earshot was a short-lived supplement to the city paper that tried to be more like a ‘zine than a weekly. you can read them here.

its about freaking time that i get a happy birthday shoutout in icepack! now i finally feel like it was my birthday.

… Back-to-the-b-days: happies to Bernie Resnick’s partner, literally and figuratively, Sally Mattison, Esq., to Maja studio producer Pete Rydberg and Ms. Maria Tessa Sciarrino of Plain Parade.

merge records is my favorite label. it is run by mac and laura of superchunk, one of my favorite bands ever.

ive been giving a lot of thought to comments sara made on a recent discussion on dummytown about music and aging.

unlike a lot of participants in this thread who felt alienated from music they used to love and/or love things that the used to never like before [meaning: they finally “got” it], i am still in love with songs i loved years ago, for completely different reasons. i feel like this sentiment is very applicable in explaining why i hold merge records in such high regard.

as a teenager, indie rock was a way to rebel against my parents. i will never forget the moment that changed my life: accidentally tuning into WPRB in 1991.

i remember that hot summer day, when my mother left me in the car to run a quick errand at the A&G Pork Store [which is merely a couple doors down from another important personal musical landmark: vintage vinyl].

impatient and bored, i fumbled with the radio dial until i stopped at what seemed the sound of static. i presumed it was quite possibly a malfunctioning stereo until the voice of kim gordon shoved its way past the metallic barrage and began singing “kool thing”.

it was at this point that my mother returned to the car and immediately took “that noise” off the stereo. if it annoyed her that much, well then, i was all for it.

i wouldnt have much opportunity to explore these new sounds until a couple months later when i broke my leg at figure skating practice and was forced to remain bedridden for 6 months. i remember being at home, sneaking glances of MTV when my parents werent looking and begging my mother to buy me this new magazine called sassy.

when i recovered and was able to return to school, i was at a loss. for most of my entire life i had figure skating. even kids knew me as “the figure skater,” it was that integral to my being. and then it was gone. thats when music stepped in and took over my life.

now, here’s something to understand. where i grew up in new jersey still seems like a completely different world, compared to everyone’s stories of growing up. most kids i knew, in some fashion, were into indie rock. sure, we might have played on the tennis team, but where else would one think to give their coach a Mr. T Experience bumpersticker? only in metuchen, folks.

one of those bands that i loved was superchunk. “slack motherfucker” is to this day, still banned in my parents house, which is ironically hilarious considering i’ve played other records with more damning and controversial content. and i loved the song because of that. it pissed my parents off to the point that i am never allowed to play it.

but as i grew older, the lyrics take on a different meaning to me and perhaps my parents, as small business owners, should have taken a moment to open their ears and minds. between them and that song, i was learning how to be my own best employee. “my noise” was giving me confidence to realize that my voice was important, even if at times it wasnt mature or articulate enough.

and with running merge records for the last 15 years, they’ve become an amazing model of independent business – one that mixes a neverending zeal for music, common sense and kindness. it is no surprise that plain parade’s existence is partially inspired by them.

what better way to show my thanks than by attending their anniversary shows? thats exactly what i did over this past weekend.