Interactions with Random People About Music

i posted this in the country/rap thread, but i think it deserves a thread of its own

how do you explain your musical tastes to people with whom you're having a casual conversation?

I tell them I'm a music snob.

i also say im a music snob, and mutter something about some english band that theyve never heard of. depends who im talking to really. when im feeling nice - i just say 'britpop'. and it kinda summarizes up some of it. and they still have no clue what the hell im talking about.

I generally ask who their favorite band is, and unless it's some elite indie band, I respond that "I've never heard of them," and inquire if they're a Pixies or Velvet Underground "cover band."

depends on the situation.
if i'm sober i try to explain that it's probably something they don't listen to. if i'm drunk, i'll blather on about how i'm a music snob.

although recently and while drunk, i told a boy: 'i would never sleep with you because you have terrible taste in music.'

"I like whatever I think sounds good."

This is always a difficult question for me because of how varied it is and has been, especially when my work experience is considered. It really depends on the setting and who is asking. I'll often talk about recent purchases or obsessions as well as cultural, historical and theoretical aspects. It may be Tallis Scholars with one person and American Idol with another. I can always find some common ground.

i just hand them my iPod.

Geez, I don't think Julian's tastes is that bad..

Originally posted by miss pretentious:
although recently and while drunk, i told a boy: 'i would never sleep with you because you have terrible taste in music.'

Originally posted by nkotb:
Geez, I don't think Julian's tastes is that bad..

:roll:

Originally posted by nkotb:
Geez, I don't think Julian's tastes is that bad..

Originally posted by miss pretentious:
although recently and while drunk, i told a boy: 'i would never sleep with you because you have terrible taste in music.'

Ahhahahah. Well, Julian hasn't tried to take me to a Steve Miller Band concert or talk to me about all the Dave Matthews Band concerts he's been to and can't remember.

So he's in the clear…for now.

i play a lot of poker and sit and converse with a lot of random people for hours at a time … here's a couple of observations:

(1) invariably some middle-aged guy will strike up a conversation about music as a result of some band t-shirt i have on, ask condescendingly if i listen to any older bands "like the beatles or zeppelin", and get completely embarrassed when i start talking to him politely about 60s and 70s music … i've yet to actually meet a middle-aged guy who knows anything about music from "his era" (beyond the big hits) even though they invariably ask why "kids these days" don't listen to the "good stuff"

(2) people in their 40s to 50s talking about music (especially pseudo-intellectual lefties) ALWAYS bring up Bono and mention him as someone who their kids know, but they never have really heard of … invariably, these are the same self-righteous "music fans" as (1) … i point out to these people that Bono/U2 were more musically relevant not just to this generation of music fans, but about 20-30 years ago, which would have been right in their musical wheelhouse … this implies, of course, that they really know nothing about music from "their own era" and generally leads to embarrassing silence

(3) wearing a "your favorite band sucks" t-shirt to a poker game is a great way to start a conversation

(4) super hard-core metallica fans (there's a lot in atlantic city) are really fun to talk with

Question 2: what do you say when people ask who your favorite band is?

this is such a loaded question, primarily designed for people who have owned the same 25 CDs for the last fifteen years

i usually just say: "i listen to a lot of stuff, i don't really have a favorite" (which is the real answer) … or i'll say "either The Magnetic Fields or The Replacements" (which is kind of the right answer) and get blank stares

it doesn't really seem like there's a good way to answer this question if you know the person asking it will have no idea who the band is … saying "i don't really have one" makes you sound like an idiot, and naming some "obscure" band just ends the conversation

I generally mention a few bands that I've been listening to recently if someone asks what I like. If someone asks who my favorite band is, I just say Sonic Youth. Though I don't know if that's exactly the case anymore.

Originally posted by Hoya Paranoia:
how do you explain your musical tastes to people with whom you're having a casual conversation?

I usually tell them "It depends on where I am and what I'm doing" and they will inevitably give me a scenario and I tell them what I would likely be listening to. And then after 5 or 6 of these scenarios and I've confused them with an obscure indie band followed by some teenie pop band, they leave me alone or wait for me to give them a scenario, which I never do.

Originally posted by Hoya Paranoia:
Question 2: what do you say when people ask who your favorite band is?

I say "My favorite band is U2." But I never ask them what their favorite band is.

totally depends on the person for me.

i generally say i like rock music, figuring thats close enough if someones just asking a casual question. i'll get into it more if i actually plan on having a conversation for a while with them about it. i generally figure most of the time a random person asks me a question, they dont actually care too much about the answer.

when asked my favourite band, i always reply with two, Radiohead and Velvet Underground, cause thats just the simple truth.

i say the dandy warhols and get blank stares. usually with the response, 'the andy warhols?'. uhh NO the DANDY warhols. at least most of them know who andy warhol is - which is good - which leads to conversations about art.

if i know the person is into movies - i can reference a few movies with their music in it, and they might act like they know the band.. perhaps they do?

my favorite was when i was talking to a guy in a bar about music/fav bands. he said he didnt know who the dandy warhols were. somehow we started talking about freaks & geeks and then undeclared. and i say 'oh the theme song of undeclared is solid from the dandy warhols'. and naturally, he knew the song. judd apatow is quite the dandy warhols fan.

Originally posted by le sonick:
when asked my favourite band, i always reply with two, Radiohead and Velvet Underground, cause thats just the simple truth.

Radiohead? I've never heard of them… are they a Pixies cover band or something?

Originally posted by vansmack:
I say "My favorite band is U2."

have you had similar interactions with self-professed "music fans" who would have been in their 20s from 1980-1987 when U2 were (arguably, i guess) at their peak, and who reflexively refer to Bono as someone "their kids know" when talking about him involved in some kind of public policy situation?

that really just gets my goat for some reason

I don't really tend to discuss music with too many people, as I find a majority of humans are fuckin' idiots. (That doesn't apply to a decent percentage of this board) Like the girl I went to Bonnaroo with that told me:

"The White Stripes are far better than The Stones will ever be."

Until that came out of her mouth, I was gonna let her take that magical ride up *ahem* Space Mountain once we got the tent set up. Silence ensued in the vehicle all throughout the rest of VA. Silly bitch.