My beloved music collection met two tragic fates after I moved away from Florida. First, my record collection—which I couldn't fit in my tiny Hyundai Accent when moving—was abandoned in storage. Paco, the friend entrusted with these records, moved to Ukraine for a romance and neglected to maintain the storage unit, resulting in the permanent loss of my cherished vinyl. Then, someone discarded my noise and experimental CD music collection (by accident supposedly).
For years, music washed over me without meaning - I was just passively absorbing whatever whoever played in the background, disconnected from the songs that once moved my soul. That's what depression does - it drains the color from the things we love most. But something shifted about a year ago when I started yearning for those old familiar melodies again. Taking that first step, I signed up for some streaming services and slowly began rebuilding my musical world.
I've even started creating music again - something I hadn't touched in years. These days I share my experiments with my old DJ friends from Miami. They claim to love what I'm making, but then again, these are the same friends who cheered me on that night I emptied out the entire second floor of a Miami Beach club with my well-intentioned but questionably noisy set.
A couple weeks back, I discovered this young kid from Atlanta and purchased some of his tracks. His sound is playful, noisy and energetic, bringing to mind artists like Kid 606. What caught me off guard was when he reached out personally a few days later. He was genuinely curious - asking me what drew me to his music, which track resonated with me most, and what other artists I enjoy. It was a refreshingly authentic interaction. Something I am definitely not used to.
I shared some of my music with him, and now there's three of us - me, this young kid from Atlanta, and another guy from Las Vegas - collaborating together. Life is so odd sometimes.
P.S. A very happy birthday to my kid, Maxwell. I can't believe he made it to 11 with a mom like me.