My First Music Memory

My first musical memory involves listening to songs from various Walt Disney films such as ‘Snow White & The Seven Dwarves’, ‘The Jungle Book’ and ‘Dumbo’.

However, as I was so young the music numbers, though entertaining to my five-year-old self, did not leave a huge impact on me emotionally.

However, this changed when, at the age of seven I first listened to Matt Monroe’s ‘Born Free’ song from the film of the same name.

It was the first song to make me cry and even at a young age I knew this was because of the emotions and meaning of freedom through the song’s lyrics.

To this day I find the song incredibly moving and some days I still get choked up whenever I hear it on the radio. 

Phoebe Vaughan

My First Music Memory

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Similarly to most people, music plays an integral part of my day to day life with a vast range of genres available to soundtrack my life.

Growing up in a household that is very musically driven, I’ve had a strong inclination to music for the majority of my life.

There were many songs and music videos I found interest in before but the first one to stand out was the band Paramore; in the late 2000s a fair bit of time after the release of Riot! I discovered MiseryBusiness on TV music channel Kerrang!.

Misery Business was loud, in-your-face and unlocked a whole new genre to me.

With a genre heavily dominated by men it was so cool(and definitely necessary for) me to see a woman front a band! The song was, and still is,extremely catchy with the potential to get stuck in your head all day.; it had catchy hooks,powerful vocals and a chorus that will get stuck in your head for days.

I straight away found a mass of interest in their work, as I was still a young child this included recording whenever they played on TV and rewatching whenever I wanted to listen to them. Due to the style influence behind Paramore’s earlier music, I showed up to school wearing fake Doc Martens and used hair chalks to dye my hair pink and although I was made fun of a lot I really enjoyed dressing this way.

Paramore encouraged me to try music out for myself, I took GCSE music and started a band and found so much happiness from music and the art of performance that I completely owe to them.

Bethan Stewart

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My First Music Memory

My earliest music memory doesn’t come in the form of the first album I bought with my pocket money or what was popular growing up in the school playground, thank god growing up with some of the music we had in the 90s, that, and most my friends at that time having a ‘interesting’ taste in music.

When I look back, my earliest memory is of playing on my PlayStation 1 in our living room while my parents did their chores on a Saturday morning. (Although my dad doesn’t let me forget about the time I fell asleep during a Yes concert).

The game was Pandemonium but if you asked my now what the music was like on that game, I’d tell you it was jam packed with tracks from the Lighthouse Family and Prefab Sprout, that was growing up living with Mum and Dad.

“Tony Woolway Rock & Roll Legend” my friends use to call him because I would always be talking about the music he has shared with me, gave me the perfect balance of Punk with bands like the Clash and sixties stuff like The Kinks, as well as something a bit smoother like Mum’s favourite Barbra Streisand.

Listening to these different types of artists gave me a good base to discover artists that I would later love in my teens like Green Day and later the amazing Lucy Rose.

With the BB jeans and DC trainers you would think all I listened to were bands like Blink 182 and Sum 41, which was still true, yet music for me at that point was more than what I was supposed to be listening to or what was popular. I would often put on headphones in the living room while my parents watched TV. I would make out I was listening to Red Hot Chilli Peppers but would also sneak one of their CDs on when something good was happening on Casualty. Simple Red’s Stars was always a favourite from an earlier age so that was always a go to for me, but it’s also the lack of music for me that I remember the most. I always thought at the time that wireless headphones were a thing of the future, and they really were with these making you play a game of standing statues to listen to a song with no interruptions Such was the awful reception.

I remember listening to the Gorillaz first album on my dad’s birthday and bugging him to buy it for me with his birthday money which he did after only the 43rd time of asking. See he can be a nice guy.

Getting my first portable CD Player meant I could take my music everywhere and anywhere as long as I wore the same coat with the big pockets to carry it. the memory that sticks out for me is not taking it with me on a nice summers bike ride or to the park to play music with my friends, it was the medicine to get me through my GCSEs or what poisoned my results.

I remember the times I had to go to bed earlier, as I had to be up early for school but secretly hiding my CD Player under my pillow in case my parents came to check if I was asleep. I spoke to my parents about this the other day and they had no idea that’s what I use to do. Can’t believe they didn’t spot it even after most CDs ended up case-less in my room.

Now, I spend most my time listening and discussing the latest Hip Hop on our podcast, Two Diff Boyz And Their Podcast (cheeky plug) and think how have I ended up here. I suppose Hip Hop for me is kind of like a modern-day Punk and I think it’s that similarity that picks my interest and the love of the bass guitar. I often share music with my dad that I think he will like usually off the back of something he has sent me from back in the day, the latest being Thundercat after borrowing his Stevie Wonder vinyl collection which he doesn’t know about yet!

By Jonathan Woolway

New Feature - My First Music Memory

We have a new feature starting today and running every Tuesday, My First Music Memory.

The Idea is to write in a few paragraphs your earliest memory of music and the story behind it.

Today we feature Niamh Colclough. Niamh is a Journalism Student at the University of South Wales.

If you would like to tell us about your First Music Memory, Please email to infocardifflive@gmail.com

If its just a Paragraph or much more thats ok, It’s all about the moment you fell in love with Music.

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Niamh Colclough - My first music Memory

I don’t ever recall a particular ‘first music experience’ in my life, music has been something that’s simply always been there, my grandma used to tell me that I was born with a microphone in my hand and that music was just something that was a natural part of me. My childhood was completely surrounded and engulfed by creativity and music due to my family and friends. One of my moms strongest memories of me was from when I was only two years old. It was Eurovision 2001 and I was sat on the living room floor in my chair doing nothing but being a lazy baby (as I always was), this was until my mom flicked over to BBC for the Eurovision song contest. Every time I ask her about this story she smiles and as much as she doesn’t like to admit it, I know it chokes her up. I could not stop dancing, shaking my chubby little arms around with the widest grin on my face to the cringeworthy European dance tracks. My mom always says that this was the day she new I had a special place in may heart just for music. 

As I said though, music has always been there to me, every memory throughout my childhood and significant stages of my life contains elements of music or creativity. But there is one particular time where I think my passion really came to life. I must have been about 5 or 6 when my parents showed me my first musical, it was the Wizard Of Oz. Being such a weird and wacky child, the combination of the story line, bizarre characters and wonderful music made me fall head over heels in love with it, alongside musicals in general. I must have watched the film over 10 times in that one week, and I remember physically wanting to be Judy Garland (but who doesn’t hey?). This is what really set off my passion for music.

The following week my dad had got me a poster of The Wizard Of Oz and had hung it above my bed in my room, it was honestly one if not the best thing id ever received (and I was a very lucky child). Every time I looked at it I felt inspired and driven to perform and create. Due to the constant singing coming from my room, blasting music all day and the ceiling almost coming down every ten minutes from too much dancing, my parents became aware of my musical passions very quickly. 

I have been lucky enough to have one of the most supportive families i have ever known and this was evident from my early childhood days. They got me started on piano lessons the following week, I stuck to the piano for about a year but I knew that wasn’t my passion. I wanted to sing, I wanted to perform, I wanted to be the star. But at the time - being only 7 years old - the thought of sharing my voice in front of others was excruciatingly terrifying. I never shared my voice with anyone, not even my parents knew that I could sing the way I did. This was Until year 7, my first year of ‘big’ school. The music department were hosting a musical evening full of singers, choirs, musicians etc and it was my first live solo singing Leona Lewis, Run. I can genuinely picture and re live the exact moment in my head, feeling for feeling. I was completely terrified, frozen and drowning with fear, I can remember the horrible sinking feeling I got in my heart - you know the one - … but I did it. My dad always tells me to this day of the reaction from the whole auditorium when I opened my mouth. It was the first time anyone, let alone my parents and teachers, had heard me sing. And the rest was history…

Since that day my fear and anxiety left, just getting that response from that one performance changed me as a person completely. It was all I needed to know I could make it, to know that I was good enough. I quickly became the lead roles in the school music productions, my parents got me professional vocal training lessons each week, I taught myself how to play guitar and began writing my own music and much more. This drive is still instilled in me today, even though I chose writing as my path, music is still implemented in everything I do, within my journalism and my day to day life. Most importantly my passion for music is just as awake as it was on that day I watched the Wizard of Oz for the first time. - The poster of which is still up on my wall by the way.