We all know the feeling when the clock hands move from 3:44 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Your freedom has arrived. You get in your car and blast your favorite music to blow off steam from the stressful school day. Whether it’s the latest Taylor Swift album or Lil Durk, we all have our favorite artists, but have you ever wondered what your teachers are listening to?

Jessica Nassau, Director of Publications

★ What’s your hype-up music?

 “I have quite a few running mixes on Spotify that I’ve made, but a few songs that always make me up my pace to a sprint are ‘Ship to Wreck’ by Florence and the Machine and ‘Shuffle’ by Bombay Bicycle Club.”

★ What music do you listen to when you need to chill out?

“The album ‘In the Heart of the Moon’ by Ali Farka Toure plays almost constantly when I’m stressed about a yearbook or newspaper deadline. That’s followed pretty closely by a bunch of classical music I love, like the Haydn cello concertos and Schubert quintets.”

★ What’s a fun fact about you and music?

“I have pretty eclectic tastes. I had a classical music radio show in college, but, on the other hand, my husband and I have a song written about us by an LA punk band.”

★ What’s something embarrassing about you and music?

“My first concert was Bruce Hornsby and the Range at the Mann Music Center. So embarrassing. I also had a pretty unhealthy relationship with Phoebe Bridgers’ song ‘Emotional Motion Sickness’ during the height of the pandemic, but I’m relieved to say we’ve broken up by now. I’m pretty into her newest album with Boy Genius, though. It’s definitely my favorite release this month.”

Gary Prince, Upper School Instrumental Music Teacher

★ What’s your hype-up music?

“Sometimes I just have to blast ‘Rust in Peace’ by Megadeth. I have also recently been listening to a lot of Klezmer and Balkan music, like the Barcelona Gypsy balKan Orchestra. That stuff gets pretty hype.”

★ What music do you listen to when you need to chill out?

“To chill out I love the band H.E.M.; their albums ‘Departure and Farewell’ and ‘Funnel Cloud’ used to be on constant rotation in my house. Also the John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman album, an incredible album of jazz ballads with John Coltrane, the great tenor saxophone player, and his band. Currently, I have been getting really into Brazilian music, like the Bandolim player Joel Nascimento. His version of E Do Que Ha is pretty amazing.”

★ What’s a fun fact about you and music?

“When I say I listen to everything, I really mean it. Every new style of music I hear, I want to play it. I currently have about 5.2 gigabytes of sheet music from all over the world on my computer, and I mean all over the world – from Armenian folk tunes to Zydeco, and when my kids go to bed I sit down with my mandolin or my guitar and read through them. Whenever I find a tune that sounds especially cool, I set it aside to practice with my band or arrange for my students. I find a lot of the material for the JDS Instrumental Ensembles this way. One other fun fact is that my first concert was Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at the 9:30 Club back when I was in high school, and Ms. Ball was at that concert too, though we didn’t know that at the time.”

★ What’s something embarrassing about you and music?

“I still love late 90’s – early 2000’s Hip Hop; the stuff that was popular when I was in High School, [such as] Ludacris, Jay Z, Missy Elliott and Outkast. That stuff is my musical guilty pleasure.”

Dory Fox, High School English Teacher

★ What’s your hype-up music?

“I really love indie pop. When I’m tired, it’s dark and I need to drive to school, I put on MUNA’s self-titled album. Other recent replays include ‘Free’ by Florence + the Machine and ‘Too Bad’ by King Princess. The new Boygenius album has some amazing friend-love songs that make me feel really happy. If we’re talking about a song that builds energy, I don’t think there’s anything better than DAKITI by Bad Bunny.”

★ What music do you listen to when you need to chill out?

“To chill out, I like acoustic and folk, but still with an indie or pop flavor. Big Thief and Waxahatchee are probably my favorite bands. ‘Kintsugi” from Lana Del Ray’s new album really got me hooked recently. When I really want to have an intentional, chill music experience, I’ll listen to an album on vinyl instead of my iPhone.”

★ What’s a fun fact about you and music?

“A sort of fun or funny fact is that Mr. Silberman used to give my friends and me music recommendations when we were his students. If my memory serves, he used to have a page on his class websites … where he made music recs. That’s how I learned about a lot of my favorite music back then, like The New Pornographers.”

★ What’s something embarrassing about you and music?

“I don’t really believe in being embarrassed about anything that you like or that gives you pleasure. The only thing that I’m really embarrassed about is that I used to be a bit of a snob. Like most snobbery, mine came from a place of cluelessness. When I was in high school, I was resolutely not a Taylor Swift fan because I never bothered to give her music a shot beyond the songs that were played on the radio. I now love her music, of course.”

Reuben Silberman, Math Department Chair

★ What’s your hype-up music?

“The song that makes me happy the quickest is ‘Milionaria’ by Rosalia. If I want something with a little more of an angry or swaggy edge, it would be anything by Run the Jewels, ‘Dead Sound’ by the Raveonettes or ‘Rocket’ by The Smashing Pumpkins [are good]. Other pump-up songs [include] ‘I Am Not a Woman I’m a God’ by Halsey, ‘T-Shirt’ by Migos, ‘Outside!’ by Vince Staples, ‘Geyser’ by Mitski or anything by the band Sleigh Bells.”

★ What music do you listen to when you need to chill out?

“I like some rock and hip-hop, but most of the music I gravitate to is sad and soft. The more heartbreaking, the better. I love everything by female indie singer-songwriters like Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski and Samia. ‘Death with Dignity’ by Sufjan Stevens is a big one for me too. A song I love that’s a little more mellow and less devastating, though still fairly devastating if you listen to the lyrics, is ‘Pink and White’ by Frank Ocean.”

★ What’s a fun fact about you and music?

“In 2006, I was teaching at JDS, and I rehearsed to sing lead vocals in a school performance with three [junior] boys who were in a band together. There was a snow day when we were supposed to perform, so it didn’t happen. Instead, though, we loaded into a van and snuck the equipment into the conference room at my then girlfriend’s office. We played the concert for her and some of her coworkers… and then I proposed.”

★ What’s something embarrassing about you and music?

“I like to sing. In high school, when I realized I was a decent singer, I became one of those kids who would walk around singing all the time because I thought I sounded good. I’m sure everyone wanted to murder me.”