Location and music taste?

Question

R & P'ers... do you think where you live has influenced what genre of Rock you like best.. and what bands you like?

Answer 1

Well, I've moved several times (I was born and raised in China, moved to Texas, then now to Brooklyn, NY) so the music really has changed in those areas. What being born in China did for me was force me to grow up on Chinese pop, which is pretty decent (until recently, it just went down the loo) but I never really enjoyed it. When I was in Texas, I really wasn't intereted in music and most of my neighbors were big country fans.
Now I live in NY and maybe this is where I picked up most of my musical taste. It's the fact that the city is so diverse that allows me to really expand my music taste. But for me, I pick up most of my musical taste through the internet which everyone has access too. And the people around me still don't listen to the same music as I do.
My favorite genres are prog rock, classic ock, indie and alt rock but Idab into other genres too. My favorite bands are Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Radiohead, Yes, Deep Purple, the Kinks, The Shins, Beulah, Led Zeppelin etc.

Answer 2

Clearly, location seems to play a major role in most listening tastes. My tastes have been influenced in spite of my geographic area. Radio in the Midwest trends toward the ultra conservative and boring side. Every time I go out to California, I'm blown away by how much better their everyday radio stations are than ours. Maybe not so much as in the past because KROQ has gone down the tubes the last few years, but historically I've always believed the best music is easier to find on both coasts. I get the feeling that Clear Channel looks upon Chicago like we're a bunch of simple farm hicks who would explode if we ever heard anything adventurous on the radio. But I digress. Since most people simply accept what they're given musically, I think location is huge.

When it comes to local talent I've probably said this a hundred times but I'll lay it out once more. I would have loved Smashing Pumpkins or Veruca Salt no matter where I was on the map. We simply had the good fortune to hear them first. The same applies to FOB or Disturbed. They're horrible and I don't give them a free pass because their local.

Answer 3

Not particularly. I grew up in Texas where country music is prevalent (although the music does vary). Living in a smaller town I listened to country and more of the top 40 stuff until the last 2 years of high school where my tastes diversified due to being able to drive to a local record shop on the nearby college campus. My college years were also in Texas and involved not much of a change in location but influences more from people as a lot of friends were from the East Coast although I did find a lot of bands by myself through trial and error of buying CD's from record shops up in Houston.

I pretty much like all genres including hip-hop, jazz, old country, and world beats. My favorite by far though is 80's - early 90's "alternative" for lack of a better term (Dinosaur Jr., The Replacements, Husker Du, REM, etc.). So overall I'd say came from individuals apart from the status quo of where I grew up and personal trials. These days I find the technology at hand to really help me discover new music. I went through a drought of not much coming across my radar but thanks to myspace (and I never thought I'd say that) I've come across more post-rock and post-metal (hate those terms too) such as Envy, Pelican, Boris, and Mono that I probably would have never found in the first place.

I'm sure I strayed from the original question but to sum it up, where I've lived has not played the key role in influencing what genre of music, let alone Rock, that I consider my favorite.

Sorry if I bored you with that.

Answer 4

No, not in the slightest.

I live in London, England.
The most popular type of Rock here /seems/ to be Indie, The Frattellis [sp?] and other similar bands.
There are also quite a few metalheads here, but they mostly gather in a specific area of London [Camden Town].

My tastes are very diverse within Rock.
I'm not really part of a particular "scene" though, I'm a recluse, I don't socialise or go to gigs or anything like that - so i think i've been able to establish my own preferences without the influence of the people around me.

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Answer 5

Well...if I wasn't such a weirdo, I may have been influenced by my location. I grew up in a small town, so to rebel against the norm was more to my liking...and to throw another wrench in the mix, I'm an artist and a musician.

So I got into reggae, blues, folk, funk, soul, and all kinds of rock...when everyone else was listening to country and rap/hip hop. I like a lot of hip hop beats, and use some in my music, and country guitar licks are fun to play...but I'm not a huge fan of either.

I wish that I could have grown up in a cool music town, like L.A., Austin, Memphis, Seattle etc., but then I would be someone else entirely.

Answer 6

I don't know.
I'm in Hertfordshire {the bit near London}, in England.

The main genre of Rock I love is Classic Rock, and it's mostly the British bands.
But I also listen to 80's Rock, Prog Rock {in with Classic}, and some Folk Rock.

Answer 7

I live in Worcester and I think that fourleaf (the best shop in the WORLD, which is only in Worcester and Gloucester) has influenced my music taste a LOT! But I would like all the same stuff anyway... Music is my life.. At this very minute I'm listening to "The Sleeping" and you wont find me not listening to music so it hasn't CHANGED my life but has definately shaped it and influenced it... xxx

Answer 8

Not really. Where I live people listen to rap and hip hop. It's kind of weird because not many people like rock in this area and the ones that do have a total different taste.

Answer 9

I definitely think it has influenced me somewhat.
I'm from Boston.....and music is a big part of the culture here and it spans the spectrum. The Pixies, Aerosmith, Dropkick Murphys, The Bosstones, Killswitch Engage, Dick Dale.......are all from Massachusetts. The music scene is rich and acessible. It has definitely helped to give me a strong alternative and punk liking......but its not what has completely guided my tastes

Answer 10

If my location influenced what music I listened to, I would be a ghetto moron. luckily, it has not...
i listen to mostly rock, bluegrass,jam bands, alternative...
fav bands are pink floyd, radiohead, grateful dead, phish, umphreys mcgee, brian jonestown massacre, tool, system of a down, led zeppelin, mahavishnu orchestra, david bowie, sts9, disco biscuits, dandy warhols... the list could continue forever