What is taste? Is it a penchant for sour over sweet, an obsession with a particular discourse, or something bigger than that? Taste at Oberlin can be hard to pin down — it’s a microcosm of interests and niches, ranging from folk music to Hildegard von Bingen. How do so many of us to have similar niche interests? Do Obies get here and share their book recommendations and playlists with all of campus? Probably not. Maybe taste at Oberlin is predetermined.
“I don’t think my tastes have changed at all,” College third-year Kath Shelden said.
Does Oberlin attract an audience of people with similar tastes? Interests before and after Oberlin might not be that different. But that’s not what everyone thinks. College fourth-year Ruby Spencer said they used to share many interests with their brother, but that all changed when they got to college.
“I feel like my taste has been really shaped by my life at Oberlin,” they said. “It’s definitely been shaped by the tastes of Oberlin College students. Not even for conformist purposes, just because it is a very specific set of tastes here. And I think it’s difficult to escape.”
If there’s one thing people seem to agree on when it comes to Oberlin’s world of taste, it’s a shared passion for music.
“I’ve always been into music, but I’ve been getting more into folk music since going to Oberlin,” College third-year Neptune Rasnic-Olson said.
Spencer also mentioned they became more drawn to “’70s folk-y kind of vibes” since arriving at Oberlin. Is there a commonality between folk music and Oberlin culture? Folk as a genre prioritizes connection among performers, audiences, and musical traditions across time. Though not everyone at Oberlin enjoys folk music, the scene is definitely more prominent than in other places, perhaps because the College is a place where students are motivated to develop an identity that is both unique and still informed by the community around them.
Rasnic-Olson compiled an “Average Oberlin Playlist” — complete with songs like “Cactus Tree” by Joni Mitchell and “Cattails” by Big Thief — that exemplifies this motivation.
“I created it because I felt like every time I would hang out with my friends, they would always play the same music,” he said. “I started wanting to listen to those songs to get in that headspace of when you’re hanging out with your friends in their room, and so I put it all in a playlist.”
Do we change our tastes to match those of the people around us? And is this a bad thing? College third-year Eve Anderson believes that music preferences at Oberlin do not reflect the broader world around it.
“I think, certainly, there’s a push to be niche and unique, and the more niche the thing you like, the cooler it is to like it,” they said. “Artists that, if you go out into the world, everyone would be like, ‘Oh, I don’t necessarily know them,’ are really popular on Oberlin campus.”
With an emphasis on the underground, students at Oberlin seem to strive to be unique, which is a futile effort because everyone else is striving for the same thing. Still, there will always be pushback.
“Weirdly, I want to say my music taste has gotten more mainstream,” College fourth-year Belle Dascanio said. “I’ve become less indie-obsessed compared to high school.”
When mainstream becomes underground, and vice versa, an interesting duality is created between individuality and conformity. Perhaps engaging with mainstream media actually broadens one’s perspective and prompts thinking outside the Oberlin bubble. Does Oberlin encourage us to think outside of the box or just put us into new ones? College third-year Eva Crikelair has a different opinion.
“I think just being around people that are interested in things inspires me to be interested in them,” she said. “Being in college and having weird specific topics that people are super interested in — either academically or just for fun — makes me enjoy it.”
Oberlin’s purpose as an institution is to foster learning and broaden perspectives, promoting discourse rather than a unanimous echo chamber. Sure, many Oberlin students might like obscure artists and writers, but through their tastes, they exercise their right to explore and express themselves. There may be some patterns, but when people interact with new media, it’s exciting. Seeing other people enjoy different types of media makes others want to join in. It’s a mindset. It’s hearing a great song for the first time and then going home and listening to the whole album. It’s sitting in on a conversation on an unfamiliar topic but learning how to join in anyway. Passion is what really shapes taste, and if Oberlin has one thing, it’s that.
