Radio

Both Mrs W and Mrs N love music as a background to their day. Mrs N tends to listen to 6Music when she’s busy at home and to her generic mp3 player at the weekends. Mr N grew up with his Dad playing classical music or opera at mealtimes and, as a consequence, likes to have music on when eating. The eldest Miss N can often be found drifting off to the sounds of Zane Lowe of an evening.

The first thing Mrs W does in the morning is switch the radio on to 6Music and it will stay on pretty much all day with a switchover to Radio 1 at 7pm for Zane Lowe. She will listen to a playlist on Spotify if she’s out in the office at the bottom of the garden but it’s a bit chilly this time of year!

There are certain styles of music that suit specific tasks we think… We like old school rave and hip-hop to exercise to but the comfort zone of 90’s music when we’re feeling in need of a bit of nurturing. Mrs W will often listen to Sigur Ros if she has a lot of writing to do as the lyrics don’t get in the way of her writing as she doesn’t understand them! An alternative to classical music I guess.

Are you an avid music listener? Do you listen to the radio or do you prefer cd’s or a playlist?

Mrs W loves her music – the radio is often the first thing that gets switched on in the morning, even before the kettle! *gasp*

Music is such a defining thing isn’t it. It puts you in a tribe when you’re young and can add you to a collective or alienate you – often on the same day. It can influence how you dress (90’s grunge anyone?) and make you instantly recognisable as a fan.

The first physical record collection (on VINYL) that Mrs W had was given to her by her Mum and included Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. There was a brief dalliance with the boy bands of the day – Bros *blushes* and then Nirvana entered her life in 1991 and she never looked back. It was the first time that the young Mrs W (Miss H back then!) actually felt that she had found who she was musically, or more importantly, who was her.

Mrs W’s first gig was at the Brixton Academy to see Carter USM – a defining moment as it was her first trip to London without parental supervision!! This was fairly swiftly followed by her first festival -Reading, which was her first festival as a grown-up 20 years later.

Music can have the power to heal too. In 2007, Mrs W had a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy in quick succession which left her in a pretty dark place. There were a few days where she didn’t get out of bed and her only companion was her iPod. Reader, she’s not ashamed to tell you that she wallowed briefly in her grief and only listened to songs that would bring forward the tears she needed to shed.

Just like your sense of smell can evoke powerful memories, music can too. We’ve all heard a song on the radio and been instantly transported back in time or back next to a special someone.

Being part of that musical tribe, whether it be singing your heart out on your own in the car or being physically lifted off your feet when you’ve fought your way through the crowd to get front and centre, can be the most heartwarming experience. That feeling when your favourite song comes on the radio or when you click the mouse and get the gig tickets, in my opinion, can’t be beaten.

There have been many defining moments in life and all of them have a soundtrack. Think of your life as a film, what would the soundtrack be? We’d love to hear your defining musical moments – do share!

In the meantime, Mrs W would like to share the song that started it all… enjoy