Mixtape Manifesto
For this project, we had to create an online mixtape of songs that represent our beliefs. Then we shared that mixtape with a partner (and listen to our partner's mixtape), and interviewed that partner about their beliefs/mixtapes. Finally, we wrote articles about our partner's beliefs, as shown through their mixtape manifestos. Here is mixtape, and also my article:
Gavin Wilson - A Life of Music
Kirsten Zornado
On a typical, if somewhat hot, San Marcos morning, a dozen pairs of teenagers are peppered around the High Tech High North County campus, interviewing each other. The partners are talking about their Mixtape Manifestos, online “mixtapes” of music that reflect the creator’s belief systems. Each person has listened to their partner’s mixtape, and are trying to discern their partner’s belief system through their interviews.
In one such partnership, Gavin Wilson is relaxing, in a batman shirt, jeans, and a collared vest. He decides to move into the shade just as the swiftly departing cloud cover exposes the sun. Once settled, he begins to talk about his love of music, “Music helps calm my thoughts, and kinda helps calm the process [of thinking].” He says, “It helps to calm my emotions, helps me through tough times, helps pump me up when I need it, or just kinda helps me focus. I listen to music for just about everything.”
His passion for music is not stemmed from just him, though. He got a lot of his musical inspiration from his parents, who exposed him to their favorite bands from a young age. Music is also a way to connect to other people, even strangers. At a concert once, he talked with a random girl, and they ended up hanging out for the rest of the time, “And, like, she got really emotional during one of the songs, because it’s a really emotional song, and her and I just kind of had this moment where we were like, yes, this song is really emotional and stuff. And we were like, best friends, like we had our arms around each other. Then the song was over.”
The first song on Wilson’s Manifesto, Critical Acclaim, by Avenge Sevenfold, starts with a classic, eerie organ, that leads into a song that is, “angsty, teen-y, punk-rock, and as heavy metal as you can get.” The song is meaningful to Wilson because it makes fun of all of the political correctness in our world, which is something he thinks is overdone.
Critical Acclaim also talks about having both conservative and liberal points of view on an issue, something he believes in doing. “It’s exactly true, you can’t just take one side [in politics]. You have to speak up.” He pauses, “I’m definitely more conservative than liberal, but at the same time, I’m not anti-liberal, and I’m not full on republican. I just see things a certain way, and I’m not going to choose one side or the other.”
The second song on the playlist is a definite shift in mood from Critical Acclaim. In The Hollow of Thy Hand (from The RM sountrack) is a song about a boy’s daily journey, looking for guidance from God. Wilson, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, otherwise known as Mormons, describes it as saying something like, “Hey, God. Please spend this day with me, and just help me be humble, and help me in my life.” Wilson is obviously interested in bettering himself and connecting with God, even through the difficult time of high school.
Give Me One Good Reason, by Blink 182, is where Wilson’s personality really shines through. The song talks about how it doesn’t really matter if you fit in, and how all of the stereotypes for how people should act are really stupid. “A lot of [this song] is making fun of myself. But at the same time, there’s so much about me I don’t like, but I don’t care, because, like it says in the song, I don’t want to fit in. I don’t fit in, and I don’t want to fit in, and I’m perfectly happy with it.”
When asked if his songs almost all featuring his “be myself” mentality was purposeful, he says that it’s an inherent part of his personality. “I’ve always wanted to be me. I’ve always had the mentality that if you don’t like it, then you can kind of suck it... When it’s something so close to my heart as that, if most of my songs communicate that, it’s just a happy coincidence. Honestly, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t there.” Wilson’s happiness with himself is shown throughout his whole Manifesto, as well as being an inherent part of his personality, and no song reveals this more than Give Me One Good Reason.
Wilson’s fourth song, Girls/Girls/Boys by Panic! at the Disco, reflects his own, and his friend’s, battles with their own sexuality. “Sexuality is something kinda big to me. Something I’ve actually sort of struggled with personally in my life, and so many people close to me have.” He says. “I am a huge believer in ‘love is not a choice’, but another thing that I like about the song is it’s kinda satirical in a way.” He goes on to explain that he sees the song as mocking the fact that having a “different” sexuality is considered trendy, something he also feels strongly about. “I want to make sure that in the society I live in, I don’t want it to take something as delicate as this, and just turn it into another social norm.”
Another song from The RM’s soundtrack, Love is Spoken Here, is about a very strong belief in Wilson’s life. “I was trying really hard to get a song about family, because family is hugely important in my life.” Wilson believes that this song is a guideline on how a home should be structured, which is best shown through the first verse of the song, “Mine is a home where every hour/is blessed by the strength/of His good power/With Father and Mother leading the way/Teaching me how to trust and obey/And the things they teach are crystal clear/For love is spoken here.”. He came across it while looking through the movie’s soundtrack, and had a realization. “Love is Spoken Here came on, and it was family, and it still had that essence of religion that not a lot of people see me as, so I wanted to communicate that.”
The final song on Wilson’s manifesto is called Girl That You Love, also by Panic! at the Disco. That song shows Wilson’s philosophy about love. “When I fall in love, I usually fall for those I’m closest with, and those people are usually my best friends. So I already have a really strong connection with them.” He says. He also shares that he loves and hates being in love. “Being in a relationship is a really consuming, intense thing, but it’s also really amazing.”
Gavin Wilson’s passion for music is directly related to his beliefs, and for good reason. Music is of paramount importance to his life, and it only makes sense that he would connect something so important to his belief system, his way of living life. “Music is kind of my life. That’s actually one of my taglines.” As shown in his Mixtape Manifesto, Wilson is passionate about music, and he definitely shows that in his interview.
Kirsten Zornado
On a typical, if somewhat hot, San Marcos morning, a dozen pairs of teenagers are peppered around the High Tech High North County campus, interviewing each other. The partners are talking about their Mixtape Manifestos, online “mixtapes” of music that reflect the creator’s belief systems. Each person has listened to their partner’s mixtape, and are trying to discern their partner’s belief system through their interviews.
In one such partnership, Gavin Wilson is relaxing, in a batman shirt, jeans, and a collared vest. He decides to move into the shade just as the swiftly departing cloud cover exposes the sun. Once settled, he begins to talk about his love of music, “Music helps calm my thoughts, and kinda helps calm the process [of thinking].” He says, “It helps to calm my emotions, helps me through tough times, helps pump me up when I need it, or just kinda helps me focus. I listen to music for just about everything.”
His passion for music is not stemmed from just him, though. He got a lot of his musical inspiration from his parents, who exposed him to their favorite bands from a young age. Music is also a way to connect to other people, even strangers. At a concert once, he talked with a random girl, and they ended up hanging out for the rest of the time, “And, like, she got really emotional during one of the songs, because it’s a really emotional song, and her and I just kind of had this moment where we were like, yes, this song is really emotional and stuff. And we were like, best friends, like we had our arms around each other. Then the song was over.”
The first song on Wilson’s Manifesto, Critical Acclaim, by Avenge Sevenfold, starts with a classic, eerie organ, that leads into a song that is, “angsty, teen-y, punk-rock, and as heavy metal as you can get.” The song is meaningful to Wilson because it makes fun of all of the political correctness in our world, which is something he thinks is overdone.
Critical Acclaim also talks about having both conservative and liberal points of view on an issue, something he believes in doing. “It’s exactly true, you can’t just take one side [in politics]. You have to speak up.” He pauses, “I’m definitely more conservative than liberal, but at the same time, I’m not anti-liberal, and I’m not full on republican. I just see things a certain way, and I’m not going to choose one side or the other.”
The second song on the playlist is a definite shift in mood from Critical Acclaim. In The Hollow of Thy Hand (from The RM sountrack) is a song about a boy’s daily journey, looking for guidance from God. Wilson, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, otherwise known as Mormons, describes it as saying something like, “Hey, God. Please spend this day with me, and just help me be humble, and help me in my life.” Wilson is obviously interested in bettering himself and connecting with God, even through the difficult time of high school.
Give Me One Good Reason, by Blink 182, is where Wilson’s personality really shines through. The song talks about how it doesn’t really matter if you fit in, and how all of the stereotypes for how people should act are really stupid. “A lot of [this song] is making fun of myself. But at the same time, there’s so much about me I don’t like, but I don’t care, because, like it says in the song, I don’t want to fit in. I don’t fit in, and I don’t want to fit in, and I’m perfectly happy with it.”
When asked if his songs almost all featuring his “be myself” mentality was purposeful, he says that it’s an inherent part of his personality. “I’ve always wanted to be me. I’ve always had the mentality that if you don’t like it, then you can kind of suck it... When it’s something so close to my heart as that, if most of my songs communicate that, it’s just a happy coincidence. Honestly, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t there.” Wilson’s happiness with himself is shown throughout his whole Manifesto, as well as being an inherent part of his personality, and no song reveals this more than Give Me One Good Reason.
Wilson’s fourth song, Girls/Girls/Boys by Panic! at the Disco, reflects his own, and his friend’s, battles with their own sexuality. “Sexuality is something kinda big to me. Something I’ve actually sort of struggled with personally in my life, and so many people close to me have.” He says. “I am a huge believer in ‘love is not a choice’, but another thing that I like about the song is it’s kinda satirical in a way.” He goes on to explain that he sees the song as mocking the fact that having a “different” sexuality is considered trendy, something he also feels strongly about. “I want to make sure that in the society I live in, I don’t want it to take something as delicate as this, and just turn it into another social norm.”
Another song from The RM’s soundtrack, Love is Spoken Here, is about a very strong belief in Wilson’s life. “I was trying really hard to get a song about family, because family is hugely important in my life.” Wilson believes that this song is a guideline on how a home should be structured, which is best shown through the first verse of the song, “Mine is a home where every hour/is blessed by the strength/of His good power/With Father and Mother leading the way/Teaching me how to trust and obey/And the things they teach are crystal clear/For love is spoken here.”. He came across it while looking through the movie’s soundtrack, and had a realization. “Love is Spoken Here came on, and it was family, and it still had that essence of religion that not a lot of people see me as, so I wanted to communicate that.”
The final song on Wilson’s manifesto is called Girl That You Love, also by Panic! at the Disco. That song shows Wilson’s philosophy about love. “When I fall in love, I usually fall for those I’m closest with, and those people are usually my best friends. So I already have a really strong connection with them.” He says. He also shares that he loves and hates being in love. “Being in a relationship is a really consuming, intense thing, but it’s also really amazing.”
Gavin Wilson’s passion for music is directly related to his beliefs, and for good reason. Music is of paramount importance to his life, and it only makes sense that he would connect something so important to his belief system, his way of living life. “Music is kind of my life. That’s actually one of my taglines.” As shown in his Mixtape Manifesto, Wilson is passionate about music, and he definitely shows that in his interview.
Listen to Gavin's Mixtape Manifesto here!
Kirsten's Mixtape Manifesto:
Mountains o' Things - Tracy Chapman
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tracychapman/mountainsothings.html
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tracychapman/mountainsothings.html
Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
Lyrics in video
Lyrics in video
Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/maninthemirror.html
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/maninthemirror.html
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
Lyrics in video
Lyrics in video