Justin Patch Interview
Justin Patch is Associate Professor of Music at Vassar College. His research focuses on music in American politics, sound studies, East Asian art music, and music in the African diaspora.
How did you get to where you are today, professionally?
So...my journey was long and winding, to borrow from a Beatles tune. I fell in love with music when I was a kid, probably because I grew up without a TV, so radio was everything to me. I took up guitar at age 12 and from then on, all I wanted to do was play guitar, or play music more generally since I also played electric bass in rock bands as well. I went to The University of Minnesota to study music, but I was also in the honors program, so I had additional requirements. That was where I first took Cultural Anthropology. Not necessarily because I even knew what it was, but there was an honor section, taught by the professor, Dr. Lipset. He turned me on to an intellectual world that I had no idea about.
The other odd part about Minnesota was that I was a jazz studies major, but there was no jazz guitar teacher, so I had to learn to play classical guitar. I had basic skills, but I really fell in love with the classical guitar studio and took playing classical music seriously enough that I went on to get my master's degree in classical guitar performance. The last aspect of my college journey was that my mentor, Doc McCurdy, asked me to be his TA for "History of Jazz" during my final quarter. I loved it. Near the end of the semester, Doc said to me "I can see you doing what I do, teaching classes, coaching ensembles and being a scholar." Up until that point I had never ever thought about being a prof. He put the bug in my ear and I owe him a lot for that.