Pregame music is a staple in any sport’s locker room. Headphones are usually secured tightly to many players’ ears in an attempt to “get in the zone.” The LSU men’s tennis team consists of players from across the globe. The United States, England, Ireland, Australia, Sweden and Hungary are all represented by at least one member of the Tigers. When the cultures of all the countries come together at LSU, a multitude of pregame songs result.”Before matches, I try to listen to stuff that makes you move,” said freshman and Australia native Stefan Szacinski. “I’ll listen to hard rock like AC/DC or other rock like Bon Jovi.”Junior Sebastian Carlsson said he usually enjoys techno and dance music if he’s getting ready for a match. One of his favorite songs is Laurent Wolf’s “Walk the Line.” Wolf, a French male disc jockey, won the world’s best DJ award at the 2008 World Music Awards.”I like to hear the loudness of the techno beats on big speakers,” Carlsson said. Szacinski said many of the European players grew up listening to more fast-paced music.”I know the other guys — they like dance and techno music,” Szacinski said. “I don’t mind that. It’s pretty cool.”Freshman Olivier Borsos, a native of Hungary, said he also enjoys house and dance music.Borsos said some of his favorite house music includes songs from David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia and Fedde le Grand. Guetta is a French producer and DJ. Swedish House Mafia is a group of three Swedish house DJs, and Fedde le Grand is a Dutch house DJ and producer.Carlsson, a native of Sweden, said athletes in the U.S. tend to listen to much different music than their counterparts across the ocean.  ”In Europe, for sports events in general, it’s much more techno,” he said. “Here it seems it’s more like rock music.” But Carlsson said he doesn’t mind listening to rock ‘n’ roll, which is incorporated into the team’s playlist before the matches. “We put [the playlist] together,” Carlsson said. “We choose the songs. It’s mostly like techno songs or a few rap songs and some classic rock like Guns N’ Roses and some AC/DC.”  Szacinski said along with AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses, he enjoys Australian rock music he listened to growing up. Other times he likes to mellow out before a game by listening to “Spaceman” and “Human” by The Killers.”I like Australian bands like Augie March, or bands like Powderfinger, Jet and Thirsty Merc,” Szacinski said. “They’re pretty popular in Australia.”The pregame playlist includes a wide variety of songs, from European techno to Black Eyed Peas to Soulja Boy’s “All The Way Turnt Up.””I like rap much better now than before I came to the States,” Carlsson said.Szacinski said the songs the Tigers listen to before the game are a mutual agreement between each member. But the songs differ on and off the court for Carlsson.”If I listen to music at home, I’d probably listen to more traditional rock music,” Carlsson said. Carlsson said Muse, a band popular in both the U.S. and Europe, is one of his favorite bands to listen to at home. Szacinski said he enjoys Jason Derulo and different R&B artists he didn’t hear as often outside the U.S.”It’s a different culture here,” Szacinski said. “I kind of like it.”—–Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]