Sixteen sounds

What was I listening to when I was 16?

I was listening to loose-limbed, drug-fueled English bastards; crappy yet catchy pop-rap from movie soundtracks and other, even less reputable sources; whatever was being blasted by stereo-toting friends in the high school canteen.

I was listening to the funny-cruel, lonesome-grandiose sounds of Morrissey’s solo work (and still, of course, to the glorious back catalog of The Smiths); the sweetly melodic, swoon-inducing guitar-pop of Aztec Camera; the tale-spinning, fiddle-playing, vaguely mystical folk-rock of The Waterboys; the mood-swinging emotional apocalypses of The Cure; the brash British breakthrough that was The Stone Roses; old and new work by the peerless and provocative David Bowie; and, as always, the smart shameless shiny-sad synth-pop of the Pet Shop Boys.

What were my friends listening to when they were 16?

“Soundgarden’s ‘Superunknown’ was a go-to CD for me at that time,” says Katwo Puertollano, graphic artist/band frontwoman, describing the album as “leftovers from my sister’s boyfriend’s collection. Loved it though! And nothing gives a 16-year-old Catholic schoolgirl more cred than singing Kim Thayil’s riffs on My Wave.”

“Depeche Mode. Now get off my lawn,” says Andrew de Castro, broadcast executive (formerly of MTV Philippines, now at TV5). “Everything But The Girl,” says Rock Ed founder Gang Badoy. “And it was my choice — not from my older siblings’ records na.” She adds: “Otherwise, Steely Dan forever.”

Soundgarden: Hellooooo, Catholic schoolgirls.

“Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, and Spice Girls. And no, you aren’t allowed to unfriend me,” says scientist/lawyer friend Inez. Dancefloor-loving writer Lester Hallig declares: “Debbie! Tiffany! George! Whitney! Rick! Exposé!” Meanwhile, artist Lala Gallardo-Samson sums up her 16-year-old self’s listening habits in one name: “Bjork!”

“’Bandwagonesque’ by Teenage Fanclub and ‘Blood Sugar Sex Magik’ by Red Hot Chili Peppers,” says Atty. Jing Gaddi of Ang Bandang Shirley. “When I was 16 I listened to shitty pop punk,” says Francis Cabal (a.k.a. “that one guy” in The Strangeness). Lizzy, a self-described “sensible cat lady,” says “’The Queen is Dead’ and ‘The Beatles Live at the BBC’ cassette tapes got played over and over and over again the summer I was 16.”

What are we listening to now?

We are listening to the hum and chatter of our hallways and offices; we are listening to the construction sounds and siren wails of the motor-crowded streets; we are listening to mash-ups and remakes and remixes and new approaches; we are listening to bands and artists dreaming against the odds; we are listening to each other, we are listening for our lives.