How much does your own music nerdiness prevent you from conversing with the OTHER kind of people (you know, people that aren't addicted to music)?

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Like, are you the guy/girl sniggering quietly in the corner while everybody else in the office gathers around the water cooler to gaze in wonder at Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Songs Of All Time" issue?

― Chop Chop Salad Forever, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:26 (twenty years ago)

You have this unusual idea of what my office population would bond over.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:33 (twenty years ago)

i try to play some of my cd's everyday at work. it's hopeless

― rizzx (rizzx), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:34 (twenty years ago)

I just switch the topic away from music in these situations.

― darin (darin), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:37 (twenty years ago)

It's worse when you work with music nerds who like bad music. I've endured many lectures on how I'm just not getting Dada (the dizzneeland band) and how Jane's Addiction "rock so fucking hard, man." And don't get me started about the dude who collected Sting bootlegs. UGH.

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:38 (twenty years ago)

Okay, if you're the one who's calling out Jane's Addiction as being bad, you just might be the music nerd with bad taste.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:48 (twenty years ago)

damnright korn...

i work with a drummer. a jazz drummer...that somehow listens to the light jazz station ...

it can take work, but there are other things to talk about...

― b b, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:51 (twenty years ago)

I like Jane's Addiction too, but in small doses. There's at least two dozen bands from that era that are better, though.

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

Thankfully, there are a lot of other things you may have a conversation about :)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

i thought the part of the perks of being a music nerd was that you could talk to almost ANYONE about music.

― Fetchboy (Felcher), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:56 (twenty years ago)

I've gotten so much more tolerant over the years -- I really was only a brat about it in high school -- so it's no problem. I can usually find common ground with just about anyone. But that Dada band . . . urf.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 19:59 (twenty years ago)

once i decided to really give every kind of music and artist a fair listen, no matter how unhip or "mainstream," i've been amazed how much it's actually HELPED me interact with people, especially at work.

it's fun to work next to a hard-line christian conservative and then flip her out when i can carry on a 30 minute conversation about Kenny Chesney

― Josh Love (screamapillar), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 20:03 (twenty years ago)

Working with a bunch of other music geeks can be a ton of fun, too. There's something to be said for carrying on an all-day discussion about the evils of Jeff Lynne productions.

I don't think I would do well working next to a hard-line christian conservative, though. Those people are a little, uh, intense.

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 20:08 (twenty years ago)

Okay, if you're the one who's calling out Jane's Addiction as being bad, you just might be the music nerd with bad taste.

Dan, I respect your knowledge of music, but I deplore your taste.

― RS, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 20:10 (twenty years ago)

(Wait, I left myself wide open on that: I have not tasted Dan!)

― RS, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 20:13 (twenty years ago)

My rules are simple.

1) If you find yourself surrounded by music geeks, feel free to geek out (or engage in heated debate, as the case may be).

2) If you don't find yourself surrounded by music geeks, find other stuff to talk about.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

I was going on a blind date, and I had promised myself not to bring up music. It's going well, then she goes, "Guess what band I'm seeing at the Rodeo?!" and I go, "Steve Miller!" which I know isn't that hot, but was the only one I would have liked to see. And she goes, "No. Maroon 5! Who's Steve Miller?". It threw off the whole night.

― WillS, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 20:37 (twenty years ago)

I somertimes lie awake at nights dreaming of working in an office where anybody else is even aware that the words "Rolling" and "Stone" might refer to anything other than Mick Jagger or the gathering of no moss.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)

Oh yeah, I've had that blind date before, but it wasn't Maroon 5 - it was Train!

x-post

― darin (darin), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 20:51 (twenty years ago)

Josh OTM.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 20:52 (twenty years ago)

Tantrum The Cat otm.
The worst is when the less geekier music snobs than I throw a, I dunno , a Travis , in there. ' I thought you liked yer Indie? Wassup??'

― Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Dog (Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountai), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 21:32 (twenty years ago)

"i thought the part of the perks of being a music nerd was that you could talk to almost ANYONE about music. "

My viewpoint exactly. If you are a music freak then the chances are greater than 50% that you can have a conversation with a stranger about their favourites. A lot of people love their music and they are so pleased to be able to talk about it, whether they are into Peter Gabriel, Van Der Graff Generator, Seal, Depeche Mode, whatever. (I have acquaintances who are MASSIVE into these artists and basically nothing else).

― everything, Thursday, 21 April 2005 00:20 (twenty years ago)

"I was going on a blind date.." - I generally try to remain as unsnobbish as possible, yet I feel compelled to reveal that I once ended a first date early b/c she informed me of her plans to attend a Barenaked Ladies concert over Christmas break. Most things I can tolerate even if I do not like them, but The Barenaked Fucking Ladies?

― Yngwie AlmsteenMay (sgertz), Thursday, 21 April 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

You made the proper decision.

― ()ops (()()ps), Thursday, 21 April 2005 00:32 (twenty years ago)

Music is far from all I like to talk about. I think a much bigger problem for me is my current lack of interest in sports.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 21 April 2005 00:58 (twenty years ago)

There was a guy who came to apply for a job in our dept. today, asked me (in conversation) where I was from. I said New Zealand. He mentioned Flying Nun. 8 minutes later we were discussing what Slint's "Good Morning Captain" was *really* about....

― paulhw (paulhw), Thursday, 21 April 2005 01:01 (twenty years ago)

trouble with working with music geeks is they're all so fucking opinionated. this sucks that sucks ugh you like this scratch head look pityingly at me.

actually thats not just geeks. thats fucking everyone isn't it?

― mullygrubbr (bulbs), Thursday, 21 April 2005 01:03 (twenty years ago)

people who aren't music geeks say things like "Outkast are a novelty band, right?", and put you in awkward positions with statements like "I absolutely *love* Dave Matthews Band. Have you heard of them?"

i don't like talking to people who don't really like music about music, mostly because i automatically assume their opinions are utterly worthless, and i don't want them to realise i think this, because it's not very nice (even if it might often be true).

― Lee F# (fsharp), Thursday, 21 April 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago)

Haha - Lee OTM

I actually hate talking about music with strangers because I always fear I'll come across as the nitpicking nerd that I am. Hence, I end up censoring myself and just staring blankly

― Baaderonixxxorzh (Fabfunk), Thursday, 21 April 2005 12:35 (twenty years ago)

I'm just so happy there are still people out there repping for Dada.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Thursday, 21 April 2005 12:40 (twenty years ago)

The worst is when the less geekier music snobs than I throw a, I dunno , a Travis , in there. ' I thought you liked yer Indie? Wassup??'

Far, far too OTM.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 21 April 2005 12:44 (twenty years ago)

"Oh, John Mayer, yeah, he's really good."

― 57 7th (calstars), Thursday, 21 April 2005 12:55 (twenty years ago)

Haha. I'm actually pretty good at not being anal. Usually I'll just change the topic if it's clear nobody is on the same page as me. Convincing people = dud. ("Convincing People" remains classic, of course.)

― sleep (sleep), Thursday, 21 April 2005 13:13 (twenty years ago)

Want to have fun? Bring an iPod to work. People will constantly ask "what're you listening to?" Then I will have to find some way to explain how random shuffle has pulled up Mannie Fresh, LCD Soundsystem, Martha and the Vandellas and Thin Lizzy, and how that isn't really some weird deviant carwreck of eclectism.

As a result of one of these inquiries I recently spent two minutes once explaining to one of my managers who the Equals were. "You know 'Electric Avenue'? The guy who did that song had this band in the '60s... uh, they did the original version of 'Police on my Back'." (Said manager is familiar with Peter Bagge and Mr. Show, though, so I didn't feel like a huge obscurantist dork.)

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Thursday, 21 April 2005 13:40 (twenty years ago)

I work in a bunch of different offices (all populated mainly by middle-aged women) and I was able to strike up a pleasant enough conversation the other day by commenting how much better the radio station playing in one office (some sort of jammin' oldies format that had stuff like Sly and Steppenwolf) was than the awful lite rock station in the other office I'd been to that day.

It's actually easier to talk to middle-aged women because they don't EXPECT to know the music you like.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 21 April 2005 14:37 (twenty years ago)

god life is such a struggle

― anx, Thursday, 21 April 2005 14:56 (twenty years ago)

I've found that as I get older, it's best to realize that liking the same kinds of music as someone else isn't all that necessary to have a relationship with that person. I think trying to talk about, say, Public Image Ltd or something with someone that has no interest in it is sort of asshole-ish, cuz it's sort of inferring that liking one kind of music over another makes you smarter or better....I've found that I have very good friends that I have little in common with musically and that there are lots of people that I don't care for much that like the same things I do....although, I do have some friends that I can *really* talk about music with, and I value that very much.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 21 April 2005 15:06 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, Matt's right there. It's very much a mix. Some of my closest friends I've met through music, and that's quite a few people here and elsewhere -- most especially Donut and Stripey, who I would have never met without (respectively) KUCI and MBV. But it's the quality of their friendship rather than what they like which matters most.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 21 April 2005 15:08 (twenty years ago)

i occasionally get asked about music things by annoying folks at the office who consider themselves big fans of all kinds of music. like the managing ed. here. and by asked i mean him cornering me for 10 minutes and telling me how great he considers collective soul to be. or about how the intonation on some special expensive guitar he ordered is just fantastic and about what kind of awesome wood the neck is made of.

when the local rockers ask me what i've been listening to lately, i've found it a blessing to be able to say "well, mostly some hard ass techno, dance stuff." that usually saves me the usual tedious back and forth about this or that new hotshit band.

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Thursday, 21 April 2005 15:25 (twenty years ago)

"Neverending Story", Eurogliders, I feel like I'm flying on the big white dragon-dog everytime I listen to it ! Fantastic...

― Poison(Ivy) (PoisonIvy), Thursday, 21 April 2005 15:35 (twenty years ago)

sorry, I've made a mistake !

― Poison(Ivy) (PoisonIvy), Thursday, 21 April 2005 15:38 (twenty years ago)

Actually, it's music geeks who piss me off more than non-geeks. But Matt's OTM. Most people I date have pretty average tastes in music; but then again, their tastes in books and film is pretty average too.

Whether it's a friend or lover, there's so much more important stuff to focus on besides asking them whethey they prefer "Mellow Gold" to "Odelay."

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 21 April 2005 15:40 (twenty years ago)

Not much, actually. I can find other things to dicuss.

― Ian Riese-Moraine. To Hell with you and your gradual evolution! (Eastern Mantra), Thursday, 21 April 2005 16:31 (twenty years ago)

No one in my office has any idea what I'm talking about if I talk about music. A few artists/bands I've mentioned in the office that people claim to have never heard of (and I consider all of these to be pretty mainstream stuff): Gram Parsons, New Order, Nick Drake, Pavement; I've had music I listen to in my office compared to "video games" (lcd soundsystem) and "hippie music" (kings of convenience - ok that might not be too far off).

― queenbee (queenbee), Thursday, 21 April 2005 17:28 (twenty years ago)

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