My Song Stories: Marni Wandner of Sneak Attack Media

Music shapes our identities and changes our lives. It brings back our memories and stirs up our emotions. My Song Stories asks music professionals and indie artists questions about the songs in their libraries. Today, Marni Wandner, who runs Sneak Attack Media, a boutique creative services company, shares the artists and songs that have impacted her life and career.

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By Kyle Bylin, author of Song StoriesWho are you and what do you do?
I’m Marni Wandner and I run Sneak Attack Media, a boutique creative services company based in NY. We do digital marketing, social media strategy, online PR, brand partnerships and more. What is your most recent favorite song?Tei Shi “Keep Running” has been on repeat for a bit. Also “Malukayi” by Mbongwana Star.What is your favorite ballad or slow jam?Friends – “The Way” (Blood Orange mix)What song makes you happy and smile?Jain – “Makeba”What song makes you sad or want to cry?“I Am Real Punk” by Gold Panda makes me well up. It’s just such a beautiful song: the loops, and the melodies. I read that he was deeply inspired by his trips to Japan when he made that record and I think you can feel it in that track, like an echo of a place you might have been.Did you inherit any music taste from your parents?I grew up in a house filled with music. My parents were both in bands when they were younger, so music was a big part of our family. I would steal their records and make tapes of them from my turntable/tape player/radio system that I still have. My favorites were Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed.What five artists best represent their favorite music?

Rolling Stones – “Beast of Burden”
Joni Mitchell – “Woodstock”
Neil Young – “Heart of Gold”
The Cars – “You Might Think”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “Runnin’ Down a Dream”

What five artists best represent your favorite music?It’s basically melancholy, glitchy or percussive or it sounds like it was made in a trash can or the ‘90s

Four Tet – “Angel Echoes”
Thee Oh Sees – “The Dream”
Warpaint – “Undertow”
Angel Olsen – “Unfucktheworld”
Sylvan Esso – “Play It Right”
Sohn – “Tremors”

Oops that’s six.What song evokes memories from your childhood?  “Seven Wonders” by Fleetwood Mac always brings me back to a super specific moment. I was about 9, at the doctor about to have a minor surgery, and I remember hearing that song and feeling like everything was going to be cool. Those 3 chords at the beginning and those notes after the chorus are like their own amazing little song. And I love Pictureplane’s “Goth Star,” with those samples.What is one song from the soundtrack of your life?I remember listening to PJ Harvey’s “Missed” a lot, usually in my car, maybe senior year of high school? Who knows what was actually happening right then, everything’s dramatic when you’re that age, but I think the whole package of song just kind of underscored it all pretty well.

Kyle Bylin is the author of Song Stories: Music That Shaped Our Identities and Changed Our Lives, a collection of essays about songs that impacted people's lives. Read an excerpt here.