Music as Identity - Part 1 - The Intro

It is interesting what makes up peoples identities. Sometimes it is interests, sometimes it is what you do, sometimes it is where you are from, and sometimes it is who you associate with. For some it is a mixture of these. For some it is one singular aspect. Over the span of my life each of these has or does define who I am. And it has varied over time. Some have come and gone, some have slowly drifted back to lesser importance, and some will probably never leave me. For instance, where I am from has drifted between being a large part of my identity to a small part multiple times. What people generally regard as identity is shown in the Blogger profile. Listed (if you wish) are age, location, employment, general interests, and more specifically favorite movies, favorite music, and favorite books.

Interests and who you associate with are ones that you have the most choice in defining who you are. It is interests and more specifically music taste that I will focus on here. It is interesting how for some people there is one interest that defines them. Like a sports fan who is all about a particular team and known primarily as a fan of that team. Same applies to film or music.

Since my adolescence, I have felt that musical taste has been a strong part of what defined who I was. It was stronger then and has gradually been shared with other aspects of identity. My best explanation for the feeling is that musical taste helped define who I was in the adolescence years when I was trying to define my identity. It could have been that I was truly trying to find as many unique aspects to be sure I would be unique. Not just another face in the crowd in the big city at a school of over 2500 boys. Generally my tastes have not been mainstream, which may be another reason I feel it is a major part of my identity.

But there is another aspect. As suggested by Blogger with their friendster write-ins, it is a part of your identity which will help you determine compatability with others. To a degree, your taste in music, movies, or books will give you clues into whether you see eye to eye with others. Whether you share ideologies or at face value whether you just plain like the same things.

What has brought this on? As I get older I am getting more nostalgic. Possibly also because of reading others experiences via their blogs, such as the Nine Inch Nails and Bauhaus concerts recently in Montreal. Plus in looking back it has been cool to see the journey of how I got here and what has defined who I am. So... in order to express my nostalgia, I will share my different musical tastes over the years and my thoughts. Another reason is because I am curious if my musical journey and experience matches those of others raised elsewhere or even back home. These won't be in any particular order, but as the feeling (or nostalgia) hits me.

The first stop: Industrial.