music & family

 music & family

As mentioned in previous entries, I have grown up around music and been influenced by music pretty much since I was born. I mean my dad literally used to play guitar at me before I could walk or think (as pictured below). So, I figured what better person to interview about music than the person I learned everything I know musically from! I will have this blog entry divided into four sections (not including this one). The first paragraph is just a little background on my dad, the second gets into the first section of questions, starting off with questions about music in his childhood & teen years, the next set of questions just general music questions, and the last set being just fun questions I was curious to know his answer to.

MEET MY DAD: My father is named Phillip Cooper. He is 50 years old, born July 11th of 1974. He grew up in multiple states in the southern region of the US, including where we are now in South Carolina. He currently works at Advantage Hearing, programing hearing aids for people who struggles with hearing difficulties. Which is perfect, because he can barely hear himself, as he's been around loud music performances his whole life (some being his own).

QUESTION SECTION ONE - MUSIC GROWING UP: I started off by asking my dad what the first musical experience was that he vividly remembered and what was so memorable about it. He replied with, "In 1983, I was at a church in Ft. Payne, Alabama, speaking to an adult who played drums, asking him how he learned and how I could learn. He simply handed me the sticks and said 'hit 'em'. Most memorable thing about it was he didn't seem to mind." The next question I asked my dad was, "what was music's role in your household?". He had this to say: "Music has an enormous role. Everyone either played an instrument, sang, or both. Mom and Dad started it all as far back as the early 60s." The third thing I asked my dad was, "Who was it that introduced you to the music you like?", and he said that, "Our next-door neighbor in 1986 started letting me play his records". The following question was, "How has your cultural background or personal experiences influenced your music taste?", and he told me that, "I grew up in areas where acoustic music was more the focus". The fifth and final question I asked him in this section was, "What were your favorite bands growing up?" and he said that his favorites were "Petra and Degarmo & Key". 

QUESTION SECTION TWO - GENERAL MUSIC IN LIFE: Starting off in this section, I asked him a question I already knew the answer to. I asked, "Who was your biggest musical influencer? Why?", and my dad said, Keith Green- his music was a reflection of his life and feelings towards God and humanity". I remember hearing Keith Green's music as my dad played it for me and reflected on his inspirations, and I can definitely see similarities between the way my dad produces music and the way Keith Green produced music. My second question was, "What songs did you play at an important time in your life?", which I guess could be interpreted like, play yourself or play on a device used for listening. He interpreted play yourself, and replied with, "I learned to play story songs at the age of 12 and they shaped the way I approach song writing and how I use dynamics on vocals". Next, I wanted to know "How has your music taste changed over the course of your life?". He said, "Honestly, my tastes haven't changed at all since the age of 13. I am more tolerable to different styles." I can relate to that, 13-year-old me was onto something with (some of) the music she listened to. I then asked him, "Did you and mom have a special song?", and he told me that it is and still was "'You're Not Alone' by Twisted Sister". Lastly in this section, I asked him, "How many instruments can you play?", to which he told me, "Two- guitar and drums. I began mandolin, but my fingertips are too large". He is not exaggerating you should SEE the size of this guy's hands.

song links

this one is the song he said was his and my mom's special song...

 

QUESTION SECTION THREE - MISCELLANEOUS: I wanted to end my father's interrogation with some questions that are more fun for the both of us. I started off by asking, "How is today's music different than the music you listened to growing up? What's your opinion on it?". He gives his opinion on the music I play in his car quite a lot, but he answered with, "It's less dynamic and lyrics seem less important. We've stepped backwards as far as quality of song but forwards in terms of visual production". I agree and disagree with him. My music taste is generally 90's rock, but I do like the lyrics of SOME modern-day music. The following question I asked of him was, "What's the weirdest music you've heard?", and he introduced me to something called, "Mongolian Throat Music". Similarly, I wanted to know what his LEAST favorite genre of music was, and he informed me that it was, "POLKA". He was very passionate on his answer but did not elaborate further ha-ha! Next question I was excited to hear his answer to, so I asked him, "What song reminds you of me?", and he told me either "Smells Like Teen Spirit or Pound of Flesh". At first, I had no clue what he meant by the second song, but then I realized that he meant "Celebrity Skin" by Hole. He thought it was called Pound of Flesh because those are the only three words he remembers from the entire song. Then I wanted to hear what he had to say about MY music taste, and he said, "It's vastly different to what I grew up listening to." I think he would've been more judgmental on it if there wasn't a possibility of other students reading this, don't let his sugarcoating fool you!

song links

these were the songs he said reminded him of me...

Thank you for reading my entry, and I hope you enjoyed learning about my dad's history with music as much as I did!!