Imagine a 13 year-old Nate waiting in the car for his parents to finish their shopping at Wal-Mart in Hutchinson, MN. They said they’d be fifteen minutes and it’s now been AT LEAST 20. So what’s a kid to do? rifle through Dad’s CD collection of course. Now, I knew that Stan had a very decent record collection, and I was no stranger to classic rock. Having been raised on Zeppelin, Elton John, Jim Croce, The Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, etc. Strangely up until that point I had never actually listened to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon from front to back, so I thought what the heck, and popped it in. Keep in mind I was very impatient already due to the fact that my parents were 5 minutes over their allotted 15 minute time frame, this album took FOREVER to start. Hearing the album on a relatively nice car stereo in a dark GMC Yukon, only seeing parking lot car lights go by through the tinted windows, turned out to be a very intense way to listen to one of the greatest albums of all time. I was able to buckle down and actually choose to pay attention to something for; what seemed looking back, the first time in my life. All of the sounds were crisp and well represented. All the whispers and background banter, everything I have learned to love about Darkside in its right place. Cliche alert: I was transported to a different place for 45 minutes. I was lost in something that I knew deep in my guts I was completely in love with.

Fast-forward to 4 years later, I’m now a junior at Hutchinson High School. I had gone through a few different phases of musical tastes, one in particular being a mild obsession with Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. After the excitement of the post hair metal era faded (keep in mind I was at least 12 years behind the curve on this) the fascination of all things classic and psychedelic came back into focus. The Beatles, the Doors, The Grateful Dead, King Crimson, and most importantly, Pink Floyd.

As fate would have it my closest friends were the instigators of this phenomenon which led me back to the band that I had connected strongly with just 4 short years prior. I always knew I liked the Floyd. I always listened casually, but now it was time to dive head first into a world that was already created and a story that was almost already fully told. For some reason I really like the thought of getting into bands many years after they have broken up, or seen their glory days. It’s a lot like looking at a collection classic cars. Some vehicles are perfectly restored and you realize the full potential, on others you can see all the damage, rust, and design flaws fully present. A lot like with albums, If you pay close enough attention to detail though, each car contains beauty and perfect intricacies. As opposed to looking at a lot full of new machines, being dazzled by their seeming perfection, but not knowing what time has in store.

Due to the fact that I surrounded myself with awesome people in high school, my friends and I became extremely obsessed with Pink Floyd and had countless debates on the quality and merit of each album. We each found our own favorite, and in a lot of ways they were a reflection of our individual personalities. Zack’s favorite was The Division Bell, as he liked the more contemporary compositions and compressed and produced vibe. Joe was into the early stuff, with an emphasis on Saucerful of Secrets and Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Biehler loved the Wall for not only it’s dark and psychedelic sound, but also the endless visuals and the fact that it had it’s own movie as well as syncing perfectly to Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. Ty-Pie’s jam was Wish You Were Here, Dillon was an Animals guy. My favorite is and always will be Dark Side of the Moon, in so many ways it’s an absolutely perfect album. However, I do find myself listening to Meddle a lot more often and I would say that it has a certain appeal in the same way Dark Side does. Thinking back, I would say that all our favorite Floyd albums were Dark Side, then we each picked a second favorite to relate to and assign to our individual personalities. Dark Side is undeniably the gateway Floyd album.

I can’t speak for any of my friends, but the aspect of Pink Floyd that I loved the most, and still love the most, was their ability to captivate mine and everyone else attention around me, making me feel independent but yet connected at the same time. It’s a journey into a crooked mind, a feeling that at any point you could go completely insane. It’s also safety in knowing that someone has already traversed that territory and are reporting back to base. The songs create a story, and give you a glimpse into a world that seems interesting and fun on the surface, but scary and dark underneath. I can honestly say that my relationship with music would be completely different if it wasn’t for Pink Floyd. Everyone knows that spine tingle you get when you hear a piece of music that brings you back to a great moment in your life. For me, Pink Floyd not only represents a band of amazing musicians who made incredible songs, sounds, and records, but also a feeling and soundtrack to some of the most formative years of my life, and for that I will always be a gracious and obsessed superfan.