Favorite Things: Allan Durham and his wireless headphones

Allan Durham is making a splash with his landscaping company, Guy With a Mullet Landscaping. It won Best Landscaping Company in this year’s Top of the Town Contest. Durham loves music’s ability to get him through his day, and its power to make work fun.

It started with my weight loss journey. I was 260 pounds. I was still living in California. I was using a pair of wired headphones that were super long, they were like a pair of audio recording headphones. So, I had an obnoxiously long wire that I would wrap around the front of the treadmill. I did it so many times that I ruined the wire, so I needed a pair of wireless headphones.

They really changed my world. I use the same headphones that I bought out there when I lost a hundred pounds to do all of my yard work. They offer protection when I’m out mowing. I’ve got a bunch of different things I listen to, no matter what I’m doing. 

Whenever I’m mowing, I like to listen to softer country stuff. I’ll be listening to Luke Combs, Morgan Whalen, Casey Musgraves, and I really love Taylor Swift. My new one would be Lana Del Ray. Now, if I’m doing other stuff in the yard, like doing anything with an ax — cutting down stumps, cutting down wood — I’m listening to rowdy stuff. I’ll listen to Black Sabbath or Insane Clown Posse. I feel like that’s pretty fitting whenever I’m using an ax, to be listening to the clowns.

When I’m doing Christmas lights, I’ll really be feeling Christmas music. I’m one of those people that doesn’t think it’s ever too early to be listening to Christmas music. As soon as “Delilah” comes on, it’s fair game to me. She comes on in October on 105.7 FM. But however rowdy I want to be that day controls what’s going through the headphones. 

I feel like it’s always one of those things that can take away from the reality of how much whatever you’re doing sucks. If you’re trying to set yourself a new treadmill personal best, whether it’s added distance or doing it faster, it’s nice to be taken away. With music, it doesn’t necessarily feel like you’re there. Sometimes I’ll feel like I’m in a movie, whenever I get my headphones in right. It takes me out of that physical moment and puts me somewhere else, and that’s really crucial — especially when I’m up on a roof doing Christmas lights. 

When I’m up on a roof, I don’t like to think about steep it is. I’ll get scared; get shaky. Whenever I’m listening to music, it kind of helps me move past how scary what I’m doing is. It takes me out of reality and makes everything easier to digest. It gives you a buffer.

Interview edited and condensed by Skyler Ashley. If you have a suggestion for Favorite Things, please email Skyler@Lansingcitypulse.com

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