From Zero to Beatles

Growing up, my house was always filled with sounds of the 60’s and 70’s. With bands like Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac and Credence, I grew up with an appreciation for older music and the impact it had on society and the evolution of music. I found myself popping in and out of musical era’s as a teenager, re-discovering past genre’s, seeking the influences that make up my favourite modern music. A big fan of independent music, particularly of the Rock n Roll variety, my tastes grew outwards to electronica, psychedelic and folk.

One band you could say encompassed all those things at one point or another, were The Beatles, however I just never seemed to give them the time of day. It wasn’t until 2009 when I was enjoying a farewell party, right before I would start what was meant to be a “trip” to the UK, my uncle Barry requested a photograph of me on the famous Abbey Road crossing. His passion for the band and vague jealousy that this is something I could do was somewhat inspiring. It would be another 12 months until I had moved to North West London, an area 20 minutes’ walk away from the Abbey Road studios where that fateful photograph was taken. It was also the year that I met my husband, an avid Beatles fan who would be instrumental in my entrance into modern beatlemania.

Still only visiting what would become fandom, I journeyed the short walk to Abbey Road. What I found was an abundance of tourists risking life and limb to get a personal replica of the photograph. After nearly being knocked down myself by an angry moped driver, I decided Photoshop would be a better way to appease my uncle’s request. The experience was quite insane, but also highlighted the relevance of the iconic band in this day and age, and again showed me the passion fans have for the empire.

After many wine and YouTube sessions, where my husband would repeatedly expose me to live recordings, I was almost there. It wasn’t until last year, when planning our wedding, when I really fell in love with the Beatles. We had to pick three songs to be played at our ceremony. I couldn’t get out of my head “Here Comes the Sun”, mainly because only a few months earlier, my husband to be and I had taken a temporary break from our relationship and coming up the escalators of the tube one morning, feeling quite blue, a busker cheered me up with a  rendition of the song. It’s the first song that played at our wedding - at Marylebone Town Hall, which is where Paul McCartney wed Nancy Shevell in the same year.

It seems the Beatles and their music started to follow me on a personal journey I started in 2009, and still prevail in my life now. You could say, my blog is about the Beatles, because I am now a Beatles fan, with sentimental attachment to the music.