Music and Family

 February 1st, 2021

For this week's blog I decided to interview someone who's very dear to my heart, my dad (Darnell)! Over the years I have discovered that a lot of the music that I love is similar to what he liked when he was my age. There's obviously no way for you all to meet my dad, but long story short, we're identical. We look and act alike and our sense of humor is as goofy as it gets. We even walk the same (our right feet turn slightly inward on each step)! I could go on about my dad for days because I love him so much, but let's move on to the interview! Read on to hear some interesting perspectives on the evolution of Darnell's musical culture from his childhood in the early 70s to today. Also, enjoy this pic from 2 years ago!

Note: The grammar and written inflections reflect the way that most of the words were spoken during the interview. 

Chelsea: All right, well, thank you for agreeing to do this. How are you?

Darnell: I'm great. How are you?

Chelsea: I'm good. Thank you. So in class we talk about cultures and and musics and how that music plays a role in everyday life and even in historical moments. So in the same way that each culture has their music, each individual has a musical culture. So your musical culture encompasses the role of music in your life, how life informs the music that you listen to you, and influences the music that you enjoy, or adversely dislike. From what I understand, music played somewhat of a role in your life coming up.


Darnell: Oh, yeah, music played a huge role in my life growing up.


Chelsea: Okay. Well, before we get into that, what can you tell me about your parents' musical culture? What do you know about the music that they were exposed to as children and that they enjoyed as adults?


Darnell: It was two different cultures. My dad, of course, was more into, you know, secular music. And his music culture was full of the Motown sound, etc. And I'm sure that the same was true for my mother just because of, you know, just because she's a member of society. But my mother grew up in a very spiritual environment, in the church. And so her music was very different. And, you know, my dad is dead now. But it's very obvious to me that the music influenced each one of them in their different lifestyles.


Chelsea: So what is your first memory of music?


Darnell: My first memory of music would be growing up, you know, in the home. And again, my dad had a ton of Motown albums. And we weren't necessarily allowed to listen to them. But we weren't like, you know, really policed by it, I guess. But we knew that there were some albums in that collection that were inappropriate for children. But we would always sneak in and listen to them. That's probably one of my first memories. In an unorganized fashion. Of course, when I was in elementary school growing up in the music class, and stuff like that will be more along the lines of my organized, you know, music introduction. Yeah, but we'd be growing up and, you know, going to church on one hand, and on the other hand, listening to those albums and all.

Chelsea: Okay, so, speaking of that, can we talk about the evolution of your musical culture, like how it changed from not being able to listen to certain things and what you enjoyed as a kid to through your teenage years? Like you said, in music class, right, you can talk about some of the instruments you may have played growing up as well.


Darnell: Okay. Yeah. Well, in the church, which, of course, you know, because of my mom, me, and all my siblings were brought up in the church. And she discovered that I had a gift to sing, and she would make me sing in the choir. And at first, it was great, because I liked it. And I wanted to do something new. But she discovered that ability. And so I became like one of the leaders, you know, one of the lead vocalists for the choir. And I thought that was a bit much for my young age, but still, you know, it was to me, in my mind, it was my way of serving the Lord. So I got over it and actually was able to later enjoy it. But, like in music class, we would have to play recorders and learn, you know, certain little songs on the recorder. For me, that led to learning to play musical instruments like trombone, and the seventh grade I’d play trombone, ended up playing in concert band, later in the marching band. And I switched over to tuba in the, in my sophomore year of high school. So I've always been into music and musical instruments and singing and those kinds of things.


Chelsea: Okay. So that covers church and school, but outside of those things, what were your favorite artists or favorite type of music?


Darnell: Yeah. Outside of that, it was a mix. Secularly would probably be of course, Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna. Even-believe it or not-I loved Cyndi Lauper. You know, she was one of my heroes, man. She's like the coolest person ever. I also listened to a lot of country music. I grew up in Cowpens, South Carolina, and I listened to a lot of country music. To this day, I still love country music. But for me, the most influential or the most impactful has been gospel music. At the time, people like Edwin Hawkins, the Clark sisters, and later on Kirk Franklin, and you know, Yolanda Adams. I was older then when they came along.


Chelsea: Around what age do you think?


Darnell: Probably with Kirk Franklin and those, probably mid to early 20s. I guess early 20s.



Chelsea: Okay. So you talked about how music impacted or gospel music impacted you or had a large impact on you. What kind of music impacted the environment around you? It could be as far as social matters. Maybe politics, patriotism, that type of thing. Did you notice music, kind of shifting your environment as you went?


Darnell: I didn't know at the time, but looking back, I can tell that it definitely shifted our environment. Again, pop music was big with Cyndi Lauper, Michael Jackson, and those people.That was probably the most popular music because it spanned across different cultures, races, and even mindsets and- and you know, paradigms and people's creed, I guess. Me being into the church, I still love pop music, you know, somebody who may be-may not even be, you know, American, still, you know, [may] love American pop music. So I think that was probably the broadest category that had the greatest impact on society, because when music videos started becoming popular, then the culture shifted to where we would start dressing like the people in the videos, you know. And so, I remember when The Fat boys came out, Run DMC, you know, that type of music. It changed the culture a lot. Because it was like, a lot of it was a mix between pop music and r&b. Except for like, the heavy rap, you know, the gangster rap but, but like Run DMC, and The Fat Boys, and those guys, you know, they-they would create songs that would say something like, you know, “my Adidas” was one of the names of those songs. And so everybody wanted to get Adidas! Well in in the Adidas instead of just regular shoe laces, they put the really thick laces they call fat laces in those shoes. And so everybody wanted to start wearing the fat laces. And same thing was true for people like Michael Jackson with the zipper jacket zippers all, over Cyndi Lauper and her, you know, weird Punky Brewster style dress and the little ponytails and stuff like that. So it absolutely influenced the way that we live and think. You know, as young people and even as you know, as older as well, maybe not necessarily as much with politics then. I didn't notice much of a change, but I'm sure it was happening.


Chelsea: Okay. Well, you actually answered my next question. It was, what sort of technology did you use to listen to music and has that changed over the years but-


Darnell: Yeah, cassettes, which you’re probably not- well-I guess, you know! *laughs*


Chelsea: Early 2000s Yeah. *laughs* Okay. Um, so what is your culture like- your music culture like today? And what do you believe informed it or inspired it ? I know you listen to-like you said- pop country, things like that.


Darnell: So today, I listen to mostly Christian music. Christian, contemporary Christian music, like Christian rock. You know, I would call it Christian rock or light rock. People like Steven Curtis Chapman, and I'm drawing a blank...Mandisa. But-


Chelsea: Toby Mac.


Darnell: Toby Mac, oh yeah, oh yeah! But even more so than that, I listen to people like Mary Mary is one of my favorite Christian groups. Kirk Franklin, I love the way that he just- he to me is the Michael Jackson of gospel music. Donald Lawrence and John P Key and people who do choir music. So yeah, gospel music is by far my- my favorite today. I do listen sometimes every now and then to Christian rap. And sometimes I listen to country music, and every now and then I'll listen to maybe a light rock.


Chelsea: So do you miss or have any feelings of nostalgia toward the way that you can listen to music before? Like, you know, we still have access to cassette tapes and blank CDs and stuff, although they're copyright law, so you gotta be careful! But do you miss that way? Or do you prefer the technology that we have now like iPads, iPods, smartphone...


Darnell: I absolutely prefer what we have now, just for the sake of convenience, you can listen to it on your phone, I don't have to go get anything, I don’t have to go get a device and stick it in the cassette player or whatever a CD player, I can just listen to it right there with my earbuds.


Chelsea: Coo!. So these are just a few wrap up questions. So do you have any regrets in the type of music that you listened to when you were younger?


Darnell: No. No regrets. With the exception of some of the things that we listened to, that we weren't supposed to be listening to. *laughs* So other than that, no, I- I really don't have any regrets of any of the music that I listened to growing up. I think it all played an important role in my development.


Chelsea: Okay, and do you think that that music has anything to do with your musical style now, excluding gospel?

Darnell: It does! It absolutely does. And to be brutally honest, it’s hard to get away from. Because even now, when I, you know, tinker around on the piano, or whatever, and try to write music it’s hard not to write based on what's- what has shaped me. Kind of hard to write outside of that.


Chelsea: Your ears are tuned to a certain style.


Darnell: Yep. There you go. Yeah.


Chelsea: Um, okay. These are more questions about your childhood. So do you have a fond memory associated with a specific song that you listened to when you were younger?


Darnell: Yeah, I think it was, Patsy Cline-wrote a song called “One Day at a Time”. And that was one of the songs that I had to lead on the little Sunbeam choir at church. And it was just something special about that song. Whenever I sang it, it just stirred something with me. And I was probably no more than eight or nine years old. So I had that kind of high pitched voice and I could sing it in the key that she sang it in and what have you, But it was just so moving to me! And I remember that, like it was yesterday. And I think that because it moved me so much, that it moved the listeners, you know, as well. And you know, I mean, people were just, I mean, even to the point of like weeping when we would sing that song, you know.


Chelsea: Okay, do you have a favorite artist? Today?


Darnell: Yes, I have several. My favorite would probably if I had to choose one, it would probably be Kirk Franklin. And that is because his music is so diverse. And he incorporates so many different sounds, you know, he brings in the orchestra. And he's just again, he's just the Michael Jackson. He's the maestro! He is the man when it comes to gospel music and creating just a sound that is hard, if not impossible, to reproduce.


Chelsea: Okay, so what do you think of the music that kids or young adults listen to today?


Darnell: I think a lot of it unfortunately, lacks substance. I think a lot of it also is just a repeat of, you know, of what we had in our era, even though I admit that a lot of what we listened to was repeats of what was in the previous air. So- but I think there is-there's not nearly as much creativity in the music, you know, that young people listened to today. But instead there's, again, a lot of just repetition of what the previous generation brought to the table. And the substance, I think is sometimes, you know, and this is just my own opinion, not, maybe I shouldn't be this judgmental, but sometimes I think it’s just out of order. I think it's out of line. Because when we were growing up, there was a level of discretion. You know, in most music, there was a level of dignity that was in those lyrics. And a lot of times in the songs that we hear today, it's just not there. It's not there. There's nothing left to the imagination. And I don't like that.

Chelsea: Okay! [reassuringly]


Darnell: And that's my own opinion. *laughs*


Chelsea: Yeah, and it’s a common one! Um, so lastly, are there any music projects or works of art that you've been dabbling in lately? In any form; writing or painting...


Darnell: Yes! I've been writing some songs, believe it or not, a lot of the songs that I've been writing is not-it's not gospel, it's not Christian music, necessarily. But I have this thing, as you know, I wrote a book. And in writing that book, my mindset was to write a clean and decent Christian book that would give people the option to be able to read something clean, and not have it, you know, be laced with, you know, soft porn or what have you. *nervous laughter* Which you find that in a lot of reading and writing, especially with love stories. In the same way, when it comes to music my goal-and I think this is part of even my calling- is to write songs, not necessarily to sing them, but to give them to artists, you know, to write songs for different artists, who can sing those songs in whatever genre of music that they are in. But those songs are clean, and they are decent. And they take us back to a time when that's the way life was. And hopefully, you know, it will give people that same option of being able to choose, you know, songs that are not like what I just described with, you know, today's generation of music and songs. And to just give people that option to have, you know, good music again. And I know that's judgmental, but, you know, sorry-sort of *laughs*


Chelsea: No, no, that's fine! Well, thank you for taking the time to do this. Do you have any last remarks?


Darnell. Yeah, I have to acknowledge, like the Doobie Brothers and people like, What's his name? Taylor. He's from here, James. James Taylor. You know, just good, clean, fun, music. That's what I hope to bring back to, you know- to the world in some way, shape, or form-no particular genre. As a matter of fact, as many genres as we can possibly span. You know, I think that's part of my musical calling.


Chelsea: All right, well thank you.


Darnell: Thank you for the opportunity.


Chelsea: And you enjoy the rest of your day.


Darnell: Thanks, you too.

^^^He said as we headed to the table for dinner, ha!


Transcribed by https://otter.ai


Well that’s all, folks! If you would like to check out the book my dad wrote, look for “What a Church Boy Wants” on places like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and most other places that books are sold!

Happy blogging!