18. Wrecking Ball - Bruce Springsteen

18. Wrecking Ball - Bruce Springsteen

Jordan Vaka
Music

The entire crowd is up, waving their arms, clapping - in time now - and stomping in their aisles. It feels like the whole place is shaking.

It’s dark in the stadium, but the glow of the stage lights is bathing the whole crowd in participatory glory. 

Under it all is a 1-2 clap beat off the drums, hypnotising the audience into their own rapture. People clapping their hands above their heads, tears, laughing and singing, so much singing.

15. Parts Unknown Theme - Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan

15. Parts Unknown Theme - Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan

Jordan Vaka
Music

He understood - early on, maybe because his ‘fame’ came later in life - that the key to interviewing is knowing when to shut your mouth.

You need to want to hear what the other person has to say - not just use them as a platform to bounce your own words off.

It wasn’t training, either.

From all appearances, it was simply a pure, human curiosity in the world around him, the people in it and the food they eat.

6. One Armed Scissor - At The Drive In

6. One Armed Scissor - At The Drive In

Jordan Vaka
Music

There were speaker dives, guitar spins, torn vocal chords. The mike stand was a prop to be tossed around.

Hair was flying, everywhere, people were frantically dancing, stomping, spinning, screaming, shouting into the air.

The scene was electric and incendiary and engrossing.

The crowd, well, you had a choice: Get on board or drown in confusion.

None of this made sense.

5. Original Pirate Material - The Streets

5. Original Pirate Material - The Streets

Jordan Vaka
Music

2002. My 18th year.

I’m in uni. I was balancing that with hanging out with mates I’d made at my first job.

Our schedules were chaotic, between night shifts, early morning shifts, split shifts and everything else in between.

But we’d still manage a few nights a month, indulging in our shared interests — namely beer, pizza and video games.

4. Alabama Pines - Jason Isbell

4. Alabama Pines - Jason Isbell

Jordan Vaka
Music

After I started my business — after moving on from the suburban stockbrokers I was in during the GFC — times were tough.

It was much more difficult to find people to work with, things were more expensive than projected and it took far, far longer to find my feet.

Like, years.

3. Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance - Patterson Hood

3. Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance - Patterson Hood

Jordan Vaka
Music

Night fell.

The strips of lights strung through the rafters and the umbrellas and around the railings lit up

It was warm — it’s the south, I suppose it’s always warm — and it was t-shirt weather.

We stopped talking for a while, just sitting in a comfortable silence, both off in our thoughts.

I looked over the railing, watching a boat idle down the river and seeing the trees blow in the breeze.

When I saw a flash, off in the distance.

Music With Meaning

Music With Meaning

Jordan Vaka
Music

I’ve listened to music every day of my life since I was, at least, 15. That’s nearly 20 years of daily listening — songs I love, songs I hate, songs I don’t know. Songs I recognise, songs I ‘get’, songs I’m utterly confused by.

From another angle — at 4 minutes per song (there’s some Zeppelin in there…) that’s over 105,000 songs that have hit my ears.

Here’s a few of them.