“What kind of music do you like?”
That SHOULD BE the most fun question on Earth to be asked. Yet, somehow, every time someone asks me, I have no clue what to say. As much as I want to provide a dazzlingly awesome answer, I find myself stumbling, unsure where to even begin. If I tried to actually give an accurate, thorough answer, the person who asked me would most certainly regret asking at all, and would start looking for a way out of the conversation about 3% of the way through my response. I can’t sum it up by listing genres. I can’t sum it up by naming artists. I can’t sum it up by bracketing periods of time. There is just so much I need to say in order to paint the full picture, and anything less feels frustratingly incomplete.
The same complexity and contradiction of not being able to answer a seemingly simple question also applies to this “About” section of the website. It’s entirely too much to cover. I can’t give a long, detailed answer, and I can’t give a quick, short answer.
So, what I am going to attempt is a somewhat brief run through just a few of the MANY important music-related events and memories that stand out in my mind as some of the most significant, in chronological order, covering a wide variety of experiences.
Let’s do it:
I think my music obsession was born even before I was. Several of the records from my dad’s collection had to have worked their way into my ears while I was still in the womb. I can’t remember ever NOT knowing the Beatles, ELO, Pink Floyd, or Queen (to name a few). I was a music dork as a baby, and the passion has just continued to steadily increase along with my age. A lifetime of intense devotion, along with an inhuman, almost robotic level of memory makes me someone you most definitely want on your music trivia team.
The first couple of songs I ever definitively declared as my “favorite song” were “The Tide Is High” by Blondie and “The Winner Takes It All” by Abba. Both still awesome songs, for the record!
When I was about 5 years old, I won a contest on the local radio station (yes, it was a trivia question, and yes, I answered it without assistance), and the prize was a coupon for a free 45 of my choice at the nearby record store. My selection was “Gloria” by Laura Branigan.
It caused me physical pain to not have MTV as a kid, because back then, it was actually awesome, containing nonstop videos. Sadly, though, we lived too far outside of town to be eligible to get cable (or so I was told). Even during fun, happy times partying and playing, a small piece of my brain was always at least partially aware that I was missing whatever killer-ass video was playing on MTV at that moment.
The first instrument I really learned how to play was the trombone, starting in 6th grade band.
Throughout my middle school and high school years, my addiction to collecting music gradually increased. Record stores became my classrooms (or crack houses, perhaps). I devoured as much new music as I could possibly get my hands on, and it was never enough. I always needed that next fix.
Right in the middle of this era of my life came what I have long declared to be the absolute, undisputed, unquestionably best overall year of music in the history of mankind: 1991 (extensive evidence supporting this claim will eventually be revealed in the “Blog” section of my website).
When I started college, I was a music major, and part of the music degree was taking piano lessons. I was really excited about this, because I had always wanted to know how to play piano. So, I entered the classes with enthusiasm and a powerful work ethic. Much to my dismay, I fucking HATED the lessons. Trying to get through those classes was utterly torturous. However, I absolutely LOVE playing the piano. I learned enough about chords and general music theory to be able to teach myself how to hold my own on the keys. I may play like a hooved animal, but I still love playing anyway. I am SOOOOOOO glad that the miserable experience of taking formal lessons didn’t contaminate my love of playing the instrument my way.
During the latter part of my college years, while I had a broken ankle, I taught myself how to play guitar.
Shortly after I graduated college, I started writing my own songs. As my songwriting skills grew, I realized that my first several compositions were garbage, and I have completely disowned them. They aren’t on my Bandcamp or Soundcloud pages, I never give the recordings out to people, and I never play them live. Only a select few of my close friends have copies of them.
In 2015, I took on the task of self-releasing a 7” vinyl EP (“Primitive Creations From The Laboratory”) containing four of my best songs, so that I would have a nice item to sell at shows and also a nice professional step in helping to boost my resume.
In 2018, I was given the unbelievable honor of having a full-length record of my material (“Mild Agoraphobia”) released by Joyful Noise Recordings as part of their monthly White Label Series subscription.
Throughout my years of performing, I have made it a personal goal to always do at least one thing at every single show that I have never done before. It may be an alteration to a song, it may be playing a song on a different instrument, it may be playing a cover song that I have never played before, it may be playing one of my own songs that I have never played live before, or it may be some other ridiculous quirk thrown into the mix. Gotta keep challenging myself. Gotta keep trying new things. Gotta keep the elements of surprise and variety coming for the audience. So, even if you have seen every Mark Dippel show ever, you’ll still see something new happen every time.
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“There’s so much more that I could say” …
But, I think the information above provides a fairly well-rounded outline of “The Melodic Journey Of Mark Dippel,” without becoming too excessively lengthy.
So, what kind of music do I like? I’m starting to think that maybe the best (and, somehow, the most accurate) way to answer that question is to take the Beavis and Butt-Head route-- “Uhhh, I like stuff that doesn’t suck!”