What Music Means To Me: Jamie
What I like about music:
As long as I can remember, I’ve been a music fan, though my relationship with it has evolved throughout the years. My after school ritual was to race to the TV everyday to catch TRL on MTV. I loved the videos, the dancing, the story telling- all of it! And of course I had to keep my eye on the countdown for the most requested song. Was a long standing favorite going to continue to reign supreme? Or was a new comer going to swoop in and get stuck in our heads? I had to find out.
I also admired how much my older sister was interested in music. She would DJ school dances so she had a huge CD binder full of pages and pages of music. Sometimes we would swap or trade, but most of the time it was me sneaking into her room to take a CD that I didn’t think my parents would let me buy myself. For example, just like Sami, I liked Britney Spears. So, when I went away to Girl Scout camp and the troop leader said we could bring a CD and play one song for the group, my mom just assumed that I was taking one of my Britney albums. She didn’t even check my bag. Flash forward a few hours and my mom is coming to pick me up after our leader called home because I actually took the Charlie’s Angel soundtrack so I could play Sir Mix A Lot’s “Baby Got Back.” Did I understand the nuances of the lyrics, definitely not. I just thought it was a jam and I really wanted to share it with other people.
As I got older, I started to rely on music for comfort and to work through emotions. I noticed that I had (and still have) a habit of getting hooked on one song or maybe a whole album and listening to it over and over again, sometimes for weeks on end. It was once pointed out to me that repetitive behavior like that could be a symptom of anxiety, and that is probably true in my case. But, no matter what emotion I was working through, that song or those songs would wrap me up and make me feel safe until one day, I wouldn’t need that safety net anymore. A new song would catch my attention. I could put my iPod back to shuffle.
That’s the main reason music is so special to me. You can attach it to a memory. Listen to a song and it can transport you back to a moment in time. I listened to The Fray’s “How to Save a Life” album for the entire bus ride the first time I visited Washington D.C. The actual song “How to Save a Life” was the first song I ever slow danced to at a school dance. Every time I hear that song, I think back to that version of me. I can remember how I felt. And not every memory like that has to be special in such a “good” way. One time I was so worried about events happening in the news that I couldn’t stop listening to My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome to the Black Parade.” I had heard that song so many times before then, but at that time, it came on and listening to it made me feel better. Now when I hear it, I might think of that time when I was anxious, but I also remember how I made it through- totally ok. I survived to march another day.
Music is so wonderful because you can listen to sad songs when you are sad, if you want to wallow. You can listen to happy music when you’re in a good mood and you want to multiply those feelings of elation. But, you can also listen to sad songs when you’re happy and vice versa. It’s beautiful because there are no rules. Music is an off key rendition of happy birthday, sung to you by someone you love and it is the song that comes on the radio on your worst of days, with absolutely everything in between.
What motivated me to create L!LAC and what do I hope people get from listening to our music?
I just think of how important music has been in my life, and I want to contribute in some way to that same feeling in others. There are two elements to most songs that get me every time. I’m a sucker for lyrics and I love when the song is building up, and you get to the bridge and that last chorus. It’s usually the best part of the song for me. When Sami and I first started taking a songwriting class, I kind of realized that having the dream of doing the same thing, creating music was achievable. Since I love lyrics so much, why not try write my own words? Why not try to write a bumping bridge and chorus? It really helps me to have a best friend that shares the same vision. She knows what I’m talking about because she’s been there. She loves music too. And what is better than creating something meaningful (to you and hopefully to other people) than doing so with your best friend? We want to give back in the same way that we received, and that is truly what I hope people will get from listening to our music.