Results May Vary: Memories of Nu Metal
Coming to terms with music’s most hated genre
Are musical awakenings a thing? Sometimes, I hear people talk about the first time they saw a beloved pop star on a music video or the first time they listened to a certain riff, and how it changed their lives forever. Recently, I’ve been thinking about when and where I fell in love with music myself, and I have mixed feelings about the memories it uncovers.
As I recall, the first band I ever liked was The Beatles. My brief fascination was the result of a primary school teacher’s influence and culminated in me and some friends forming a Beatles tribute act. To be clear, none of us could actually play anything. Nonetheless, we took great joy trying to imitate the Liverpool foursome’s greatest hits in an attic full of an older brother’s instruments.
While a love for The Beatles sounds as good as a music snob’s origin story as any, I never liked them enough to bother my parents to get an album. My nine-year-old self just didn’t see listening to music as a viable pastime yet. Instead, my first album would be something a little less cultured.
Long after The Beatles tribute act ceased, I was shopping with my mum and feeling suitably bored when a song came over the shop floor speakers. I instantly recognized the tune. After all, it…
