We each have a unique start to our interest in music, and this in one way or another has led us to join KZUU to share our passion with everyone else. This week, we share stories about how music became an important part of our lives.

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ASHLYN

I cannot remember a day going by in my life where music wasn’t involved in some way. Ranging from musicals on Disney Channel, being in the car with my parents, or hearing a catchy tune in a video game, I have always been around music one way or another. My family is into a lot of different genres of music: My mom loves 80s pop and love ballads, my dad loves metal and classic rock, my grandma loves jazz and 70s funk, my uncle plays instruments in metal bands, and got me introduced to the idea of an eclectic taste.

When I was 13, I started to branch out on my own to explore the music I liked, and truthfully, Tumblr opened a wide door for me, full of artists I still regularly play and swear by. My grandma also used to collect vinyl, and she gave me a large part of her collection from the 60s and 70s when I was 16, from artists like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, The Beatles, The Beegees, and Elton John. Having my own taste, and influences from my family members shaped me as a person, and is something I will never be able to fully express my feelings for. As both my brother and I got older, this wide range of music shaped our individual tastes, and brought us into a sphere where we now consume music like its our last meal on earth. I truly cannot express into words about how passionate I am about music, which is what ultimately brought me to KZUU. I still find new music often, and I don’t see myself abandoning music at any point in the future either.

GAVIN

Music has always been part of my life. My uncle Damien is actually a huge reason why I got interested in music. He is a solo musician who is mildly successful and his music always made me feel this sense of wonder and hope that anything could be possible for me if he was able to be successful off his art. When I was 15, I found out my Mom did background vocals on two songs on Damien’s first album and I will never forget that feeling of hearing her voice and being taken back to being a child in bed as she sang Blackbird by The Beatles to me so I could sleep. It’s little things like that and those moments that make music so beautiful to me.

ABEL

I’m a huge movie person and I guess I never realized the two mediums were similar in this way until now, but music is a language that communicates thoughts and feelings that couldn’t be explained in words, even if there are words in the music.

For example, as I’m writing this I am listening to Ace of Cups by LSDREAM. This is a mostly ambient piece with synth melodies, but there are peaceful vocals describing feelings and philosophical messaging. While I do enjoy the poetry of those words, the emotions I feel through those words are exponentially increased and spun in such a unique way that the words and the music are intertwined. Those words couldn’t make me feel the complex emotion they do without the chords and peaceful synthesizers. And while I did choose a specific song at random based on what I was listening to, this isn’t a unique attribute to this song; it applies to hundreds if not thousands of other songs that I love and appreciate as more than just a catchy melody or hook. There is so much to understand through the language of music.

I really don’t know what got me into music as hardcore as I am now, but I think the driving factor for me with my listening habits is that there is stuff to appreciate in every facet of the musical ecosystem. Every genre and subgenre has its fans because it has unique appeal that can’t be found anywhere else. Every instrument adds a unique flair and can be utilized in so many ways to express so many emotions. I love electronic music because 1. I’m a child raised in part by the Internet and technology as a whole, and 2. artists are able to create their own unique set of instruments for every individual song. This lets the artists specifically design each sound to fit exactly what they are feeling, with the exact intensity and exact resonance that fits their head.

I will never be able to listen to every song I would enjoy, and even with the songs that I do get the opportunity to listen to, I will never be able to appreciate them to its fullest. Just today, in these 24 hours, there will probably be more than 24 hours of great music released, more that one person could possibly listen to. It’s kinda sad how that works but it’s a two-sided coin: there’s so much out there and I will never get tired of discovering new music that I love. There’s always a risk that I won’t enjoy it but that’s okay, I can always retreat back to the stuff I know I enjoy for a little bit before I get back out there, adventuring the sonic landscape of music.

CADEN

Some of my earliest memories are of my father playing drums on his set in the living room, or going to the studio with him for band practice. Regardless of where it was my dad was playing drums and I was right there with him. Surprisingly it never stuck with me though, as i grew older I didn’t connect with the music scene like my dad did. He had tried to get me into drums and guitar when i was around 7-8 but at the time it just wasn’t something that was on my radar. I spent the majority of my days skateboarding and messing around doing other activities. Even though I wasn’t playing an actual instrument I was still surrounded by the rock scene through my dad with band practices and shows. Growing up listening to bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Candle Box, Three Doors down and even Nickelback (yes I love Nickelback, they make great music now get over yourself) definitely has shaped my taste as a young adult. But if we fast forward a decade to my first year at WSU, that is when music really became apart of my life. My catalog of music was far from perfect, I really had not explored much outside of mainstream rock, pop and hiphop. But when I joined KZUU as a DJ, I felt like I had to step up my damn game because jeez people at this station have amazing taste in music. But back to the point, the people at KZUU helped grow my knowledge on new bands, really forcing me outside of my comfort zone. And this is still the case to this day, KZUU is the reason I’m into music. KZUU helped show me what a passionate, loving and creative community that music brings together.

ISAK

Music is important to me because it is one of the only ways that I can let out some energy and express myself though playing music and listening to it. I remember distinctly when I first started to play drums when I knew I had found my passion. From drums in high school and college, I then started to pick up the guitar during covid. From there, recently I have started to sing at the open mics and started up a band with other musicians in which I sing and play guitar. Ultimately, music is something that I love to keep discovering and expanding my knowledge. Some of my favorite memories I have in this life I will commonly attach to a song or artist. I kind of think of it as a playlist and I’ve simply called it, “Songs that trigger my memories.” I’d like to ask you, what are your songs that trigger your memories? The good and the bad, these songs we chose to listen to define our taste and I had a lot of fun having the opportunity to share them with you guys here at KZUU.

GARY

When I was younger, and, undoubtedly, more foolish, I hoped that music would serve as a form of expression for me and my desires; I hoped that the lyrics in the songs I listened to would speak for me in ways that I never could, and that, by sharing music with those around me, that they would come to understand me just a little bit better. This is, of course, stupid. Music could never encapsulate all that it means to be human, at least not fully, and using it as one’s only means of expression severely limits one’s capacity to interact with the world and enjoy the wonders of life. Now, instead of relying on music as an outward expression, I turned it inwards, and allowed it to improve and color every aspect of my life. The presence of a particular song or artist’s work during specific, remarkable times of my life ensures that this music is always associated with the memory, which augments and improves the memory significantly. By combining music, both the poetic and deeply expressive elements, as well as the sonic characteristics of sounds themselves, with other astonishing moments in life, the experiences are greatly heightened. Similarly, I have come to better understand the storytelling capabilities of songs, and have allowed them to entirely rework how I approach music in a social capacity. Every time I wander into a coffee shop concert, I eagerly welcome the possibility that I may uncover some new, profound meaning in a song that, in turn, reveals something about my life, and about the lives of all humans that was previously uncovered. Undoubtedly, though, the most significant and cherished influence music has on my life is its ability to connect me with those around me and allow our shared time to flourish. While music may not allow me to express myself to those around me directly, there is something so profoundly uniting and sacred about joining together in song, both with loved ones and strangers all the same, that speaks directly to the essence of human existence and to our independent, yet beautifully interwoven, souls. Music is one of the greatest gifts given to us as humans, and I am continually grateful that I am able to experience it, both in small and grand ways alike.

DAYTON

Music is the friend I can turn to no matter how I’m feeling. Thats the beautiful thing about it. Every song that’s ever been made by humans encapsulates some aspect of the human experience and its in that connection that Music gains its significance in my life. For example, as a DJ for KZUU, we have two hour sets once a week. Each week I try to find new music that fits the moods I’m in, thus music has come to my aid every single week this school year and I’ve had the pleasure of sharing that music on the radio. Music kind of feels like the force, living through all of us. Connecting us.

JUSTIN

Music is a large part of my family. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t hear my mom and dad playing some sort of music, whether it was in the car on the way to school or at home. My dad strictly played country or hair metal, and my mom played just about anything that suited her. I recently asked my dad how much he thought he had spent on music, and he confidently said “It’s gotta be somewhere in the millions” (Probably part of why that divorce went through). Luckily for me, we now live in the digital age and I won’t befall the same fate. I met most of my high school friends through a shared love of music, and I played percussion in band for 7 years. I currently play guitar in my free time (which there never really seems to be enough of). Music has allowed me to have connections with people I would have never talked to otherwise. It’s made me laugh, made me cry, and a few times it has even made me want to retch (thank you Charles Boyd). Music is the reason I’m writing this post right now, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the people I have met because of it. It may sound a little dramatic, but music has been one of the driving forces in my life, and I’m glad that so many people feel the same way as I do.

ZEKE

Before I was a teenager, I almost exclusively listened to the music my parents and older sister played. That meant hearing Beethoven in the morning, and Denzel Curry in the afternoon. When I entered high school, though, I heard a song by Zedd and my brain was completely rewired. Listening to EDM was the first time I really had my own music taste that wasn’t influenced by those around me. Music became an identity for me, and was a huge focus of my life throughout high school. I distinctly remember bragging to my friends about how much I listened to every day.

It may sound silly, but I truly think music is a huge part of my personality. I am a firm believer that it bridges the gap between people, and that by listening to a lot of music I can create more opportunities to connect with others. I listen to several new albums every single day, and don’t shy away from trying new artists and genres I’m not familiar with. There isn’t a single genre of music I don’t regularly bump these days.

If I didn’t have music in my life, I think a major element of who I am as a person would me missing. It helps me socialize with others I’ve just met; I’ll often start conversations with “hear anything good lately?” I love how excited people get when you know the obscure album they never get to talk about. I also love getting to share my favorite songs with my friends and family. When you know someone’s music taste really well, you know a lot about them as a person, and it feels amazing send them that song you think they’ll like only to hear them playing it a year later. It shows how much of a lasting impact a single song can have in our lives and the lives of those around us.

DANIEL

To me music is the best way to express your creativity. Everyone has such a unique taste in how they listen to and play music, and there is always something new that you’ll love that you just haven’t heard yet. Does it get any better than that?

PETAR

My relationship with music is hard to put into words. Ever since I could remember I’ve always been obsessed. No matter what I’m doing I need to have music in the background. When I wake up the first thing I do is open Spotify. When I go to bed I’ll turn on a sleep timer so music plays until I’m asleep. If there’s no music playing I’m jumping for the aux. If someone is playing music I’ll find a way to take over. Since middle school, I’ve had headphones on practically 24/7 every single day. Without music, I can’t make it through the day. When no music is playing I feel incomplete. Whenever I meet someone or don’t know what to talk about I jump to the topic of music. Music allows me to feel emotions that I have trouble comprehending myself, as well as express feelings that I’m unable to express with words. Additionally, I love how diverse music is. I believe every sub-genre has a special beauty that should be appreciated. I think my upbringing formed this belief. As a kid my father would play traditional Serbian folk music, and jazz, my mother would play new wave, goth, bossa nova, rock from all decades, classical, hip-hop, RnB, and my aunt would play me a lot of world music and electronic music. Then there were my friends who’d play me emo, dubstep, reggae, punk, ambient, pop, etc. Seeing everyone’s love for all these various sounds inspired me to find love and appreciation in everything I listen to. Plato once said that music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything, which I think is perfectly fitting. Simply put nothing makes me feel the way music does, there’s nothing else like it, and I don’t think anything as beautiful as it can ever exist.