Mixtape Diaries, Vol. 1
This is the first in a series of diary-style blog posts documenting my mixtape-making process.
I’m currently in the middle of making a new mixtape for my music blog, Green Bananas.
The mix probably won’t come out for some time—weeks, months, years?—but as I work on this particular mix, I will document the process. Whenever I spend time on it, I will take contemporaneous notes and share them here.
Obviously, one day all of this insight will all be collected in my Masterclass. Until then…
Here is how it starts
Sometimes a song resonates with me so much that I set it aside in its own playlist to see if a full mixtape might grow out of it.
On July 5, 2024, I added “AUATC” by Bon Iver to a new playlist.
A mixtape is a collection of meticulously sequenced songs—60-minutes or less—that revolve around a central theme, sound, or purpose.
A mixtape is more than a playlist. A playlist may have purpose, but a mixtape has meaning. A playlist is made for yourself; a mixtape is made for other people.
The song (or songs) that start a mixtape function like a tuning fork. Every track that follows must vibrate on a similar wavelength. Or, if you prefer, these songs are the seeds for the rest of the mix. All other songs on the mix grow out of them. Eventually the mix will grow wild and unwieldy and need to be trimmed and pruned, but the DNA of the seed song is always there—even if the finished mix grows into something completely unrecognizable.
For the record: I don’t actually refer to these songs as seed songs—I just needed a way to explain them for the purposes of this blog. This is the most pretentious thing I do in my life, but I’m not a lunatic.
Anyway. Seed songs. There is no formal criteria for them, though they are often interesting, captivating, and multidimensional. They’re songs that can hold up to repeated listens. But most importantly, they have to be undeniable records that truly resonate with me on deep level.
You know it when you hear it.
Filling the bucket
This particular playlist started because I was looking to get the ball rolling early on a fall mixtape. I had “AUATC” earmarked for a while and it seemed like a promising angle for some kind of colder weather mix.
(I have seasonal synesthesia, so my brain reflexively categorizes music by season. It is a condition that I both suffer from and invented. But I’ve done the work and this is how I manage.)
The playlist eventually came to be called “Echoes AUATC”. The second part because of the song, the first part because of the sound and feeling of the song.
The only other additions that day were “Stranger's Kiss” by by Alex Cameron and Angel Olsen and “Pulaski at Night” by Andrew Bird. Eclectic. The latter doesn’t really fit, but it’s one of my favorite songs, and probably deserves to seed its own mix someday.
More songs were added in July 2024, November 2024, February 2025, and September 2025. It spun off into a more grounded, organic acoustic sound, which might end up being its own thing in the future, but it didn’t feel very compelling or what “AUATC” was calling for.
Things finally began to coalesce in the fall of 2025. It was right around the time I first heard “Love Takes Miles” by Cameron Winter.
Not only does this song share some of the same magical qualities as “AUATC,” but not is a showstopper in and of itself.
This is a crucial moment in any young mixtape’s life. The dots begin to connect. There’s this gravitational pull. The dust particles in the atmosphere begin collecting little molecules of moisture suddenly... there’s a cloud.
Once this critical mass is reached, the playlist earns its BUCKET designation.
Literally, I add the word BUCKET to the playlist. “Echoes AUATC” becomes “Echoes AUATC - BUCKET” and also the catchall for any song that might belong to this now-more-purposeful mix. The tracks that feel most on target get moved to the top, and then I start filling the bucket.
Sometimes this happens quickly. Sometimes it takes weeks or months. Sometimes I spiral out and the whole thing drags on for years.
Let’s hope this one doesn’t. ⚑
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