We surround ourselves with music and sounds for various reasons, but mainly it's because we love it. Musicians practice and learn and think about music and melodies and lyrics and arrangements and technology and other bands. Musicians are the biggest fans of music to my knowledge. Then there's the DJ's. Whether they're also musicians or can't clap their hands to the beat, DJ's are also huge music lovers. Walls of vinyl and CD's and cassettes, terabytes of files on their computers, weeks of listening time, posters and paraphernalia, memories galore of live concerts, hearing their favorite bands for the first time or having a song dedicated to a loved one, music is a huge part of many people's lives and fill their memories.
But in this time of music as background, as a commodity, as a way for a few business-types to make money off the efforts of actual musicians, why do they do it? For the love. Because life without music would be a mistake. Because music gives purpose to so many, gives joy, gives a reason to wake up. To connect with humanity, to see smiles and hear or read the enthusiasm of fans around the world. Music inspires and entertains. It challenges us to think differently, to fill in our own experiences between the poetic and sometimes vague lyrics.
Djing gives us the opportunity to connect with others too. From making mixtapes pre-digital age, recording off the radio, spinning vinyl and playing cassettes, watching live performances on TV, from word of mouth and digging through records at the local music store, music has always been a social activity. But when you're awkward and don't know how to connect with people in other ways, handing someone a tape of your favorite songs or talking about the new video or trading files or sharing links, music brings us together.
I've only met two of the DJ's on Eardrum Buzz Radio in person: Danny Gellis of Serious Spinach at the recent Film School show as well as my Vapour Trail Live cohost Meagan Massingill as she lives only a few hundred miles from me in San Diego where I visit regularly. I expect to meet Charles Motorbike soon, probably to go see Stereolab in San Diego in September. But when we chat online or call on the phone, it's usually about music, a new video or a new release. We're all excited about the new single from Bauhaus. I'm personally excited to see Letting Up Despite Great Faults play with Blushing and Slow Crush with Deserta in late April, the many bands at the Cruel World Festival and Steely Dan at the Hollywood Bowl in May.
And doing Vapour Trail Live with Greg Peters and Meagan Masingill on the second and fourth Fridays as well as my irregular live sets has brought together people from Japan, Russia, Philippines , UK, Australia, Norway and the US to share our enthusiasm about newly bought tunes, requests or something we just played. We often come up with themes or bands to play for the three hours. It's great fun! Come join us if you can.
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Written by Bret Miller Eardrum Buzz Radio www.eardrumbuzz.net
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Send submissions to: bret@eardrumbuzz.net with "Submission" and your band name in the subject. Please only MP3 files, no WAV files, no Spotify links, just your awesome music!