Courtesy of Casual Hippie

Unlike many of my co-DJs at WVAU, I don‰’t have an all time favorite band, album, or song. Shocking, I know, but let me explain. I grew up listening to music but knowing nothing about it. Most of the songs I listened to growing didn‰’t have titles associated with them but memories, instead. “Vienna” by Billy Joel was the feeling of cooking dinner at home and “Pork and Beans‰” by Weezer was car rides with my family. No one handed eight-year-old me the AUX, so I never felt compelled to learn song or album names. Now that I‰’m trusted with the AUX at home and while on my show, I‰’ve gotten better at song titles and the artists that go with them.

Even so, album titles continue to elude me. I understand the change of an artists sound over time but if you asked me the name of the third Avett Brothers album I would just stare at you. So, whenever the time for DJ applications comes along, you are guaranteed to see me frantically scrolling through my Spotify trying to figure out what albums go with which songs. If you ask me to name my top album of the moment, you‰’re most likely to get whatever I listened to last.

Because my music taste depends on my mood and what my friends are listening to, it can vary wildly from day to day. Spanning from Fever Ray to TV On The Radio to Elle King to Billy Joel and everyone in between, my eclectic taste is one of my musical shortcomings. I don‰’t have a niche taste and, while that can be convenient while hosting a radio show, it makes top five‰’s a little difficult. My relationship with music can be described as a short-lived love affair. Intense at the start but then the spark is quickly lost. Some songs stay ~fire~ for years, from the classics of the Backstreet Boys to Walk The Moon and The Mowgli‰’s, but those are few and far between.

As I cultivate my music taste more with help of Spotify’s Discover Weekly, our new music rack, and the help of our music directors I have realized what music sticks with me the longest. Beats you can‰’t help but nod your head to, lyrics you sing at the top of your lungs, and a feel that makes you smile. Instead of the sad, slow beats that make you want to curl under your covers, I take comfort in pop-inspired tunes.

While I don‰’t think I‰’ll ever be able to pick a top five anything ever, I‰’m starting to take comfort in the idea that I‰’m gravitating towards music that makes me happy and make the people around me happy as well.