US Team Olympic snowboarder Taylor Gold has an immense appreciation for classic rock. His introduction to classic rock is attributed to his parents who both love the genre and from when he first picked up playing the guitar. On a recent phone call, we spoke with Taylor to pick his brain in order to learn more about his favorite bands, what he likes to listen to when ripping in the halfpipe, and get his custom curated music playlist all in On Rotation.
What’s your favorite type of music to listen and can you name a few bands?
My favorite type of music is Classic Rock by far. My all-time favorite is probably Led Zeppelin. Other than that, I like Black Sabbath a lot, CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival), Beatles, and Rolling Stones. I honestly like a lot of the really popular bands. For the less popular, I like Hot Tuna is one that comes to mind, but yeah I’m definitely a sucker for the all guitar band kind of scene.
All OG classics. Who got you into that genre? Was it someone around the house?
My dad, mainly but both my parents have listened to those artists for a long time. When I was young, I started playing guitar when I was in third grade or something, and I think that had a big hand in getting me stoked on those bands.
Did those bands you mentioned have a big influence on what you practiced playing?
Oh, yeah, for sure. When I was young, I was just learning how to play the classics, like Bach and those types of classical songs. But then, when I was 11 or 12, I got more into guitar and got an electric guitar and started playing more classic rock stuff. One of the first songs I remember wanting to learn was Black Dog by Led Zeppelin. I really wanted to learn that song. I just got pretty obsessed around that age with those bands.
Anyone else in your family that plays musical instruments, or did you have your own interest in learning guitar?
My dad kind of played a little bit, but not really. I don’t know why I wanted to do it. I just started when I was in the third grade.
Are you or your dad a record collector of classic rock albums?
Actually, yeah, my dad used to have this sick collection of every classic rock band you can imagine. All the Zeppelin and Pink Floyd albums, like just a sweet discography. But they all got stolen a long time ago. I think it was before I was born; they all got stolen from him, unfortunately.
No way! That’s heartbreaking. Did you ever try to start it back up?
I have a couple of Zeppelin and Pink Floyd records, but I don’t really have a great record player and I’m not huge into the whole vinyl thing. I feel like I’m more a nerd about trying to learn the guitar parts of the songs. But yeah, that was heartbreaking.
What’s a typical routine like for you? What do you have playing to get your day going?
I kind of like starting the day with some mellower stuff. I’ll listen to some of those Led Zeppelin songs that are mellower, like Rambo, Going to California, 10 Years Gone, those types of songs. Also, some Buffalo Springfield, SRV (Stevie Ray Vaughan), and Dylan. That’s for when I’m making breakfast.
I like a mellow start to the day. If I’m going like riding, usually on my way to the mountain, and then especially on the chairlift, I’ll switch over to classic metal, like Metallica, Black Sabbath, and AC/DC. Maybe a couple of Three Inches of Blood songs, if I like, need some help getting motivated. When I’m riding, I try to listen to heavier kind of fast-paced rock. Just because I feel like it helps me ride more aggressively.
So your music gradually changes from a mellow rock out of bed to something heavier and faster-paced rock for hitting the slopes.
Yeah, I would say so. I mean, in the park, I also some classic rap. I’m not like a huge hip hop guy. But I like Gang Starr and Tupac. So sometimes in the park, I’ll listen to those with metal stuff. In pow, I like to listen to more psych-rock like Hendrix and Pink Floyd.
On-road trips with a crew, who is usually playing DJ in the car?
For the most part, I let some of the other kids that I ride with DJ. Depending on what they put on, I might throw in one headphone (laughs) because, to be honest, the crew I ride with, for the most part, are younger guys. They’re listening to like, not my favorite type of music, like contemporary rap. I’m just not into that. So I’ll listen to that for a while, but if something really like pushes me, I’ll go ahead and throw on a headphone.
Talking about headphones, do you run wired headphones or wireless?
For working out and stuff I really like the wireless ones, but for riding, I like the wired ones. I feel like the wired ones aren’t as big like I wear the ear flaps on my helmet, so some of the wireless headphones are pretty big and stick out of your ear. I just really don’t like that. I feel like if I land on the side of my head, that things could go into my brain.
Are you the type of person to play the same song over and over again during a competition final?
Sometimes I’ll get hung up on a song that just hits the right vibe, and I’ll run that. But for the most part, I have a playlist with a bunch of songs that I like, and I cycle through those, and whatever comes up is what I’m riding to. There was one year when I was really stoked on Crazy on You by Heart. Certain songs just hit that perfect in-between where they get you stoked, but not freak you out because you already have so much adrenaline. I feel like the song you want to be riding along to during a competition run is something that gets you stoked, but isn’t going to push you over the edge.
How about growing up did you watch any snowboard movies that influenced what you listen to?
There are a couple of movies that I watched a lot when I was growing up. I got songs from the White Album like Crazy on You, and I definitely watched that a lot when I was young. A couple of the Travis Rice movies have a few songs like from The Community Project. When I was growing up, I had TB10, Optigrab was the name of that movie and had a couple of songs from there. So yeah, I got some of my favorite music from some snowboard videos.
If you were to drop a part and had the rights to use any song, what would you use?
Oh, man, good question. I feel like if you’re setting your video part to like, some top of the charts song, it’s kind of a flex. I feel like Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin, that would be a pretty dope one.
Who would be a dream band to watch perform live for you?
Led Zeppelin. Number one, no question.
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