My Music

I've been debating what to put up today. The last few posts have been fairly personal subjects, and have all been a little less "fun and enjoyable" and a little more "oh-woe-is-me I wan't to cut myself...". In order to keep myself from sounding like I haven't taken enough Prozac lately, I wish to instead take this post in a new direction.

Music.

I know I stated it in my first post, but I am truly a huge fan of music. It all stems from my parents. I grew up with two very musical parents, if in slightly different ways. My mother was always a great singer. Some of my earliest experiences with music were her singing to me, as well as us being in our church choir together. My father, on the other hand, is an absolute audiophile. I was lucky enough to grow up listening to his music on an extremely good stereo system. To this day, I absolutely love many of those same groups; i.e. The Eagles, Boston, Genesis, Alan Parsons' Project. So from a very early age, I've loved music.



The next biggest influence in the early development of my music taste falls squarely on the shoulders of my brother. He loved early 90's grunge and punk rock. He was the first person to introduce me to Nirvana, before most of my classmates had any idea who that was. I still remember him playing Bush's Glycerine for my mother, stating how beautiful the violins made the song. Add that to Green Day and Weezer's early albums, such as Nimrod and the Blue Album, and you get a picture of what he enjoyed at that time.

I remained oblivious to any sort of music scene until my teenage years. I never really took the time to evaluate what I truly enjoyed; I mostly just listened to whatever people around me listened to. But then I moved to Idaho. For the first time, I was introduced to some indie-rock groups (almost exclusively from Kung Fu Records). I loved Ozma at first listen(probably because of their early albums similarity to Weezer's early albums. Seriously, they were chosen by the fans to tour with Weezer and gained the nickname of Weezer Jr. Any and all Weezer fans should check out Rock and Roll Part 3 and The Doubble Donkey Disk). Audio Karate's song Nintendo 89 (from their first album Space Camp) also had me at first listen. And the Atari's early punk rock caught my attention(Blue Skies, Broken Hearts, Next 12 Exits especially). For the first time, I was really evaluating what I liked, rather than what other people liked.

When I moved to California, I had a great opportunity. I had plenty of free time, a high speed internet connection, and a limited knowledge of music websites. I spent countless hours on Purevolume trying to determine what I liked and what I didn't. I truly started to love indie rock groups, generally because they have a bright sound on top of a solid bass line. (I was in my high school band from 6-12th grade, a balanced sound is still one of the criteria I consider to be absolutely important above all else.)

While in California, I was introduced a new form of music. Some called it Screamo, some called it Emo-core, I just called it interesting. I was given Thrice's Artist in the Ambulance and Senses Fail's Let it Enfold You. These albums reminded me of what I liked about early grunge, and they challenged what I thought I knew about music. Their influence eventually segued into hardcore punk rock, like Rise Against and Against Me!. I found myself truly enjoying an intense drum line with plenty of bass and good lyrics. I also was able to see that music can be an outlet for everything in life.

When I moved back to Idaho, this opening of my eyes caused me to search out the music I could find around me. Turns out, Salt Lake City, Utah, has one of the greatest indie rock scenes in the U.S. right now. I was introduced to groups like Hudson River School and The Brobecks, both completely dedicated groups to experimenting with music. Then came groups like Soular, Mesa Drive, Mury, and Broke City (although Soular is technically from Albuquerque, but I saw them in SLC). I couldn't get enough of music.

To this day, music drives me. I search for it as often as I can, but I don't always find stuff I like. Sometimes, though, music finds me. Such was the case with a group called Get Set Go. If I were ever to crown a number 1 favorite group, these guys would probably be it. Now, I would not recommend this group to anyone who dislikes profanity or blatant references to physical intimacy. But, their lyrics are so... honest, I couldn't help but notice. There is something incredibly raw about this group, and I loved it upon first listen. Songs like Kiss the Girl and I Hate Everyone just perfectly encapsulated so many of my own feelings. The music had intense, dark lyrics hidden by fun, upbeat music. Not to mention their lead singer, Mike TV (yes, its a psuedonym). He is truly one of the nicest and most devoted persons I have ever met. He is one of my heroes, and if I could I would make him famous(I wanna be just like him when I grow up!).

So, all in all, I love music. I foam at the mouth over music. I intend to make occasional posts about all of these groups and what they truly mean to me. They won't be fair, unbiased reviews, they will simply be me gushing about why I love the music I love. I'll try and mix them in tastefully, and keep them from overrunning the entire blog.

John