Music and Family Field Study

 Interview of Michael Ramsy

A coach of mine that I see as an older brother. 

Me: What role did music play during your childhood?

Michael: I always listened to music and I guess it has been a big part of my life. Whenever I played video games, cleaning the housing, sitting in class, I would always have music in because it would help entertain me.

Me: Who was your favorite artist when you were a kid? 

Michael: 50 cent because he had energy and raw aggression and that's what I look for in music

Me: What was your favorite genre/style of music when you were a kid?

Michael: Hip Hop, because of the intricate beats and base. The flow and base was very catchy.

Me: How did your music you loved as a kid influence the music you love now?

Michael: I still listen to things that are still extremely basey, and that have energy and aggression. Things that make me wanna jump up and down.

Me: What kind of music did you dislike as a kid?

Michael: Country and soft pop because it was too light.

Me: Do you have a first memory of music?

Michael: Kid rock “Bawitdaba” when I was in my car seat and it was awesome. I was in a car seat with my parents driving.

Me: What kind of music did your parents listen to? Did you like it? 

Michael: My mom listened to spice girls and kid rock. I guess I liked it but it wasn’t the same music I ended up listening to.

 

Me: What kind of music did you listen to as a teenager?

Michael: Mostly dubstep and death metal, because of the energy and aggression. I like aggressive sounding things, because I played football and we had to be pumped up for games.

Me: Did your friends listen to the same type of music you did?

Michael: Yes for the most part, we would go to festivals together and dubstep concerts.

Me: Did you go to any live concerts? What were they like? 

Michael: Yes we did, they were mostly festivals where they were like three day camping events. They are really exhausting and intense.

Me: Did you know anyone that was in a rock/pop/country band? Were you in one?

Michael: My highschool friends were in a rock band and they would perform at the parties. People would moshpit when they performed and it was very fun.

Me: What were the most popular artists when you were a teen? Did you like them, or were you an outsider?

Michael: Soulja boy and Kesha and I liked them. In terms of my favorite, Datsik was my favorite popular artist.

Me:Did music artists influence the way people dressed and such?

Michael: At festivals they did, but it never influenced me. At festivals women wore less clothing and the men wore bandanas and candy. Candy was basically bead bracelets that people would make that said stuff like the artist's names.

Me: Were you in a school music group--band, orchestra, choir?

Michael:

Me: If you went to a church, what kind of music was there? Did you participate? Did you like it?

Michael: I went to a catholic church, and it was the stereotypical boring church music. No, I didn't partake in it or like it.

Me: What kind of technology did you use to listen to music? How has that changed over your lifetime?

Michael: My first was a cassette player when I was really young and then it went to a walkman cd player and then I pods and now phones.

Me: Are there any songs that evoke strong memories? 

Michael: "Basehead" by Basenecker was the song playing when I met my first girlfriend.

Me: Do you listen to the same kind of music now that you did when you were younger?

Michael: Yes, I still bump to the same music. The loud aggression still enlightened the old football player in me.

Me: What do you think of today's popular music?

Michael: It’s good, it's mostly just Hip-Hop and I liked most Hip-Hop.

Me: What do you think about musicals, then and now?

Michael: The musical movies I think are more childish and cheesy. The live orchestra musicals are really sick. I always thought this throughout my life because I’ve always liked scores like in Jawz, because it's usually from a live orchestra and that's sick.

Me: Are there any artists that you wish were still alive?

Pop smoke because he was really good at raw aggression.