Spot(light)ify: Grant Gonzalez
by Lydia Hong ‘23
You may know Grant Gonzalez for his winning smile and his super-friendly attitude, but there’s a lot you probably don’t know about our Assistant Head of School for Campus Life (other than his super-long-very-official-sounding title). For example, did you know that Gonzalez went to boarding school? Graduating high school in 2003, 90’s songs naturally dominate his playlists. When he arrived at boarding school in 1999, 13-year-old Gonzalez was looking for the most agreeable song to play while unpacking. Not wanting to play his rap or country, he figured that Red Hot Chili Peppers, an American alternative rock band, would be “a rather inoffensive genre.” He decided to play their song “Scar Tissue” on loop. In the bigger picture of his formative years, he says that, “Juicy” by Biggie, is “the song of the nineties, the song of 90s rap, the song of the East coast, the song of New York.”
“Music means a lot to me, in terms of thinking about different times of my life, different times of my growth and development, different times in terms of where I was with people,” Gonzalez explains. He says that music has the power to “bring you back and transfer you to a certain place in time.” “Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel is one of those songs for Gonzalez. It reminds him of a summer with his family: “We were on vacation at the beach, and we were having a clambake at night and a dance party.” He remembers playing the song and “everyone being happy.”
A change in season comes with a change in music as well, especially emerging from a frigid NMH winter. Gonzalez says that “there’s something about springtime here, after a long winter, just driving down the street to go to Dunkin Donuts, or driving down the street to get gas, just that five minute trip… the first time of the season when you can roll down the windows.” He says that “Gone Country” by Alan Jackson, and “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” by Travis Tritt are two songs he would like to hear in the car on a day like that.
One of Gonzalez’s “favorite songs of all time” is “Unpretty” by TLC. You may know TLC, the all-Black American R&B girl group, for their song “Waterfalls” or “No Scrubs.” But according to Gonzalez, “Unpretty” is “underrated” and “should absolutely be their best song” in the Spotify ranking. He says that if he wants to start off his day on the right foot then this song is the way to go. Gonzalez also has nothing but praise for the incredibly influential Black female artist, Lauryn Hill. He says that her album MTV Unplugged 2.0 is “raw, you feel what she’s feeling and what she’s gone through as an artist.”
He appreciates a live performance too. The American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne’s live version and combination of the songs “Load Out” and “Stay” makes him happy: “If I’m already happy it makes me happier,” says Gonzalez .
Oddly enough, Gonzalez also likes to listen to sad music when he’s happy. “Nothing Compares to You” by Sinead O’Conner, “This Year’s Love” by David Gray, and “When We Were Young” by Adele “just hits.” It “puts you in a certain mood,” says Gonzalez.
Although he loves classic U.S. hits, Gonzalez isn’t one to only listen to mainstream American music. He says the song “Mona Ki Ngi Xica” by Bonga, an Angolan artist from the 70’s, is “amazing.” Bonga’s work “is about Angolan independence from Portugal,” and is worth a listen for both the music and the artist behind it. Another non-American artist Gonzalez wants to highlight is the Swedish rapper Henakachido, “if people are looking for some Nordic rap.”
And now that you know him a little better, Gonzalez leaves us with his last two recommendations for our listening enjoyment: “Number One” by Paul Williams, and “Song Cry” by Jay-Z. Because what makes more sense than the happiest dean on campus loving one of the most moody ballads of the 2000s.
