when i was about 12/13

12 actually

i was a bit backwards really... i started out listening to good music, then listened to ****e for a few years, then re-discovered good music!

when i was 10-12 years old i was into Skunk Anansie, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Garbage... then all of a sudden I hit 13 and got into hip-hop (shudder). Finally saw the light again aged about 16, re-bought my old good albums (this time on CD instead of tape), and it's been all good since.

16/14

i don't know if i ever did really.
i've always listened to a weird combination of music, for as long as i can remember. as a kid, i was obsessed with musicals, stone temple pilots, the beatles and electro pop music.
nothing has really changed. i don't feel that specific bands or artists define the kind of person you are (eg: "teenybopper"), and i don't think music can be either "good" or "bad". it's not that simple.

I used to listen to "good" music when I was a kid; my dad's music like old folk stuff, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder. Mostly his old records. I got teased at primary school when I said the Beatles were my favourite band while everyone else was obsessed with Take That. I bought a ****e Girls album at a moment of weakness and listened to it about once. Then I had a bit of a rubbish phase where I was quite easily influenced by other people, but I think the pivotal point came when I hovered over a blink 182 CD and 'Live Through This', in a record store in my town that's now closed.

It's such a kittyradio cliche to say that "Hole changed my life", but it definitely changed the direction of my musical taste. Picking up 'Lifted...' by Bright Eyes at random when I was 14 also had a big influence. At that point it was harder to find good new music, or to learn about music, because I didn't have the access to the internet that I have now. So broadband extended my musical taste further, and we got that when I was about 16.

Edit: I still made mistakes after this! I have some CDs in my collection bought after I was 14 that I am very embarassed about now. I've joined ebay so I think I might sell them off and be rid of the anxiety forever. My boyfriend discovered an old pile of CDs under my desk and now I fear I shall never regain my "coolness" in his eyes!!*

*sarcasm, but there are some pretty embarassing albums there. Mostly fashion things. Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight and some awful pop punk bands. Something Corporate & so on. Eeugh.

Edit 2: why do I feel the need to confess this? I could have not posted here and continued to let the people of KR think I was cool.