Quote:
Originally Posted by Freebase Dali
Some would say I need better friends, but basing their importance to me on their music taste would be just as fruitless as me trying to change it. I just don't see the up-side anyway. I can hang out with me all night, and I don't need more than me to enjoy listening to what I enjoy, and I certainly don't need anyone to validate it.
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That's not a bad point. I like the way you drunkenly put it. But as to your earlier statement, it's something that comes up when I meet people, not so much with pre-existing friends. Usually at a bar, I'll get asked that, and I usually head for the jukebox and give them a sample (granted there's something worth playing on the juke - but there's usually *something*).
As far as when I have to use my words, if they're actually interested, I run them through my history in a nutshell.
"Well, I wasn't big on music until I was about 10, but my mom's influences started to work into me - Classic rock with a couple 80s classics ... Queen, Metallica, Eagles, Creedence, Beatles, Beatles, Beatles {Which I hated at first, but grew to like when I realized they didn't spend their whole career wearing matching suits and mop cuts, singing/playing tracks like I Wanna Hold Your Hand} and around the same time my friend got me to listen to a Bay Area experimental avant-metal type band called Nuclear Rabbit. The lyrics were off the wall and the playing was so complex I couldn't fathom what was going on - but the wall of noise sounded so perfect [If they're interested in that, I'll tangent on Nuclear Rabbit for a while]. I got into Mr. Bungle, Godsmack, Beck, Cake and Powerman 5000 from him as well. It was the 90s.
[I explain about Powerman that I preferred their early funky style to their spaceman stuff and their spaceman stuff to their newer releases]. From there I got into Alice in Chains and Tool. I spent years listening to Tool almost exclusively. And then in high school, while still being in love with Tool, I heard Del the Funkee Homosapien. First it was on Gorillaz "Clint Eastwood", then "If you Must" on Tony Hawk, and then, Deltron 3030. My introduction to hip-hop was complete. I'd been avoiding hip-hop because all the kids at school listened to top40 rap and west coast gangsta rap and I didn't care for it. But now I understood that hiphop wasn't inherently bad at all! Aesop Rock came relatively later, in college, but I spent years deciphering his lyrics and finally being able to sit through his tracks and not be overwhelmed by his wordplay. Def Jux record label led me to El-P. From there I was on a search for "smart hip-hop" or what's sometimes called conscious hip-hop. I got into Poor Righteous Teachers, Freestyle Fellowship, etc. One of the big barriers I had to breakdown was digital music. It wasn't my style. But then I got into DJ Shadow through Gift of Gab, and that started to change. If a DJ can move me like that, maybe I've been pigeon-holing the concept on digital music. I tried out some techno, but it didn't stick. I was able to find downtempo electronic though, psybient, etc. Then things exploded. I got into jazz, I got into funk, I got into just about everything under the sun. Just try not to play top40 pop/rap or country and I think I'll be okay."
Or the short version: "I like a little bit of most genres, but keep me away from country, techno, top40 pop and rap and we'll be cool"
It's a lot easier that way, but the long way does have a way of getting side-conversations going. The spiel can be stopped at anytime to pursue a shared interest.