This story originally appeared on the Gents Cafe Newsletter. You can subscribe here.
Did you know that John Paul Jones, future bass, keyboard and mandolin player in “Led Zeppelin”, used to be an acclaimed session musician in the sixties and arranged the strings for the Rolling Stones’ song “She’s a rainbow”? Or that John Densmore, drummer of American band “The Doors”, was heavily inspired by Brazilian Bossa Nova for the beat on “Break on through”? Even though such notions might sound irrelevant to some, the tales of these two famous “Johns”, among countless other musical stories, are very dear to me. They obviously haven’t changed my life, but they are part of my passion for music, my own “private garden”. And I believe we should all cultivate our own private garden, as I do when I visit record stores and the Brussels Vinyl Fair, read artists’ biographies, or watch music documentaries (even if, as a new father, I may fall asleep before the end…)
Outside of work and family, I assume that we all have personal interests or passions, whatever they may be about: watches, clothes, sports, wine, vintage cars, cigars… the list is endless. They might be seen by others as trivialities, but for us they are essential trivialities. Although these passions can be shared, the most important thing is that they simply matter to us. Personally, I like well-made clothes, and I am perfectly happy if I am the only one enjoying the fabric, number of pleats, or lightness of the tie I am wearing.
These personal interests and passions are suitcases we carry with us throughout our lives. They define who we are. Some people are lucky enough to convert their passion into their daily job, but for most of us they remain a pastime—a door that we can open at any moment to escape, disconnect, learn, or simply refresh ourselves.
For me, music is the place to shelter from stormy weather, be it stress at work or simply gloomy winter days. A former colleague once told me, “When I go home, I open a beer, put a record on, and that’s it: work is behind me.” Some people only live for their work, and that’s maybe why, when things go wrong, they don’t have anything else to hold on to. There is always something to discover after work, something to live for: forgive me for getting darker, but as American singer and novelist Patti Smith famously said in 1976, “Taking my life would have meant missing the next Stones album.”
May I never lose my curiosity for new songs, sounds, artists, and the stories behind them!
