A Life in Six Songs

Ep. 2 - From Salsa to Alternative: The Joy and Tears of a Diverse Life Through Music

• w/ your hosts David, Carolina, and Raza • Season 1 • Episode 2

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Ever learn about someone’s life story through their personal soundtrack? Sounds pretty cool right? In this episode we get to know one of our three hosts, Carolina, as she walks you through the joyous and painful moments of her life through a diverse score of songs. From disco and hip hop to salsa and alternative music, it’s quite the ride. Learn how the cool teenager next door opened her world to new music, why Alicia Keys makes her cry following the death of her first husband, and everything in between. 

Follow your hosts David, Raza, and Carolina every week as they embark on an epic adventure to find the songs that are stuck to us like audible tattoos to tell the story of who we are and where we’ve been. It’s a life story told through 6 songs. Take a listen, and as always, if you have someone whose life you’d like to hear in 6 songs, let us know.


WHO WE ARE

DAVID: Creator & Host @ALifeinSixSongs

Drummer | Educator | Philosopher | Combat Veteran | PTSD Advocate 


CAROLINA: Co-Host @ALifeinSixSongs

Storyteller | Head of Learning & Development Services @ReadySet


RAZA: Co-Host @ALifeinSixSongs

Guitarist | Lawyer | Solo Project @Solamente.Band


EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Click Here to view show transcript (click Transcript tab on page)

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Reach out to us at alifeinsixsongspodcast@gmail.com

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Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit or educational use tips the balance in favor of fair use. The original work played in this video has been significantly transformed for the purpose of commentary, criticism, and education.

Speaker 1

I am sugar . Hey , everyone , welcome to A Life in Six Songs . Our music interview podcast focused on those particular songs that have a strong connection in each of our lives . These are not necessarily your favorite songs , but rather those times music was seared into your memory , strongly connected to your experiences at the time . So many of the discussions around music are about who the better band is or what genre is not as good as another . Those discussions really miss what is so fundamental about our interaction and enjoyment of music .

Speaker 1

This podcast is a judgment-free zone where we do not critique our taste in music but are focused on understanding the unique role music has played in each guest's life . We're on an epic adventure to find the songs that are stuck to us like audible tattoos that tell us who we are and who we've been , like the sonic DNA of our life . No two peoples are alike . These stories are the audible fingerprint we leave behind as our unique mixtape . Let's go have a listen together . I'm your host , david Rees . I'm joined by my co-host , my wife Carolina , and my longtime childhood friend , raza .

Speaker 2

Hey , hey .

Speaker 1

Hi , all right , all right , diving in here we go , all right . So for our first few episodes here , we figured lead by example let's not ask our guests to do anything we're not going to do ourselves . And so these first few episodes , we're going to be interviewing each other , so you all out there get to know us , get to get an idea of what the podcast is all about . And so , yeah , and so our guest today is my wife , carolina . She is an Iron man finisher , that's right . That's right . Well , maybe we'll get into some of that , absolutely . She is also , has been , a professional photographer , an

Our Guest: Co-Host, Carolina

Speaker 1

art teacher . You know , like so many of us , she's lived a number of lives and so we're excited to get into it , getting to know each other . And , yeah , let's go . So , carolina , to sort of warm us up and kick us off here , you know what role when you think about your life , what role does music play in your life ? How do you view music in your life ?

Speaker 2

A really , really strong connection , and not because I play anything . I don't play any instruments , I only sing alone in the shower , in the car , like I'm not a musical person , but like music just stirs up a lot in me . I think as an only child I , you know , sat alone in my room a lot listening to music and I don't know it just has like this very visceral response . So I joke , I work with a colleague who's in like Show , choir and musical theater and have a consultant . Now we do work with entertainment and stuff and they're always , every time I go to New York , they're like you need to see the show and the show and the show . And I'm like I can't watch musicals and they're like bless for me , like why ?

Speaker 2

And I'm like because they just make me cry , like it's the like the , when music is really strong and like people are singing and there's like a story like it's overwhelming to me . So that gives you like an insight , like I have a really strong connection in in an interesting way because I'm not a musician .

Speaker 3

That's interesting though , isn't it ? I mean , it's I'm sure one of the reasons why we're doing this is to connect our audience , right , who might not all be musicians . So like full disclosure , right . I mean , dave and I , we , we are musicians , and it's kind of in our blood and everything , but I think we all , we're also obviously appreciator , we appreciate music as well , and but I think the audience is is going to appreciate , you know , non-musicians and musicians kind of just talking about music , because I think everyone has a connection to it and that's that's really cool to hear .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah , yeah , totally yeah , I think it's . I think it gets at you know what the what the idea is behind the podcast , right Is to get you know away from those discussions that people are just arguing about you know who's the better band , or something like that , because I think that you know that's not what it's necessarily about . Like that discussion can be had right , you can have and say who's the best drummer and who's this , and you can have your your reasons and things . But but if we only do that , we we miss how music , even if we have different interests or different , you know paths , really connect us right , and so that's really what we're . What we're trying to do here is is show why you know the songs and things may be different for all of us , but the experience is , is is similar around .

Speaker 3

So yeah , great how music makes us feel right , that's right , that's right 100% Like think about .

Speaker 2

think about a movie without a score .

Speaker 3

Oh , wow , yeah .

Speaker 2

Or you know , yeah , like how empty . Would that be Right ? It really like grounds stories and you know , just like stirs up all the fields .

Speaker 3

That's a really like epic analogy . I'm trying to think of those

Life Without Music? What a Boring Existence that Would Be

Speaker 3

like those Christopher Nolan movies . Right , I mean , they're huge , they're expansive and and there's , you know , obviously so much going on , so in depth , but then he always , almost always , has Hans Zimmer provide the soundtrack and the score and that just like it . Just it takes it to just a whole other level . So I'm just as you said , that I'm thinking , okay , well , what if Hans Zimmer , you know what if it was silent ? There's no soundtrack , it just I don't , it wouldn't hit right .

Speaker 2

Yeah , and I mean when I think about our generation , like I won't age us . But you know , like we grew up in the time of the like breakfast club and all that I'll think about like Footloose without those like music montages of him learning to dance or Rocky with that , Remember the when he's training in Russia and like the songs that go with it , or when he's running up the steps like without music . It's just some dude huffing and puffing off the stairs and . Philly right , yeah .

Speaker 1

There's that great , great clip out there . It's of the ending scene of Star Wars , when Chewbacca , han Solo and Luke Skywalker are walking in to get their medals from Princess Leia . And so it's this huge , like you said , kind of Christian Rinaldin , like this expansive scene . And there's this , just , you know , epic music playing , but the clip cuts the music out .

Speaker 1

And so you just see the clip and they're just walking in silent , yeah . And then there's a few things where , like Chewbacca , like yells and like R2D2 beeps and that's all you like here , and it's like oh yeah , that's just flops .

Speaker 2

It's just flops , it's just like weird yeah . That was .

Speaker 3

John Williams . John Williams in the house .

Speaker 1

Yeah , I feel like between the two of them it's like 87% of musical scores . It's like it's always Hans Zimmer and you're like really again John .

Speaker 3

Williams , really .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

Yeah , and for a long time , like whenever I see that I'm like he's still around , like longer , but still still like epic scores , yeah .

Speaker 1

All right , well , let's , let's dive in and get talking about the score to your life , oh my God .

Speaker 1

Because it's the same way is what really what we're getting at right ? If we didn't have music in our lives , it would be like those scenes that are epic because the music's there , but if it wasn't , it wouldn't be as epic . And so , you know , that's a really good analogy for what we're trying to do here . We're just trying to , you know , see what the score of our lives were , and of course you know it's a life in six songs , but no life can be defined by only six songs . So this is always you know it's an approximation , pulling out kind of those , those key points , and so we're not keeping score , right no ?

Speaker 1

no , no , no we're discussing our score , but not keeping score .

Speaker 3

Yes , I'm sorry , prepare yourselves for it , for really , really bad dad jokes For dad jokes .

Speaker 2

I'm outnumbered , so I'm bracing myself .

Speaker 1

Absolutely All right , so let's dive in . So the first song we're going to discuss is you know what is your earliest music memory ?

Speaker 2

I had to think like just first memories really of . So I was born in Bogota , colombia , and

Childhood Memories, MTV, and Michael Jackson

Speaker 2

we immigrated to the United States when I was like four-ish and I'm trying to remember like those first memories of American culture and the memory that most sticks out . I think MTV was in its infancy . I have a really stark memory of like sitting Chris Cross on the floor in my family room in front of like this giant television that looked like a cabinet at the time , watching Michael Jackson's Billie Jean video .

Speaker 1

Nice , nice . Yeah , let's take a , let's take a quick listen . This is probably a song I'm sure everyone is singing in their head already , but let's play it and so we can get everybody on the same page Nice , nice . So hearing it now again . What's going through your mind ? What do you tell us a little bit more about that moment , that time in your life ?

Speaker 2

Yeah , Hearing it again . I'm like back sitting on my you know , family's family room floor , I think you know I had to look back at what year . It came out like that's the earliest memory , right . And then I had to be like when was that ? I think we had just moved to the US . I don't even know that I spoke English yet , and so you know my mom jokes that like Sesame Street taught me English , but I think so did just pop culture and music and music videos , right , because not only are you like singing and jamming and rocking out , but stuff like . I have that vivid memory of him like walking on those tiles and the tiles would light up and wasn't there like a tiger in it too . Yeah .

Speaker 1

And it disappeared , I want to say in the video .

Speaker 2

A little kid right , and you start to like move past cartoons and you're like watching other stuff and you're like what is this melting my brain ? This is amazing . Yeah , it takes you right back .

Speaker 3

I remember watching that video too as a kid , also somewhat like of an immigrant story with me . But I remember moving to America and then realizing and actually looking for tiles that light up because I saw that in the Michael Jackson video and always being disappointed that where are those tiles ?

Speaker 2

Yeah , it's plain old concrete .

Speaker 2

I think something else that comes to mind with that is you know , it's like my family is all wandering around in the background my grandparents , mom , uncle , aunt , that kind of thing and primarily they'd listened to Latin music . Coming from Colombia , my mom was big into disco and stuff like that . My uncle was big into rock and ACDC and stuff like that , but the whole family was like we like Michael Jackson , because my grandma would sometimes be like you listen to what is that . But everyone was like this is good , it's like bobbin heads as they're walking around the house .

Speaker 1

Yeah , and I think that was such a important thing about one that time . Mtv . Mtv was new for all of us , right , not just us as younger kids , but our parents and everything else , and so it was really that thing like everybody was into Michael Jackson , right , it was just this thing . You knew about it even if you weren't parents weren't rocking out to it every day and stuff like that . It's like everybody knew . And it's like that moment of we talked about the music video with the light up , tiles and things . But there's that moment where he performs Billy Jean I think it was the Grammys and he does the moonwalk for the first time . And I remember , just like you said , sitting there watching it , just going what in the world ? This is just , this is .

Speaker 2

This is insane , this is amazing , right , he was already cool and now he's defined gravity like who walks backwards that way . What is that ? Yeah , it's like blows your mind at that age .

Speaker 1

Yeah , totally . In that , you mentioned your mom and mom being into disco , and so you know , for our next question , our next song , you know in your , in your Life , here , you know what , what is a song that reminds you of your , your parents ?

Speaker 2

I Couldn't remember the name . Actually I had to like go back and be like popular disco songs the late 70s , early 80s , and this came up and

Parents, Disco, and Anita Ward's Ring My Bell

Speaker 2

you know I was like hearing little samples of every song and the moment Anita Ward's ring my bell came up I was like that's it , that's it , that's my childhood , cuz you know , when you're a kid pre .

Speaker 1

A little listen here , yeah a little bit of music .

Speaker 3

Nerd them coming your way . I never realized that you know , whoever the backing band was , they're actually using , like the little , like the xylophone or whatever .

Speaker 2

Yeah , yeah yeah , it makes that song like so distinct . And you know , when you're a kid like your Pre iPhones , ipad , you know you just listening to whatever your parents listen to , like that's what you were stuck listening to in the car . And I have a really , really young mom she she had me as a teenager and so she was like in these early 20s Clubbing , you know , in South Florida kind of thing , and she had all of these , all the clubs . She went to her like playing disco at the time and she had all these mixed tapes in the car of the DJs that would play at those clubs that night . So I had like Countless Jimmy's mix , volume one , two , eighty five or whatever , and so she's always playing those tapes and this song was like always a part of it . That's awesome , yeah .

Speaker 1

When , when you hear that song , you know now again , after having to , you know , look it up and find out who it was and stuff , how do you , how do you feel about it ? What is it ? Does it ? Does it give you sort of Happy memories about it ? You know , because it can be either way . It's either like oh , this reminds me my parents and it was one of my like . Like , oh man , this set me on my path and I just love that song . Or it can be like this makes me think of my parents and Right ?

Speaker 2

No , it's definitely good memories and it's it's the memories in that way where so often your parents are just like your parents and you don't see them as like the individual humans that they are , you know , because they're like telling you what to do and they're moving you from one place to the other . You know they're they're parenting . But this song immediately puts me in the car and I just have memories of like being little and like looking over and watching her just dance to it While she was driving . She would like do this little thing with her hand all the time and just being like , wow , like she's cool . You know , when you see your parents in their element , like Not self-conscious , just being themselves outside of parenting , that's , that's the memory I have of just watching her , really a Woman in her early 20s , just being young and having a good time hmm , I like that .

Speaker 1

I like that , yeah , I think it's , I think that's such an important thing too and and I Think music you know we , you know you talked about the power of music . We were talking about that in the beginning and and all that , and so , yeah , I think Music can be that way where people let loose , right ? Yeah , they loosen up a little bit , they sing along , they dance , they , whatever , and so , yeah , so it's a way to see them as as fellow human beings , rather than just this disciplinarian or Whatever , whatever it might be . So , yeah , thanks for that .

Speaker 3

What do you guys think about ? I mean , we're all parents , right . What do you guys think about ? You know Kids , and obviously the kids are in a different generation , different age group . What do you guys think about kids Listening ? They obviously have their own taste in music , but then they're also , I think , their earliest memories , like I think you were saying , they're exposed to music just based on what the parents have , kind of playing around around the house . So , but as they grow up , obviously you know , they start listening to things that are you know from their generation , that their friends Maybe introduced them to and things like that . So how do you , how do you guys feel about ?

Speaker 3

You know , sort of you can't force your kids to listen to your music , but I but I'm definitely guilty of saying , oh well , you know , when I was 15 , you know , this was the greatest thing that ever came around , whether it was , I don't know , tool or Metallica or whatever and and then I would tell my kids and my kids would say , well , yeah , that's great , but we're listening to , you know , whatever the current thing is . And then obviously we get into the whole sort of comparing and contrasting which , you know , rightly or wrongly it happens , but I don't know how do you guys navigate that ? Because I mean , carly and I , like you said , you know , your , your parents , you , you heard , you know disco growing up and a bunch of other stuff as as as as what your parents were listening to . But then you also it did , it made some sort of an impression on you as well .

Speaker 3

So , yeah , how do you ? How do you navigate all that ?

Speaker 2

You know , I think I didn't try really hard to Push her towards any music or you know , like we kind of let her listen to whatever she wanted at the time and we would listen to our things , but they felt more like Contemporary to the year she was born .

Speaker 2

But you know , what I find interesting about that question is is the folks that are creating TV shows and contents that she's growing up with are probably our age and or like using throwbacks to the 90s and things like that . So when she watched glee and they were covering like all songs that we grew up listening to , and then I would like hear her singing Around their house , or it would come on the radio , or I would have it on and she would know the words and I'm like , how on earth do you know that song ? And it was always like glee . And then I couldn't help but like I Don't know , like I would nerd out a little bit because she would be like , oh , it's from glee , and I was like , no , no , no , it's cover of so and so . And then I would like , you know , play it like you need to . You need to listen to the original .

Speaker 3

So yeah , we kind of .

Speaker 2

I remember we did some like music education II stuff like that . Yeah , we know .

Speaker 3

I mean stuff like social media and tiktok is really big on that , you know , for whatever reason . So I know that my kids , as far as Getting exposed to different trends on on tiktok and then you realize whatever's trending is something that , like , I'm familiar with . I know there was a big thing about like vanilla ice a few years ago . I says , baby and , and someone was doing a tiktok on that and you know they brought the song to the house and my wife was like okay , no , no , this is how this is how the words go . And she , you know .

Speaker 3

Yeah , yeah , yeah you know all the lyrics to the ice ice baby , and my kids are like what , how do you know that song ? We're like dude . This , like this , is how we grew up South Florida in the early 90s . This is us oh yeah , okay , like .

Speaker 2

oh yeah , okay so a hundred percent , or even songs that are explicit today , you know , like just , and she'll play it or whatever . And I remember in like earlier days when she was getting exposed to some of that music , she'd kind of look over like Did you hear that ? Did you hear what they said ? And now David and I would always be like girl , it's fine , hear the music like we grew up listening to .

Speaker 3

So yeah , yeah , it's almost like they get a pass because it's music that we're okay with . But if it's like something that's current , that I have , no , I know nothing about , but someone drops like an F bomb and I'm like , what are you listening to ? It's like dad , when you know Axel Rose was cursing in the other song , you were , you . I'm like , but that's .

Speaker 2

Different , different , it's classic .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah , no , I think that question , you know if we started it with , you know Talking about Carolina's mom and her music , and then you know , razzi , you brought it back to like us and our kids and I find it so interesting in that way . I mean , this is this beyond music with kids , I think in a lot of ways , but I think there's an inverse relationship between you telling your child this is really cool , you should check it out and their interest in it , right , so the more excited you are , it can . It depends on the age , obviously , but like it's this sort of resistance , because I think , you know , for like we're doing right now , music is so personal for us in ways that like , if , if I listen to this solely because my dad told me it , it's got some you know there's resistance to it in ways and so , yeah , like , like Carolina said , I think it's . You know , what we've always tried is just exposure without like pressure , yeah , and so , yeah , yeah , I also think it's it's a little bit different .

Speaker 1

Now , going back to , you know , the Michael Jackson story , I feel like when in the 80s , there , there , there wasn't the internet , there wasn't these things , and so there was limited spaces where you can get access to music , which sort of brought us all together , right , that the only thing was MTV and so everybody was watching the Grammys and , and you know , the moonwalk and stuff like that , whereas now Nobody's tied to to really any of that . Right , you can , you know , have your entirely own playlist . That's not , you know , shared with almost anybody else , and so I think it's potentially one of the One of the the struggles going forward as technology increases .

Speaker 3

Well , you know , but to that point , so , um , so I'm just thinking about this , as you said , that I remember , I think all of us we're basically the same age groups . I think our exposure to , like Michael Jackson was the same thing , and I remember like my parents were as excited about this guy , you know , from America , walking across , you know , or sliding across , you know , during the Grammy performances , right as I was . It was like a collective , it was a really cool like shared experience . And now I'm thinking that , like on , like on tiktok , for example , right , you have kids that do their little dances and then they pull in their parents and then there's like this mom , mom , daughter , you know , dad , daughter , dad , son , mom , that type of thing happening as well . So , yeah , I don't know , I think that's that , that's one way that it's . It's we're still doing this like generational um , exposing each other to , to , to , to music and then kind of interacting with it . But it's the same type of thing , it's just in a different format now , which is kind of cool as well .

Speaker 2

During , uh , early days of the pandemic . I remember Bella trying to teach me some of those tiktok dances . Like we're you know , Like we got to pass the time and entertain ourselves . Like we're home you know all the things . And like I remember rehearsing in her room trying to get these dance moves right oh my god so are they .

Speaker 1

No , sir , okay , they are not . And I'm super grateful for that destroy all evidence for her entertainment only .

Speaker 2

Oh my god , could you imagine ?

Speaker 3

Nice yeah yeah , um .

Speaker 1

Thank you , raza , for your optimism in balancing out my pessimism about technology . So you know so to everybody out there . Uh , do the tiktok videos with your kids . It's important . Yes , yes .

Speaker 3

Yeah , yeah , yeah . This , this Gatorade bottle is half full . Okay , awesome awesome always positive .

Speaker 1

Let's move along . Our . Our third song in your life . This is , uh , one of my favorite questions , my , I think you know we ask in this because it's it's music has such a power for this , and so you know

The Friend's Older Sister and Finding Mary J. Blige and Method Man

Speaker 1

what was a song , carolina , that you know opened you to an entirely new perspective .

Speaker 2

Um , so , you know , often we think of our lives like in phases , you know , like early childhood , adolescence , college , you know , or post high school , that kind of thing . And so I was thinking back to I think maybe it was late elementary or even middle school . Uh , this family moved in next door . They were from new jersey , they're peruvian , but from new jersey and back then . So this is early 90s , I would say .

Speaker 2

Um , for music to get from like new york city , new jersey area , down all the way to fort lauderdale , miami , like a dj would have to pick it up and play it on the radio , right , we didn't stream things , we didn't , so we were sort of beholden to either we traveled up there and heard it or somehow the music made it down by some djs . So , anyway , like neighbors move in , um , and there was a girl named priscilla who was my age , and then she had like wickedly cool older sister named blanka , right , she was like 17 or something like that and like the coolest thing , right , and all I remember was going over to their house to visit and she was Blasting it was either wu tang clan or mary j blige from her room and I was like what is this like I was just blown away . Hip hop was a thing , like you know , it was already on my radar , but , um , like it was something about method man's voice , the soul behind mary j blige's music . That was just so rich . Um , so , when I was thinking about that memory because those are the two artists that specifically stand out that she was just like listening to on Tape over and over and over , and then I remember getting mary j blige is what's the 411 tape ?

Speaker 2

Um , I picked a song where they collaborate together because that was equally as like , mind-blowing . Yeah , let's take a listen .

Speaker 3

Make a man feel better than a woman queen with a crown that be down for whatever .

Speaker 1

Nice , I got to say this one in getting this ready for the podcast . It was tough to get it to a 30 second clip that sort of captured the essence of the song , because it's them together , so they sort of alternate Verses and things , um . But I'm glad you mentioned method man's voice and we had a clip in there that that had it . So yeah , when you hear it now , what do you think ?

Speaker 2

It's just so good . Like it's just so good . Yeah , I feel like an early teenager . Um , I listened to a lot of hip hop in high school and I think this opened that world for me . It was , it was stuff I hadn't heard , and so I'm like transported to that time . I think you know we started with like my early life , where you're like listening to what's on TV or listening to what your parents are listening to and like this music started to like carve my own interest and like my own preferences for music , because no one in my family was listening to hip hop at all . Then I just like fell down the rabbit hole for a ton of years listening to this stuff .

Speaker 2

It's so good , like even still , that song just still sounds so good .

Speaker 3

Well , I have a question why do you think that that song in particular , like what about that song just resonates ? I mean , it's one of the most popular , like when I think of Method man , I mean I think of you know some Wu Tang stuff . And then this particular song and I'm not , like you know , I love , I appreciate hip hop , but that's not like my background and we can get to that another time . But yeah , but this particular song , why do you think it resonates ?

Speaker 2

or even for you , I don't know that I like have the musical terminology to like state why it like hit home so much , but I think it was a different duet than what I had ever heard . You know it's a song about love and their relationship and you know how they feel about each other , right , but not in this like lovey-dovey ballad sort of way . It just felt like raw and like the melody of it is so smooth to me . And both of their voices just like mesh so well , she's got this just beautiful voice and he's got like somewhat of a rasp in his voice and it's like rough , like all those pieces come together to just make it sound really great .

Speaker 3

No , that's exactly right . I was trying to sort of that was a leading question .

Speaker 2

Oh .

Speaker 3

Yeah , yeah , no , I mean I think you're absolutely right because that's at least for me again . You know , I don't know the like the super detailed stuff , but it's that mix of melody but then also like really sort of , you know , authentic like hardcore . You know , to really extreme voices extreme melody , but also extreme like hardcore , and it's a great like mixing of both . And yeah , I think that's why I resonate , because I think anyone can appreciate it . You know you can go , oh man , like the melody is great , but then you can also go look the rhymes . I mean that's excellent too .

Speaker 2

Yeah , it's not as slow as a ballad but it's not as fast as hip hop usually is and I don't know if it's like the base of it , but it just plays like so smooth Like I don't think you can help but , like you know , kind of bounce your head to it as you're listening to it .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah , absolutely , that's what I was thinking is , as you were , you know , having that conversation just now , of like , for me it's just like when it kicks on , it's just like you're just bobbing your head . It's just got that feel and it's , you know , I think it's also one of these things that you know . You know , the idea behind these conversations we're having is how chance it was right . If you have a different neighbor , move in . We could be talking about a completely different song here .

Speaker 1

Yes , and so I , you know , music feels so personal , right , it's this thing of like oh , this is me , and if you don't , you know , you just don't get it , whatever it is , you know , especially in those teen years , but it really is a community thing , right , because we don't live in isolation . Right , we are at the even now with stream , right , depending on who you follow on social media and what not is going to , you know , put different things out there , and so I just think it's so like just interesting , kind of that butterfly effect , right , the whole , you know , butterfly flaps and swing is on the other side of the planet and can cause a hurricane or whatever . It's like these little chance meetings and it makes this like , like you said , karolyne , you know , like this song just was like whoa and then boom , you were into hip hop for the next , you know , few years , really , really heavily stuff and so .

Speaker 2

Yeah , and I love how you said like about you know , I had another neighbor moved in . Actually , the neighbors behind us that I played with their daughters , like when we were little , her parents had a band , like they had businesses , but they converted their garage into like a jam space and dad played drums and mom sang , but it was more like rock , country kind of stuff and I would listen but I was like you know , all right , but then , like you know , and it's also like the older sister thing You're like look up to , like blew my mind . I was like what is this ?

Speaker 1

Yeah , the power of the older sibling , the power of the older teenager in the neighborhood that everyone's like you're so cool .

Speaker 2

So , yeah , probably not to Priscilla because it was her older sister , but huge thanks to Blanca I don't remember your last name who introduced me to Wu Tengkue , and then Mary J Blyche .

Speaker 3

So what was the ? So it sounded like this song was kind of like a gateway to like the world of hip hop just opened up , right , yeah , and it was like the next , maybe you know , next couple of bands or next couple of groups that led , you know from here .

Speaker 2

In terms of hip hop .

Speaker 3

Yeah , yeah , oh God , did like the floodgates open or was just like okay , one band and you were really into them , and then some other band and you were really into them .

Speaker 2

Yeah , oh God , I don't really remember off the top of my head , but what I will say is like it wasn't just hip hop but also R&B . So , like you know , maybe instead of I remember in high school , like you know , you have the radio stations that you listen to . More often than not , I was more listening to like 99 Jams , which was the hip hop R&B station in South Florida at the time , and like Hot 105 , which was more R&B than like Power 96 , which was more like how would you describe Power 96 ?

Speaker 3

South Florida pop pop party , you know .

Speaker 2

You know that was good , Like that had its place , obviously Parties and weekends and clubbing , but like If you know , you know , yeah , but that one . Just a lot more of like those radio stations , because that was a newer sound that I wanted to hear more of .

Speaker 1

Nice , nice , yeah . And so , speaking of songs that sort of , you know have this connection right , when you hear this song you think of your neighbor and think of where you are in life and sort of it . You know can be these markers that you

Latin Music's Emotional Power: Clubbing in Colombia

Speaker 1

can go back to . You know what's a song that for you is really intimately connected to some other activity , like you know a song that's tied to a certain book , or it's tied to a certain location or a trip .

Speaker 2

So sort of like chronologically this just works . But as I became a teenager I was starting to spend more time flying back to Columbia and spending summers and Christmases Like pretty much , as I got to the age where , like , you start to get in trouble when you don't have something to do when you're out of school . Like my mom was , like you're on a plane , like you're out of here , right , and I would spend summers and Christmases and spring breaks , like whatever , with my cousins down in a town just outside of Cali , columbia , and I just really then got more embraced in Latin music and my Latin roots , because we were always going like dancing and clubbing , and so the song you'll play now like instantly takes me back to just clubbing and dancing with them till wee hours of the morning .

Speaker 1

All right , let's all go back and club , here we go . All right , so hearing it again , now not at a club in Columbia . What are you ? What are you ? What are you feeling ? What are you thinking ?

Speaker 2

First off , just like noting how different this song is than all of the other songs we've talked about , like through y'all at curveball , but I think that's kind of indicative of my life . Like probably I've had like seven careers and like I think I just like like to try new things and I maybe not that I get bored , but like I'm easily like drawn to something new and so one that like seems to stand out to me like wow , this was really different from like everything I just walked you all through . But listening to it now , like I'm transported to what felt like a very carefree time in my life summers with family , summer vacations and trips down there . You know you're like brief summer loves that you know you don't want to leave at the end of the summer .

Speaker 2

Like and Latin music , particularly salsa , which this is . You know you dance it as a couple . You it's not a solo dance situation , so it's and you're a teenager , so you're like hormonal and you're like dancing really close to this person and like just like lots of teenage feels . I think the other thing that's super interesting about this song to me in Latin music in general is like this song came out in the 70s but it was like raging in clubs still in the 90s , like salsa can be very timeless in that way , tied to like the dancing style and stuff like that , and classic songs are still super popular . So yeah , I love this song .

Speaker 1

Yeah , I just , I love the horns in it . I mean , to me , like A horn section is just amazing . I mean , it's , it's , I think , why I just , you know , I think ska is such great music because it's like they just bring the horns in and it's just like when you hear the horns , it's just like . It's one of those moments like about , like we said , like the sort of power of music and things like that to elicit Emotion , sort of in this direct way , like instantaneously . I just just have these feels . It's , it's so great .

Speaker 3

That's a funny . I never thought about the horns being like a standout thing , you know . And then like the comparison to ska music and you , I mean , you're right , it's yeah , it just adds a whole other like layer . It's really cool .

Speaker 3

I , whenever I hear salsa music and I have , I can't , I cannot follow the beat at all . I can kind of , you know , follow along to merengue a little bit , but but salsa was it was always like nope , nope , Nope , there's too many twists and twirls and can't do it . But it reminds me of I don't know if you guys ever saw that John Leguizamo special , and so I think his entrance music to the second part of his show was he's playing like salsa music and and he's has something to the effect of , you know , he's like engaging with the audience and and Sort of making his way back down to the stage and he's like dancing along and like I mean I'm pulling some people from the audience , kind of dancing with him doing the twirls and stuff , and then going back up and he and he and he and he for the first time explained what the beat does . Well , you know , it's like , and that was the first time that I realized oh , oh , it does make sense . It's not just random twirls .

Speaker 3

So this song reminds me of that , yeah .

Speaker 2

I would say Latin music . You know there's kumbia and merengue and salsa and bachata like , but the , the , the , the way the dancing Intertwines with the music , like it . It's so on the beat to how the specific style of dance goes that you almost feel like part of the music .

Speaker 2

In a way that dancing to maybe like pop or other things doesn't feel that way . Yeah , and then the just the bands of , like Latin music . One of my really good childhood friends who I'm hoping to have on that I went to college with Jay , his , his cousin's play in a Latin band like St Nancy . I remember David and I went and saw them in New York City and , yeah , it's just like the percussion is so amazing , the horns there's like the singing like it's like not quite an orchestra , but it was a , it was a large band of you know all kinds of different instruments , the huge , the cowbell , that you just all of it , right , yeah , yeah and so , yeah , this is so good .

Speaker 3

No , but you're right , I think that the dancing is like a really like it , you know , integral part of the music . Like you , I don't like at least again , for me I'm not , you know , I'm not part of the culture , but I've been around it long enough to like . You know , whenever I hear , you know Latin music , it's like okay , you just imagine like a whole . You know Couples dancing together and everyone knows exactly what they're doing and I'm always thinking how is that possible ?

Speaker 2

It's so true , because we would go to clubs and you know , a stranger would ask you to dance , right , you know , and so , but you , you're , both of your bodies have to blend , like , if my foot goes forward , his foot has to go back , like and there's this unspoken way that you just know how all of it works if he starts to like lift a hand , you know you're about to get turned and it has to go with the music . And because if somebody does not dance , well , it's like , it's like flopping , like it's just terrible , it just goes horribly wrong , right but , then when ?

Speaker 2

when two people do mesh and blend that way , it's like magical it is such a good time .

Speaker 3

Yeah , it is magical . Yeah , I mean , that's the way I think of it , just like .

Speaker 1

Just the music and the horns and everything . Yeah , it's just this . It just feels like such a like Party right . This , this thing of like we are all here , whether it's at this club , that this you know party at a house or something like that the salsa music and the Latin music . It's just like we are here to have have fun and and be passionate about it and and go , and it's just so , so refreshing .

Speaker 2

Yeah , you're like an extension of the band . They're all dancing as they're playing , so yeah , it's just a giant party .

Speaker 1

Yeah , again the horn section , because they're like they'll hit it . And then they're like , yeah , right , and so you can see how these things last until the morning .

Speaker 2

Right , my best friend Growing up was Venezuela and we would have parties at our house all the time and like it was breakfast at the end , like this goes until yeah .

Speaker 3

Six in the morning , no pretty much . Oh man awesome , All right so yeah , moving along , now moving along .

Speaker 1

So We've been talking about sort of early memories middle school , high school . Now we're , you know , moving somewhat chronologically , and so you know , we've talked about a lot of positive connections to music . Right , these like joyful things and this is amazing , and the dancing and the moonwalking . But you know , music also has that ability to be there when we are struggling , right . And so ,

Death, Sadness, and Alicia Keys' No One

Speaker 1

carolina , you know what's a song that you struggle to listen to , or that you even may need to , you know , turn off because of the difficult memories it brings up , or you know the challenges .

Speaker 2

Um , you know , I think this probably resonates for a lot of people you might have songs that , like you had with a partner and then you split up , like you know , songs that remind you of a Challenging time before , before David and I met . I was married previously and my , my husband ended up dying of cancer . I was like 29 when he died , so and it was a long drawn out Illness like he had it when we were engaged , and then intermission , we went on to have our daughter and then he got sick again , really , really , really sick , and did not not survive that bout , but it required . At this point I was a mom and so I was , like you know , taking her to daycare and then rushing to the hospital like every day , and then , like at night , coming home . And At the time , alisha Keys no one was popular on the radio and you know how like the radio is this , particularly like the , you know your Y 100s and stuff , like it's playing like every fifth song , and so this song was Constantly on .

Speaker 2

I would , I could not , maybe , and the drive to the hospital , fyi , was like seven minutes . It was like almost impossible to go from my apartment to the hospital without hearing it on the radio and so it's still . It's still hard today , because the lyrics to just like given that the circumstances , yeah , all right , let's , let's take a listen .

Speaker 1

Oh , what are you feeling ? What ?

Speaker 2

are you ?

Speaker 1

thinking , I think . I think that says it better than any words you could say right , I mean there , there it is , it's yeah , the power of the music , even even now .

Speaker 3

I'll ever think of that song in the same way . I've always thought of it as like , as a like uplifting and powerful . But but it's it . And it's so funny how it has the exact opposite . You know , you can interpret it completely in the opposite way as well . And yeah , man .

Speaker 2

Yeah , depending just what is going on in your life , like like music can just trigger things , right . So I think you asked me with other songs , like what I , what I , what memory comes up when I hear it . Now , you know , and I have this memory of , at first I Would listen and I would sing and then , as just things got harder , I have a , I have a memory of like it was like late at night and I was parked in the parking garage of the hospital and I was like Belting it out at the top of my lungs , but also just like sobbing , and Then I drove home and then , I think probably after that , I just couldn't listen to it anymore . So then when it would come on , I would just change this the station , because it just got like too hard . And then after it was still popular and I was like Alicia Keys , leave me alone .

Speaker 2

Really great , you need to go away , yeah . Yeah , they're not always great memories , but like , yeah , I'd like visceral still . I mean he's been gone , he died in 2007 and like I still tear up to hear it .

Speaker 3

That's the thing about songs too . Like it's they , they're like a bookmark and anytime you hear , especially against something that's tied to memory , you know that's that you know significant . It'll always , I think instantly , you know the rest of your life that anything here that song unfortunately . Damn song you know , and it's , and it and it's , you'll probably transported right back to 2007 or before , and it's in an instant like that .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah . And you know , I think this is such a great example too of of how Music elicits those emotions like Immediately , right , you don't listen to it and think it's just before you even have a ability to kind of Process it , you've already got the emotion coming right . It's this , it's this Just visceral , like Right in there , like someone's almost like electrocuting you , right , you , you jump before you know what happened and so , yeah , it's just again that , that that power of it you know what memory that brings up .

Speaker 2

So our daughter is 17 now but when she was little , she she used to have a really visceral response to music in movies , like she'd be watching a movie and if the music got like ominous , she knew shit was gonna hit the fan and like something bad was gonna happen and like nothing had happened on screen yet . But literally just the shift in tone of music and she would go like this and like start to hide . It's like that , that's what that's , that's what that's reminding me of .

Speaker 3

Hmm .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 3

Yeah , absolutely Absolutely . So I think you've passed down that gene of you know . Music Teleportation .

Speaker 1

So , yeah , yeah , and I think it goes back to of of you know , at the beginning of the interview . You know Carolina , you mentioned that you're not a musician . You know Raza and I both are both most of our , you know , middle and high school life was spent music and and since , you know , in different times . But I Think this , this , you know this particular song and this experience shows how we don't need the musical knowledge of , like , what key is this in ? What's the tempo , what's the , you know , whatever to have the feeling right and I think it just gets at that . You know , music is something so fundamental for us as humans , right In a lot of ways , because it's able to tap into that thing where you don't need to think about it , it just happens , right . You just you get it .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I don't know what it is , but I know it when I hear it , like when you were saying , you know , sometimes you don't even need to hear the lyrics or whatever , just a little bit , and I was like , yeah , like the , what the hell is it ? The piano , the like beat ? I couldn't even describe it , but I just know . When the song starts . Before she said anything , I know exactly what song it is that I need to change the station .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 3

I think that's the whole universal aspect of music , right , you don't have to know , is it in 4-4 or 9-13 or whatever ? Yeah , the key time signature is , you know , c-flat or A-minor . It's like no , no , no , it makes me feel X , you know X amount of things from you know 15 , 17 years ago . I think that part is universal , that part is what other people can relate to , and that's that's . I think music does that . You know Michiki's voice does that . Yeah , it's just there .

Speaker 2

Yeah , and I think , talking about that universal perspective , you know I shared that I would go to Latin America a lot , you know , as a kid and I would listen to what my cousins were listening to and a lot of it was actually American music , but they had no idea what the lyrics were Like they don't , they didn't speak English , but we're just like rocking out to you know all kinds of different like American songs and I always found that really interesting that they would enjoy it as much as they did , without knowing the words , without understanding . But I think it is about like melody and beat and , like you just know , you know it feels good for you when you hear it , without being able to explain what it is .

Speaker 3

Well , you know from , like , the heavy metal perspective . Apparently , you know , metal is huge in Latin America , right ? And it's like all the metal bands from the States and from Europe . They have to tour Latin America and they'll say time and again these guys , I don't think that they know , you know what the hell it is that we're talking about in the lyrics , but they are passionate and rocking out and selling out these huge you know , stadiums .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 3

And , and and it's all metal , it's it's which I love , which is awesome .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah , totally , and I think I am someone who is I'll use the word guilty but of not always paying as much attention to the lyrics , right , Even to bands . I like love , right , Because I and this is maybe a little bit of that musician as a drummer , you know , boom , what's the drums doing ? I'm trying to learn the drums , I'm trying to learn the drums , and then from there I'm like , ooh , what's the bass doing ? And then it kind of goes to the other things , but , like , what the person is saying is sort of not the first thing that jumps to my mind . As I've gotten older , I've gone back to a lot of the music that I was , you know , into in the past and paid more attention to the lyrics and it's like oh , wow , oh wow . But yeah , I think those , those emotions and feelings you get . You don't necessarily have to understand the lyrics to get it for sure .

Speaker 3

Yeah , I was the opposite . I was like if the lyrics are gibberish and I'm not interested , it's actually like heavy metal . I'd like those , my metal filters , like Satan and design , not , not , not interested . Goodbye and talk to me about . You know love and you know political stuff . Yeah , that resonates .

Speaker 1

You know , yeah , yeah , yeah , sure , yeah , I'm rage against the machine . Give me some you know , supple Torah , I was just going to say a a , a example that doesn't fall into . That is rage against the machine , right , because the words are so much of it , right yeah ?

Speaker 3

Yeah , yeah , yeah . Without , without , zach , it's like you know , just profits of rage , it's not . It's not rage against the machines . Yeah .

Speaker 1

All right , let's get back on track . We're we're not the railing , but we are definitely going down in a side and running away , all right . So you know that , that definitely , you know , gets that . And I'm sure everyone listening and watching they've got their song in their mind , that they know does that right . And so you know , carolina , thank you for you know , sharing that . You know , while the specifics may be different for everybody , everybody's got that that song there .

Speaker 1

So for

Being a Widow and Single Mom: Moving Forward with Death Cab for Cutie

Speaker 1

our last song in your life , you know what ? What's a song that you associate with a weighty transition in your life ?

Speaker 2

I mean super weighty is is the transition from from being married to then being a widow and a single mom , right , like my life changed pretty instantly , overnight , and my life changed in a ton of ways . So like it wasn't just the loss of a spouse but , at 29 , the realization that , like I could he was 33 when he died , right , so I could die young and I got like this like huge kind of like you only live once , feeling lots of YOLO , and so I was going back to music that just felt really good and that I wanted to listen to . And so I'll tell you how I discovered this band and this song . But I was I was binging a lot of deathcap for cutie for a while .

Speaker 1

Let's take a listen . What are you thinking ? What are you feeling ?

Speaker 2

Yeah , so that was deathcap for cuties , marching bands of Manhattan , so yeah . So so , entering this new sort of transition in my life , I was kind of exploring all kinds of things . I had studied abroad in England and really , really loved British radio . Like I was listening to Virgin radio , specifically the radio station over there at the time , and I just loved all of it . I came back and I was trying to stream it here in the United States .

Speaker 2

I had Virgin was streaming to the US via internet for a while , so I was listening to that , and so I started to like amass bands and then I was using Pandora to listen to them and Pandora was really great in that you know , the algorithm of it was like Well , if you like this , let me suggest this , right . So that's how I found deathcap for cutie and keen and the killers and like all of this other sort of alternative type music that I just fell in love with . And so I think there was a big like alternative music switch and I went from like hip hop to Latin to like oh , it's been a ride . But yeah , I've been like really in love with alternative music ever since . It's just kind of spoken to me , and so I was , I was binging the song , and they're just their music in general for for a long time .

Speaker 1

Nice , yeah , I think you know , I know you . Obviously , we've been married now for a number of years and , you know , been together since 2008 . So what is that ? 15 years , wow . And I'm so glad you , you , you picked this song and this band specifically because when I hear deathcap for cutie , I automatically connect it with you , like , like it is you because I , you know , before we met I really didn't listen to as much of this kind of style of music and it it like I got it right . When I listen to it , I'm like , oh , I get , I can see how you , specifically , are connecting with this . And I just also think of the joke we always had , because anytime you had the station on and it was playing keen and all these other bands , I would always joke and be like , is this death , that death cap for cutie ? That was my joke for anything , any music that I didn't know the band necessarily . That's what I would say .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I have to say so , yes , part part of that transition was was moving on and and and meeting you , and I super appreciate that . While you have very specific music tastes right , your love of Rush and metal and all that stuff like whenever I had music playing , you never ever said like you don't want to hear that or that sucks , or like you know , I was always like this is okay , I can't play it , like you know , and like listen a lot more than I've listened to your metal , like I usually am , like hey , this makes me feel a little murdery and can we shut it off ? But you so it hasn't hasn't always been as as equal , but you've always listened to whatever I was listening to , like happily , which is which I really appreciate it Nice , I think .

Speaker 1

Yeah , I've always . Like I said , you know , that's the motivation behind doing this podcast is that I always felt like you know , I was hesitant to share with people what bands I liked , because normally the conversation was always just well , then let me tell you why that band isn't as good as the band that I like . And I'm like I don't , I don't want to have that conversation , right , right , I just what's you know ? So what you know , like it's not what music does , right , and so I think that's what you're you're getting at in the sense of , like I loved hearing the music that connected to you , because it wasn't just the music and I'm like , well , you know , that drummer is not as good as Neil Peer or something like that .

Speaker 1

Like , no , like who cares ? Right , I felt like I was , I was getting to know you through the music , right , I was seeing something of of you in it . So Now , now , all we have to do is have you see some of me in some of the metal , and you know , minus the murder , right , minus the murder , yeah , that's right , we won't start you off with like cannibal corpse or dying fetus or something like that yes .

Speaker 1

Ejin , and this is where I'm grateful for Raza in your life .

Speaker 3

Yes , yeah happy to happy to help with that quick question . So I , I , I , I , I remember death cab in passing and , and to me you know all the bands you mentioned , death cab , keen , not the killers , I feel like the killers are . They were slightly heavier , so I was just like okay , I like , I really like these guys and then from then , from there , it goes into like the muse type territory . Patrol yeah yeah , but death cab keen , and I always think of dashboard confessional .

Speaker 1

Yes and yeah .

Speaker 3

So but but to me it's like , it's like a big lump of the same stuff . So it's funny , dave , like when you said , oh , is this death cap , is that death cab ? It's like , yes , I thought of it almost the same way , because you could point to any of those bands and I could say , is that dashboard ? Because it sounds like the same , the same shit .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah in this in the same way . All genres . If you're not into it , sound that way right , yeah , talk about metal like it's all the same people talk about there's a distinct difference between you and stuff you know . But if you know it , you know it , right .

Speaker 3

Yeah , you can tell the differences cannibal corpse and obituary two completely different things .

Speaker 2

Well .

Speaker 3

I get that right .

Speaker 2

I related to I Don't know like how you develop a palette for certain food , or you learn like the nuances of wine or like whatever it is like I just don't with metal . Like , let's say , I don't feel like I have the palette for I'm not able to distinguish the differences or , like , appreciate it . I know there's a ton there , I just I Don't get it . Like I don't you know , um , and so I can see .

Speaker 2

I can see with with this kind of music , like the same thing and , to be honest , like Usually , whenever I talked about music with somebody and they're like oh , what kind of bands you I always get who like I don't know who that is .

Speaker 3

It's funny you mentioned wine , because I'm like the same way . It's like , okay , people go , well , you know this , try this red , try this pink , try this .

Speaker 2

It's like Like I don't like what I don't get it right right , and I'm sure it's something you could learn , and you know the more you're exposed to and you Know that stuff .

Speaker 3

Um , I think I just haven't been ding ding , ding , and you know you swirl it around . Look , this one has the bubbles . Can I get a margarita please ?

Speaker 1

And I think that's a great example too , for music in that way , because if you've got a wine person , a craft brew person and , you know , a whiskey bourbon person , they all have the three different interests , right . And just because someone's into whiskey and bourbon and can tell all the difference and all that Kind of stuff , doesn't mean they're gonna be into wine , right . And that's same way of like hip-hop and metal , right . Like , yeah , we might not get it in the same way . However , the wine person can understand what it's like for the whiskey person because it's the same feeling , right , it's the same connection , and so it's it's the same here . So , while the genre may be different , you know what we can get out of . It is Similar , right , in that sense where we're connecting to it in ways , for whatever reason .

Speaker 3

So we all really just want to get pissed drunk , is what you're saying .

Speaker 1

Got it exactly exactly , and listen to metal and hip-hop and salsa music .

Speaker 2

They're strong god music oh .

Speaker 1

That's the new name for the my name .

Speaker 3

There we go . Look at that .

Speaker 1

Slosh drunk , his drunk on music . Oh , it's like drunk history that show drunk history where the people get drunk and tell the story . Although if we had to get drunk to do this .

Speaker 2

I don't think it's gonna go well .

Speaker 1

We'll keep this and then maybe that'll be like an offshoot thing , a little side Project . We try a special edition for the subscribers .

Speaker 2

You get to watch us interview . You get to watch us .

Speaker 3

Oh my god , you set up a patreon page for that .

Speaker 1

Yeah , I'm a whiskey .

Speaker 3

Oh boy , we'll go all the questions in reverse .

Speaker 1

Yes , what are we talking about ? Yeah , totally Well , carolina , those are our six songs , and so you know , thank you for sharing , thank you for giving us a window Into your , your life , and the way music has has played a part in that . I think you've given us a good example of how conversations around music can really bring people together If we focus on the shared experience behind it and don't get caught up on the genre and everything else . And so , yeah ,

First Concert, Last Concert, and Best Concert

Speaker 1

real quick , though a little rapid fire First concert , best concert , last concert , or no , first last and then best yet .

Speaker 1

I'm not familiar with that band .

Speaker 3

I'm sure it's out there , though it's one of the genre Band , is it ?

Speaker 2

I feel like my first concert was was Madonna at the Orange Bowl .

Speaker 1

Yeah , and the reason why you had a yeah there . You had an interesting experience there .

Speaker 2

The reason why I'm claustrophobic . We were . So the Orange Bowl was a big stadium down in South Florida . It's no longer there . They torn it down , but concert lets out and people start to leave and they forgot to open the gates and so there was like a , you know , almost crushing situation . Like I had that memory of , like I remember looking up at my mommy One of my mom and her best friend at the time , and telling her like I can't breathe , like I felt like I was getting crushed , and my mom's friend , who was like Just this badass foul mouth from New York kind of thing , was like fuck this . And she climbed , she starts to climb the fence to get us out because it was bad , and so then I climb you know , they helped me climb the fence to get out and then my mom goes to climb the fence to get out and I want to say she ripped her pants at the top of the fence . Just well , my mom . But yeah , so first concert Madonna .

Speaker 1

Yeah , so I'm guessing that wasn't the best concert .

Speaker 2

Um , oh Shit , I cannot remember what I put . Oh , yes , I do . Best concert . We went to go see Walk the Moon in DC at the anthem right , yep , and they are just . It was such a good time . I had a broken foot at that concert so I couldn't dance . But their music is just just a blast . Like it was just so much fun watching them . And then last concert Sorry , what like what ?

Speaker 3

what genre is ? I've actually never heard of .

Speaker 2

What you call them in the alternative pop like it's like that Kind of killers like that .

Speaker 1

more poppy , no no not nothing at all no , no , it doesn't have that kind of it , doesn't have that kind of emo e kind of Darker feel it's the it's almost a complete opposite . It's a party and happy and yeah , it's awesome , it's fun . Yeah , I had a great time at it too . It was just just a blast .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I would totally see them again . I'm out . And they just finished playing at summer fest and then , literally yesterday , announced they're they're taking a hiatus from touring and just creating for a while . I think they've been touring like non-stop for , yeah , several years now .

Speaker 1

So then , walk in the moon too much now we got to sit down . We got to sit down on the moon for a little bit .

Speaker 2

Yeah , so that that was my best concert and I think just the joy gravity right . The anthem in DC was like just such a fun venue to watch a show . It's like really intimate and small . It's not this like huge stadium situation . I could see like they were so close . We are in one of the little balconies off to the side Because of the claustrophobia from Madonna .

Speaker 3

I don't do floor or standing room only anymore , ever because I get freaked out you know , going back to that Madonna incident , I was , I was , I was transported back to Latin America and I was thinking of , like you know , like like those soccer stadiums and they're just packed with people , and then on the Cajun they've had some issues too , like there's been a couple that , like the , the Stands collapse , and then there's other you know issues , thinking of chaos , and then Latin American soccer .

Speaker 2

I mean the . The memory is so Engrained like I could have . I could have died of , I could have suffocated right in the moment . I felt being crushed . I was small , I was a kid , so like the adults over you , like I just felt myself getting compressed . That I don't do standing room , like seats at concerts , and when a concert ends I wait at my seat until most people leave . Before I leave , I Won't be one of the first people out the door , like I want all doors open and I want the crowd to be gone and I'll I look for exits , I look for Crowd control type situations like it's . It's always in my mind because of that and I was , I was young when that happened . Well , and what was the last one , last concert ? Yes , I took Bella bells , our daughter . I took Bella to see Lizzo here in Nashville and , damn it does she put on a phenomenal show , just a phenomenal show . She's amazing nice .

Speaker 3

Yeah , she's a boy . Did she do the ? She's the classically trained .

Speaker 2

Yeah , yeah , yeah .

Speaker 1

Yeah , she's a band nerd . Yeah , she documentary was really good her documentary was gonna check it out . Um we're any band nerds out there .

Speaker 2

She's super like inclusive and talks about just inclusivity in music and stuff like that and like that non-judgmental piece that , like we , we're specifically talking about with this podcast . She just put out something on Instagram recently or something about how she doesn't understand why everybody gives Nickelback so much shit . She's like I love them and she starts talking about like the time and signatures and like all that stuff she did . She did an episode of the hot ones , you know , the the chicken wing show , and they were totally nerding out on like music theory and stuff like that . She is a very accomplished , trained musician .

Speaker 3

Yeah , she went . I saw a clip of her . I guess it was in Germany and she starts doing Romstein in Germany to the audience and they're totally caught caught on to . That's amazing .

Speaker 2

That's amazing .

Speaker 3

Hey , y'all you know that's who do host you know .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah , totally , totally , yeah . I think and I really like how you brought that together , Carolina , for like the connections to the ideas behind this podcast , because I think she represents a lot of what we're getting at right you know of , of it's not about one specific genre or not it's , you know yeah , or what you know , anybody's preconceived notions are of what a Successful or good artist looks like or sounds like .

Speaker 2

So her shows are huge on , just like self-confidence and body positivity , and so to look around you , I took our daughter . But to look around and see all of these like adults and kids , just like Screaming at the top of their lungs , just like resonating with her message was was really cool and her music's like kick-ass and the show was amazing and like all the things .

Speaker 1

A team was like a inseparable team , from at least 8 years down to 9 or 10 years .

Speaker 3

Nice , totally I . I foresee a plan coming forward with this podcast as we talk Like John Leguizamo .

Speaker 2

Can you please come on ? Yeah yeah , and it's out there , Huge , huge fan .

Speaker 1

It's out there . Tag him , tag him in the post , all right . Well , we are ending the near of our ending , the

Connecting w/ Carolina, Podcast Promotion, and Contact Information

Speaker 1

near Whoo Nearing the end of our time , and so you know , in the minute , or you know a little bit , we have left Carolina . Anything you've got going on in your , your world , you know anything that people might be interested in If someone wants to connect with you and talk shop on anything . What do you got ? What do you got going on ?

Speaker 2

I got my day job . I'm a diversity , equity and inclusion consultant , so I joke that I teach people to be kind to each other , not to be douchebags to each other in the workplace , and so that's that's what I do . That's my nine to five , but also I co host this podcast , and so I got that going on and I want that to do really well , and I super want to hear other people's stories Like . My goal with this is for folks to think about that person that they want to hear what their six songs are , because I want to ask them . No one talks to them . So I got that going on . You can reach me at a life in six songs podcast .

Speaker 3

Great great Nice .

Speaker 1

Anything .

Speaker 3

Yeah , I was just gonna say let's let we should , we should name drop our socials and let let people know how to get in touch with the podcast , you know right . I think we're on Insta , we're on Facebook .

Speaker 1

So , yeah , share with us , dave . Yeah , yeah , Let me hit it up , I don't have her and we should put the links .

Speaker 3

Yeah , yeah , yeah , we should put the links up .

Speaker 1

There will be in you know when this gets right here , you know , right there and right there .

Speaker 3

Right there , subscribe right there .

Speaker 1

Yeah , hit that bell right there , we'll get better at this . Yeah , so a life in six songs podcast . Search it . We're got Instagram page , facebook page , tiktok .

Speaker 3

I think we have a thread .

Speaker 1

I think I set that up . If not , I will not sure how we'll use that yet , but hey , you know unroll things that's right , that's right .

Speaker 2

And anywhere you get your podcasts .

Speaker 1

Yep , on all podcasts . You know Apple podcasts , spotify , any of those , the video podcast we've got a YouTube channel where we'll be posting the actual videos . So if you would rather see us as you listen to us rather than just listen to us , you can do that , although we will not be offended if you just want to listen , yeah , on your commutes and your car ride and everything . So , yeah , check us out , have a follow and , you know , join us on this ride to see where this goes and hear some stories and let us know who you want to hear from . You know who do you want to see us talk to ? Whose story do you want to hear in six songs ?

Head Shot

David Reese

Host
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Carolina Reese

Co-host
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Raza Mahmood

Co-host