Louis Michael: Music man

Some of my earliest memories are built around music; my mum dancing in the kitchen to Elvis, singing hymns at school even before I was old enough to contemplate the meaning of the words; iconic early 2000s classics being blasted by my sisters on Top Of The Pops. It seems the majority of my memories right out the gate all revolve around music. So it’s somewhat of a surprise, to myself, more than anyone, that music has taken such a secondary seat in my life in the past few years. Rather than getting stuck into exploring the world of the music as I got older, eventually starting to take joy in the endless multitude of genres and artists, for me the prospect always seemed too daunting, like I was already too far behind to ever catch up with the rest of the world. While the rest of the world discussed current music affairs I’d linger on the peripherals of the conversation, picking up what bits I could while always readily professing that this was not my area of expertise. I’m a writer, I use words, that’s my speciality. I suppose that then I was content with one skill set coming at the cost of another.

But something has changed recently, I think it finally snapped last year when I got tired of excluding myself from a whole world of conversation. I downloaded a music streaming app and since then I haven’t looked back. “Got a recommendation? Let me just see if I can download the album, I’ll listen to it on the walk to the station, or while I’m shopping, or on the bus.” And I do! I listen to them right away, as soon as I can when I’ve got a spare moment, rather than writing them in some list somewhere and never actually getting engrossed.

And my god, I can’t quite believe how naive I’ve been. It’s not about catching up with everyone else, it’s about taking the time to find the sounds you like, the music you resonate with.

I think I’m finally making those discoveries. I’ll let you know if I decide to become a DJ soon.