The Music Moods:
Picture this: It’s a tranquil Saturday morning in San Luis Obispo. The morning air is crisp and seeps through your window—just enough to be refreshing, just enough to remind you that autumn is approaching. As you sip your cozy coffee, a sense of relief, that the week is in fact over, oozes over your body like hot fudge over a sundae. Okay, what music are you listening to?
Now picture this: You’re studying. 6-hours-in-the-lib-3-cups-of-coffee-studying. Studying like you’ve never studied before. Studying like your world may come crashing down if you don’t pass this midterm. Studying like you want to make momma proud. Studying like bulks of flashcards and basically frantic and brain fried. Stu*DYING*. So, what music are you listening to?
Next imagine this: It’s Friday. THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY. You’re going out tonight with your best friends, and you’re anticipating a night for the books. After an extremely hectic week you want nothing more than to spend time with your favorite people and let loose. You’re getting ready, putting on your makeup and figuring out your outfit. Well, what music are you listening to?
Alright, now envision this: Those moments captured at home hanging on your wall that fill your mind with bittersweet thoughts are getting to you today. A crowded planner and final papers plague your mind. It’s the end of the quarter and you’re homesick. You miss your loved ones. You crave their presence and their encouragement. At this moment, what music are you listening to?
Music is a powerful. It can evoke emotions and offer comfort and consolation. It can unite individuals or it can relay a sense of self. It can seem so incredibly relevant to where you are in life, or it can take you to another place entirely. At Cal Poly, you might not feel like you get a ton of exposure to different kinds of music. This might be because you and your closest friends have similar taste in music or it’s possible that this is because you often hear the same genres of music playing in different spots on campus. Whether this is the case or you’re simply seeking exposure to music beyond your comfort zone, take a peek at the variety of music your fellow Mustangs favor.
What Mustangs Are Listening To:
“Some of my favorite artists include Tame Impala, Pink Floyd, Washed Out, Mac Miller, Isaiah Rashad, Mick Jenkins and Noname just to name a few. I can easily say my favorite time to listen to music is when I am driving in my car by myself. At this moment in time, Mac Miller’s album The Divine Feminine as well as Isaiah Rashad’s The Sun’s Tirade have been blasting endlessly through my speakers. To me, mellow beats, R&B and gospel influenced songs create for a comforting car ride. I don’t think there is a song I do not find worth sharing on Tame Impala’s album Currents. Besides the psychedelic vibe, I enjoy Kevin Parker’s lyrical play and how each song has some relation or tie to one another. His authentic and meaningful words can make music feel so personable. Something I enjoy about the act of listening to music is getting to share your thoughts/feelings amongst who else is listening.”
–Casey Tolentino
“My all-time favorites are the Beatles, the Doors and the Foo Fighters. I’ve listened to the Beatles since I was really little and it never gets old. I guess that same idea would go for all three. I go through phases, but I always end up coming back to them. The Beatles and the Doors are catchy but also have very clever lyrics! The Foo Fighters, not as much, but they always put me in a good mood. I listen to different kinds of music based on my mood or activity. When I study I listen to classical (Beethoven atm). It helps me focus, stay calm and shut out ambient noise. Metal when in studio, or on public transit. It puts me in a “calm bubble,” though that seems contradictory. A lot of bands have really good lyrics, very emotional. The genre takes some getting used to, but once you go down the rabbit hole, there is no going back. Working out or running, I like rock. It puts me in a good mood and helps motivate me. As for comedy, Bo Burnham all the way!”
–Allegra Strauss
“I love Zac Brown Band because they’re really fun and easy to listen to. I can listen to them walking to class, on the beach or even at the gym! They instantly put me in a good mood with their beachy country sound! I also love listening to people like Hozier or the Lumineers when I’m studying. Most of the songs aren’t too distracting and let me stay focused. I absolutely love the Lumineers song “Ho Hey”, it has such a cute message!”
–Kristen Stewart
“Odesza, Flume, Chainsmokers and Maroon 5 are some of my favorites. It depends on what mood I’m in, but generally I like different artists for different moods. Odesza is pretty relaxing and happy so it usually just radiates good vibes, that automatically brighten my day. Flume is good for the gym when I need a good bass drop to pump me up. The Chainsmokers go both ways– they can be happy and chill or bass drop and pump up. Maroon 5 is more of a throwback for me and just brings back some good memories!”
–Paula Kyin
“Well my all time favorite band is Arctic Monkeys — I’ve loved them ever since middle school. There are probably like three songs that I dislike out of all of their music. I like how their sound has changed throughout the years, but remained so classic at the same time. Like a lot of their old stuff (mostly the album favourite worst nightmare) is kind of almost punk, but where they are now is like really cool, classic indie rock, at least in my opinion. There is probably an Arctic Monkeys song for just about whatever I’m feeling, from softer love songs, to super fast hard rock to really jam out to. I could literally go on forever, but I will spare you and move on. I’m super into Anderson Paak right now, he’s kind of reflective of the kind of R&B/hip hop that I really like right now, sort of a mix rap and wonderful singing voices. He’s amazingly soulful and his lyricism is pretty astounding to me. That’s the same way I feel about Chance the Rapper, he’s another artist I’ve loved from the start. Another genre I’m really into is surf rock, and I’m into a pretty wide variety of artists when it comes to that. The Growlers are probably the most well known of that genre, but I like a lot of others like bass drum of death, the frights, the drums, girls, surfer blood, etc. I guess I like that genre because it’s sort of a division from indie rock, with a really specific sound. They usually have sing-able lyrics and can get pretty angsty too. Ugh I’m thinking of so many now. I also love rap, like hard, gangster rap like a lot. ASAP Rocky is probably my favorite rapper aside from chance, but I mean there’s like a thousand others. I honestly can’t tell you why I like rap so much, I really don’t know. It’s just really fun to me, like it’s especially fun to know the words to rap songs & it’s really exciting to hear a beat that you just f*** with from the beginning. I also love oldies and just about anything you can dance to. Because dancing is fun.”
–Gina Randazzo
“Actually, I don’t have a favorite yet. But I enjoy the Beatles, Yo-yo Ma, Ludovico Einaudi and Xiaoxue Liang. I wasn’t very into the Beatles at first. I had only heard their most famous ones. But since I watched the documentary of the Beatles, I just started to love them more and more. Their music makes happy. Yo-yo Ma and Ludovico Einaudi are great musicians. And I love to hear their music when I am working on architectural works that require a lot of concentration. The music is soothing. Xiaoxue Liang is a Chinese singer/songwriter, who sings in both Chinese and English. I enjoy his deep voice and poetic lyrics a lot. I love listening to his song when I am wandering around.”
–Chaomin Chen
“My favorite artists are the Lumineers, Mumford and Sons, Andy Grammar and Demi Lovato.
I like listening to Mumford and Sons and the Lumineers when I’m just trying to relax. I like listening to Andy Grammar just when I’m in the car driving or walking to class. I like listening to Demi Lovato when I need a song to pump me up like when I’m working out.”
–Krista Hershfield
“My favorite artists at the moment are Tame Impala and Anderson Paak. Tame Impala’s psychedelic pop vibe is so nice to listen to when I just want to chill out or even study. I love their dynamic sound and the way they perfectly pair lights and media effects with their synth pop sounds live in concert. Anderson Paak’s sound is so unique in that it brings a groovy, soulful element to the hip hop genre. He has an incredibly smooth voice and I really admire that he is a true musician and actually plays instruments on his tracks!”
–Makenna Knell