Songs for Chansopa
Don’t cha wish your bestie made a mix like me?
“Today is June 19th. This is Evan and Seth Fowler…and we’re making Chansopa a mix.”
This is an ode to the mix CD.
Not mix tapes. Fuck mix tapes for one second.
Mix tapes had to be edited “in camera,” so to speak. A CD boombox had two tape decks. You played Concrete Blonde in one deck, and recorded “Joey” onto a blank cassette in the other. You could plan the tracks out first or chose your song in the moment, but pressing RECORD meant full commitment to the vibe. Otherwise, you’d risk hearing a ghost track on re-recorded tape.
Amateur move.
My goal every time was to make a mix tape that would be your favorite mix tape. I think this is why I’m in audio production today. I was obsessed with making a better mix and that meant leaning into personalization.
In between songs, I would add short clips from conversations I had recorded of friends hanging out, or me talking nonsense into the recorder when I was nine years old. For example, the following audio clip was the perfect lead-in to “Kiss” by Prince.
“Now let’s see, what should I do? Let’s put on some music”
But let’s talk about iTunes playlists.
Tell me about the first time you realized you could spend hours listening to the flow of the mix before you even burned it to CD. You could test out the emotional arc of the mix. You could rearrange songs at the last moment! And now you could add recordings of anything you downloaded off the internet.
Here’s a spattering of audio gems I’d litter throughout a playlist:
Faye Dunaway Phone Call
Top Gun: Ego Cashing Checks
Madonna: “Don’t Drive Drunk”
It’s good if you can sing, but it’s better if you can dance
Answering Machine Message: Listen, You Little Slut
Strangers with Candy: Eat Me
Cathy Horyn, NYT Fashion Columnist
Harry Potter and the Underage Blow Job
Marilyn Monroe: Another Human Being
Answering Machine: Fucking Loser
Mixes are Time Capsules
They tell the story of a time and a place. Each song is a choice and has a story about why it was chosen. Each mix tells the story of a friendship. Or friendships.
My friendships with Chansopa and Seth can be traced back to an after-party for Margaret Cho’s “I’m The One That I Want.” A queer non-profit organized a party after the screening, and I volunteered to take photos of the event for two free tickets. I brought my new friend Chansopa, already a fixture on the scene in Portland, Maine. It was the first time we were hanging out alone as friends. As I walked around taking party photos, Chansopa met Seth at the bar. I have a photo of them that night, all of us unaware we had just met a new best friend.
Seth lived north of the city but visited Portland all the time. We would drive to the mall, shop at Newbury Comics for new CDs, or drive 2 hours to Boston to see bands that never played in Maine. Seth’s ancient Mercedes sedan, Sadie, was just a jukebox on wheels.
Then I moved to the West Coast. A year later, Seth moved to San Francisco, too. We were both in between gigs in the spring of 2005, so one day I interviewed Seth about his transition to San Francisco and the people he left behind in Maine. One of those stories was a hilarious anecdote about Chansopa the morning after a Halloween party, wearing a tablecloth and yelling at passing cars from the porch.
So many of Seth’s stories about Chansopa were also tied to a song. So we decided to record a story & music mix tape for her. Plus, we both just missed her.
Here’s a sampling of the stories and tracks that were included on the CD.
I hope you enjoy listening, and maybe consider doing making a mix CD like this for a friend of yours, too.
For Chansopa, from Seth & Evan
Pull Over That Ass Too Fat - Trina
Chansopa called me one night on the phone, drunk and suffering from consistent hiccups.
PDA - Interpol
Seth remembers important talks with Chansopa about hot musicians.
Fuck the Pain Away - Peaches
Chansopa hung out the window of Seth’s car singing this song and Seth was laughing so hard that he ran a red light and stopped at a green one.
Never Can Say Goodbye - The Jackson 5
Chansopa wags her finger along to this song in a cafe one morning after a Halloween-in-August rager.
The Next Episode - Dr. Dre
Chansopa interrupts a dramatic scene in “City of God” to quote Dr. Dre.
Other tracks on Chanopha’s story & music mix CD:
All Cried Out - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam
Date With The Night - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
I Love the Nightlife - Alicia Bridges
To Know Him Is To Love Him - The Teddy Bears
What’s the best mix CD you received?
What was the track list and what stories did you associate with each song?
If you made a mix CD for your friend, what stories would you tell?
I’d love to see your track lists!