My Passion with Kate Naylor: Making the numbers add up for heavy rock family

I accept this is quite unusual. The generation gap within families is often highlighted by differences in music taste. Teenagers who grew up in the 1960s loved The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, while their parents disapproved. My own parents liked classical music and found my musical taste baffling.

My tastes were formed at school and then at Oxford University, where I was desperate to become a Goth. My blonde hair made that a bit tricky. But I got away from the pressures of studying for a maths degree by listening to loud rock music and going to as many gigs as I could afford.

Thankfully, my husband Ian's musical tastes were fully formed when we met and they coincided with mine. Maybe that's why he's my husband. So when our children Sam, now 10, and Isaac, seven, were born, they were immediately exposed to a diet of The Pixies and

My Chemical Romance, with Kerrang TV on in the background. They had no chance, did they?

If they preferred those ghastly pre-teen songs which appear in the charts now and again, they never let on. They were into heavy rock, air guitars and all, from the start. Sam got an electric guitar for Christmas, having started with an acoustic, and delights in playing and singing along to Green Day, though he hums over some of the their more risqu lyrics.

This shared love of modern rock music makes us very close as a family. Last year, for example, we spent two weeks in California, where Green Day come from, and had a wonderful time with a communal iPod, plugged into the car radio, blasting out our favourite songs as we sped down the West Coast freeways. It's far more relaxing than listening to arguments in the back of the car or playing I-Spy.

And then there are the live gigs, which we all adore. Together we have seen Muse at the Sheffield Arena, 30 Seconds to Mars at the MEN Arena in Manchester and Green Day at Old Trafford. We have also got tickets for Muse at Old Trafford in September, which we are all looking forward to.

My passion combines my two favourite pastimes, music and my family. Away from my work, which is hugely enjoyable but challenging, there is nothing more satisfying than a Naylor family sing-along to Green Day.