Wednesday, December 12, 2007

music, sweet music

i want to start a radio station. i have always loved the idea of being a dj. i have always loved making mix tapes (and cds now) of what i think would make great playlists. there are just no good radio stations here. i hate it. and i have no cd player in my car so i will often listen to really old tapes. which means i am forever getting nostalgic (like that's unusual for me). i find lately i'm listening to stuff that brings out the teenager in me (again, not really a stretch) and i've taken up my old fashions and put my mommy costumes away pretty much.

i've had some people suggesting some good music to me lately. and that's awesome. thanks guys. i tend to get stuck though. i love my old stuff. and i don't have the patience or time to fall in love with any of the new stuff in the same way i did the old. i watched an awesome 4 hour rockumentary about tom petty last week. oh it was so good. where are all the really talented musicians like that these days. will any of these new guys be around in 30 years?? are there going to be any songs like "refugee" that come on the radio in even 10 years and still sound so amazing you just have to turn it up full blast. tom petty had a big influence on me musically, not to mention my fashion choices...hats, vests, cool glasses, color. but then i grew into another genre of music later on and forgot about all that good music. until i saw the show, and it all came back. so i've got to add him to my playlist of old and new faves.

i was reminded of an old passion recently at the ARGH gathering. we were talking about turning passions into profits and we were just randomly naming our different passions. my friend, ren, and i had quite a few up there and many were very similar. one thing we both wanted to do was something along the lines of a teen/community center. it brought back the memory of a time when i was in high school and my boyfriend and i got this idea we would start an "alternative" teen club. we would call it "the snakepit." gosh, we were so cool. we put up fliers, even did one issue of a newsletter. but the biggest thing we did was when we tried to raise money for it. i borrowed $100 from my sister and we went and bought krispy kreme donuts to sell. well, we sold them door to door telling whoever would listen what it was we were raising the money for. my boyfriend, tired of people not getting it, started telling them we were raising money for a church teen trip or something like that. so we sold them all. i gave my sister back her 100 and with the rest, well it sort of sat around for awhile. long enough for us to realize we probably weren't going to get this thing going. and i went and got myself some kickin' boots. ah well. at that time, a teen center was already open and it was pretty mainstream, but we went anyway and the few times they played INXS we took over the floor. i'm not kidding. we would start slamming around and everyone...everyone...moved back and made a circle around us to watch. ah, glory days. we went to that teen center this past halloween. i guess it had been almost 20 years since the last time i was there. and i danced my ass off...again. i still want to have a great place to go and dance. but i'd just want to dance to MY music. ya know?

anyone want to help start a radio station?

or a cool FAMILY dance place? wouldn't that be something different!!??Share

3 comments:

rupestur said...

Rowan's dad had a good idea for a radio station a couple of years ago... a low-frequency radio station that would have a wavelength of a couple of miles. He wanted to put it down on the tree streets. He was always saying that low-frequency stations don't have as many laws and guidelines as bigger ones. I thought it was a pretty good idea!

Radio stations around here are pretty weak. I used to really like WETS but they've changed so much and now it's a bunch of crapola. I don't think any radio station could ever please me all the time unless I was the one spinning the records, since my music taste is so selective and weird.

CG said...

I think the problem is within the question, "Turning passions into profits." I think profits might be, inevitably, wrong. I don't mean making a few bucks but the idea we have of supporting ourselves.

Anyway, I think, really, we have to find ways to follow our passions ANYWAY. I think one of the keys to this is to live small enough to be supported small-y. And maybe by something that we are not passionate about.

I think you can't ask other people to pay for a "teen center" that meets your ideals. Well, not that you "can't" but that they won't, ya know? It isn't that there is anything wrong with your dreams and passions but with your model for making them happen.

As to radio stations, here is what I like to do at the barn where there are two -- one of them is tuned to WQUT and the other is tuned to WMEV. I like the juxtaposition.

And great post. Your comment on my blog about illusions would also make a great post (hinthint).

love

Ren Allen said...

I loved the "turning passions into profits" workshop because Steve believes so much in just DOING the thing you love doing no matter what. His ideas are for people that want to make money using those same things you're already doing. Or starting by doing it small and working it into a career or job.

I personally like making money.:)

I like the idea of a place to dance. Have you seen the barenakedfamily.com site? They are unschoolers that live very simple and travel around putting on rock shows that are family friendly. Lotsa fun.