Tell us how your music tastes have changed over the years!

I'd like to think my taste in music is eclectic. My music journey started by being influenced from a young age to my father and mothers music which ranged from The Eagles, Meatloaf, Elton John, Queen (my father) to The Beatles, Elvis and other 60s band (my mother). I remember fondly exploring through their CD's and LPs and taking a chance on the music within going off the artwork. It was exciting. I remember fondly trying to guess what the music sounded like after looking at the sometimes random and provocative album artwork. As soon as one album as done, the craving for more took hold and I'd hurry back to see what else the metaphorical sweet shop of music held in store. I quickly became a fan of the bands which I had discovered, predominantly, Queen and The Beatles and still am to this day.

As I grew my yearning for more music knowledge/experiences grew with me and I looked to my elder brother and sister, taking on board what they were listening to. My brother who was nearly 20yrs my senior grew up loving punk, two tone and prog rock music. A vastly different sound to that I had listened to from my parents. My brothers rock bands of choice, that I took interest in, were the greats from the 70s Pink Floyd, Madness and The Sex Pistols. I was haunted for years the memory of watching Pink Floyd's movie, The Wall, with him one night as an impressionable 10 year old. A memory I will never forget. My sister, ten years older, was more into the pop music of the 80s with artists such has Madonna, Kyle Minogue, Paul Young, Phil Collins making the rotation in her EP collection. We used to go on road trips around the area just listening to the charts on the radio singing our hearts out.

As I grew into my teens that need for discovering new music stayed with me and I ventured off on my own into the world of music, at first looking for music that sounded similar to that already experienced, needing that comfort blanket and familiarity. Bands such as Oasis, Blur, The Verve, Kula Shaker and Stone Roses who all seemed exciting and fresh but with call-backs to the sound of The Beatles, Queen and even The Eagles. I was excited with every trip to Woolworths to see what singles I could buy or albums if I liked the band enough.

As I grew I went through what I call the teen cocoon phase, shutting myself off in my room with only gaming and music for entertainment. This is where my music journey flourished. I'd fully concentrate on the music without distractions and take note of who songs were built in songs but also as a whole album, sometimes telling a story from start to finish. I was making leaps across genres and soundscapes. During an exceptionally hard time around the millennium I used this escapism hard when coping and got lost in the music which had brought me so much comfort and good memories in the past.

During my 20s, 30s to present I've continued to collect fresh and exciting new music to add to my collection - firstly CDs, then in playlists such as Winamp and then Spotify. The Journey continues. I also found a love of hosting gigs for local bands in the area by being a music promoter giving them a chance to shine but also introducing me to homegrown music influenced by the music I loved already and sometimes something completely different. Watching as the bands evolve into more proficient bands and artists has been great to see. We've garnered praise in the local community for being fair and for being there to promote them. Something I'm proud of

The journey is ongoing. A journey I never want to end.

My taste in music has always been led by my love of pop-rock, which developed and matured within me as time went by. As a kid, it had all been about the Disney Channel; hence, pop/rock and debut albums by Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and Miley Cyrus gained height and were my soundtrack. It is quite chill pop/rock that has subtly introduced me to that genre, of which, in fact, I was unaware back in that moment.

By the time I got to high school, my playlists were full of top 40 hits and a growing appreciation for pop-rock. I listened to a lot of One Direction, like every teen back then, Justin Bieber, and whatever was dominating the charts. But this was also when my true rock journey began with the discovery of bands like All Time Low, Marianas Trench, and Hedley. They opened the door to a slightly edgier, more emotional sound that stuck with me.

College was all about embracing those rock influences even further. Marianas Trench and All Time Low were on repeat, and their albums felt like they were written just for me. Their lyrics and melodies became the soundtrack to some of the most defining years of my life.

Now, as an adult, my musical tastes remain steadfast but refined. Marianas Trench and All Time Low are staples in my playlists, with 5 Seconds of Summer joining the bunch. I love how these bands have grown with me, evolving their sounds while still holding onto the elements that made me fall in love with their music in the first place.

It's funny looking back mostly because, while my taste hasn't drastically changed, it's always been dictated by the phases of my life and the artists who spoke to me during those times. And honestly? I wouldn't change a thing.

Music is like life: as time passes, it changes. Tastes changes and mixes, bands come and go, some classics remain. Periods of calm alternates to periods of intense discovery. Every genre/band has a reason and a time for it, it makes no sense to wonder "what if I discovered that early?" or "wish I had known them early" if you didn't it probably means you weren't ready for it.

From the mix of 2000 and 2010s radio music and 80s classics, Linkin Park angst and Depeche Mode forever sound, comes the first great period of discovery when I moved away from pop and rock and delved into Symphonic Metal: it was a different sound, with these ethereal women voices pitted against the darkness and guttural growl of male singers. Nightwish, Within Temptation, Epica, Theater of Tragedy were the lead groups of such phase. Darker the descent became with Lacuna Coil, Tristania and others, a descent that branched into into the dark electronic music of the german speaking dance halls with aggrotech and EBM, to slip into the dark lyrics of Paradise Lost and similar groups. But darkness can't last forever, and from it, the progressive metal like Ayreon and God is an Astronaut, 80s inspired bands like The Night Flight Orchestra and electronic acts and weaver of landscapes like Solar Fields brought a change of air. And air would change once again as history cannot be forgotten, and it came forward, in due time, with 80s staples like Ah-ah and Toto, 70s experiments like YMO and Kraftwerk, or the saxophones of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane of Jazz.

What I know is that it is yet to end and plenty is yet to be discovered.

When I was a toddler the main thing I was listening to of course was what my parents used to put on the player. My dad was born in the 60s, and his favorite was The Beatles, Scorpions, Bee Gees, ABBA, Francoise Hardy, Nancy Sinatra. Or at least that's what I remember, because they were, and still are my favorite musicians until today.

In middle school, it was around 2006-2007. It was a lot of younger rock music like emo, punk, alternative, bands like Simple Plan, My Chemical Romance, Avril Lavigne, Paramore, Green Day, they were my favorites. I don't listen to them anymore nowadays, just a song a two of MCR everytime I'm feeling it, but not further than that. Oh, and also a bit of hip-hop.

In highschool, it was dubstep, I couldn't understand why, must because dubstep musicians like Zedd and Skrillex were pretty big by that time. A bit of pop as well, but mostly I couldn't remember who I was listening too, I guess I didn't listen to that much music in highschool. And yeah, also a bit of hip-hop.

As I'm finishing high school and entering college, my spectrum has gotten big big in a very short time. First it was a bit more of rock, for the first time I started looking back a bit of older bands, glam metal, classic rock, rock n' roll, it was a mess between of big faces in the 60-70s like Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Rolling Stones, you name it; and the later generations of the 80-90s like Skid Row, Guns n' Roses, Nirvana, Deep Purple. I dived a bit deeper for some metal, but only for a short time. It got so intense during a year or two, then suddenly I just got soften down, and included some pop in my music. Lana Del Rey was my favorite, still is my most listened artist though. It's been 11 years since her first album that made it to mainstream, and today I'm still her fan. Later on I started to pick up something else like 30-40s music like folk, jazz, a bit of classic pop like The Chordettes, The Ronnettes, The Platters, and some jazz artists including Armstrong, Baker, among others.

As of today, almost being 30, I find myself listening to everything. Movies soundtracks have been included in the last 5 years since I started to watch more movies and pay attention to them. Favorite original soundtracks including Amélie (2001), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Scorsese's movies in the 90s, with an exception of Taxi Driver (1976) (he knows how to choose songs for his films). Classical is something else I'd go to once in a while. And last but not least, country, and Johnny Cash, because the man made his own genre.

New music been added to my playlists lately being synth pop, 80s synth, 90s hip-hop. The whole Fallout games and TV shows has enlighten me with more classic pop/folk. But the only thing I stop listening to is heavier rock music, or dubstep, can go for synthwave, darkwave and techno (if I'm outside of course), but dubstep is just dead for me. I just feel too old for that.

I've come to a conclusion is that your music taste really develops through yourself by the time, by what you're dealing with during the moment. There was a time that I started to learn how to play the guitar, I listened to a lot of folk and stuff like that. Then I started a garage band and listened to a lot of garage/indie.

Who knows what could inspire me in the future, but my playlist is surely confusing to a lot of people, lol.

My music taste has evolved over the years, while still containing some of the classics I used to listen to in my youth. Growing up, I was mainly into chart music, pop & occasionally some r&b. Through my teens I felt a growing connection to songs and genres that reminded me of my dad and my brothers, such as Oasis, The Arctic Monkeys & Kasabian. Today, I will listen to almost anything! I could be hearing Ariana Grande one minute, Tame Impala the next, then moving onto a mix of Heavy Metal! I appreciate all music for different reasons, but must say my love for Grime has come to play these last few years most of all.