*Warning! Life story coming up!*
For several years afterwards, I pretty much liked whatever my older brother liked. Sharing a room will do that to you. That meant we were both immersed in the grunge era from ’93 to ’95. Nirvana, Green Day, Alice in Chains, Helmet, etc. Wasn’t until my 4th grade birthday where I got my very first tape of my own with a gift certificate. That tape was Beck’s Mellow Gold, which started my love for Beck.
The next notable step in my music life was in spring 1996 when I listened to the Beatles? White Album out on a whim. I was completely blown away and wanted to know more about the Beatles. That summer I became focused on Beck’s Odelay like I had never obsessed over an album before. Around the same time popular music completely bottomed out with the Macarena, the Spice Girls, and Hanson. In my opinion, popular music still hasn’t recovered, and maybe never will.
As I entered 6th grade that fall, I got back into the Beatles in a big way. By the time I left elementary school, I ate, slept, and breathed Beatles, and everyone knew it. After I got every single Beatles album out there, I got back into oldies (I loved them before the grunge era) and decided that the logical step from the Beatles was: the Monkees. Not the smartest thought, but whatever. In 7th and 8th grade I focused on getting every Monkees album ever made. From there my tastes branched out in all directions. To sum it up, I’ll go grade-by-grade with my favorite acts among others then.
9th grade - Solo Beatles, Barenaked Ladies
10th grade - Solo Beatles, Bob Dylan
11th grade - Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan
12th grade - Who
Now – all over the map
That’s pretty much how my musical tastes developed. Those aren’t the only connections I have Besides those, I play very minimal piano, and I was heavily involved in choir until now (taking a break). I was in three school choirs during my junior and senior years in high school, and those were great times. I could not imagine high school without choir, and I had one of the best teachers in the business: Mr. Totorica. He taught us so much about music and life, and if he is reading this, I would like to personally thank you for everything.
And those are my music connections.