Writing a music review is more daunting than expected.
When I was about 12 years old, I had dreams of being a journalist. That dream quickly died when I decided how much I truly hated writing about things that I did not want to write about.
The actual writing, the editing, all of it became painful and annoying and not at all improved by any sort of chemical enhancements. I love talking, I love talking to people, and I love making things – I don’t love writing though.
I write like I speak and neither is particully polished or edited and I never really cared. I still don’t.
I love music more than anything in this world. Music is the best artform in my opinion. I love making art, I love design. I love poetry, and stories. It isn’t the same as appreciating music though.
I grew up listening to radio stations in a very rural part of Vermont on the Canadian border. We still can’t get ‘good’ internet there, only dial up, and there is no reliable cellphone service.
I grew up listening to CHOM 97.7 out of Montreal Quebec in the barn surrounded by cows, cats, dogs, pigs, chickens, bunnies, and the occasional skunk and raccoon. We also listened to the Wizard 167.7 out of Winooski Vermont. Technically my parents farm is closer to Montreal mileage wise than it is to Burlington, so CHOM often had more accurate weather reports.
I’ve been playing bass guitar since I was 11 years old and I have never stopped loving it. I picked up a regular guitar a year later, and ukulele at some point in my late teen years. I love all rock, from extremely heavy guttural metal to singer song writer folk music – I love it all.
I had the odd experience of being about 3 years old when Forest Gump came out, and something about the phrase ‘life is like a box of chocolates’ became a weird iconic point in my young life. ‘Life is like’ became the prefix to many thoughts I have had over my entire 33 years these days. Life is like music. Life is like a concert. I have found these phrases to be true.
Life itself is hard to define in the middle of it. Life itself is a giant abstract concept, but it’s also a lot closer to home than that. What is your life? What do you love to spend your time doing? I love so many things it’s been hard to choose anything to spend my time doing.
Does it make sense after six years of talking to musicians on my podcast – to just start writing about them all? Yes.
Why this took so long, I don’t really know. I’ve been reading up on Lester Bang and other information on what actually makes a good music review. It’s wild to me how much people used to write – today it feels like the articles are so much shorter than they used to be.
Do I think words can change the world? Yes. If you don’t believe in miracles – you will never see one.
sleazine.com is my new project.
I want to listen to and talk about music with people.
