Evolution of music taste

If you trace back anyone's musical preferences throughout their life, you can to a large extent determine the process of their maturation and progression as a person. As you grow up, you are surrounded by a number of different influences, some by chance and some by choice, but all of them have some kind of impact on you. At any given point in your life, if you were asked why you like the music you do, you would probably have an answer that referred to your own self perception of your personality at the time. But "personality" is not static, it is fluid. Your personality is a combination of all of the thoughts, experiences, and outside influences that make you into the current, latest version of "you," and it is constantly changing. I think the music you like the most at any given time is a reflection of something you perceive about yourself. At a certain point in your maturity you will solidify what you consider your favorite music, but knowing that you like that music, you will set it aside and seek out new stuff you haven't heard before. This setting aside of music you already know that you like allows you to experience new stuff and also makes the inevitable return to your favorites that much more enjoyable. Coming back to music you listened to months or years earlier is like encountering a part of your past self and getting reacquainted. You notice things you hadn't before with your matured perspective, learning more about the music and also yourself.

My earliest music experiences were had in the back seat of my parents' red 1989 Dodge Caravan, riding to and from school or along for the ride about town. My parents were hippies that grew up in the late 70s and 80s, and they loved classic rock. Even as early as four or five years old I started to recognize the songs on the radio that I liked - I didn't have to understand the lyrics or know the band, I just felt the energy, rhythm, and passion that was being transmitted through the radio speakers directly into me. The sounds of Seger, Skynyrd, the Steve Miller band, among many others were giving me feelings I couldn't possibly understand yet, but that would be reawakened later.

My next major music phase was hip hop. I grew up watching and playing basketball, and played on my high school basketball team. Basketball is deeply connected to hip hop culture, and with the advent of the internet in the early 2000s along with the influences of my teammates, I discovered world of self proclaimed gangsters, pimps, and hustlers through the lyrics of rap and hip hop music. Artists like Biggie, Jay-Z, and Nas fascinated me with storytelling rhymes about growing up in their dangerous neighborhoods and what they did to make it out and be successful. Growing up in a small Oklahoma town around nothing but kind and friendly people, their world was completely alien to me and I wanted to know everything about it. I also was attracted to the Mafioso and machismo image that groups like the Wu-Tang Clan represented. I was seeing films like Goodfellas and The Godfather; the characters in those movies and the rap artists in the music both had an intense ambition behind their actions that allowed them to rise up from unfortunate circumstances, I respected and admired that. With my life being extremely easy and cushioned in comparison, I was scared that I wouldn't be able to find that same drive to succeed within myself.

I got reacquainted with my love for classic rock near the end of high school when I started smoking cannabis. My stoner friends, who I had always associated with at school but never actually hung out or partied with, were into all of the usual suspects when it came to great classic rock to listen to while getting baked: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, etc. We would roll joints and drive down the highway with music blaring, having the time of our lives. The combination of the cannabis smoke and the themes of sex, drugs, and good times from the lyrics of these bands opened my mind to a new realm of experience - the music and cannabis combined together seemed to enrich my life and give me a fresh perspective on what I truly valued versus what society tells the average person they should value.

Since then I have explored the rock genre more and found an amazing group of rock subgenre that I had never heard before. It started with seeing the film Pulp Fiction. Quentin Tarantino included surf rock from Dick Dale and rockabilly tunes from Chuck Berry into the soundtrack. From there I researched both subgenres and found that there was a certain positive energy and enthusiasm packaged in nearly every surf rock or rockabilly song I came across. It is impossible to listen to a jumping rockabilly song and feel depressed about anything. I then discovered the similar psychedelic rock and blues guitar subgenres, which I also enjoy. Achieving my writing goals requires a lot of mental energy, and these rock subgenres, which often helpfully have no lyrics to conflict with my thoughts, provide me with a boost and carry the momentum of mental energy throughout the writing process.

I would advise going back and picking through your music history, relisten to what you used to love, and see what you think about it now. You might make some discoveries along the way.