Music Therapy + Ghost Stories

 

I’ve always been into music and am a solid Apple Music enthusiast. I used to rack the CD stores back after school when I was a kid for hip hop CDs and listen to them on my music player.

I’ve evolved to using an iPod (like many) and then transitioning to fully blasting my music from my iTunes on my AirPods. I went to many raves and music events and festivals and always had a playlist for every occasion. 

That changed during COVID when I inherited a second hand blue Crosley Bluetooth record player from a person in my apartment. Really, I just found it in the laundry room and decided to take it with me. 

When I moved and got my own 1 bedroom apartment, I strategically put the record player in my bedroom and my TVs in my living room. I remember many lively nights of having finished my days work and laying on my bed with dimmed lighting, Momo by my side, blasting house and soul music and dreaming about life. Living alone, I blasted music as loud as possible. It was so much fun. There was not much to do during those days besides work and staying home. Music festivals and clubs were shut down and listening to music on my AirPods dulled in comparison to this. 

Ghost story: That changed when bizarre things started happening in my apartment after a few months of living there, like the lights in my room flickering and things being misplaced. Drawers opening and shutting and the electricity turning on and off. Believing the music player was possibly possessed (there was a lady on my floor in my last apartment where I found it who died that week due to a gas leak), I threw it out immediately. I’m not superstitious at all but I was living alone at the time and had no other explanation. I mean, what else could have been the reason?! 

This is not even my last and only ghost story, I had another experience in my next apartment in New York involving an elevator that kept going up and down on its own and emitting weird laughing sounds when the door opened. The building was pre-war and used to be an old hotel. I’ll save this story for another day. I am now convinced some of Manhattan’s old apartment buildings are crawling with ghosts. 

Missing the music player, I bought a new one off Amazon but it was not the same, the Bluetooth function didn’t work, so I sold it on OfferUp. 

COVID-19 ended shortly and I got integrated back into the real world. I decided to take a break from listening to music so I can focus more on being present and stay immersed in the now. I started getting very busy in my career and social life, too busy to listen and discover new music. 

HOWEVER, recently I rediscovered the joy of music again after moving back to San Francisco and meeting people who are passionate about music. I decided to get a brand new Record Player of Amazon (brand new, no more ghosties) as a Christmas present for myself and started scavenging for records so I’m not just using the Bluetooth function but actually utilizing the record player to play records. 

There are a few good record stores in San Francisco including Amoeba Music and Tunnel Records near me. I’m excited to embark on this journey of discovering new music and looking for records and enjoying music again. 

I highly suggest for affordable brands to look into Victrola and Crosley and avoid the off-brands as I’ve had issues with them in the past (such as the Bluetooth not connecting). They come in many colors and styles and are quite legitimate. As for records, I suggest looking into used records (they come as cheap as $1 each) as new records can be quite pricey, ranging from $40 - $110 for an album. 

I will spend tonight looking for a good place to put the record player. Hope you enjoyed this post and story :). Let me know if you have any music recommendations and suggestions on where to go for good records!