No one ever told me that I had to just write about bands that I love. I think it is fair to assume that I can write about my love of music as a whole. The reason for this being that there are bigger issues at hand than just one band. One band does not make up your entire collection of music, just like one characteristic does not make up your entire identity. And that is exactly what I want to talk about.
I am currently doing a lot of thinking about how music helps to shape the identity of the listener. That was said like a facebook status, what the hell. Take a quick look at your music library. When I did this, I asked myself a question. What music do I like and why do I like it? As one might expect, this is not an easy question to answer. Most of us these days would give the answer “everything” to the question “What kind of music do you listen to?” For this reason, it is harder to pick out the patterns.
But they do exist. How many of those bands that are in your library were recommended by a friend? Do you listen to them because you really like them, or because your friend has an expectation that you should like them? How many of those musicians came from sites that you go to (knoxroad.wordpress.com)? Do you listen to them because you really like them, or because you feel that your identity would be called into question if you didn’t?
I’m sure that the most common answer would be that you just simply like the band and there is nothing more to it. Wouldn’t rule it out. I am not saying that it is impossible to just like the way something sounds. But we all have a need to shape our identities in the way that we want to represent ourselves. Since music is a big part of some people’s lives, it might help that shaping process in a big way.
I guess what I am trying to say here is that the music you listen to helps to shape your identity. But at the same time, your identity helps to define what you like. So I’ll continue to think about why I am so interested in “Hip” and you can do the same.
Feel free to put in your two cents. I need to get paid.
*When I say identity, I mean what you consider to be your personal identity.
**This all seems like common sense.
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We have much to talk about. I think the trend of knowing the more obscure, unaccessible artist and thus earning scene points, a nasty habit handed down from the punks to their indie successors, is a concurrent idea.
Do you really enjoy the music you’re finding? Are you looking for music you like, or are you looking to like new music?
…etc etc