It doesn’t take more than a couple glances at a post or two here to see how much music plays a part in my every day life. What’s kind of funny is how my subconscious attributes different soundtracks to different parts of my life. Sometimes they’re very obvious picks, like listening to Angels & Airwaves on the entire trip to one of their shows or rocking Motion City Soundtrack on the way to Minnesota to see them on Warped. Sometimes there a little more random. The Ataris’ Blue Skies, Broken Hearts… Next 12 Exits album is tied very closely to memories of my high school band trip. More specifically, every song on that album reminds me of two things from that trip. The first was walking into a local music store in Milwaukee and picking up their So Long Astoria album. The other was a card game in the hotel hallway. Nothing else significantly sticks out. I have faint memories of a symphonic workshop and hackey sack at either the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee or outside a museum. Maybe both.

My high school choir trip to Memphis, Tennessee is similar. My 30GB iPod was full but Cartel’s Chroma was pretty much the only thing I listened to the entire time. It was more or less exclusively on repeat the whole trip. I remember much more of the trip, but that album pretty much brings to mind the bus. Memphis is a trip I wish I could get a do-over on. It was way more interesting than my band trip and more my kind of thing, but I remember being in the worst mood ever the entire trip. Someday I’ll go back for a Memphis/Nashville double header. Chroma is still one of my favorite albums of all time, but sometimes it feels corrupted. That feeling sucks.

Then there’s the seasonal albums. The Format and Limbeck will always mark Spring and early summer on my audio calendar. Without fail. blink-182 is always going to be the hot, dirty part of mid-to-late summer. Fall is any indie and/or acoustic track I can find. Phoenix and Blind Pilot seem to be taking over this season. Fall is also when my pen hits the paper a lot more.

There are soundtracks for people, places, and feelings. Times and experiences. Rain or shine. There are tracks that will instantly put me in a good mood, regardless of who I’m with or what surrounds me. There are tracks that I can’t listen to anymore. There are albums that make me sick. There are songs that I’ve put in the back of mind. They are songs I cannot forget but need to find a mental cure for before I can listen to them again. These are the notes, the chords, the tempos, & the phrases that make us who we are. How could someone not be into music?

Dear Santa,

I want iTunes giftcards.

Sincerely,
Luke

I love the holidays.