So, fellow blogger A Free Man has come up with a very cool idea that I believe he’s ruthlessly ripped off from someone else, but as one of my uni lecturers told me one day ‘hey – nothing’s original’.

Here’s how it goes. His buddy over at People In The Sun interviewed him and he posted the interview over at his site, asked fellow bloggers to comment and participate and then linked everybody up with somebody to interview. Anybody is welcome to join and as we speak, bloggers all over the shop are interviewing each other – good fun! I’m sure there’ll be a list posted over at AFM’s site once they all come in, and when they do I’ll link to it so you can go check out all the participants.

I interviewed Kitty over at Boring History Girl and I’ll let you know when that one is up and running so you can go have a peek. My interviewer was Chris from Formerly Fun and she asked some fantastic questions – check out my responses below.

So “Agnes”, why so mysterious?

I guess I like the freedom of being able to write what I like without anybody in my ‘real life’ knowing that it’s me. Only a handful of people in my life know that I write a blog, and even less know that it’s this particular blog that I write.

That and the fact that I’m really on the run from the law…but more about that later.

Many bloggers blog out of a sense of personal connection, for friendships that don’t include helping someone move, for catharsis, or to sharpen their writing skills. What do you get out of music blogging?

All of the above actually! In the beginning, it was just a way for me to share the music that I liked, but it has kind of morphed into this wonderful ongoing project that allows me to discover new bands, fall in love with new songs and correspond with other like minded people. I certainly never expected to form friendships out of it, but that has happened and it’s been a bit of an eye opener for me actually – I never expected to receive such warmth and generosity from total strangers, and it’s lovely.

It’s definitely carthartic too – many a crappy day in the last year has been improved by discovering a new track or responding to a comment or just writing to forget whatever was bothering me at the time. I like to think my writing skills are getting a good ol’ sharpening here, and I find writing about music quite challenging at times, so it’s good to have to work at it.

Sometimes, though seldom, you pepper in something unrelated or less related to music, have you ever considered having a personal blog?

Not really – I’m a pretty private person in ‘real life’ and while the little tidbits I let slip here I’m more than comfortable with, I don’t really like the idea of people being able to ‘find me’ on the internet. Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t have a problem with other people sharing their lives on the net, and I quite like reading those kinds of blogs myself obviously, but it’s just not really my thing.

I would write about music more but I’m a bit intimidated because my musical tastes run the gamet from hip, indie, breakout music to stuff like Beyonce’s Crazy in Love and I don’t think I have the cool factor to inflict my tastes on the blogosphere. What makes you “qualified” to write about music?

I think everybody has a right to talk about the music they love. The people who read your thoughts may not like the music you’re talking about, but I would hope they’d respect your opinions anyway, or at least fuel an enthusiastic debate. Oh, and I certainly don’t think of myself as cool – far from it!

You say that Agnes is a pseudonym, are you like that Kate girl from lost who ran from the law and hid out in Australia?

I don’t watch it I’m afraid, but I do wish I could make a humourous Lost related quip in reply! I can tell you that, while I’ve never run from the law, I do avoid paying for parking whenever I think I can get away with it so I guess that does make me a fugitive of sorts. Beware!

I noticed you’re a kindergarten teacher. Music and the arts are very important in my family, and I know sometimes kids respond to straight forward, upbeat melodies but I struggle to find music that both my kids and I can listen to. Can you recommend any music that children might enjoy that won’t numb the parent’s brain.

The best I can do is recommend some songs that my three year old nephew likes to listen to – a mix of the indie and old school. You can find some of these at the bottom of this post.

Time To Pretend – MGMT
Diner – Martin Sexton
Boogie With My Baby – John Williamson
The Magic Position – Patrick Wolf
Honey Honey – ABBA
Livin On A Prayer – Bon Jovi
Blaze of Glory – Bon Jovi
Walk of Life – Dire Straits

I want to make a mix cd for my husband and I to make sexy time to, what songs should it have on it?

Depending on your motivations behind said sexy time, this article may offer some good suggestions, for example:

Using metaphor, I want to do it with you – The White Stripes, ‘My Doorbell’

I’d like to do it with you right now – The Beatles, ‘Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?’

If all else fails, there’s always ‘Business Time’ by Flight of the Conchords. Hot stuff.

Most of us like certain music for a myriad of different reasons. Some music just sounds good regardless of lyric or meaning. Other songs pull together how we are feeling in a moment past or present. Sometimes songs are novel or technically adept or amazingly innovative. Other songs are meaningful because they connect us to a certain feeling. What song currently evokes the most emotion for you and why?

Top question. I would have to say ‘Staralfur’ by Sigur Ros. Last year I was dealing with a few stressful situations at school and basically felt in a constant state of upheaval whenever I was doing anything school related (sounds dramatic I know, but that’s how it was!) As I drove to school feeling all wound up and whatnot, I would stick this song on in the car, and I could, quite literally, feel the muscles in my chest relax as those first notes began. This song never fails to make me feel calm and in awe of the sheer beauty of Sigur Ros’ music.

If there was no such thing as music, what would Agnes write about?

Another great question. Probably books. And free parking.

Time To Pretend – MGMT

Diner – Martin Sexton

Staralfur – Sigur Ros

You can also check out my recent post of Patrick Wolf’s ‘The Magic Position’ here.