Music And Family

 After learning about this assignment, I immediately knew I was going to interview my mother. My mother was born in 1971, which meant that her childhood consisted of music from both the 70s and the 80s. I learned from her that these two completely different decades would take her through different phases in her life, but would also be the heart of what she still loves today. 

I said hello to my mom as she showed up on my laptop's FaceTime camera. I told her that I was ready for the interview and pulled up my interview questions from my notes. I smiled as I prepared myself for the musical journey that was about to happen. 

"First question," I said......

"How do you remember being first introduced to music? What type of music was it?"

My mother, like most people, was introduced to music by her parents as a small child. In the early 70s, both of my grandparents were into hippie culture. My grandmother was really into folk artists like John Denver and Joan Biaz, as well as songs from her childhood which included a lot of Elvis. My grandfather on the other hand listened to a lot of 50s artists such as Buddy Holly, which my mother remembered listening to on his cassette tapes whenever she rode in the car with him. Both of my mother's parents also listened to 70s disco music from the Village People, Bee Gees, and Donna Summer. 

Although most of her childhood was spent listening to her parents' music, my mother had other influences in her early years. Her bestfriend and at the time neighbor had a lot of older sisters who were years ahead of her, which meant that their music taste was significantly different and more defined. Back in the 70s it was common for adolescents to listen to rock music such as KISS, Led Zeppelin, and Billy Joel. Rock and Roll was the rebellious music that the past generation despised because if its mentioning of many controversial topics, but of course that was what made it so appealing to the youth of that day. This would be the music that would eventually shape my mother's music taste into what she still loves today. 

"What kind of music did you choose to listen to growing up?"

After being influenced by the music of her bestfriend's older sisters, my mother eventually ended up falling in love with the rock genre. However, before that she was more into popular music. My mother's first records that she bought were that of the Grease soundtrack and Michael Jackson's Thriller. She continued to be influenced by her peers and radio stations until she was in her mid-teens in the 80s. Around that time, she began to listen to what was called hair band rock. My mother's favorite artists and bands of this genre were Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, ACDC, Poison, Cinderella, and Ozzy Osbourne. 

"What music was popular when you were younger? Did you like it, or were you into less mainstream music?"

As mentioned in question two, my mother followed the crowd in the 70s and early 80s. Popular artists from those periods included Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Prince, Madonna, and Bruce Springsteen. However, once my mother hit around the age of 14, she began rejecting the popular music and decided to lean towards hair band rock. At this point in time, there was a cultural divide between people who liked pop music and people who liked rock music. Some rock bands in the mid 80s included Van Halen and Guns N' Roses, which my mother both loved. Some popular artists from the mid and late 80s which my mother hated were Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. As the 90s came along, my mother stopped liking mainstream music. She wasn't into the grunge era at all, and ever since then she has stuck to her 80s hair band as the main genre she listens to. 

"Where, when, and how did you listen to music? What did you use it for?"

Getting access to music in the 70s and 80s was significantly different than doing so today. Back then, most music was played using records which came in albums that could be bought at record stores. My mother received a record subscription as a Christmas present one year, which was a common novelty bought by many families during her childhood. Other than that however, the only other way to listen to popular music was to listen to the top 40 countdowns on the radio. My mother and her friends would wait for their favorite songs to come on the radio during these times and then carefully play a cassette tape to record them for future listenings. Other than that, music videos were featured nightly on MTV. My mother's family didn't have cable until the mid 80s, which was around when my mother started getting into hair band music. She would always stay up super late to catch her favorite songs, because they never came on until after dark since parents always complained about that type of music. 

The most common occasions that my mother would listen to music to during was when she was either in the car blasting music with her friends, or in bars and restaurants with live music. Other than those two, music was usually played at home on a record or on the radio. It's incredible how much easier today it is to have access to music, and how much more often we come into contact with it. 

"Is there a song, genre, or artist that's super special to you? Why?"

Hair band music was and still is my mom's favorite genre, which Bon Jovi and Guns N' Roses being the bands that are the most special to her. However, there are certain songs that are special to her because she associates them with people that are/were important to her. The song "Leaving On A Jet Plane" by John Denver is s song that reminds my mother of her mother, and the song "The Lady In Red" by Chris de Burgh reminds her of her father. Finally, the song "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd reminds my mother of her friend who died from brain cancer years ago. 

Song that my mom has a special connection to base on her life include "Nobody's Girl" by Bonnie Raitt and the theme song from The Rose. I love how my mom connects different songs with people she loves and cares about, but also has songs that define who she is as well. 

"Has your music changed as you got older? How has it changed or stayed the same?"

Based on the information from the past questions, I already knew that my mother had transitioned from loving popular music to loving hair band music. From then, her taste in that music has not changed, but that doesn't mean that she hasn't been influenced by music from her adulthood. In my mother's early 20s, she was exposed to a lot of 90s country music from country clubs. Today's music also influences her musical appreciation, for there are a few modern artists that she has come to gain respect for. However, her favorite genre to this day is hair band music and it is what she prefers to listen to over anything else. 

"What do you think of how music has changed over the years? Has it gotten better or worse?"

I already knew what my mother's answer would be to this question. My mom hates most of what is played today, but there are many reasons why. She believes that today's music is way too autotuned and processed to the point where the audience can no longer tell who is actually talented anymore. Music is no longer live and raw, because the production is a lot more focused on appearance and money rather than talent and content. There are less bands, less albums, music isn't written by the artists, and music has lost a special glow that it once had. My mother describes most of what is played today as "Bubble Gum music", because it is all engineered and packaged to look bright and pretty, but the content doesn't have enough flavor and doesn't last long before it is thrown away. 

On the other hand, my mom loves the developed popularity of Broadway music. She loves listening to its live vocals and raw aspects and highly appreciate the talent of Broadway singers. I have to agree with my mom somewhat on these reasons. I too wish that today's music was more meaningful and raw, and I find it very unfortunate that especially now almost anyone can become a musical artist even if they don't have that music talent and inspiration. 

"Which of today's music can you listen to? Are there any current artists who you like?"

My mom may say she hates today's music, but that doesn't mean that she isn't still influenced by it in someway. There are a couple of artists that she appreciates and can enjoy. Lady Gaga is one that she started to like after seeing her appear on American Horror Story. Before that, my mom thought she was weird with her crazy outfits and gimmicks, but after watching a few interviews with the singer she began to gain a lot of respect for her. Another artist my mother loves is P!nk. I can't help but agree with her, because I too love both Lady Gaga and P!nk. 

"What has music meant to you in the past and what does it mean to you now?"

The main thing that music did for my mother was give her an escape from reality. It was an easy out when she went through heavy emotions or rough events, and made a very good friend when she was grounded or bored. My mom explains music as a way to either allow yourself to feel emotions that need to be let out, or to allow yourself to be distracted from your current emotions. 

Today my mother still uses music as an emotional escape, but it is mainly used for entertainment purposes. However, she told me that if somebody asked her what music makes her think of today, she would say that it makes her think of me. I especially loved this answer because it made me think about how I have influenced my mother's perspective and appreciation for music and have introduced her to an entirely different musical world than what she is used to. 

"What do you think of the music I listened to as a kid and the music I listen to now?"

I couldn't help but laugh at my mom's response to this question, because her immediate response was to say that my music was way more tolerable than my sister's is. I can't help but agree, but that's besides the point. The music my mom was the most exposed to when I was a child was music from the TV that I watched, which came mostly from Disney Channel an Nickelodeon. I was really into Selena Gomez as a child and had four of her albums that I blasted on repeat for hours on end. My mother described this type of music as very similar to 80s pop, which I found very interesting. 

As for my music today, I don't play much of it in front of her so she doesn't know much about it. Because of this, my mom doesn't have a real opinion on it and therefore doesn't think anything of it at all. However, due to my life as a musician she has been exposed to a lot of instrumental music over the years and has come to appreciate it. My mother cares a lot about what I play and will listen to it even if she doesn't understand what it is entirely. I find this quite amazing, because she and I have both been influenced by each other's music at some point in our lives. It truly proves that our musical culture is made by the relationships we make with those around us. 

As I said goodbye to my mother, I reflected on everything that she had said. Her musical past was obviously very different than mine, but the way we perceive music in general and its evolution is oddly very similar. I found out that we have a lot more in common than we think we do, and that we are both heavily influenced by the other's tastes. I now have a new appreciation for music as a concept, because I feel like it has brought my mother and I even closer together than we were before.