Welcome to Part Three of the Behind Our Blog Team series where we give our readers all a chance to get to know our team a little better. Today Lee Anne Myslewski throws a few questions out to our Acting Director, Public Relations Graham Binder. Read his waxing poetically on Wilco, Spotify, golf and cheesy 80s tunes.
Where are you from?Central Massachusetts. I spent the majority of my childhood in Northboro and my teen years/college summers in Shrewsbury/Worcester. My dad still lives in Shrewsbury and my mom in Boston.
What is your favorite Wolf Trap memory?100% it was seeing Wilco in 2009 from the first row of the pit (Yes, I paid for the tickets and, no, we don't get special treatment as staffers!). During the song "Spiders" Jeff Tweedy came to the edge of the stage and had my friend Mike O'Neil strum/pluck while Tweedy fretted the notes. Mike played for close to 30 seconds, and we were all going completely bonkers. I've seen Wilco upwards of 15 times and I've never seen Tweedy do anything remotely like that.
What is your favorite song now or of all time? What speaks more strongly to you the music or the lyrics?
For whatever reason right now I can't stop listening to a song called "Hannah" by Freelance Whales. It's pretty emo and the song is a few years old, but the lyrics conjure up this hauntingly nostalgic feeling as it's all about enjoying your youth, being "partial to the night sky" and spending time with friends and crushes on rooftops. The whole album is actually really randomly fantastic which means I'm fully expecting the follow up to stink. Favorite song of all time is way too hard for anyone to cite in my opinion.
Do you have a musical guilty pleasure – something you don’t admit to liking in casual conversation?Oh yeah, big time. I love really cheesy, synthy late 80s/early 90s tunes. Ever heard "Waiting for a Star to Fall" by Boy Meets Girl? That about sums it up.
How do you consume recorded music? i.e. ipod, Spotify, Pandora, vinyl...
Spotify all the way. It's completely changed the way I consume music. The offline playlist mode is an amazing leap in technology.
If you could spend a day in the body of your favorite musician (recording session/concert – all talent conveys, but just for one day). Who would it be and why? What would that perfect day consist of?
I'd like to be Kurt Cobain circa 1990. I think it would be endlessly fascinating to be inside his head for just a day and no more. The massive ups and downs of his personality, the raw genius of his approach to music, his tumultuous relationship with Courtney Love...I'd love to experience it all and know exactly how to describe it when everyone talks about the riddle that is Kurt Cobain.
Our musical tastes are growing increasingly diverse, but big media controls 90% of popular content. How do you find our about new music? Whose opinions do you rely on?
I know what types of music I really enjoy and can semi-relate to the dictionary of buzzwords that sum them up (i.e. shoegaze, dream pop) so I basically read lots of record reviews each week from a variety of both print publications and blogs, plug the artists into Spotify and I'm off. Also I have a few friends whose tastes I really trust so I always indulge their suggestions. I'm honestly not that picky but definitely know what I love and also strongly dislike.
What's a good piece of advice that you were given, or a maxim that rings true?
Always treat others as you'd like to be treated. It's simple and cliched, but it's such sound advice.
What's so important to you about music that you've decided to make a career in it?I just wanted to be close to it in some capacity. My professional role has shifted somewhat since I started my career, but when I started as a publicist with Compass Records in Nashville I would get such a great high from helping musicians/artists achieve recognition and knowing I played even a small part in driving people to their performances. I still get that high, especially when it comes to publicizing and marketing artists at The Barns who tend to need a bit more exposure than those we present at the Filene Center.
Outside of the office, what do you do for kicks? Favorite restaurants, hobbies, books – all fair game.I play and watch a lot of golf, and see as many shows as I can afford provided there are funds left over from my golf habit. I play guitar, my girlfriend and I like to cook and sample new restaurants, and I love to travel when time allows. I've also been known to watch a lot of Seinfeld and painstakingly quote lines to people who couldn't care less about hearing them.
What is your favorite Wolf Trap memory?100% it was seeing Wilco in 2009 from the first row of the pit (Yes, I paid for the tickets and, no, we don't get special treatment as staffers!). During the song "Spiders" Jeff Tweedy came to the edge of the stage and had my friend Mike O'Neil strum/pluck while Tweedy fretted the notes. Mike played for close to 30 seconds, and we were all going completely bonkers. I've seen Wilco upwards of 15 times and I've never seen Tweedy do anything remotely like that.
What is your favorite song now or of all time? What speaks more strongly to you the music or the lyrics?
For whatever reason right now I can't stop listening to a song called "Hannah" by Freelance Whales. It's pretty emo and the song is a few years old, but the lyrics conjure up this hauntingly nostalgic feeling as it's all about enjoying your youth, being "partial to the night sky" and spending time with friends and crushes on rooftops. The whole album is actually really randomly fantastic which means I'm fully expecting the follow up to stink. Favorite song of all time is way too hard for anyone to cite in my opinion.
Do you have a musical guilty pleasure – something you don’t admit to liking in casual conversation?Oh yeah, big time. I love really cheesy, synthy late 80s/early 90s tunes. Ever heard "Waiting for a Star to Fall" by Boy Meets Girl? That about sums it up.
How do you consume recorded music? i.e. ipod, Spotify, Pandora, vinyl...
Spotify all the way. It's completely changed the way I consume music. The offline playlist mode is an amazing leap in technology.
If you could spend a day in the body of your favorite musician (recording session/concert – all talent conveys, but just for one day). Who would it be and why? What would that perfect day consist of?
I'd like to be Kurt Cobain circa 1990. I think it would be endlessly fascinating to be inside his head for just a day and no more. The massive ups and downs of his personality, the raw genius of his approach to music, his tumultuous relationship with Courtney Love...I'd love to experience it all and know exactly how to describe it when everyone talks about the riddle that is Kurt Cobain.
Our musical tastes are growing increasingly diverse, but big media controls 90% of popular content. How do you find our about new music? Whose opinions do you rely on?
I know what types of music I really enjoy and can semi-relate to the dictionary of buzzwords that sum them up (i.e. shoegaze, dream pop) so I basically read lots of record reviews each week from a variety of both print publications and blogs, plug the artists into Spotify and I'm off. Also I have a few friends whose tastes I really trust so I always indulge their suggestions. I'm honestly not that picky but definitely know what I love and also strongly dislike.
What's a good piece of advice that you were given, or a maxim that rings true?
Always treat others as you'd like to be treated. It's simple and cliched, but it's such sound advice.
What's so important to you about music that you've decided to make a career in it?I just wanted to be close to it in some capacity. My professional role has shifted somewhat since I started my career, but when I started as a publicist with Compass Records in Nashville I would get such a great high from helping musicians/artists achieve recognition and knowing I played even a small part in driving people to their performances. I still get that high, especially when it comes to publicizing and marketing artists at The Barns who tend to need a bit more exposure than those we present at the Filene Center.
Outside of the office, what do you do for kicks? Favorite restaurants, hobbies, books – all fair game.I play and watch a lot of golf, and see as many shows as I can afford provided there are funds left over from my golf habit. I play guitar, my girlfriend and I like to cook and sample new restaurants, and I love to travel when time allows. I've also been known to watch a lot of Seinfeld and painstakingly quote lines to people who couldn't care less about hearing them.
No comments:
Post a Comment