San Francisco’s BAMM.tv has launched a new project called The Musical Yearbook, a series of audio and video stories that seek to document the moments in every fan’s life when a piece of music became inseparable from their self.

The project started about a year ago, when BAMM.tv began toying with the idea of paying tribute to the bands that got them interested in music in the first place. BAMM.tv’s focus is on indie music, so they don’t often get the chance to talk about music that’s more widely known.

“So we thought, ‘How can we talk about the music we really love without having to go get permission?’” says Phil Lang, Vice President of Programming at BAMM.tv and the project’s creator. The staff began writing essays about music that had an effect on their lives, and soon they began forming an idea for an offshoot of BAMM.tv that dealt strictly with the memories attached to music.

So far, they’ve produced four pieces, contributed by writers, musicians and a few folks in between. They’re actively seeking contributors of all types from the community. “Eventually, I’d love to have a balance of great writers, musicians (and others),” says Lang. He also adds that he’d like The Musical Yearbook collection to eventually cover all stages of a person’s life — from adolesence to adulthood to present-day. “Regardless of whether one contributor is 80 and one contributor is 15, they’ve both been 12. And that’s a really powerful idea; of a project that crosses generations.”

Submissions are being taken through the site. You can apply via the Musical Yearbook website.

Get an idea for the kind of stories they tell with Episode 1: “Dad Digs a Pygmy”.