Issue 058
Music means a lot to lightweight veteran Joe Stevenson. He has over 10GB of music on his iPod with everything from upbeat training music to chilled-out tracks for relaxing before a fight.
Is there any particular style you like to train to?
More than any other style, I like to listen to dance, house, club, trance, techno, all that genre. So long as it’s up-beat, positive influenced, you don’t really have to listen to the words, you can just feel the vibration.
As you own your own gym, do you have total control over the music?
Whenever I’m training, we’re training to dance music. Debbie Debs, Stevie B, Daft Punk, all these guys. I’m coming out to Black Eyed Peas, ‘Tonight Is Gonna Be A Good Night’.
Is there a signature walk-out track you have to have?
There used to be. It was the Karate Kid song; “You’re the Best (Around)!” The UFC didn’t like it... I changed it to Black Eyed Peas because tonight IS going to be a good night.
Tell me about your MP3 player – what do you use?
I used the iPod Nano – 16GB, because I’ve got so much dance music on it! My favorite color: purple – it stands out from everyone else’s, black, white...ah, purple! I’ve got everything, country, reggae, rock, hard rock, metal, everything on this thing. And some of my favorite songs from childhood, some of my kids’ songs. Each child of mine, I have a song specifically for; it’s all on here, it’s my life.
You’re a big music fan, it’s a big part of your life, right?
It doesn’t engulf my life where I have to know every fact about everything, but I know a little bit about everything and I try to refresh it all the time.
You’re a big Twitter guy as well?
I am! I Twitter three times a day; it updates my website. I control my website from my phone, let people know what I’m doing. Too bad they can’t hear the music – that would be wicked!
What is your favorite song?
My favorite song is ‘Hey Baby’ by Stephen Marley, son of Bob Marley. It’s the best song in the world; it’s about fighting and my life. Every word in this song is amazing. If you get a chance, you should listen to it, it’s amazing. I listen to this and think of my wife when I’m gone for two months. Every night. Funny story is I played it for her after my last fight, I was like “baby, listen”. She said “I hate this song”! But she didn’t know I listen to it every night.
THE SHUFFLE CHALLENGE
Hit shuffle on your iPod and name the first five songs that come up. No cheating!
1. Santana, ‘Smooth’ (featuring Rob Thomas)
Santana! This is on my iPod because of stuff like Limewire where you can download great artists. This song alone you can relax to, I’ve got playlists that are just chill music that I listen to just before a fight. I’ve got Enya on this thing!
2. DJ Cool, ‘Let Me Clear My Throat’
Let me clear my throat! Da-da-dada-da! This is kind of dance music. There is over ten gig of music on here, and I know most of it. I would hang out to this song, but I’m sure there is a dance remix on here of it.
3. Pussycat Dolls, ‘Wait A Minute’
Why are they on there? Because the girls are hot! They’ve got upbeat songs that everyone wants to work-out to. You open any of their albums and there are multiple hits on it, this is just one of them.
4. Beyonce, ‘The Closer I Get To You’
It’s nice and relaxed, it would go on my chill and relax playlist, the calm before the storm. I would listen to this in a dressing room before a fight. Or rap from Nas, something that still has meaning but that you can relax to.
5. Everlast, ‘Lonely Road’
Everlast is awesome, some of the best chill songs you can imagine. This is on here clearly because they kick butt. This is definitely a chill song.
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