Music and Cris

This photo is a picture from my Freshman year at SCMEA performing with the intercollegiate band with my mom, me, and her friend Neal. 

So… the person I decided to interview happened to be my mom. Cris is a nickname some people call her, her real name is Crystal, and I feel like it fits her very well. The first question I asked her was to tell me how much in love she was with any artist. She said, “I think… actually I was really into more of like Nelly. My music taste has always been more of like a slow pop music with a little bit of country music thrown in.” While I knew she liked that style of music, I didn’t honestly think that would have been her favorite type of music considering she liked more of Josh Groban, but hey music taste changes for me so I assume hers might be the same. I followed up by asking her what song she is listening to the most currently and sure enough, it was Josh Grobans song called “Broken Vow”. Growing up this was one of her favorite songs although I don’t know music by the name, of course.

 

While I asked my mom if she played any music, already knowing the answer to that, she proceeded to tell me that she actually sang in the choir. While she didn’t do it for long because she was very involved in JROTC, she sang more in church choir than anything else. I asked if she ever wanted to play any instruments and she said, “yes, I did… I always wanted to play flute and never really had the motivation to play in the band.” While I knew she had tried to pick up and play the flute when I started band in sixth grade, I also knew that she wasn’t that great at it, but I didn’t know she had a passion to play when she was younger.

One of the final questions that I asked my mom was, “What do you think the purpose of music is? Do you think it should be a core subject?” While it took her a second to think about what she would say to answer this question, I could tell that she was trying to think of the best way to not offend me. She proceeded to say, “Music is meant for feelings… it meant to express words without words. Since you joined band, I felt like some of the pieces you have played have been very emotional for me although they don’t have any words. I think it should be a core subject because ever since you had started singing in elementary school, it has been eye opening on how music can change someone.” Because of this response I didn’t exactly know what to say or how to respond to her, but I appreciated her time in helping me with this interview. While I do not live at home myself, I moved out at 18, this conversation felt reassuring that I had supportive figures behind me to cheer me on and for that I can be grateful for what family I have.