, Emma Jane’s house is picture-perfect. The living room where her record collection and Hi-Fi live is a particular favourite. “I've always liked to shape a space around a really nice turntable and speakers and create an environment that's warm, welcoming and makes other people feel that way when they're listening to music.

“I love listening to music the most in this room. There's nothing better on a Sunday than having the doors open, putting on a record and having a chilled-out day.

“I’ve had a number of different audio setups throughout the years. I started on a really cheap turntable, and now I’ve got a really lovely one. I make sure I play a different record every day; it’s become a bit of a ritual since 2020 and lockdown.” 

Vinyl addict

Buying vinyl is a real source of pleasure for Emma Jane and something she has been doing for a decade now, after first being interested in the artwork before discovering the music within. 

Emma Jane is particularly interested in the music of the sixties and seventies, something that she brings to her work, albeit with her own personal twist. “That period has definitely influenced my interior design, but I like to make it feel more modern, feel more like me.” 

She picked records up at flea markets at first, and while she was travelling abroad: “I just loved that whole experience,” she says. “I was coming back with my hand luggage and 15 records under my arm!”

She now shops more locally, with an excellent record shop at the end of her road. “It’s called Vinyl Head, and the guy who runs it is just a hub of knowledge.

“But I also love Piccadilly Records in Manchester; I love that they write little notes giving you a reference to other artists, so you know what it sounds like.”

As is the case nowadays, a dedicated music fan needs to be format agnostic if they want to enjoy the vinyl experience AND discover new music. 

“There's not a right or wrong way to listen to music for me,” Emma Jane says. “I like to stream music, but I also love to have the physical record, and I also think it's really important to support artists. I love the visual side of what they're producing.

“I think music is just a bit of a healer, really. It can change your mood, and your mood can be so dependent on what kind of music you listen to.” 

High performance

Sound quality is also a vital part of the listening experience for Emma Jane and her bass-playing husband. “I think having a musician as a husband means sound is so important. He picks up on every single little thing, and having an amazing speaker setup has just changed how we listen to music. Being able to pick up on the subtleties of music that sometimes you can't necessarily hear.”

“I spent ten years of my life building up this record collection, and I want to experience it at its best.”

You can start your own musical journey with the 600 Series here.