I was just 15 when I began working in a small music store nestled in the corner of a sun-soaked shopping area in suburban Melbourne. My job involved selling albums, cassettes, cassette players, and those large, heavy stereos equipped with EQ sliders that made you feel like a producer at Abbey Road, rather than merely trying to improve your mum's kitchen disco from sounding like mere static.
It was more than a job; it was exhilarating because it allowed everyone who bought an album to reconnect with a part of their soul, helping them discover, feel, and connect... music had the remarkable ability to evoke emotions, to transport you to other realms of thought, to touch your higher self and lead you to a different place. A magical realm – or as David Bowie put it – “far above the world.” Music encouraged us all to “float in a most peculiar way” – beyond the confines of time and space.
In today's algorithm-driven social media landscape, I question whether the younger generation has forgotten how to genuinely feel, how to ‘float in a tin can far above the world with nothing else to do’… Now we simply scroll and remain numb. We have drifted so far from our true selves, from our friends, and from nature that we’ve lost our way home… “Your circuits dead – something’s wrong.” Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom? – I can almost hear David Bowie's voice softly resonating in my ear.
Music is our means of reconnecting… and 8 represents the circuit to reconnect with ourselves, our friends, our humanity, and our freedom. Artists and the vibrations of music resonate with our energy, causing our bodies to vibrate differently. AI cannot replicate that. AI cannot stir our souls in the same way that human energy can.
It wasn’t all cool vibes and Bowie – like many cringe-worthy teenage experiences, my favorite band and first concert were the Bay City Rollers. I adored Derek. We’d play the Bay City Rollers on repeat. It brought pure, unapologetic joy. You could witness it—those moments when someone would enter feeling tense and reserved, then leave the store pumping their fist to “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night” or humming “Bye Bye Baby,” beaming as if they had just been granted permission to truly breathe.
That record shop was the first place I witnessed the strength of human connection through music. Listening transformed into a superpower, offering access to a new dimension. I saw and felt it. There were people waiting in line for Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA. I learned that lyrics are a form of protest, melody embodies memory, sound serves as sanctuary, and music is life.
As we drift in our little tin cans high above the world, can you hear those whispers?
I think it’s time we navigate our way home.
Tune in now…
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I began working at a small music shop, located in a sun-drenched shopping strip in suburban Melbourne, when I was 15 years old. My job involved selling albums and cassettes.