SOUND OFF WITH SAM KEYES

Sound OFF

Dr. Ian Mercer III, Ph.D. The first song that I ever remember actively loving was “Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down” off of Interpol’s 2002 album Turn on the Bright Lights. I first heard it blasting through the walls at full volume from my elder brother’s room. He was in the typical high school angsty 10th grade phase of his life, and thus he was resorting to loud and sad music as his therapy. I remember opening the door (I must have been in 5th grade) and seeing him sitting on the floor against the wall, staring into space. I sat on his bed across from him as we listened to the track in silence, and I will never forget how moved I was by the awesomeness of Carlos D.’s bass playing. I was too young to understand the verses’ sexual innuendo, but the track was F’ing awesome nonetheless. Ben Wedin Raffi’s “Banana Phone.” To this day, I am still impressed by his wordplay and all of the things he could do with that banana.

Natalie Reinhart My earliest favorite music was very much influenced by what my parents played at home. I really loved the song “Tall Tall Trees” by Alan Jackson, and it was pretty common for 3-yearold me to get really excited whenever it would come on the speakers, and to dance around the living room and loudly sing as many of the words as I could remember.

Jackson Hudgins I remember lying in bed with my green ipod mini on my chest listening to Ben Kweller’s “My Apartment” on repeat imagining what it would be like to have an apartment, my own cat, a girlfriend, etc. This was around the same time that I was listening to a lot of Ben Folds and when people asked me what kind of music I liked I would usually respond, “stuff made by people named Ben.” David DeMark My Dad was always a pretty huge music geek, so I was exposed to a lot growing up, usually along the lines of Jazz or older R&B. I remember being around three in our apartment in Brooklyn and refusing to sleep each night unless my parents put on the soothing sounds of Al Green for me. Something about that buttercream-smooth voice just got to me--I guess it still does.

Zoe Levin My mother used to play the soundtrack to Grosse Pointe Blank a lot when I was growing up. The first song on the CD is “Blister in the Sun” by the Violent Femmes and I absolutely loved it. I would always dance to it by tracing the designs on the carpet we had in our living room. Sam White Rain King-Counting Crows They were the first band I found for myself. I specifically remember buying the album at Val’s Halla, a local record store who’s owner had a growling voice and was always eating Chinese food.

Cyrus Deloye When I was a young and naive boy I remember my father was flipping through the 6 channels we had (pre-cable, obvsly) and he lingered for longer than usual on a singing program much like American Idol. On said show, a man dressed up as Freddie Mercury proceeded from a grand piano to a large, stepped stage and belted out “Bohemian Rhapsody.” This being my first hearing of Bohemian Rhapsody, it was afterwards explained to me who the contestant was imitating, who Queen was, etc. etc. The point is, I was smitten. Bicycle, bicycle! So one day in the near future, I’m on my dad’s fat-ass 90s mac desktop computer, in his office, trying to look up lyrics to Queen songs, so I think to type in Queen.com, because obviously Queen. com was Queen’s official website, where Queen song lyrics obviously were to be found. Noooope. Queen.com is a hardcore porn site, and perhaps it was 20 pop-up windows that appeared even after I hastily clicked the main Queen.com window shut. I still love Queen. And I still love Bohemian Rhapsody. That song is the entire world’s anthem. But unfortunately my memory of my first favorite song is forever tethered to my first experience with porno.

Pat Dale

“Pissin’ In the Wind” by Jerry Jeff Walker. When I was young, my Dad had a pickup truck with a double sided cassette tape (One side was Jimmy Buffet and the other Jerry Jeff Walker). My brother’s favorite side was Jimmy Buffet, but I thought he was too soft to be a country music star. To me, nothing was more satisfying than having to pull of on the side of the road while listening to that song. If you know what I mean... Joe Willenborg My mom was giving me and my baby brother a bath, I was probably 4 years old. Downstairs my dad put on the album Brother in Arms and as soon as Walk of Life came on, I immediately took to it and the iconic intro. I got out of the bathtub as soon as it ended and walked downstairs to ask my dad to play it again.