The editorial team of The B-Side has been working on a new column idea: a journal-wide collaboration to let readers know more about us and why we love music. For this week, I posed the all-telling question to the staff: What artist or band sparked your interest in music? Here’s what we said:
“The band that got me into music was Panic! At the Disco back in 2010. They were the first band that I bought my own concert tickets for, and the only one who I bought a band club membership for. I still have like five of their shirts, and the membership lanyard, in my closet.” — Michelle Castillo (Staff Writer)
“My mom always used to play Led Zeppelin for me when I was little, and it was kind of engraved in my brain. I didn’t listen to them for a while, but when I started getting angsty in sophomore year of high school I started listening to Led Zeppelin again. Since I knew it so well it was really special to me — and I then got obsessed and started listening to rock and that’s where my music “career” begins.” — Sophie Turovsky (Staff Writer)
“The first artist that really got me into music was probably Gwen Stefani. I remember hearing “Rich Girl” on the radio when I was probably like, 8 or 9 years old and was weirdly super into it. When I got my first iPod shuffle when I was 10 I remember paying money to buy a bunch of Gwen Stefani and No Doubt songs (honestly probably not the best age to be that into No Doubt). I thought she was one of the coolest people on the planet and wanted to be just like her. I had been also listening to a lot of Regina Spektor on the Sirius Coffee Shop Radio at the time, so instead of diving deep into ska (thank god) No Doubt led me to more of the iconic 90s women songstresses like Courtney Love, Fiona Apple, Tori Amos. But I will always hold a special place in my heart for Gwen for influencing not just my music taste, but also my style, personality, and hatred for Tony Kanal.” — Leka Gopal (Managing Editor)
“The artist that got me into music was probably Deep Purple. My dad hyped them up since I was a wee baby so I pretty much spent my childhood listening to them and Black Sabbath and whatnot. Also, they were in rock band, so it pretty much confirmed to me that they were legit.” — Shayan Shirkhodai (Staff Writer)
“I remember listening to Revolver (1966) by The Beatles in my dad’s Jeep. Listening to “Here, There and Everywhere” and “For No One” made my nine year old self think I truly understood love and heartbreak. After that I became heavily invested in classic rock, and still deeply love The Beatles to this day.” — Maddie Rohner (Staff Writer)
“It was Green Day. No shame. Green Day. American Idiot (2004) changed 10 year old me’s life. My dad went out and bought me 21st Century Breakdown (2009) the day it came out and I listened to the first song on the way to my little league game that same day. Green Day.” — Kieran Zimmer (Staff Writer)
For myself, it was Bob Dylan. Highway 61 (1965) is the album I that would be playing when I woke up on Sunday mornings to my parents cleaning the house. Since then I’ve seen Bob live six times, and I genuinely don’t think I’ve gone a day without listening, playing, or singing to his songs. No matter how many times I listen to “Tombstone Blues,” though, I don’t think I’ll ever understand why “the sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken.”
