Before I ever heard the song “This must be the place (Naïve Melody)” by the Talking Heads I don’t think I knew what true love was supposed to feel like. It may sound corny, but just stay with me. I only heard this song for the first time 2 years ago. Before David Byrne even began to sing I felt butterflies usually reserved for first crushes. To me “This must be the place” is 4 minutes and 56 seconds of true love. If you’ve every heard the song you may understand (or you may not), but that’s the point. Music is subjective. To me this song feels like love but a few miles away there is probably someone feeling heartbreak. It amazes me that music can have a mental effect on people. Songs bring back old memories and take on new meaning for individuals. For this reason I’ve always viewed music as a large mental soundtrack and a way of connecting experiences with sound.

I grew up listening mostly to the Chicago oldies station and once had a theory that every song they played was about love. From Junior high to about sophomore year of high school I went through a period of not really knowing what kind of music I liked. I had a tendency to base my music taste on others, which led me down the wrong roads of boy bands and emo music. Eventually I found my way back to artists like The Beatles and The Talking Heads, two of my favorites. In recent years I’ve also discovered new types of music like Animal Collective and I am just now getting into those I missed, like Sonic Youth.

Next fall I’ll begin my senior year at Dominican University in River Forest and continue my study of communications with an art minor. Music is all about communicating, and XRT does that every time they play a song over the airwaves. For me interning with XRT is about taking part in the communication that happens when music reaches a listener. It’s all about helping somebody else find their Talking Heads moment. In these diary entries I’ll explore what it’s like to be an intern and get an education in connecting people with music.