I feel slightly embarrassed to admit that I never really discovered or, at least, learned to appreciate vinyl records until within the last year or two. I was born in 1984 - by the time I was interested in listening to anything besides the Fragglerock soundtrack, vinyl was already on its way out.
Tapes and even CDs were very much the norm by the time I hit adolescence, but even still, I actually was not allowed to listen to much music until later into my teen years. I can remember wandering into record stores with my friends - jealously watching them flip through record after record, deciding which new audible adventure they would embark on that day. They would make their picks; Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, REM...even a Sarah McLachlan record here or there; but nothing made me more envious than when my friends mother would drive us home and someone would pop in a Counting Crows record. I had developed a love for their 'August and Everything After' record merely by visits to my friends house or by sneaking listens to the radio in my bedroom here and there.
But owning it was never an option. My father felt very strongly about me not being exposed to secular music at such a young age - and rightfully so. I was young and very impressionable - probably not capable of handling a lot of the adult content and subject matter laced into pop music. But honestly, the fact that I wasn't allowed to listen to certain music is probably what intrigued and tantalized me about music from the beginning. Music had become a mysterious, dangerous, exotic commodity in my head and that may be the reason why I chose to perform it for a living in my adulthood.
I can remember making mix tapes off of the hip Chicago station during the day—while my dad was at work—and then listening to them on my Walkman at night when I was supposed to be asleep. Sure, I was interested in typical things as well...video games, rated R movies, girls....but for some reason, music has become more mysterious and taboo than any of those things - almost to a point of obsession.
So, it was finally at the age of 16 that the ban on secular music was slightly lifted (not completely though; I still remember my dad breaking my first Bush record in half after I came home with it haha) - probably because I now had a car and thus was given my own private, mobile, listening box.
I'll never forget walking into that record store I had left empty handed so many times before, filled with a confidence and excitement like I'd never felt. I walked straight to the rack marked 'C' grabbed both Counting Crows records and Pearl Jam's 'Vitalogy' record, checked out as fast as possible, and drove around for hours listening to them.
As I grew older, the taboo slowly faded but my love for a new record didn't. I now own more music than I know what to do with - but I always try to remember that time in my life when I treasured and found mystery in every note and lyric. After all, that's where my love for music was born.
Andrew Belle - Static Waves (Mp3)
Approved for download!
We've got a pair of tickets to catch Andrew Belle this Saturday (6/19) at Iota. Door opens at 5PM for this early show. Simply get at us in the comments to this post with your plea for the tickets—with contact info!—and we'll choose one winner by noon on Friday, (6/18.)
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