Blog Entry No.4: Music and Family

 

Hello everyone and Happy Halloween! I was really excited to do this blog and interview my dad because he has influenced my music taste a lot. We love rocking out in the car to hair metal and he tries to test my memory by asking me who sings the song on the radio. Without further adieu, my dad! 

I did cut some of it out because the original conversation was 20 minutes long! 

Me: So.....Uh, what is your favorite type of music now?

Dad: Now?

Me: Yeah.

Dad: Huh, Probably the hair bands still.

Me: You still like the hair bands?

Dad: Yeah

Me: Um, Is that the same kind of music you grew up listening to?

Dad: As far as what age?

Me: Uhh? It depends on when you get really into music. 

Dad: I've always been into music.

Dad: You know, growing up we didn't really have a lot of TV channels.

Me: Fair enough.....um, let's see....

Me: Uh, I already know you've seen concerts and seen, like, bands live. How many do you think you've been to?

Dad: you mean concerts?

Me: Yeah.

Dad: God, I dunno, 20, 25?

Me: Good God!

Dad: I said concerts, that ain't like bands cause you know there are like 2 or 3 bands per concert.

Me: Uh, who all did you see, like in concerts, like..

Dad: Who all have I seen?

Me: Yeah

Dad: As far as like hair bands? or just in concerts?

Me: In concerts, in general and if you want to get more specific, um, you can talk about hair bands if you want to.

Dad: Do what now?

Me: In general but if you want to talk about hair bands then you can

Dad: I mean, I've seen country bands, I've seen rock bands, I've seen grunge bands, I mean, I dunno like, what are you asking though?

Me: Like...Specific band names.

Dad: uhhh I've seen Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Warrent, pretty sure i've seen Firehouse, Danger Danger, Cinderella, uhhhhhh, I seen George Jones when I was a kid!

Me: Awesome.

Dad: You know who he is? 

Me: Nope.

Dad: Heh, He's a country singer.

Me: Oh, that's why.

Dad: I've seen Tesla, Def Leppard, Skid Row, man, trying to remember the ones i have seen. Kiss. uhhhh, Ozzy, Anthrax, uhhhhh God d**m, who else I seen?

Me: We watched Skillet at Carowinds.

Dad: Yeah, Skillet, uhhh, it's more d**m hair bands. Poison, Ratz, Alice Cooper. 

Me: I know you play guitar. When did you start playing guitar?

Dad:.....Uhhhhhh...I was....16?

Me: Was it easy to learn?

Dad: Heh, I'm still learning.

Me: What did Granny think of the music you listened to?

Dad: Ha! Well when I used to listen to Ozzy and stuff when I was a kid, she thought it was like the "devil music" and stuff.

Me: Uh, yeah, she used to tell me that her music was "Happy music"

Dad: Huh? 

Me: She would tell me that her music was "happy music"

Dad: Yeah, that's what I told her it was. Like I can't listen to happy music all the time. her music was the happy music

Me: What do you think influenced your music, like your music taste? 

Dad: Do what now?

Me: What do you think influenced your music taste? like growing up in the south? growing up in Gastonia, your friends?

Dad: Huh.....

Dad: I don't really know. 

Me: Was it just what was popular at the time?

Dad: Well... I mean, kinda yeah. I mean, I just liked the guitar, you know what im saying?

Me: Yeah.

Dad: I mean thats why I started listening to it, cause I always liked the guitar.

Me: So you picked up the guitar trying to learn it?

Dad: Well no, I mean, I asked my mom you know, for a guitar for on Christmas. Didn't think really think I'd get it because of how expensive it was or whatever. I thought it was expensive but you know her. 

Dad: She, uh, actually got it for me. I couldn't believe it.

Me: That's really sweet actually.

Dad: And the first time I played, right? it was like uh, what was on, who was on the radio- oh I had a tape- was it a tape? Yeah, it was a tape. It was uh.... whats the [???] 

Dad: I can't think of his name...oh sh*t... His daddy was a country singer, his daddy died in like the 70's. Oh sh*t. And he's about 70 now, 70 or 80.

*typing noises*

Me: Oh, uh, Hank Williams Jr.?

Dad: Yeah! Hank Williams Jr.

Me: I had to look it up. 

Dad: I turned the radio up, you know what i'm saying? and I started strumming it, thinking I knew the chords, stuff like that, and I didn't know the chords. When I turned the radio up and I played the guitar with the amplifier or whatever? You know, I thought it sounded, I was like "D*mn, this ain't hard and stuff!" but then when I turned the music down, the radio down, and I started playing it, it sounded like "oh my god"

Dad: Like it don't even make sense.

Dad: But I was so happy to get that guitar though. 

Dad: But that was the most expensive thing my Mama every bought me- even though it was a cheap guitar, you know what I'm saying?

Me: Yeah

Dad: It was about $100, you know, for that and the amp it was probably a little over $100, you know what i'm saying though? Most expensive thing I ever got.

Me: Yeah.

Dad: I think I was only 16 or 17. I think I was 16. I was working at Quincey's at the time. I can't remember if I was 16 or 17. I think I was 16 though.

Me: Do you and Mom have any special songs?

Dad: Ha!

Me: Cause you know how like people or like people in relationships typically have "their songs"? Do you and mom have any?

Dad (to my mom): What's that song that comes on every time you get in the truck, Dana?

Dad: It's probably that song that comes on. its like "are you gonna kiss me now"

Me: Oh, "Are you gonna kiss me or what?"

Dad: Yeah, "Are you gonna kiss me or what?"

Me: What do you think about the music I listen to?

Dad: I never really heard your music except for that uh, korean dance stuff.

Me: I'm not gonna lie, a lot of it is kinda the same as yours Just like the grunge, the rock, stuff like that.

Dad: I dunno, I've heard of some of your....I can't say it's like "fake motley crue" stuff. Like Motley Crue was Motley Crue first.

Me: A better question would be what do you think of modern music? Like if you turn on the radio and you hear 'modern pop' or something, what do you think?

Dad:... I usually turn it.

Dad: You know what i'm saying?

Dad: I really don't know the modern pop bands today.

Dad: I mean, I like any type of music. I don't like just any one type of music. I mean I guess I like the hair bands because I grew up with it and stuff. 

Dad: but like, I dunno. It's like, the people today, there are more singers. Not really like a band like a band you play in. You know what I'm saying? 

Dad: You don't really have like bands. It's just more like singers than really bands. Like the people that sing and actually play. Like then it was the whole band playing. When with the singer is just the star.

Dad: Like with the hair band, it was the whole band.

My parents and I.