I went to Paris for the first time last year. It had been my dream for as long as I can remember, so I guess it’s not surprising that each experience seemed more fantastical to me…our apartment in the building where Picasso had his first Paris studio; eating an ethereal goat cheese that tasted of briny oysters while looking out over the lights of the city; hanging out at a restaurant whose owner was delighted we ordered cognac from his hometown, so he got us completely blotto by pouring us glass after glass of the honey-colored manna; seeing Michelangelo’s Slaves at the Louvre. There are so many snapshots in my mind’s eye.
When it comes to music, I expected to have a crazy night of European techno music at some disco. Little did I know that my most memorable music experiences would be hearing a Mozart concert in a darkened Notre Dame with the weight of the cathedral’s history pressing down upon us while Amadeus’ “Coronation Mass” drew our eyes to its soaring heights; enjoying my Montmartre neighbor’s ‘80s dance parties each morning; and listening to John in the Morning in the afternoon, realizing that I was listening to the sounds that were emanating from my own office. That’s the thing about music, we just never know when or what is going to form an important memory, create a rallying cry, or be our salvation.
In this week when many of us are sharing epiphanies of when we first knew KEXP was going to be constant in our lives, it became clear to me that while we never know how music will affect us, we know that KEXP has and will continue to do so. This brings me to Matthieu, a KEXP family member who began writing to us while he was a college student in eastern France. He wrote this week to share his epiphany and give an update:
SUBJECT: 3 years in donationsToday I donated to KEXP.
As I was doing it, I remembered the first time I discovered KEXP in late 2009, back in France, around 1am in my college student room, while working hard on a project, and hoping to find a good station with only good music and free of stupid/annoying commercials. I remembered how I fell in love after only a couple of weeks listening to the station. I remembered how one night after my first donation I sent you an email, declaring my unconditional love to the station. I also remembered wanting to listen to the station in real time (without 9 time zones) and desiring to move to the West to see live the awesome bands you were playing. I remembered moving to San Francisco with barely nothing in 2010.
Well here I am, in San Francisco, almost 3 years later. A lot happened since this college room. I met my soulmate here, we are married for almost 6 months! I'm now officially a permanent resident and a bright and happy future is coming! I've never been this happy in my entire life.
I keep listening to KEXP every day and even if I've never had a chance to go up in Seattle, my love to the station and the community is intact and stronger!
Sometimes I'd like to remember how I found out about the station that night, so far away in France. But it doesn't matter. What I know matters is that without KEXP, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have met my soulmate. I wouldn't have discovered so many good music and I wouldn't be part of an amazing and exciting community.
I'm proud to donate to KEXP and I'm proud to be part of this community!
All the best to you,Matthieu
You can be proud to donate to KEXP and be part of this community, in celebration of your musical epiphanies, too.
Life was a little different at KEXP back in 1987. The station was still called KCMU and it could only be heard if you were within roughly 15 miles of the University of Washington campus. The playlist was already pretty eclectic (as those of you who tuned into my Top 90.3 of 1987 special last autumn…
