What do teachers listen to?
Mr. Friske listening to music (Esmond Hoang / The Puma Prensa)
By Esmond Hoang, Staff Writer
Our music taste is shaped from the moment we are born. As music has become easier to make with newer digital tools, there is a song for every person and emotion. This then begs the question, what do teachers listen to?
When most people imagine a teacher’s music taste, it’s old or generic pop songs on the radio--the definition of boring music. But is this assumption true? At Maria Carrillo High School, many teachers listen to a variety of songs from their childhood or past. This means the main difference between teachers and students is the time period that their music comes from. Almost all teachers listen to music daily, and it is a necessary part of their day. Music works as a tool to help them get through their own school work like us.
When asked about the importance of music, Jake Eugine Friske, a history teacher here at Carrillo, explained that “it’s to convey opinions, convey emotion and also help people process their own emotions.” It is also beneficial to “[capture] the mood of…different [generations].”
Although music is so vast, the generations can be captured with the help of certain genres. Throughout the ’70s, the music scene was full of glam rock, including the rise of David Bowie and launch of his Ziggy Stardust persona. The ’80s took advantage of synthesizer and electronic sounds to make completely unique songs, and MTV made its debut
Next was the decade when Maria Carrillo High School was built. Coincidentally, many of our teachers were our age during the ‘90s, and it shows because this is when many of the popular artists among teachers debuted. After this came the 2000s and 2010s where modern, familiar artists started popping up.
Madelyn Doyle, one of the English teachers who grew up during the 2000s, says the groups she discovered in high school “are still [her] favorite bands today,” and shaped her childhood. She said “it’s helped [her] through every difficult thing,” due “most particularly, [to] the way that it can just tap into every emotion”
The most common bands that the teachers like are Pearl Jam and Radiohead, both alternative rock from the ‘90s with heavy emphasis on instrumental and emotional story telling. The most common genres of music that they hated were opera and rap, but many teachers noted that they could enjoy something from any genre.
With Spotify wrapped and other music recaps, everyone is eager to share what they listened to all year with pride, or hide it with shame. A part of the enjoyment of music is sharing it. Friske and Doyle spoke about how students helped introduce new songs and artists to them. Although all music from every period of time is different, it can still connect generations. The music of today and what most students listen to is still evolving, but, as Friske put it, “looking back to the past, I think we’ll find out in 10 years what our thing really was for this era.”