During the day, they’re teachers. You see them walking around the halls and occasionally say “hi,” but you don’t think much of it. But in the afternoon? They listen to music.
We’re just as stunned as you are. What blasphemy! Once we got over our initial shock, we just had to know what they listened to. So, here are the answers of the teachers we interrogated.
Dr. Parson
“Anything except country” is the brief answer we managed to wrangle out of Dr. Parson. Despite his hesitation to answer the first question, his second response was immediate, recommending anything by Sam Cooke. He made sure to clarify Cooke was spelled with an “e”, showing signs of a dedicated fan. Other than that, he declined to comment on anything else, leaving us with questions about what he may be hiding; we promise we won’t judge.
Dr. B.
Rock and punk were not the answers we expected from Dr. B, but we can’t say we were disappointed. A little more time was needed for her to ponder over the important decision of a favorite song but Dr. B ended up picking One by U2. As for bands, she decided on The Clash. No need to search it up, we can tell its a rock band from its name alone.
Mr. Jupin
Mr. Jupin listening to black metal and death metal? We all saw that coming. However, we did uncover some astonishing facts. Mr. Jupin’s brother, Dr. Jupin, has actually been in multiple bands since high school, death metal of course, with the most popular one being Vile. Although Mr. Jupin is a proud supporter of his brother’s music, the band he loves the most remains Bathory. Their “satanic” phase may be favored by the majority of fans, but Mr. Jupin enjoys their viking metal songs the most, especially considering that Bathory is thought to have invented the genre itself. With a killer intro, Fine day to Die by Bathory is his song recommendation. Give their songs a listen, but be warned as it’s not for the faint-hearted.
Mr. Ryan
Mr. Ryan is a huge fan of two music genres: rock and indie. He might not like any specific songs, but he has a few favorite artists and bands. Mr. Ryan listens to songs by David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Muse, and a bunch of “brit pop groups.” He grew up loving Oasis, and still does to this day. “Another band I like is Elbow,” Mr. Ryan declared proudly, while pointing to his elbow to make sure we understood.
Mr. Lueders
Mr Lueders starts off strong with the genre of jazz. Things take a sharp turn as he reluctantly admits to listening to death metal. I know, we didn’t see that coming either. It takes a moment for him to find his favorite songs, having to scroll through Spotify to refresh his mind. In the end, he decided to give us three songs: The Girl From Ipanema by Stan Getz, It Never Entered My Mind by Miles Davis, and Burning Down the House by Talking Heads. Still scrolling on his phone, he tells us his top 3 artists/bands: Led Zeppelin, Fleet Foxes, and Impending Doom. (Guess which one is the death metal band?)
Ms. Myers
Ms. Myers originally answered with the typical response: anything but country. However, after further inquiry, she decided to let us in on her secret music taste. During her undergraduate studies at Ohio University, “back when dinosaurs roamed the earth”, she worked at and managed a records store, growing her love for music. Her favorite song is Holiday by Madonna, a true classic. With knowledge of so many talented bands out there, it’s a struggle for her to just name a few. In the end, Ms. Myers decided on the band A Flock of Seagulls, her favorite song from them being Space Age Love Song. But why just leave at that? She gave us a number of bands, including New Order, Fugazi, Jane’s Addiction, Amon Amarth, and lots more. Hit her up for song recommendations anytime!
Mr. Adams
Mr. Adams was a bit stumped by this question, and had to triple check that whatever he said was going on the record. At last, he decided to share with us that he likes Murder by Death, an indie band, but his favorite song is Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen. He’s sure of one thing though: there’s no substitute for live music.
Madame Pilot
Madame Pilot has a preferred music genre for every mood. You could call her a jack of all trades, but with music. For work, she loves to listen to classical music, especially the album Handel: the Messiah, which she claims is her “in the zone music”. Of course, Madame Pilot couldn’t pass on French music, but that doesn’t lessen her love for other music. When she’s not working, she listens to “rap or anything”. Norah Jones is one of her top non-work artists. While Madame Pilot does listen to a wide range of music, she stressed the importance of her favorite songs having “lyrics that aren’t dumb.”
Dr. Noble
Dr. Noble enjoys hair metal in his free time. You might be wondering, was that a typo? What in the world is hair metal? We didn’t know either. That’s what Google is for. The definition we found off the internet is this: “a subset of Heavy Metal popular mainly during the eighties, so called because of the tendencies of the musicians to sport Eighties Hair” (Tropedia). Wow, we really do learn new things everyday. We can thank Dr. Noble for that fun fact. The bands he holds in the highest regard, Twisted Sister and Kix, add onto this wild ride, both reflecting an ‘80s hard rock and glam metal sound. However, he makes a bold move, going back to the basics with a song choice of The Battle of Evermore by Led Zeppelin. These songs are perfect for anyone looking for something new other than mainstream pop. Plus, the next time someone asks you what you’re listening to, you sound super cool.
For BISV teachers: try playing hard rock or death metal in the teacher’s lounge next time; it seems to be a favorite!