Music Banter - View Single Post - Respond to a Short MB Questionnaire for all Members! Worth Taking. [Approved by mods]

Gavin B. · 01-09-2011, 09:27 PM

Age (Optional): Let's put it this way... I'm younger than Bono.

Location: Born and raised St. Louis Mo but I spent 2 decades of my life, attending college in Boston, then working & living in Cambridge, Boston, Brooklyn and Oak Bluffs in Martha's Vineyard.

Music preference: I listen to all kinds of music but have spent a lot of time listening to and writing about delta & country blues, psychedelic music, reggae and East Coast punk and post punk bands.

How long have you been a member? I think around 2 years

What made you join a music forum? I've always been involved with music forums on the internet. My insatiable curiosity about new music is what motivates me.

How come you choose MB as your music community over other music communities? I actually belong to the No Depression forum but Music Banter is my home forum and I maintain my music blog here. At one time I had a blog at the Mojo Magazine but I got sick of the trolls that infested their forum website.

How does Music make you feel and what it means to you? Music has been a huge part of my life since I was born. My father was rock music promoter who had mixed success. He took me to my first Dylan concert at age six. Most of my circle of childhood friends were children of musicians who went on to become musicians themselves. A couple of my childhood friends have become musicians of notoriety. From those friends, I discovered early on that I lacked the single minded determination it takes pursue a career in music. I was a good writer but no bands were in the market for a full time lyricist. I've worked off and on for several years as a freelance arts and music writer but most of my income is from writing internet news content and advertising copy.

Tell me what makes the MB online forum work for you and keep you coming back for more? I get a lot of great music recommendations and enough positive feedback from others to keep me coming back. There isn't a hipper-than-thou elitist attitude that is the normative behavior in other music forums.

Describe an interesting experience you had on the forum? The Music Banter Hall of Fame thread always had interesting discussions about the relative merits of a nominee's musical legacy. I wish somebody would breathe some life back into that thread because there were some very lively debates on the Hall of Fame nominations thread.

What have you learned or what will you take away from your experiences here? I'm not sure I'll have much of perspective on what I've learned from the MB experience until I no longer a part of the MB "experience." The best learning experiences are often the ones become good object lessons in hindsight. It never occurred to me that I didn't learn anything worthwhile in college until ten years after I graduated. By the same token, all of my near obsessive journal writing about the daily mundane events of my life over the past couple of decades has improved my writing skills immeasurably, in a way that all of the journalism classes in college never did.

Let me know of any other points that you feel might interest me negative/positive about your experiences regarding being involved in a Music forum and its Members, now's your chance? It's good to be a member of a music forum that welcomes people with all kinds of musical tastes and doesn't have a dogmatic line on what good music is or isn't.

Real Name (Optional): My real name is Gavin and my real last name begins with the letter "B" but you'll never get me to divulge my true last name in an internet forum full of people I've never met face-to-face. I also use Gavin B. on my radio show because I think the handful of people that listen to the show may nearly as deranged as I am.

01-09-2011, 09:27 PM	#72 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	Age (Optional): Let's put it this way... I'm younger than Bono. Location: Born and raised St. Louis Mo but I spent 2 decades of my life, attending college in Boston, then working & living in Cambridge, Boston, Brooklyn and Oak Bluffs in Martha's Vineyard. Music preference: I listen to all kinds of music but have spent a lot of time listening to and writing about delta & country blues, psychedelic music, reggae and East Coast punk and post punk bands. How long have you been a member? I think around 2 years What made you join a music forum? I've always been involved with music forums on the internet. My insatiable curiosity about new music is what motivates me. How come you choose MB as your music community over other music communities? I actually belong to the No Depression forum but Music Banter is my home forum and I maintain my music blog here. At one time I had a blog at the Mojo Magazine but I got sick of the trolls that infested their forum website. How does Music make you feel and what it means to you? Music has been a huge part of my life since I was born. My father was rock music promoter who had mixed success. He took me to my first Dylan concert at age six. Most of my circle of childhood friends were children of musicians who went on to become musicians themselves. A couple of my childhood friends have become musicians of notoriety. From those friends, I discovered early on that I lacked the single minded determination it takes pursue a career in music. I was a good writer but no bands were in the market for a full time lyricist. I've worked off and on for several years as a freelance arts and music writer but most of my income is from writing internet news content and advertising copy. Tell me what makes the MB online forum work for you and keep you coming back for more? I get a lot of great music recommendations and enough positive feedback from others to keep me coming back. There isn't a hipper-than-thou elitist attitude that is the normative behavior in other music forums. Describe an interesting experience you had on the forum? The Music Banter Hall of Fame thread always had interesting discussions about the relative merits of a nominee's musical legacy. I wish somebody would breathe some life back into that thread because there were some very lively debates on the Hall of Fame nominations thread. What have you learned or what will you take away from your experiences here? I'm not sure I'll have much of perspective on what I've learned from the MB experience until I no longer a part of the MB "experience." The best learning experiences are often the ones become good object lessons in hindsight. It never occurred to me that I didn't learn anything worthwhile in college until ten years after I graduated. By the same token, all of my near obsessive journal writing about the daily mundane events of my life over the past couple of decades has improved my writing skills immeasurably, in a way that all of the journalism classes in college never did. Let me know of any other points that you feel might interest me negative/positive about your experiences regarding being involved in a Music forum and its Members, now's your chance? It's good to be a member of a music forum that welcomes people with all kinds of musical tastes and doesn't have a dogmatic line on what good music is or isn't. Real Name (Optional): My real name is Gavin and my real last name begins with the letter "B" but you'll never get me to divulge my true last name in an internet forum full of people I've never met face-to-face. I also use Gavin B. on my radio show because I think the handful of people that listen to the show may nearly as deranged as I am. __________________ There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff. Townes Van Zandt Last edited by Gavin B.; 01-09-2011 at 09:32 PM.