Music has been a constant in my life ever since I could remember. It has gotten me through some difficult times and is an outlet for my deep thoughts. I've been in several bands throughout the years, but currently I am band-less. I'm not necessarily in it for the money (though I wouldn't mind getting paid for it) - what's more important is that I write, sing and play and that I connect with others using this incredible medium.
Music is a means of communication - expression that transcends verbal and nonverbal language. In music, you can pour your whole heart and soul into a song and touch the lives of others in ways that are more powerful than any other medium. Music gives me an opening in my soul that I feel comfortable sharing with the world. It is also an outlet where I can privately perform as a means of "music therapy." In that way, it's a cathartic release.
My music dream is to record nearly ALL of the songs I have written. There are some that I will never perform publicly or record, but I have favorites that I want to record in the studio. I also want to form a band of those who can be reliable and where we can "click" together.
Love. Love has the power to change everything.
My list is too big! Let me just say that I like most popular (rock) music from the mid-late 60s through the early 80s and there are a few artists since then. To name a few: Led Zeppelin, Styx, Boston, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, The Cars, The Police/Sting, Journey, ELO, Genesis, Neil Diamond, The Beatles Weezer... jeez, I could spend all day here.
I look for inspiration in EVERYTHING! I find inspiration in nature, relationships, in regrets and learning from my own mistakes and mistakes of others, weakness and the human condition, current events, seasons, life changes, children, emotions (humor, anger, frustration, love, etc.). I will even challenge myself sometimes and say to myself, "Hey, let's see if I can incorporate something like a train into a song!" Or maybe I'll see a street sign and use that as a basis for an idea.
I try to keep my messages raw and personal. We are all flawed in some way, but we can rise above what we are and be better people or we can find ways to understand ourselves and others better.
When I am well-practiced, it's an adrenaline rush, especially when the audience responds to the music.
I think in a lot of ways, modern music has drifted away from what music was intended for in the first place. Without sexy music videos and autotune, much of it wouldn't be worthy of airtime. I'm disappointed by much of what's been churned out in the past 20 years or so. There are a few honest-to-goodness acts in the industry that are still worth listening to though. As far as improvement, we could get back to meaningful messages with passionate vocal and instrument arrangements. Sadly, though, I don't know if a lot of listeners even relate to that anymore. It's become computerized, synthesized noise (in my opinion) that has little or no meaning. Bring meaning back to music!
Frankly, I think it's kind of an odd name. It makes me think of something left on my chin after I've eaten a sloppy meal. As a platform, I think it's a good way to get exposure and reviews by others in the industry. I used to belong to a similar platform back in the days when mp3.com was open to the public. There was one site that I belonged to where we could rate and critique others' music. I appreciated the honest feedback that led me to improve, but sometimes people are just too "nice" to give honest feedback. What I've seen happen is that when you give criticism (whether it's constructive or just rude) is that it is often reciprocated by hurtful comments. So, many people just end up writing positive comments only because they don't want to hurt someone's feelings and get a bad review. I hope that with this platform, we can all be civil but honest - helpful towards our fellow musicians.
There are a couple of things: 1) It's hard to get a band together with those who have time to rehearse and who are musically accomplished. I also find that many people who want to play in bands are egocentric and want to compete for the spotlight with other band members and don't get the concept that a band is a team effort, not a one-man-show. 2) Making music is hard work and a huge monetary investment. Very rarely do musicians ever break even. I wish the public valued talented musicians with good music enough to pay for our work - at least enough to offset the cost of what it takes to make music.
I used to be quite involved in the local scene, but not so much anymore. We used to have a few venues where singers/songwriters could showcase their original music, but most of those have unfortunately gone away. I'm not sure who or what to attribute this to, but the local scene in Bellingham is pretty scant anymore - especially for the type of music I like to listen to. I think there are a lot of hippies and buskers, but it's really hard to support something that is virtually non-existent. We used to have some songwriters guilds here, but those have dried up too. If anyone could enlighten me to something I'm not yet aware of, please feel free to contact me.
You have to be competitive and assertive (but not act like the world owes it to you). Never give up and keep putting out good music. Get heard and start a following. Oh, you have to possess talent and decent songwriting skills too.