Leaving on a Jet Plane

34 hours of travelling.


That’s how long it took to get back home from East Africa. Usually my travel time would have been broken up between bouts of movie watching and sleeping while listening to my iPod on the plane. This however did not happen on my trip home as my iPod was stolen the night before I left Nairobi.

Gutted is not the word I would use.

During my trip home I thought about what I would be listening to and at what stage I would listen to the music. I had all these dreams of sliding back into my seat and drifting off to Sly & the Family Stone from Nairobi to Dubai and then while walking around Dubai airport banging out to some Sepultura. Dubai to Sydney would be a mixture of Nina Simone, Soundgarden, The Rollins Band and Mos Def, While coming back Sydney through to Auckland would consist of Tiki Taane and Zane Lowe’s Breaks Co-op. Good ol’ Kiwi sounds.

Sadly it was not to be.

The aside factor of not having my iPod made me start thinking of trips taken when I was younger – Road trips with the boys and what we listened to. This also is the topic for this blog.
Growing up on the East Coast of New Zealand was one of the greatest things in the world. You have everything at your fingertips; Beaches, Mountains, Cities and farms - Paradise on earth as far as I am concerned. During and after high school I had many trips to these places and road trips both north and south with the guys to some great locations. Music played a major role in all of these getaways.

Danzig’s self-titled debut was a huge aspect of these trips and played a major part in several of these boy’s only drives. Whether it was to the beach or off to Wellington for the weekend that album got played a hell of a lot to the point that the cassette could not handle it anymore and disintegrated. One of the greatest albums I have ever heard to this day. Glen Danzig’s booming dark voice with a slight Mick Jagger twist had a feel to it that really made you want to listen. The more mellow songs like ‘Mother’ to the angrier ‘Twist of Cain’ scoured my memory for life as the good times they were.
Rewinding a few years earlier when I was still living at home, I had purchased ‘The Trip 3’ of the alternative Trip series. Hugely popular at the time in the early 90’s and was a definite forerunner in introducing new bands to fanboys like myself. I always waited in anticipation for the new 'Trips' to come out.
Even though 'The Trip 1' was the best of the 9 that came out - 'The Trip 3' was the one that sticks in my mind the most. This album was used most on the car trips we took and even though it was by far not the best if the series it had a certain style. From Afghan Whigs to Nick Cave and Therapy? to Mudhoney. It made the best rides to the beach get us ready for a surf or trip to mates south get us in the mood for getting our party on.

My travelling music is very important to me and when I am without said music, it pains me. Imagine 34 hours of having to sit through not being able to listen to my own playlists and sounds.

What are your sounds that you listen to when you travel? I would be very interested to know?