05. Each ear to it’s own
With Spotify Wrapped released last week to conclude another year that was in your ears, let’s talk about music. Whether your music taste developed through what your parents had playing in the house (me), or through an adoration of the coolness of Avril Lavigne in 2007 (also me), it can be very personal. I took ballet classes from five years old, watched Disney movies and musicals religiously on weekends and always asked for my favourite artists’ albums for Christmas.
Those Christmas SoFresh CDs became the backing track of my and my cousin’s performances which we meticulously choreographed each year. In my pre-teen years, I hushed my brothers for three and a half minutes to record music videos on Rage on my iPod touch, which blew out into a complete obsession with One Direction. And so forth I am now a Swiftie as previously mentioned and the rest goes with my love for musicians (I will write about Taylor’s lyrics another time…).
More specifically than the perceived glamourous industry, music is a core part of my life. The decade of dance classes began with Mozart and Tchaikovsky in ballet, who then helped me through long-winded study sessions decades later. Dance introduced me to artists and allowed me to make memories and reminisce when hearing the songs (honestly, the choreography becomes muscle memory before you realise you’re a 23-year-old trying not to bust out in your masquerade-themed dance to Black Eyed Peas’ 2010 hit “Club Can’t Handle Me” in Coles). In my teenage years, I made a playlist for every specific emotion I had, i.e. feeling sad led me to my “sooky la la” playlist.
Beyond playlist curation (an art itself), I started learning an instrument. I have always wanted to play the drums, so I just did it. I booked a class a few months ago and haven’t looked back. The more people I tell, the more surprised looks I get, yet I wouldn’t have it any other way. I bought myself an electronic drumkit for Christmas, and now I can play along to any Avril Lavigne song I want. I can play those songs to my cousins that we danced to when we were younger and reminisce. Music can be about anything you want: expressing feelings, dancing with your cousins, or picking up an instrument for a creative outlet. Hey Alexa, play “Please Don’t Stop The Music” by Rhianna.
