I love music. It’s my favorite thing after books. I wish I had musical talent, but I don’t. I just am constantly searching for that song that’s going to be my go to song for the next few months. Sometimes I have a song on repeat for a year.

I think it’s hard to say what exactly strikes a chord with me when I find something I love. It just has to click, you know? But for me, music has been such a big part of my life whether or not I have any musical talent. I have memories with songs and albums that I associate with certain times of my life such as middle school, high school, etc. Music is important to me because it makes me feel less alone. If I’m going through a hard time at school or at home music is a constant that never changes. Or maybe it changes as I change as a person but I don’t notice it. I don’t know exactly but I know that music has always been there no matter what genre. When I was little I used to play piano and then I quit playing and found bands like Panic! At the Disco, Fall Out Boy, and Paramore. Then I found Korean pop music in early high school, which spiraled into my diverse (some people would call it eccentric) music tastes.

I’m going to list some of the artists/songs/albums that have been with me for as long as I can remember and even some that are newer but have still had an impact on my life.

5. Fall Out Boy

I was a bit late to the train on this band. I think I found out about them because people in my high school likened them to Panic! at the Disco. I didn’t actually start listening to them until my first year of university. They would come up randomly on my workout playlists or when I was studying for an exam. I think my favorite album from them is their 2008 album Folie à Deux. I like almost every song on the album but 20 Dollar Nosebleed and West Coast Smoker are two of the best on this CD in my opinion.

4. Paramore

Pararmore is so special to me. I think it’s so important to me because I discovered them in early high school, which was a really rough time for me. They were also the first alternative rock band (back when they were actually a rock band) that I discovered. I felt so cool whenever I said, “oh yeah, I listen to Paramore, they’re my favorite band.” I don’t listen to them as much recently but Paramore is the first band that I ever saw live so they have a special place in my heart.

3. Daughter

Daughter is one of those bands that I almost always gravitate towards. Whenever I’m sick or just want to have a chill day I listen to Daughter. The lead singer’s voice is just so soothing that I feel like I can just loose myself in her voice. I don’t remember when exactly I found Daughter but I remember finding them on a vacation when I was younger and they’ve stuck with me until now. I also study to them because they’re just so calming. My favorite songs by them are probably Human and Youth.

2. Exo

Oh man. Exo marks the beginning of an era. I remember vividly scrolling on YouTube and accidentally clicking on one of their videos. I found the music video for their song MAMA and I got sucked into the vortex of Korean pop music. Even now they’re my favorite just because they were the first Kpop band that I found back in the day. I remember it being near the end of my high school career that I found them and now I don’t listen to much American radio music because of them. Kpop is a genre of music that’s defined such a huge chunk of my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

1. Panic! At the Disco

Can you sense a theme here? Panic! At the Disco is the band that I’ve seen in concert the most. I saw them first for their tour of Vices and Virtues and then again recently for the tour of Death of A Bachelor. Brendon Urie is incredibly talented in both singing and songwriting. My favorite songs are probably Calendar from Vices and Virtues along with Crazy=Genius and LA Devotee from Death of a Bachelor.

This ended up turning into another list but this is different in the sense that these artists have all defined my taste in music until now. Every time I listen to them now I find something new that I didn’t notice before and this, I think, is the reason music is important to me.