My Love of Music

Tonight I could not stop scrolling through music and listening to songs that I want to add to my new playlist. As a result, I felt it was appropriate to write about my love for listening to music and my constant drive to learn how to play an instrument and my little wish of possibly making a band one day or doing some gigs. I think the love for good music started at a very young age. Cleaning up from dinner as a toddler, we had this old radio that played CD’s. During clean up, music was always being played and so dinner clean up turned into a one hour dance/ listen marathon where there are home videos of me just dancing my heart out to songs. This programmed event that happened pretty regularly throughout my life is still going on to this day. I always put on my new favorite songs and dance around the house after dinner. I get this boost of energy and there is no way to harness it for trying to be effective, I just need to dance!! During prime development and throughout my entire life, music has always been a constant and so as a result, I think I am not hardwired to love it.

My music journey really consisted of my dad’s music when I was younger. The go-to line was, “yeah my dad has like 4,000 songs on his itunes library and so I just listen to his stuff.” When talking with my dad tonight, I think I started creating my own sound and developing my own love for music around middle school. Matt once again was showing me rap songs that are still classics today from our generation. As we were walking down to fish, Matt would be playing music and so I started to like some rap music. Prior to that, I always used to trash rap saying “they used such derogatory language” (Which they still do) and the music was so bad. Yet, I became influenced and now love a lot of new rap that is coming out today. Up until high school, my music really consisted of new pop/ rap songs that my friends and I liked and still my dad’s music. Once I started attending University of Vermont I found a love for indie/bedroom pop type music which a ton of students also really like. As a result, I am constantly being exposed to new music at school since there is a culture of people also really having a love for good music. So many students are part of bands that play at basements and small venues in Burlington. This allows me to always have the option to hear some live music which I say on tour, “always heals the soul.”

I also really pride myself on my music taste and the ability to choose songs that match the vibe of the place I am in. Compliments that involve people always liking my music and praising me for choosing the right songs to match the tone of the room are the best for me since I take pride in this ability. Along with being a nerd about the vibes of the room, I also love doing deep dives on artists. I love listening to interviews to hear more about the context of the different projects they released or interesting facts that allow songs to have a whole other life once this information is known. Being able to share music with others and find love and connection over a song is just such an amazing feeling for me. It brings me so much joy and I always love sharing those little nuggets of info I learn about the song with my friends.

Finally, music just makes me feel whole. There is something about it, and it is so hard to describe or put into words, but it just makes me feel so good. I love dancing and letting my body move and be free during live shows, I love sharing moments with people that are documented and remembered through songs, and I love having it be a soundtrack to the daily rituals that I have in my day-to-day life. Music just makes life better. To finish this post off, my dad has two quotes that I constantly use about music. #1. “Where there is music, there is joy” which is inscribed on his ipod classic which holds all the songs in his itunes library. #2 “Music is my oxygen” which is something I feel is true to me.

Five songs that make me feel amazing everytime I play them:

1. Heartbeat by Annie

2. Potion by Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa and Young Thug

3. Soaked by Benee

4. Upside Down by Jack Johnson

5. The Heart of Life by John Mayer