Here’s a lighthearted secret, my favorite question to ask people:
What’s your earliest memory of hearing music?
Not your first album or concert, but the first time you remember hearing anything.
The question fascinates me because it’s casual, on the level of a party icebreaker. And yet, it’s hella personal. You get a fleeting glimpse into another human’s psyche. People almost always answer with not just the literal information, but also the circumstances, the surroundings.
The other thing that fascinates me is how often people turn it around, and ask it back at me.
Last year, I went to see the Messthetics, a punk-jazz fusion band. The bassist and drummer are Joe Lally and Brendan Canty, from the legendary indie/post punk band Fugazi.
After their set, the crowd went nuts, and they came back for an encore… except the guitarist, Anthony Pirog, had gone to the bathroom. Brendan got on the mic, thanked the crowd, made some remarks, and then there was an awkward silence.
“Does anyone have any questions?” he asked. I didn’t hesitate for a second before shouting out my favorite.
He was tickled. He talked about his dad, a jazz guy, his memory of LPs of all the classic big band stuff, Count Basie, Ellington.
“What about you?” he shot back.
My grandma had an 8-track player in her car with two cartridges: The Mills Brothers and Willie Nelson. But we never listened to Willie. I remember driving from the Pacific coast, past Grays Harbor, up into the Olympic Rain Forest, bathed in the luxurious harmonies of “Besame Mucho” and “Moon River”.
What about you?
