“I used to believe that I had a vividly accurate memory, especially when it came to my early childhood.”
“Then at some point, I came across literature that stated memory is merely a reconstructed re-telling of an event, rather than specifically retrieved information from a designated spot in your brain. After that, I found myself fretfully second-guessing details about specific childhood events which I so often replayed in my mind. Was I wearing a white dress with red flowers to my 5th birthday party, or maybe it was pink with yellow dots? There is one detail, no matter the time or age or event, which I know my brain would never falter on—the music.
I was fortunate enough to grow up in a household that almost always had the record player or 8-track machine running in the background. My parents loved music and had wide-ranging and varied tastes which would often reflect their moods. When they were feeling especially sentimental, they would play everything from Elvis to Paul Anka, the Beatles to Glen Campbell, Petula Clark, and Olivia Newton-John. When they were in a particularly good mood, disco would often be on the turntable. I think about it now, and it makes perfect sense to me, that even my young brain was always, always wired to music with a dance beat.
My mother loved dancing and she was a real natural at it. Whenever a Donna Summer or Taste of Honey or Bee Gees record was on the turntable, our living room would become an impromptu dancehall. When I was around the age of four or five, I clearly remember her twirling around my sister and I, holding our hands and swaying with us to the music and laughing. It felt so freeing. Needless to say, I learned how to find the beat and choreograph my own little moves at a very young age. I think that little bit of moxie unconsciously comes through in my approach to our band, Djustin. To this day, if I ever hear “I Feel Love” I get a bit of frisson.
Now when I visit my parent’s house as an adult, I often think of rummaging through their basement to unearth the turntable and receiver and digging around the boxes for the old vinyl of my childhood. I know that underneath all that dust, just seeing those recognizable vinyl jacket covers would trigger something deep inside me—the sights, sounds, and the emotions of those lovely moments. Of course, I’m fully aware that those exact same feelings simply can’t be recalled in the way I had first experienced them. But there’s always the hope that hearing that music once again can turn those precious fragments of memory into something new. Something, perhaps, even more beautiful and meaningful than before.”
—Rose Suau
Djustin’s album Voyagers is in stores now via Labrador Records—on vinyl.
