Welcome to My Top 5

I thought for my first post, it would be interesting to write about my own personal musical history, so you guys know where I’m coming from. This might be a bit long-winded so bear with me.

My whole family is musical. My dad plays guitar, and led worship for his college ministry for several years. My mom has played piano for as long as I can remember. My two older sisters took piano lessons at an early age. My parents tried to get me into piano, but for a 6-year-old, that just doesn’t work too well. One of my sisters, Carrie, also started playing violin, which she has done for almost 14 years now. She was a music major at Cal State Long Beach for two years, before she was led elsewhere in life. Both sisters and my brother were also heavily involved in choir all through high school. Our high school happened to have one of the best choirs in the state, which worked to their advantage. I myself have never been much for singing, for some reason.

My little brother Corey is also a bit of a musical prodigy. He started playing bass when he was 14, quickly moved to guitar, and when he was 15, he showed me that he had figured out how to play “Clocks” by Coldplay on the piano (and quite well, I might add), and he didn’t even know how to read music or play piano up until that point. Needless to say, he amazes me every time I see him pick up an instrument.

As for me, I really picked up music as a freshman in high school. I’ve played electric guitar (and obviously picked up acoustic guitar and bass because of that) for over 6 years now. I had always appreciated music up until then, but guitar was my first real dedication to it. I took lessons for 3 and a half years from a local teacher who I have a lot of respect for (DJ, if you’re out there, you rule!). I led worship for my youth group the last two years of high school, and now I’m back in charge of their worship band as an adult leader. I’m also in a screamo/punk/hardcore band in its beginning stages, known as Lovestruck Warrior. (Yeah, yeah, shameless self-promotion… what can I say?)

I started out listening to classic and alternative rock: Fleetwood Mac, Jimi Hendrix, and B.B. King… Switchfoot, MxPx, Five Iron Frenzy, etc. Then as a sophomore I discovered the hardcore music scene, by way of P.O.D. (who, coincidentally, aren’t all that hardcore at all, looking back on it), and quickly moved to a strong enjoyment of all forms of metal. Project 86 has been a particular favorite of mine since that time. From there, I went to darker places, listening to everything from Marilyn Manson and Rage Against The Machine to Extol and Dimmu Borgir. I won’t list too many bands here, because you can see my huge list of favorites on the info page.)

After a while that dark stuff wears on you, so I decided to lighten up the mix. I discovered Radiohead, and through that, the entire indie rock genre and, branching off of that, the emo/post-punk thing. On the side, my family has always had an appreciation for country and bluegrass, so I’ve always had a side-interest in that as well. I still love my metal a lot, but just as rich is the lighter end of the spectrum.

I try to avoid using the word “hate” for any particular kind of music. I have my preferences, but I have a huge respect for all styles, because if it wasn’t appealing to someone, it wouldn’t be there. Therefore, I try to give it a fair shot. That’s how Terror Squad, Eminem, Daft Punk, Junior Senior and others made it into my list of “likes.”

The purpose of this blog is multi-faceted (wow, that’s a big word…)

1. To let me try my hand at this music critic thing, since I have some interest in doing it as a career.
2. To constantly challenge myself to open my ears and appreciate new music in whatever form it may come.
3. To entertain, spark the interest and challenge you, the reader, in your musical preferences.
4. To allow you the opportunity to criticize my criticism. Tell me how I’m doing. I can take an insult as long as it doesn’t get too personal. I can also take compliments.
5. To pay homage to the film “High Fidelity.” OK, so this is kinda not for reals, but how could I resist to have a top 5 list where the 5th one admits that High Fidelty is an awesome movie? If you haven’t seen the movie, you won’t get what I just said, or half of the appearance of this whole blog. Go watch it now.

Lastly, I want to make a point to say that I refuse to become a music snob over all of this. I want to be objective, and accepting of everyone’s musical preferences. While I may disagree with some of them for one reason or another, I really don’t want to give off the better-than-thou image common to the music scene’s insiders.

Happy reading!