Blog Challenge 16: My Dream Job

The perfect illustration for my dream job would be that of Patrick Fugit's character in "Almost Famous." He got to tour with Stillwater and tell their tales in Rolling Stone. I also completely believe that I was born in the wrong era because I wanted to be on tour with the bands of the 70's and writing for Rolling Stone. 

My dream job is that of a music writer. My attachment to music has been rooted as long as I can remember, and I just wanted to write and write and write about, that song, that scene it creates, "this is what I hear, is that what it meant?"

Some songs and bands just seemingly "get you." And I always wanted to literately break down why I was obsessed with that band or song or album or why that one didn't connect with me.

When we first moved I wanted to do an internship with Paste Magazine. They were Atlanta-based and theirs and PitchFork's were still good, non-biased articles on new, indie and obscure musicians. Rolling Stone will always be Rolling Stone but you have to be super famous to even write a line in there. They would never just take some random piece.

Then I had this amazing idea for a Food and Music Magazine where you could have recipes and dining set ideas along with music suggestions like, "This steak and wine is perfect for a Pink Floyd album revisit, particularly..." I just thought it would be cool to get two specific audiences and merge them because both food and music are such universal, wonderful interests that often unearth common ground.

I spent time writing for Creative Loafing in Tampa/Ybor City and doing concert reviews with them. That was fun! Free concerts and I got to review how they were and make people feel like they missed out on an experience. I've done art reviews and interviews as well and I love interacting with people and sharing a story.

To me, music already tells a story, but how we hear or perceive the story is our own journey. And I love that I might think something is so awesome while someone else could present that they felt it was so disappointing within the music, or just in life I guess too.

I think I always wanted to interview the artists I admire and just ask what they were actually thinking when they wrote or played that piece because music's meaning can transcend over time. When I was 16 and was depressed a song could mean one thing. When I'm 30 and grown up it may mean something completely different but still resonate. 

I also love hearing what each person's unique opinion is about other pieces of music. Some people detest certain genres, some people like the actual instrumental music and don't care about lyrics, and some people only care about lyrics and could care less about it being catchy. The diversity of music is just so fascinating to me.

If Rolling Stone or Spin is hiring I would gladly make time for an interview but with print going out of style and with the music industry becoming less and less unique and seemingly more commercial, I know that it's just one of those dreams that will stay an awesome dream. When I was young and naive I really wanted to move to New York or San Francisco and make being a real, live writer happen but with age comes responsibility and we don't always get to dream when we live in the reality.

And now for the cliche ending I will say that I will continue to "Dream On," which is a shameless nod to the classic hit by Aerosmith. Yeah that just happened. Mic drop.