Musiholic's Anonymous

Myself: Hello My name is Karl Nickenig

(anonymous group): Hi Karl

Myself:  I'm a musiholic and I love every minute of it!

This is the dialogue that runs through my head everytime I think about my love for music.  It's unquenchable.  It's like an addiction to crack-cocaine. It's like the bottomless pit that swallowed up Boba Fett in Return of the Jedi.  If I could, I would marry music and make it my baby's momma.  My headphones are my light and my iPod is my Bible.  I devour music in all formats: LP, CD, Cassette, 8-track, MP3, Radio airwaves, Grocery stores and Live, all as the good Lord intended.  Lo-fi, Hi-fi, Mid-fi and No-fi I love em all baby.  I don't just have one poison of choice either; I listen to everything from rap, to gypsy jazz, to punk, to pop, to classical.  Its an Obsession (trademark of Calvin Klein).  However I would like to shift the focus off of me for a moment (I know my prose is so intriguing, enticing and titillating [haha tit]) and I would like to focus on those of you who enjoy the fine blogications of Bandwidth.  Start getting addicting to music!!  I know this may sound like a blunt statement, but believe me once you get hooked on music you just can't quit (and won't regret it).  Now you may be saying to yourself "but I'm just a young, supple 18 to 25 year old manchild/womengirl,  how am I supposed to start getting into new awesome music?".  Well mister/miss Debbie Downer what I got are three simple tips that will help you on your musical journey.

1.  Keep an open mind - just try to see whats out there and judge the music for whats its worth.  I've heard too many people say "I like all music...except classical and country" and thats the wrong frame of mind.  Don't let your preconceived notions about a genre or artist get in the way of actually listening to the music and judging it on its own terms.

2.  Actively seek out different music media- Now there is nothing wrong with listening to the big corporate radio stations every once in a while, but you can't find interesting music outside the pop mainstream without (wait for it this is the shocker) GETTING OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM EVERY ONCE AND A WHILE!!!  There are alot of cool radio stations out there that play interesting music not played on the big radio stations (*Cough KSCR Cough*).  There are also good podcasts and sites where you can find the music you want and maybe something you didn't expect.  Some other good places to check out (besides our lovely radio station) are NPR's All Songs Considered, Pandora.com, Finetune.com, and the indiefeed podcast (all are free which is also a plus for us poor college folk).

3.Don't Give Up - at some point along the line for some reason you may feel discouraged because you can't seem to find the music that you like.  Well all I gotta say is don't give up!  Finding new (good) music is totally worth the blood, sweat and tears you put into it and you'll feel good about finding something new that you like on your own terms.

4.  Bake a Pumpkin Pie- It's October and they're delicious .

With all these steps in mind you should be on your way to becoming a Musiholic!