Blipper since: June 17, 2010
"Influenced by Miami Vice, I ended up listening to a lot of Phil Collins. Once I decided I was never going to be as cool as Don Johnson, I turned my attention towards Hall and Oates. "
nastysurprise: Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Dulin: Why do you blip music on Blip.FM?
nastysurprise: Three reasons. No, four. No, three! Wait... definitely five.
1) I have excellent taste in music and the world deserves to know what I like. OK, the truth is I think I have excellent taste in music and I just love sharing my favorite songs with others. Prior to Blip.FM, I made so many mixtapes for friends and family that I can't say anymore for fear of incarceration.
2) I'm a competitive blipper. I want to be the first person to blip a new song, be the one who gives other listeners the most props, be the first person to get more props than @ladypn (yeah, right), etc. It makes me feel cool and special.
3) Duh, finding new music. Occasionally I get the credit for pointing out new artists to other blippers, but in actuality I probably just found that artist two blips before they did. That's our little secret.
4) I fancy myself a stand-up comedian with no cojones to actually stand up, so I make my lame jokes on Blip.FM and Facebook, and once in a blue moon, on Twitter.
5) I work out of my house and I need some sort of social interaction throughout the day lest I go crazy. There are a core group of blippers that I look forward to blipping with everyday, even @snuggle_bunny.
Dulin: You also play music on Last.FM. Where did you start first? Thoughts on the differences between Last. FM and Blip.FM?
nastysurprise: I could never figure out a good way to use Last.fm except to look up the origins of a band. It makes me look smart when I say a band is from Oulu, Finland when I previously had no idea. I also like that Last.fm tracks what I play on Blip.FM because I'm a nerd like that. I don't scrobble my iTunes to Last.fm because I don't want blippers judging me for listening to Garth Brooks or Bread when I'm not blipping.
Dulin: What song or artist do you never tire of hearing? What is special about that song or artist?
nastysurprise: Some people may be surprised to hear this, but I never tire of Radiohead. Travis is a close second. OK Computer is (so far) the greatest album of my lifetime. I probably hear something off that album every single day. I've claimed Paranoid Android as my favorite for years, but I could be switching to Lucky or Subterranean Homesick Alien for a few years. As for Travis, I prefer The Man Who and The Invisible Band.
As for the specialness of said bands... I have no idea. Everything? There are a ton of memories associated with them. Like on The Man Who, whenever I hear "Writing to Reach You" I instantly remember driving down Murray Road in Winston-Salem, North Carolina ten years ago. Or when I listen to "Exit Music (for a Film)" I imagine avenging the murder of my cousin. He hasn't actually been murdered (he's alive and well), but if he is murdered I will make one kick-ass mixtape.
Dulin: How does music, whether playing/listening on Blip.FM or elsewhere, affect your behavior, reflect your mood, or express your personality from day to day?
nastysurprise: Hmmm, good question. My mood definitely comes through in my blips. And the blips of others can change my mood as well. I'll play mellow songs on rainy days, happy songs when I'm in a good mood, punk songs when I want @rojdoj and @revbeatman to compliment me and Ida Maria when I want saucy responses from strange women.
Dulin: If you could Blip.FM one song that could reach everyone on the planet, what would you choose?
nastysurprise: Oh lord. Umm... like I could possibly answer this question. Maybe something we can all relate to like "Minimum Wage" by They Might Be Giants. I guess "Sing" by Travis might be nice. This question is too huggy-kissy for me. Yuck.
Dulin: What is the last live show/concert you attended?
nastysurprise: Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven. For a bunch of aging rock stars, they sure know how to entertain. One of my favorite shows in years.
Dulin: What three songs would you want played at your funeral?
nastysurprise: "Clair de Lune" by Debussy, "Death!" (from Edward Scissorhands) by Danny Elfman, and "Hideaway" by Karen O and the Kids. I am not one of those people who says he wants people to celebrate my life and/or have a party. I'm dead, damn it. Nothing happy about that!
Duiln: Do you listen to local/regional music in your much? Favorite artists?
nastysurprise: I don't. Now that I have the two kids I don't get out as much as I'd like to. I just look for the hottest bands I can find on the world wide web, when Al Gore isn't screwing it up.
Dulin: Do you have any thoughts about the anonymity of a social medium like Blip.FM and how people connect and/or get to know each other in that online music community?
nastysurprise: Nope, can't say that I do. Although, I recently started accepting Facebook friend requests from blippers. That made me a little nervous at first, but they've all been very nice.
Dulin: What musician, singer, or band would you most like to meet? Why?
nastysurprise: My cousin (different from the potential murder victim) had lunch with Paul McCartney, and I've hated her ever since. So, I would like to have cocktails AND dinner with Paul McCartney and ride bikes with Thom Yorke, assuming he isn't being all moody at the time.
Dulin: How does a live music experience relate to your music listening habits or buying behavior, if at all?
nastysurprise: Not much. I've seen some new bands who I thought were great live, but when I got home to listen to their CD(s) I hated them. I don't rely on live experiences at all.
Dulin: What is the earliest age that you can remember listening to music? What artists/bands did you like in your youth?
nastysurprise: Oh god... do I answer this honestly or name a bunch of bands that make me seem awesome? Okay, the truth... my earliest recollection of music is Led Zeppelin. Cool, right? Well, somewhere along the way things took a turn for the worse. Influenced by Miami Vice, I ended up listening to a lot of Phil Collins. Once I decided I was never going to be as cool as Don Johnson, I turned my attention towards Hall and Oates. The hair, the clothes, the mannerisms, everything — of Hall, of course. At 37 I still can't grow a mustache, so Oates was never a consideration.
What pisses me off is my potential murder victim cousin once said I looked like Richard Marx and it stuck. I NEVER had thick, bristly hair like Marx. It was definitely more soft and Hall-ish. Unfortunately for me, my high school senior picture makes me look I belong in the warm embrace of Ellen Degeneres or K.D. Lang. Sigh.
Dulin: Any other thoughts to share?
nastysurprise: Haven't I shared enough? Now to watch all my Blip.FM listeners leave...
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Pete Dulin is the co-publisher and editor of www.presentmagazine.com and writes freelance for magazines, websites, and newspapers. Always looking for the next great song, he can be found in the Blip Nation at http://blip.fm/slipperydistortion. He unleashes profound non sequiturs at Twitter.com/petedulin and publishes creative work at www.petedulin.com.
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Can you make me a mixtape if I don't kill your cousin? From one former southerner to another, I can really only say I'm familiar on an how-to basis w/ the concept of "kissing cousins."
ReplyDeleteWhich brings up...we might be related. HIGHfives!
-anothercraze