mechanizedmonster

[mechanizedmonster]

Summer of TFB

One of the hard things about being a journalist, of any type, is dredging up the past for content. I write about music often and I rarely write about a band or song that isn’t in some way related to my personal life. The other day I wrote an article about the New Brunswick underground music scene in the context of a band I really like, The Front Bottoms. I mentioned them pretty briefly, but I kept coming back to the summer I discovered them. The summer my whole neighborhood discovered them.

They’re a modest band with less than eight hundred thousand followers on Spotify. But in the summer of 2014 they must’ve had less than a quarter that. That was my high school junior year. I was the first dude in my little suburban community to get a car in my class. This was far from a silver spoon situation. It was a 1996 GMC Jimmy that I used to skip school to work forty hour weeks with.

One day my sister steals my aux chord and puts these guys on. I was immediately drawn to front man Brian Sella’s whiny white guy voice and the five minute songs about being young and in love and fighting depression with good vibes. There was one song I played on repeat, Twin Size Mattress.

Now don’t forget I’m the guy with the car. This song slowly turned into the anthem of the hooligans I hung out with. We’d all get together in my basement and drink (irresponsibly of course) while absolutely screaming “I wanna contribute to the chaos.”

You dear reader, might be thinking, why the hell do I care about your teenage angst and partying? You should care because these little subcultures pop up everywhere and they have a real impact on the world around you. I’d wager that you too at some point had a crew of friends that was heavily influenced by a song or band. Music is powerful. I did some stupid shit that summer, all in the name of having an excuse to yell anthems of youth.

I went though a breakup and the last thing I said to the girl was “Hey man I love you but no fucking way.” Talk about cringe man.

Something about that music got us all riled up.

“I’m sure that we could find something for you to do on stage  Maybe shake a tambourine or when I sing, you sing harmonies”

This line was one of a call and response variety. You’d run into someone on the street and say “hey man you got something for me to do on stage?” and they’d say “You could shake a tambourine,” and then laugh together and at times it felt like a little twin language. My sister’s friends weren’t exactly girls I was cool with but say a few lyrics from whatever song and out of nowhere I had a bunch of new friends.

However, way more things were happening in my neighborhood. Things a lot more permanent than cringey memories. I think the whole craze lasted about two months. It ended really abruptly. The reason for that being a car incident in the local park involving my sister and her best friend. The two had decided it was a good idea to jump into her friend’s mom’s car and do donuts in the field whiled drinking boxed wine.

My sister got a slap on the wrist but the other girl faced a full blown DUI charge. I must’ve scolded her up and down one hundred times telling her how stupid she was. Part of me felt really responsible and guilty. The crazy thing though is that the cops didn’t get called because of a vehicle incident. The police were dispatched on a noise complaint. The neighborhood hadn’t heard the car making a mess, they had heard two girls screaming song lyrics.

[mechanizedmonster]

Silent Scream

The song “Silent Scream” was made by Anna Blue in 2017. Anna Blue is an emo Pop singer who solely makes her music on the web. She has made this song on Youtube and other web platforms, with no intentions so far as to perform live. In fact, there isn’t much information about Anna Blue and her personal life, usually using cartoon characters in replace of exposing herself on screen. Despite this, her songs are very influential. In many ways, the song “Silent Scream” is impactful in our culture and in society today.

The first and foremost issue this song tackles is people’s expectations of others and how damaging it can be. Just look at the first line of the lyrics. “I’m caught up in your expectations. You try to make me live your dream.” This line speaks for a lot of people. This kind of expectation is primarily found in families, especially in terms of future careers for sons and daughters. There are times when fathers and/or mothers want their children to acquire jobs such as working in the medical field as a doctor or becoming a lawyer or maybe become a famous actor/actress. Sometimes, this viewpoint can be taken to the extreme and parents will choose to look at their sons or daughters as failures for being unable to live up to their expectations. While there is good intention for urging their children for these career choices, it is also destructive as their children may not feel the same way. What if their son or daughter wants to be an artist? A writer? A musician? Often more than not, those dreams get shot down by their parents, claiming they won’t even able to bring bread to the table. It creates a sense of hopelessness

The song is also relatable in society today in that it tackles the issue about depression. Take a look at the lines, “And I hope so hard for the pain to go away and it’s torturing me, but I can’t break free. So, I cry and cry but just won’t let it out. The Silent Scream.” This line is so relatable to how many people feel today. Many times, people feel that there is no one who would take the time to listen what they are going through. That no one understands the pain they are going through. They want to scream and get rid of their pain but they can’t. Nothing comes out because it hurts so bad inside. Of course, it doesn’t just restrict to the idea of depression but helplessness in general. When people are stuck in terrible situations and no one will lend them a hand to help them out.  

Interestingly, this song also can be used to describe what youtubers go through. For some reason, when someone says that are a youtuber, they are met with some sort of bias. People think youtubers don’t actually have serious jobs and think they just have fun and games all the time. It doesn’t help when youtubers are given a sort of bad reputation when some of them have went to the extreme, such as the incident with Logan Paul and the suicide forest video.It’s an unfair outlook that labels the whole youtube community as a whole, even if a majority of people do not do outrageous incidents such as those.

 It’s also interesting that Anna Blue let her friend Daimen Dawn, who is also a band member and fellow singer, sing her song to be the male version of it. 

What’s interesting is that one line in the song is replaced when Daimen sings it. The line “Be that pinky little perfect princess but I am not that type of child” is replaced with the line “But everyday I fail to impress, so I cry once in a while”. In a way, it gives an indirect message that no matter who you are, you are going to face many problems in life. It doesn’t matter what you look or what gender you are. Everyone goes through so many problems and they can experience feelings of hopelessness plenty of times.

The song has so many important lines that relate to a person’s life. In fact, many of the problems that are stated throughout the song can also be solved through one line the song says: “Just let me be who I am. It’s what you really need to understand.”  

Every person needs to be appreciated for who they are and what they are talented in. They shouldn’t be judged for it. Instead, they need the opportunity to shine bright. Remember, you create your own definition of who you are and you should be proud of it.

[mechanizedmonster]

Title Fight/Ned Russin: An Artist Profile

I know I’ve mentioned Title Fight a lot on this blog for a while now. Of course you should already know they’ve been favorite band since I was 16 years old till now. But on this blog post I want to talk about the band themselves.

In 2003, three teenagers from Wilkes-Barre/Kingston, Pennsylvania named Ned Russin, Ben Russin and Jamie Rhoden formed a punk band called Title Fight. This band was formed after Ned and Ben were inspired by their older brother Alex Russin who has been playing punk/hardcore bands (such as Cold World). According to an interview on Alternative Press, rather than go out partying and getting “fucked up” Ned and the rest of the band opted to go to shows and make music. To me this is an example of the “white suburban kids starts a band” trope. The band name originates, according the Ned, when he was going through wrestling magazines in his attic and picked the name “Title Fight”. 

(Note: I tend to focus more on Ned since he is the primary songwriter for the band and “spokesperson”)

Flier from Title Fight’s first show on October 17, 2003

That same year they put out their “Down For The Count” Demo. ( I highly recommend checking out Surf, Sand and Hardcore from that demo. It’s their best song. Yes I’m being serious and joking at the same time)

Fast forward to 2005. The band has now added another guitarist by the name of Shane Moran and released another demo. By this time you could hear their pop punk sound and how influenced by Blink-182 they were.

By the end of the 2000′s, the band has toured with many bands from their scene from Balance & Composure, Fireworks, New Found Glory, etc. They’ve signed to Run For Cover Records and released an EP/Compilation album called The Last Thing You Forget.

By the end of the decade and being fresh out of high school the band briefly attended college but dropped out in order to do the band full time (They were like 19/20 years old at that time). According to Run For Cover Records, when Title Fight did a UK tour they discovered and befriended another band that RFC would later sign called Basement who later be one the most popular bands on that label. Title Fight signed to SideOneDummy Records and record their debut album Shed. This album was produced by Walter Schreifels, yes the Walter Schreifels of Gorilla Biscuits.

Guitarist, Shane Moran also formed a short lived band called Bad Seed which contained Ned and Jamie with Shane as vocals

Around this time 2010/2011, Ned formed a straight edge hardcore band called Disengage that was heavily influenced by Youth of Today and released a demo, an EP and a full length on Back to Back Records and Young Blood Records.

In 2012 they went on tour with bigger bands like Rise Against and A Day To Remember. That same year they went back to the studio and recorded their second album Floral Green. In an earlier blog post, I’ve described this album as one of their best.

In 2013 they went on tour around the world. The video above documents their world tour and to be quite honest seeing that at 17 years old made quite envious of their lifestyle. To me this is an example of four best friends being in a band and having the time of their lives.

After releasing Hyperview in 2015 the band started winding down and did less and less shows.

At once everyone thought they were gone until Ned starting a new project called Glitterer. It was also revealed that Ned had reached a crossroads in his life and went back to school in pursuit of a degree in creative writing. 

What makes this band unique as people is that they’re just simple dudes from small town Pennsylvania who didn’t really give a shit about being “cool” or “hip” and just wanted to be themselves yet they also impacted a lot of people in the scene. They’re down to earth and can be awkward sometimes and that made me realize that sometimes the very people who you think are “cool” are actually bunch of introverted weirdos and that’s a beautiful thing.

[mechanizedmonster]

Artist Profile: George Michael

George Michael was a member of the band Wham! Many people probably remember him for creating one of the most popular Christmas songs: Last Christmas which was released on December 1984.

George Michael was born on June 25, 1963 in the United Kingdom. George Michael had big ambitions and the desire to become famous and rich.

Unfortunately, George Michael faced a lot of hate during his time. In fact, people never really took him seriously while he was part of the band Wham! Not only that but he constantly faced emotional distress.

He faced a serious heartbreak when a girl he loved dumped him. It caused him a lot of emotional distress.

In fact, he admits that his emotional distress was so bad at the time that it is what caused him to break up from the band Wham!. 

Eventually, George Michael would go on to create his own songs. 

Even when he achieved success, George Michael faced resentment and jealousy from so many different people.

In the article above, George Michael was denying that he was gay and that it was just rumors that people believed in. Later on, George Michael announced he was gay to the public in 1998. It’s a bit foggy/unclear whether this is what George Michael truly felt or if he gave in to the public’s assumption and rumors that he was gay. In either case, he was met with heavy criticism and harassment. There were numerous times he got in trouble with the law and the police. For instance, he was accused of committing lewd acts with another guy in a bathroom.

George Michael was also struggling with drug abuse.

It seems that no one took the time to get to know him for who he actually is. He wasn’t some kind of hotshot for everyone to hate and pick on. He was a human being. Yet, people often forget that. They think George Michael is just having a smooth ride in life without understanding the things he went through to get to where he was and the things he was enduring while he was at the top.

Yet, even with all of this, George Michael preserved and managed to shine bright in pop culture history.

That’s why it’s heartbreaking to find out that George Michael died on Christmas day in 2016.

Despite this tragedy, George Michael still continues to be an influence to this day. In fact, many artists have made cover versions of the song Last Christmas or sang their own version of it. Here are a few examples:

“Last Christmas-Wham! Remix-” by The Living Tombstone

“Last Christmas” by Taylor Swift.

Last Christmas” by Ariana Grande.

There is even a movie coming up called “Last Christmas” which was inspired by George Michael’s song. Here is the International trailer:

Even after death, George Michael still became a shining star and perhaps even a hero. Hardships are what builds character and inspire others when they are down. By this definition, George Michael can be seen as a hero and leaves a legacy that gives courage for people to pursue their careers, no matter who stands in their way.

[mechanizedmonster]

Interview with Daryl Perez

Daryl Perez playing live at the Meat Locker in Montclair, NJ.

On this week’s blog post I interviewed local NJ musician, Daryl Perez. I’ve known Daryl since our junior year of high school and we also played in a band together at one point. Daryl is currently involved in several projects right now such as playing guitar and doing vocals in bands like Durl,¡GoCasino! and Owlet. He’s also the owner and founder of the record label: Deprived Records and runs a recording studio.

*Interview Starts*

Aldrin: First off, thank you for letting me interview you. How have you been?

Daryl: Absolutely, dude. I’ve been good and you?

Aldrin: Same on my end. So Daryl how long have you’ve been a musician? What got you into music? What instrument(s) do you play?

Daryl: Been doing music for about 13 years now. I started when I was 10 years old when the violin instructor at my school came to my class and asked if anyone wanted to play the violin and I figured I’d try it out and ended up loving it. I play violin, cello, guitar/bass, piano, and drums mainly, but I’ve dabbled in many other instruments but don’t play them well enough to say I really play them.

Aldrin: That’s awesome, out of all the instruments which do you like playing the most?

Daryl: Probably piano and guitar right now but it tends to change at times haha.

Daryl jamming out.

Aldrin: Good choices. Now onto the next question, you’ve been playing in bands for a while now right? Would you mind giving me a rundown on al the bands you’ve played? From past to present.

Daryl: Sure! Well I was in a metalcore band where I played guitar when I was 14 and then when I was 16 I played guitar in a post-hardcore band. I also played in a Blink-182 cover band called Wink 91 for a little while a for a high school show. I then moved onto do a lot of solo music where I write and record black metal and another where I write and record indie rock. I also played bass for a grindcore band for a little while. My main thing right now is that I’m the guitarist and vocalist of a skramz/powerviolence band,

Aldrin: And what’s the name of the skramz/powerviolence band?

Daryl: ¡GoCasino! (Exclamation points included)

¡GoCasino! performing live.

Aldrin: How did you guys get started?

Daryl: Oh I forgot to mention I played guitar and did vocals in an emo band as well. And we ended up not being into it much so we decided to start playing skramz and our bassist became our drummer and the other vocalist became the bassist. Thus was born ¡GoCasino! Haha.

Aldrin: That’s interesting. If I recall that emo band was called Durl am I correct?

Daryl: Durl is actually my indie rock stuff. I’m actually still active as Durl, but not as much as the skramz band. The emo band was called Family Tradition.

Aldrin: Ah okay. As you said earlier ¡GoCasino! is a skramz/powerviolence band. What bands were influential/do you guys take influence/inspiration from?

Daryl: Late 90′s/early 2000′s bands like Orchid, Jerome’s Dream, Pg. 99, Funeral Diner etc.

Aldrin: Oh nice, Orchid is one of my favorite skramz bands. Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow! is my favorite album from them. Anyways on to the next topic: I understand that you run a record label known as Deprived Records and you also have a studio in your home. What was the inspiration behind that?

Daryl: Well the label was stared because we new too many amazing bands that just weren’t getting the recognition they deserved so we wanted to help them. It doesn’t run like a typical label and is very musician friendly. We actually make very little profit since we believe the money a band earns should go to them instead of a company. The studio started as I enjoyed doing as a past time but have grown to desire a career in it. I’ve been working really hard in it have since moved into an actual location outside of my home.

Deprived Records logo

Aldrin: Gotta love the good ole DIY ethic. If you don’t mind, what bands that are on the Deprived Records roster, you would want people to check out?

Daryl: Well we’re currently taking a small break while we get the studio going as well as some compilation albums that are coming out soon! However, some bands we’ve worked with that we support wholeheatedly are Entierralos, Woodland Tomb, Blackwolf, and Sick!

Aldrin: Hell yeah! Alright to wrap things up, if folks want to get a hold of you or any of your projects where should I send them to? Any links?

Daryl: Sure! Here’s Deprived Records’ website. On Instagram there’s Durl and ¡GoCasino!

Aldrin: Awesome. Thank you so much for your time to do this interview!

Daryl: Absolutely, man!

*Interview Ends*

That wraps up my interview with Daryl. Be on the lookout for all the rad things he’ll put out in the future. You can check out Daryl’s projects here:

Deprived Records: Website, YouTube, Instagram

Durl: Instagram, Bandcamp

¡GoCasino!: Instagram

[mechanizedmonster]

Artist Interview: John Warren

I’ll be honest, I don’t think I ever known what it is like to perform music. So, it’s valuable to have someone be able to tell you about that experience because it helps to open your eyes and ears. Today, I interviewed Professor Warren of Rutgers University and asked about his musical background. 

*Interview begins*

Hello everyone. Today I am interviewing a very special guest, our very own professor: John Warren!

Hello!

How is it going?

It’s going well. It’s been such an honor that you selected me.

Yeah, I feel like this is the greatest honor ever.

Oh no. It’s been a pleasure. It’s been a pleasure working with you and to share about my musical experience.

That’s great, thank you so much. So, we know that you have a history with the bass. What made you decide you want to play bass in the first place?

Well, like many bass players, I was a guitar player first. At a pretty young age, I played saxophone in school bands like many kids do, fooled around with the piano. My father was a guitar player at one point somewhat professional back in the 60s and 70s, so I had guitars around all the time and I always wanted to play guitar you know a young, young, young kid in the 1980s, you know saw Guns N’ Roses and that sort of very guitar centric pop and rock music at the time. So I play guitar for many, many years but the issue becomes, especially when I was younger, everyone played guitar and you know, I was pretty good -actually, very good actually, probably- but it was very hard to find bass players and by that time I got very into punk rock music which actually is very bass driven, something that is not always understood. Bass players typically has the most chops and techniques and that was because the origins of punk rock music, especially from English bands, were immersed in Ska and Rege music which was very bass driven. So, it was important to have a good bass player in a punk rock band. So, at some point, I got frustrated and I made the rhythm guitarist in my band the only guitarist and we got tired of struggling to find a bass player and I just got a bass for Christmas when I was about 13 or 14 and I always messed around with my friend’s basses, but I got a bass, practiced for about a week or two and did my first recording session with the band I was in at the time as the bass player. From that point forward I went back and forth for a long time playing guitar and bass the band I was with throughout most of high school, I mostly played guitar and I had to find two really good bass players, one of which I still occasionally play with today. So, there wasn’t a need. But then in college, I ended up being a jazz, bass major and that was my primary instrument as a music major so the whole thing kinda came back together and where I really focused on bass. Again, I was surrounded by lots of really good guitar players in Mason Gross in a jazz program and even just in the bands I was playing with, it was just so much easier to find a guitar player. Then in college, the jazz program here, at the time at least, was very traditional, playing with the upright bass which I did play with my experience as a guitar player- playing bass and really through all of that though studying jazz, studying upright bass,  violin bass, classical technique and all that. I really started to become a bass player which really before that point I was just a guitar player who owned a bass. Yeah. So, it’s a long story but I still play guitar pretty well and occasionally do guitar gigs but there was a point in college I guess where what I had to offer as a bass player outweighed what I had to offer as a guitar player.

How many years do you think it took to hone your skills?

Still working on it man, still working on it. So, again, college is where I really studied bass and I did have guitar lessons before that and the guitar teachers would show me things on bass. So, if you count the beginning, about 20 years? The time I started playing guitar, 30 years. Yeah. It’s a long time. You gotta put like Vladwell has the number he has “x amount of hours to be a genius or master”. I’m not even concerned about that. Just to be competent or Just to be artistically good for people to work with you. Might not be Vladwell’s number but it’s a lot of hours you have to put in.

That’s pretty amazing. I never would have imagined that you were a guitar player.

Yeah. I mean at home, I mostly play. Paul McCarty said, well, no one wants to sit around and sing a song while playing bass or guitar. A classic song that everyone wants to sing along to.

Yeah, I mean, you could do it.

Yeah. There is a guy I know in my neighborhood, the bass player. It’s weird to me a bass player who doesn’t play guitar a little bit, it’s kind of a gimmick, kinda cool. I’ve seen Sting do it. Seen Sting sing with a bass. But, it’s unusual right? Not with a guitar. Probably singing a Beatles song.

The band you play with, how was it first formed band formed?

Well I played with a few different bands currently and all of them have existed long before I was with them. It’s sort of the dream of the musician, when you want to jump on the wave and its already cresting toward you but you’re hoping the wave comes toward you. It’s kind of depressing.  I’ve been very lucky to be a part of projects. I’ve certainly created my own projects but some of them have not lasted for a while. I play with a band called Sea of Otters, in Jersey City. They are an alternative rock band playing 90s. I’m by far the young guy, even younger than the founders of the band. Yeah, so I played bass with them. Nick Ciavatta, Sea of Otters is an Italian name, that band goes back to when I was in middle school. I just so happen to live in the neighborhood and met these guys. The leader of that band Nick and I go a long way back, he is also a sound engineer. Music is a weird place like that like an island on the show Lost. You keep finding the same people and keep playing with them and its almost like a vortex that doesn’t let you leave and keep you performing.

The Sensational Blue Wonders

I played with a bunch of other groups as well. Another band I’ve been playing with is The Sensational Blues Wonders, a traditional country group. Recently the singer started writing songs in a different style. Primarily we play classic country music which includes gospel music and stuff. We tend to view these styles through a lens.

Two different bands I play in. One I’m playing upright bass and singing all the high up harmonies.

I’m interested in a lot of different kinds of music. I get bored doing the same kind of things all the time. I now do play bass in a punk rock band called Patatomic and the Bomb. It’s an original project that does some classic punk rock covers but it’s trio. I play bass and sing. It’s real fun, high-energy, punk rock music. Three pretty different projects acutally. That’s the way I like it. It would be nice to work on my own project, but right now it’s difficult to be the driving force to be the musical project that I want to be. So, I’m happy being the side person.  

I don’t really how the bands I’m in formed.  

I mean the history to a band is just as important to how they formed because that is the foundation of what brought them together in the first place.

I feel ignorant to how these bands formed.

I know you’re happy to be on the side but if you had the opportunity to make your own dream, what would it be musically?

Well, there is a lot. My background in graduate school studied classical composition. I wrote a bit in modern classical style, sort of a mix of modern crazy music but also blending that with tunnel language of earlier times. You know, pop music because you can’t deny things that you have heard. I find it funny when composers think they are purists and they are gonna write concert music as opposed to pop music but everything you have heard comes out. So, I certainly would like to get back into doing some form of that. I have a really significant interest in film music and I’ve done a little bit of that. I love collaboration, really. What I didn’t like about classical composition was sitting alone, in solitary and working alone for so long. Having come off a rock band and jazz where you can just write a tune and try out a gig that night, that immediacy is something that I cherish and I like. I don’t know if I would necessary want to just start purely writing classical music again but some kind of hybrid with collaboration with filmmakers and make music in that sense as an element in a larger work or a band or ensemble that I was directing a lot of the music for.

I would need some time in solitude, which actually having children now, would look forward to solitary time to play music. I would just sort of need to have the space to mess around. People make the mistake that they want to get a guitar and write a song. The advantage of doing it as a kid is that you have many opportunities to suck.

I’m hesitant to even project what the project would be. I would hope to collaborate as some kind of composer. I’m interested in just sort of being open to what comes out.

I look forward to it.

Yeah. Hopefully one day soon and not in a galaxy far, far away.

Was there a moment where you felt a sense of empowerment or one that stands out that this was the best moment or the highlight.

That depends. Bass for me means a lot of different genres but also different instruments like electric bass and electric guitar are totally different instruments and moments when I shined on those. The violin bass is primarily that slap bass rock ability country style. A lot of that technique is more about rhythm and feel than in how jazz is trained. It’s just connecting to the music. Yeah, there’s been a couple of shows where I felt like I could do this. I don’t think I ever had that moment as a jazz bass player, I’ve played jazz gigs on and off. I haven’t really experienced that. In electric bass, I have experienced those moments.

This is a strange question but do you think your musical background influence your teaching as a professor?

Oh yeah. Absolutely. You know, being a preforming artist, working with the crowd, working with the room definitely translates in classroom teaching. Certainly, lecturing in which I don’t do in case you haven’t noticed. Good classroom teaching is a lot of give and take. Whatever structure or pedology I give to students, every week students bring back to me and I read their insightful viewpoints, see different music and laugh at their jokes. I get to engage with students and hear the views. I give them feedback based on life experience, as a human, as an artist, as an intellectual/thinker type, as a writer. Particularly having a music or theater background is really important at least in my opinion.

Wow. That’s deep.

Yeah. I think deeply.

https://soundcloud.com/john-warren-8/looking-back-riffs-and-memories

What advice would you give to fellow musicians?

Just do it. I mean, at the end of the day, what inspired me or you to play music. Everyone’s a little bit different. I am definitely an extrovert and not an introvert. You got some song your working on and your friends want to jump on, and sing some tunes. That really loose communal aspect is what is important. If get a guitar, play a few chords and you guys can play some music together, that’s the key.

If you can’t find the joy and pleasure in doing it the basic sense, then there is no point in doing it. If you can’t find that joy, you got to change it up so you can keep doing it.

Wow. Awesome interview. Thank you so much.  How would you like to end this interview?

How would I end this interview?

Yes. I’m giving the floor to you.

Well, I’ll ask you a question.

Oh…shoot… Okay. Fair enough.

If you could have any kind of musical superpower what’s so ever or musical ability, what would you aspire to do yourself?

…That’s a good question. I haven’t really thought much about it.

If you could perform in some way, what would you do?

If I learned how to sing good, that would be good.

That’s the origin of Western music.

Or Christmas carols.

Yeah. We were born with our best instrument. I hope you try at it a little bit.

Yeah. Hopefully. Thank you so much for the interview Professor.

No problem.

(Interview End)

This interview was valuable because it shows the dedication and experience of what it means to be an artist. It’s making music apart of you and in a sense, you are your own instrument. 

[mechanizedmonster]

Hardcore Punk

One my favorite genres of music is hardcore. Hardcore Punk (sometimes shorten as Hardcore) is a sub-genre of punk rock that has its origins in the 1980′s specifically in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles respectively. Bands such as Bad Brains, Minor Threat and Black Flag are known as one of the first few hardcore bands.

The sub-genre is characterized as being a more aggressive form of punk rock with an emphasis on rhythm over melody as well as shouting and sometimes screaming vocals as opposed to conventional singing. 

A feature of a hardcore song is the short duration of less than 2 minutes or even less. I would argue that these types of songs get to the point of what they’re trying to get to. Check out Minor Threat’s Seeing Red.

Lyrically hardcore songs are often socio-political with themes such as anarchism, feminism, and even veganism. Other lyrics often focus on being straight edge, (sub-culture within hardcore punk whose adherents abstain from drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sex). Some lyrics express rage and aggression on every day life. As teenager growing up, listening to hardcore was one of my escapes from the world. In many ways it is a counter-culture within a counter-culture.

Hardcore shows consist of the band and the crowd like any other show. But this includes moshing and stage diving, and just overall vibing with the music.

Here’s some pictures and gifs.

Many of the hardcore punk scenes across the U.S. and internationally place emphasis on D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) ethics. The D.I.Y. aspect of hardcore is that bands write and play their own music without any influence from corporate record labels such as recording on their own or setting up independent record label. Another aspect is the venues where bands are usually played, rather than traditional concert venues a lot of hardcore and punk bands play in smaller spaces such as basements, houses, VFW Halls and even Churches. A band called Expire played in fast food restaurant chain Burgerville in Portland, OR. Another called Live Without played in a Denny’s restaurant as well. Others involved within the hardcore scene would also make fanzine (sometimes called zines)

An example of a zine.

A flier from 1987 for a show in Middlesex County College in Edison, NJ

New Jersey has an active hardcore scene dating back to the 80′s. Most of them played clubs, colleges, churches and basements. Notable bands punk/hardcore bands from NJ are Floorpunch, Lifetime, Mouthpiece, Thursday, The Mongoloids, Suburban Scum, Fence Cutter.

Here is a clip of hardcore band, Earth Crisis playing a show in Middlesex County College in Edison, NJ:

Earth Crisis playing at Middlesex County College in 1996. Known for their militant vegan stance, this band has attracted trolls who wore fur jackets and threw yogurt at them.

Have Heart playing at the Stelton Baptist Church in Edison, NJ 2009

Local band Fencer Cutter from Perth Amboy, NJ, playing a show in Jersey City.

New Brunswick, NJ is a known location to host an underground punk scene. Most of the shows in New Brunswick are played in basements. Students from Rutgers University as well as locals are active in the New Brunswick basement scene.

An influential punk band from New Brunswick called Lifetime even wrote a song paying homage the basement shows there called Theme Song For A New Brunswick Basement Show.

Here’s a clip of a basement show in New Brunswick featuring the band Compulse.

Compulse playing the Eastern Bloc in New Brunswick, NJ.

Hardcore is an interesting genre of music with an interesting scene. The music provides as I like to say it “positive aggression” towards everything. It’s an outlet for those aren’t “cool” or “accepted” enough in society. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any cliques in the scene. But for me hardcore was quintessential during my formative years and pretty much got me through high school and now.

If you ever want to find about local hardcore shows around New Jersey, I definitely recommend checking out New Jersey Hardcore on Instagram:

@NewJerseyHardcore

[mechanizedmonster]

Beautiful

Julien Baker’s cover of Accident Prone by Jawbreaker

Julien Baker’s cover of Accident Prone live in Brussels 2016

Covering another artist’s song can be a hit or miss task. You either butcher the song or you make it entirely your own in a very unique way that does a song justice. Luckily 24 year old indie/folk artist Julien Baker does the latter, covering the influential punk band Jawbreaker’s song Accident Prone, and does a damn good job at it.

Julien Baker is known for writing very emotional songs and for her to cover this very emotional song it makes sense.

Accident Prone by Jawbreaker off of their album Dear You

While there is no studio recorded version of Julien’s cover, I had decided to take a closer look of this live version simply because Julien made her own unique interpretation of this song. To be quite honest I don’t know if a recorded version would surpass this performance.

Like the original, she plays in the same key of E Major/C# Minor.  However, compared to the original Jawbreaker song, the lack of guitar, bass and drums Julien makes up with playing this entirely on piano accompanied with lack of tempo changes found in the original. That gives her version a superior, unique flavor, along with her soothing vocals.

The song starts off with Julien playing the main guitar riff on piano and then progressively flowing til she starts singing opening verse  

“What’s the furthest place from here? It hasn’t been my day for a couple years What’s a couple more?

And if I go, don’t forget the one good thing I almost did I learned your name without words I used my eyes, not my hands”

She smoothly sings the next verse 

What’s the closest you can come to an almost total wreck And still walk away, all limbs intact? And when I go, you’ll be there Crying out, begging me I won’t hear I’ll just go fast into this night on broken legs

Jawbreaker vocalist/guitarist Blake Shwarzenbach’s poetic lyrics along with Julien’s angelic singing make a perfect combination.

She sings the chorus so gallantly and buttery smooth while in the original version. As you hear her sing the chorus”

 “A near miss or a close call? I keep a room at the hospital I scratch my accidents into the wall I couldn’t wait to breathe your breath I cut in line, I bled to death I got to you, there was nothing left”

When you hear her sing the chorus a second time you hear a voice crack, to me this adds to the emotion, like a cry for help. 

As Julien plays the bridge she plays an interlude composed of an arpeggio that connects well into singing the chorus again then perfectly ending the song.

Two comments in the video state how I feel about this cover “How could someone born the same year Jawbreaker broke up sound like they invented the 90’s on a piano? As a ghost of such times, I’d like to say thanks for carrying a breath of lost air to our long-emptied lungs.” and “Predictably heartbreaking musician plays a predictably heartbreaking song and I still couldn’t brace myself for the impact.”

It’s amazing how Julien Baker’s arrangement for this song can transform and even surpass the original. Don’t get me wrong the original version is a classic and I very much enjoy listening to Jawbreaker but the way Julien took it to a whole new level blew my mind.

If the original version was a punk rock ballad this was a sonata masterpiece.

[mechanizedmonster]

Monsters

Shinedown’s Monsters is an amazing song that exposes the constant struggles people have with depression. 

When the song plays, I can’t help but imagine the band playing in two different locations in a music scene. I feel like the band is playing this song in either a jail cell or Hell. If the song was played in a jail cell it would make sense because when people are in jail, they are trapped behind iron bars, unable to leave. If the band played in a hell (or their version of hell) then they can depict not only the feelings of despair but the demons lurking around them.  

Depression twists your entire reality and makes you see everything through a negative light. On the outside, you can fake smiles and act as though everything is going alright. That the sun is shining down on you. In reality though, you’re the opposite and inside you feel hollow and you know you’re smile is fake. This theme can be found in their animated video where the main character puts on a mask that’s constantly smiling while constantly dealing with his monsters inside.

The music from the guitar adds up to this feeling and is really powerful in this song. The guitar screams sound like a lamentation. A cry for help. The scream of desolation. Of loneliness and heartache. When a person is overwhelmed from the demons inside him/her as they crawl out and tear apart his/her sanity.

The lead Singer of the band Shinedown, Brent Smith, admits that he is constantly dealing with his own inner demons. He struggles with substance abuse ranging from alcohol to drugs. It explains why part of the lyrics says “Leave your weapon on the table/warped in burlap, barely able/ Don’t get angry, don’t discourage/ Take a shot of liquid courage.” Take a shot of liquid courage is a reference to alcohol since alcohol can make you do things you wouldn’t otherwise do. Brent has been struggling with alcoholism which is why he adds this part into the lyrics. Plus, people who are depressed usually take alcohol in hopes of feeling better which, in reality, does not help at all.  

The lines “Call a doctor/Say a prayer/Choose a God you think is fair” make the feelings of desperation feel even more intense. These are words that you hope would bring some sort of comfort. Something for a person to believe in to pull themselves out of the darkness. It’s hard though with depression. The truth is, you would feel that there is no one who can save you and that these words only bring false hope. That in reality, you are stuck in your depression till the end of your life. Shinedown exposes these harsh feelings and brings awareness to those who are suffering whether it be depression or personal problems.   

It’s easy to put on a mask and fake a smile. It’s harder to put the demons inside to rest…and it’s even harder when your dead inside.     

[mechanizedmonster]

Sweet Dreams

Sweet Dreams by Marilyn Mansion is a song that is not going to give anyone sweet dreams anytime soon. If anything, it was a slow descent into a never-ending nightmare.

Just listen to how the song goes. First, it slowly goes into a soft, slow tone. The guitar plays slowly like it’s about to tell you a dark lullaby. Then as soon as it’s got you, it lets out a hardcore stream of intense music. Just like a nightmare, it’s got you and it’s going to make you suffer. Loud, heavy metal enters into the scene, making the song crazier. It does not help that you are also blasted by Marilyn Manson’s extremely high screaming.

The way that “Sweet Dreams” is structured, makes it seems ironic with the tone it uses. Sure, there are some parts of the lyrics that fit with the songs dark theme such as: “Some of them want to use you. Some of them want to get used by you. Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused.” This line in particular fits extremely well with the dark tone the song gives as it mirrors the deceit and darkness hidden in every person and the desire for control over others.

Granted, there would be some questions though in regards to some other parts of the lyrics. For example: “Travel the world and the seven seas. Everybody is looking for something.” This part of the lyrics isn’t really dark. In fact, it would sound more like someone going on an adventure and finding something they are looking for. It gives a positive denotation to the listener. So why are there some lines in a dark song that are not really dark?   

Well, the reason being is that “Sweet Dreams” was not original made by Marilyn Manson. Marilyn Manson only did a cover version of the song. The original song was made by a band known as Eurythmics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeMFqkcPYcg

If you were to compare both songs side by side, you would see that Marilyn Manson’s version of Sweet Dreams completely strips off the musical tones of the original version. Not a single instrument is shared in common between the two versions of the song. Though the lyrics may be the same, even that can be questionable. One is heavy metal with creepy undertones while the other is more punk and robotic like. One gives off these sinister, dark, eerie melodies filled with despair while its counterpart gives off upbeat vibes and a jolly melody. Since the tones of the two songs differ substantially, it can almost be seen as two different songs.

Marilyn Manson’s version of “Sweet Dreams” could be as strange compared to the original. In fact, Mariyln Manson’s personal life seems to match with the strangeness in his song. Marilyn Manson has been through a lot of crazy things in his life, most of which people mistake his identity. People see Marilyn Manson as a Satanist, crazy Rockstar without seeing why Marilyn Manson chose to present himself this way. Marilyn Manson states he does this so he can demonstrate how one should put belief in themselves and move forward.

In a way, it’s just like his version of “Sweet Dreams”. Sure, it can be seen as a darker, twisted version of the original with no value to it. However, if someone took the time to analyze the dark song, one could see the valuable themes and lessons to learn from it.  Just as Marilyn Manson himself has lessons and values to teach if someone took the time to know him.

Remember: Don’t judge a book by its cover…. or by a song from its tone. Think about it before you go to sleep tonight.

‘Sweet Dreams.’ 

[mechanizedmonster]

Certain bands are able to have an impact in their respective music scenes. Title Fight is one of them. I’m not just saying that because they’re favorite band. It’s easy to see the influence the band has over their scene. 

Here are a collection of songs that I think are one of Title Fight’s best songs. I’ll start out with their early stuff and work my way towards recent releases. 

The first two songs on the last are Symmetry and No One Stays At The Top Forever. These two songs were released in the compilation album The Last Thing You Forget. Although initial a three-song EP released as a 7″ in July of 2009, the CD version was released as a compilation album that contained some of their earlier material on Run For Cover Records. 

I remember the first time listening to Symmetry. It was sometime during the fall of 2011 when I was at a friend’s house. He had his Spotify on his computer and played the song. I asked who’s playing and he told me about Title Fight. To me this is my favorite Title Fight. The lyrics of the song includes “There’s symmetry in the way you cut me straight into two.” and “You’re a match that can’t be lit. Spark a flame, burn infinite.” The musical composition of the song starts off as a d-beat that’s normally found in punk songs. At that time I was 15 getting into punk/hardcore so the music naturally clicked with me. 

No One Stays At The Top Forever is another favorite of mine from that EP. It starts out slow the reel you in and then slowly builds up into a more fast paced song. 

The next two songs come off Title Fight’s debut album Shed. This album maintains Title Fight’s pop punk/melodic hardcore sound and pushes it further. The sounds of the album remind of me 90′s punk bands Jawbreaker and Lifetime. The opening words to Shed  “You’re cold like the blood that runs through your veins.” are sung perhaps melodically yelled by bassist/vocalist Ned Russin. This creates an impact to the song, drawing you in. 

Next up is 27 and perhaps one of my favorite song off of this album both lyrically and musically. The song starts with the roar of the song and Ned yelling “My father said don’t be so scared. Driving all alone, you’re in a hospital bed.” The lyric of the song “If I said your name 27 times, would that you bring back to life?” alludes to the name of the song, 27. The song is about Ned’s family member going to the hospital and his family being worried. The number 27 is in reference to Ned’s father’s lucky number, 27.

Onward to the album Floral Green. If there’s any album that has defined the last two years of my high school career it would be this one. In my own opinion this is Title Fight’s most powerful and expressive album and will be on top albums of the decade if not of all time for me. 

The album starts off the song Numb, But I Still Feel It. The roar of the guitars and drums make you want to go absolutely ape shit. Hell there’s even live videos of the band playing that song live with people jumping around and stage diving and crowd surfing. The words start out “But did you know, I hold my breath through every tunnel?” When I saw Title Fight live in Starland Ballroom, the crowd and I yelled out to the top of our lungs to those words. 

Another song off that record is Secret Society. Just like Numb, Secret Society is also a very energetic song by them. It’s a song that you want to bang your head to while driving. It’s also a song you want to pretend to stage dive into your bed. Favorite lyrics “I’ll be you and you’ll be me in my secret society.” Here’s a video clip of how crazy that song is live.

Hyperview is the current release of Title Fight. This record moves Title Fight to a different direction. From melodic hardcore/pop punk/indie, Title Fight expands their sound to uncharted waters towards shoegaze and dream pop. No longer are they aggressive and energetic, they’ve become mellow and much more lax in their music. Chlorine and Hypernight are super mellow and chill that you want to listen to them while driving at night.

I’ll admit I was a tad bummed out when they took this direction. But I decided to grow a pair and accept the fact that a lot of bands shouldn’t make the same sounding album over again.  

[mechanizedmonster]

A Spooky Playlist

Halloween is soon going to be here in a couple of weeks. Yes, its the time for trick or treating and pumpkin carving and to have fun. It made me wonder about the different kinds of horror music and what makes something scary. Here is my playlist of scary songs and why they are terrifying. 

SCARY HOUR - Omar Varela  

Just listening to the beginning of the song, you know right off the bat it’s downright creepy. The music starts out slow and softly. It’s like a music box in the beginning of the song. It’s like what you expect it a horror movie. Some slow soothing music comes before something scary happens. In the song, the soothing music is cut off as the sounds of the growling of monsters appear and the beat drops and the electronic music takes over. 

What makes it scary is this unexpectedness of the appearance of electronic music. When first listening to the song, you would think that it would remain in the soft, lullaby state as normal scary music does. So when the electronic music suddenly appears, its like the cue for a monster to jump out and chase you. It’s the idea of something unexpected that creates this scariness. It’s just like what horror movies do. They have a monster jump out at you when you least expect it and the song does just that through its own musical tone.  

Speaking of horror movies...

JAWS

The Jaw’s Theme song is the most well known horror music ever created. In fact, the music creation of Jaws is quite fascinating. It was a such an accomplishment back in the day and for good reason. 

The song itself sends shivers down your spine. Everytime you hear this music, you associate it with the Great White Shark. You can imagine it circling around in the low notes of the song and you can imagine it attacking you in the high notes of the song. It’s so iconic and yet it is so terrifying. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise to find out people didn’t go swimming ever since watching Jaws. 

The last three songs come from a  horror source you might not have thought of: 

POKEMON

Yeah, that right. Pokemon can have scary music and it was designed for kids. 

OLD Chateau (Pokemon Diamond, Pokemon Pearl and Pokemon Platinum)

I remember when I used to play Pokemon Pearl when I was a kid. There was a specific event in the game where you could catch a rare pokemon called Rotom and you could only catch it at a place called the Old Chateau at 12 midnight. So naturally, I did just that. I thought that it wouldn’t be so bad. 

Big mistake. 

As soon as I entered the haunted area, the music sent chills up my spine almost immediately. It made the message clear to me: “Get Out. You do not belong here.” I should have took the music as a warning and just get out of there, but I didn’t. I still wanted to catch that Rotom and so I went deeper inside the area. That when I saw the human ghosts of a butler and a little girl  and I freaked out. I shut off my DS so fast and went to bed and hid under the covers. That’s how terrified I was.

Even going back to it now, the music still terrifies me. It always gives the feeling that something (or someone) is watching you.    

STRANGE HOUSE (Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2) 

What makes this song even scarier is that if you actually play the game, you can hear the furniture in the haunted house moving. 

What makes this music scary? You can feel the tragedy in the music. The little ghost girl in this house does have a tragic backstory, but you don’t even need to know what happened. The lonely piano keys that play amidst the unsettling music gives the indication that something bad happened. 

GIRATINA’S THEME (Pokemon Platinum)

This theme. This theme is the literal embodiment of chaos. Giratina is one of the scariest pokemon to encounter. It’s a Ghost/Dragon type pokemon and it’s a legendary. This thing is super strong and dangerous. It’s aggressive as indicated by its backstory. His music tells you how scary this guy is. 

 Everything about his music screams just one word: RUN. The clash of fear and insanity blend together into a mixture of despair. Just when you think things are settling down, you hear a heart moniter beeping. That’s right. A heart monitor going flat. Maybe it’s your own heart stopping after seeing how terrifying this thing is. Then the chaotic music comes back again. It’s almost as though Giratina himself is chasing you. 

This music is scary in that it sounds like you are being chased. You can’t think. You can only run and hope to avoid getting caught even if you know it’s too late. 

(Fun Fact: There are even rumors that Giratina is the Pokemon’s version of the Devil. Creepy.) 

Just like with any art, each of these scary songs have their own way of creating fear into you. Some songs give you a sense of uncertainty. Some instill a sense of tragedy or sadness. Regardless of which method is used, scary music have ways of instilling the art of fear inside of you and you can be sure it will haunt you for a long time. 

Happy early Halloween! Oh by the way, if you want a first look glance in how Pokemon can be terrified, just click on the link below. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1TNUPLXLqA&t=1s

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What? Too scary? Umm....Whoops? 

[mechanizedmonster]

Tiny Moving Parts In-Store Performance @ Vintage Vinyl

On September 14, 2019, emo/math-rock band Tiny Moving Parts played an in-store performance at Vintage Vinyl Records located in Fords, NJ. Accompanied with the performance was a signing as well. The day before on September 13, the band had just released their new album breathe on Hopeless Records, their debut release on this record label. Fun fact: I had never listened to the new songs or the album prior to the performance. To hear the songs live the first time before listening to the recorded versions is so much fun.

Tiny Moving Parts’ breathe

Just a week before the day of the performance, I dropped by the record store to  pre-order the album on vinyl and to receive a wristband in order to attend the performance + signing.

Fast forward to September 14, I pull up to Vintage Vinyl just 45 minutes before to find the band doing a soundcheck. After receiving my pre-order,  I was directed by staff to head over to the back of the store to form a line. Naturally I just followed another attendant to the back. Behind the back of the store was the band’s tour van with a Minnesota license plate (the band’s from Benson, Minnesota). I check my phone and find out one of my friends from Long Island was also attending the show as well. We meet up and soon more and more people showed up.

Not long after, a staff member open the back doors to let us in not before checking our wristbands. We were directed to the “front row” just right behind a rack of metal CD’s

Minutes before the start of the performance.

Finally the band came out with guitarist/vocalist Dylan greeting us and as well as thanking us for coming out to the performance. The band proceeded to play one of the single from the album called Bloody Nose. While the footage of the performance may not show it, a lot of us where bopping our heads to them playing. 

Full footage of the performance, courtesy of Vintage Vinyl

Setlist:  0:55 Bloody Nose, 4:50 Vertebrae, 9:10 Midwest Sky, 15:58 Icicles, 20:43 Medicine

Tiny Moving Parts playing

After playing the first song, Dylan asked if anyone had any questions before playing the next song. One person asked about his guitar, to which Dylan it was a ‘72 Fender Telecaster Thinline in sea foam green that he got after saving up money in high school.

At one point, there was a discussion about the new Blink-182 record and the band asked if anyone liked the new album and one of the photographers said with an uncomfortable voice to listen to for yourself. Everyone laughed at that.

As they continued playing songs from the new album, the band’s playing made me feel like I wanted to jump around. Dylan is known for having incredible stage presence while playing such technical guitar riffs and singing at the same time along with Matt and Will’s bass playing and drumming. It makes you wonder how Dylan can sing and play guitar and move around so much. That’s what I like in a band’s stage presence.

In the video you can see that Will is wearing goggles while drumming. Apparently while on a European tour he hit himself in the eye with a drum stick while playing a set. Gotta play safe! (earplugs, and now safety goggles!)

At one point I caught myself smiling the whole entire time they were playing the songs because of how upbeat the music was. I haven’t been to a show in so long due to my busy schedule that it made me long to go to a show once again.

Here’s my footage of the band playing the song Medicine

All around me people were either bopping their heads to the music or taking pictures/videos on their phones.

But I’ll be honest the video footage doesn’t do the band’s performance justice. You had to be there. But being in a small space like a record store makes the performance all the more intimate. The band’s energy playing was amazing for a record store performance. If you were to go to an actual Tiny Moving Parts show, you would know how energetic and crazy this band is, like this.

From left to right: Matthew Chevalier (bass/vocals), Dylan Matthiesen (guitar/vocals) and William Chevalier (drums).

After the performance, we were directed to form a line for autographs. As my friend and I got to the signing table, I grabbed a free poster and had them sign it along with the record as well. Each of them greeted me with kindness and thanked me for picking up the record and seeing them perform to which I thanked them for making such cool music.

Finally I said my goodbyes to my friend and left the record store. As I got in my car I opened up Spotify on my phone to listen to the new album while driving home.

Here’s the retail exclusive vinyl record in red limited to 500 copies.

Here’s the poster that I got signed by the band.

Check out the band and go to one of their shows! I recommend it!

[mechanizedmonster]

The Band with High Hopes

Recently, Panic! At the Disco held a live performance in Music Midtown. The loud crowds cheering and clapping their hands as their favorite songs were played. It was a thrilling time and really exciting to see the band play live. It felt so different compared to watching music videos at home.  

The band itself is quite remarkable. Panic! At the Disco is known to do things that seem very strange and has created songs that prove that point. To name a few: “I write sins, not tragedies” and the “Emperor’s new clothes”. “High Hopes” is the latest song the band has created and arguably it represents them the best. 

Initially, the band constantly faced hatred when they were just starting out. Bands and audience members alike misjudged the band and thought they were just some crazy emo band. Yet, singer Brendon Urie refused to let this hate bother him and actually used it to fuel himself to keep going no matter what happened. Even when his old band members started to leave one by one, Brendon Urie stood strong and kept going. 

“High Hopes” demonstrates how crazy things can happen and that nothing is impossible. Just take a look at a interview about “High Hopes”:(https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/panic-at-the-disco-high-hopes-radio-success-786722/ ) 

“High Hopes” is arguably one of Panic! at the Disco’s popular song yet.In fact, the interview reminds me of one particular line in the “High Hopes” song. The line is: “It’s all been done but they haven’t seen the best of me” This line in the song mirrors perfectly to how “High Hopes” has broken the rule of how successful songs are supposed to follow.

I agree with the Rolling Stone’s article to some degree. Yes, the eight cord allows High Hopes to become unique and therefore stand out from previous songs. However, I would argue that nostalgia also plays a strong role in the song success. Often times, people tell each other to go pursue our dreams and make them come true. It’s become overdone to the point where it simply becomes a saying. Only a few people are ever able to achieve their dreams. Most people aren’t able to make their dreams come true or do not have the means to do so which ends up making the saying’s value obsolete.

The song “High Hopes” represents more than just telling someone to achieve their dreams. It represents what the band itself has been through. How it faced constant hardships and still kept going. It needed to stay in high hopes just so that it can achieve its dream and make it to the top. 

“High Hopes” is inspiring for new and old artists as it teaches them two valuable lessons. The first one is it teaches them the key to success is to be persistent. The second one is you don’t need to follow a certain way to make a song successful. Nothing is really set in stone and what might be popular in one generation may be unpopular in the next generation. You just got to make your song and go for it, no matter how strange or crazy it might be. After all, if you want to have success, you got to have ‘high, high hopes’.    

[mechanizedmonster]

Life’s Album

Alan Walker’s Album Different Worlds is nothing short of an inspiration. Alan Walker specializes in making songs that are electronic and he has garnished the attention of billions of people around the world. Good music is not the only thing that Alan Walker hacks into the brains of many people. In fact, many of Alan Walker’s songs have deep messages behind their tunes. They teach life lessons about what the struggles people will face as they go through life.  

The song “Sing me to Sleep” is a song that talks about the death of loved ones and is a constant reminder to appreciate the people you have in your life. This found in the lines: “Our memory will be my lullaby.”  The song itself acts like a lullaby in some instances with the single note drops and still gives the sad message of someone passing away. 

The song “Diamond Heart” is about how people deal with heartaches. Often times, it’s hard and we wish that our hearts were strong like diamonds so that we wouldn’t get hurt from breaking up with someone or somehow loves someone eternally despite any mistreatment.  This can be shown through the lines: “If I had a diamond heart, I would be unbreakable”. The reality is that we are sensitive as human beings and Alan Walker does an excellent job in capturing that through his style. 

“Faded” is a song that tells how hard it is for people to move on from those they love or care about. The song’s slow melody makes it sound like the music is a kind of lament itself. Faded was actually the first song Alan Walker made. 

“Lost Control” tells about a person who believe they can’t do anything right and that losing themselves in insanity would somehow make them feel better. 

 “Lily” talks about someone who thought they found someone who would love and care about them but find themselves stuck in an abusive relationship they can’t escape from. That it was not the fairy tale they hoped it would be. 

  “Different World” talks about how imperfect our world is today and how the only way to fix it is when we come together and create a brand new world side by side. 

“All Falls Down” tells us love is addicting and though there are times when there are arguments or conflicts with one another, eventually we go back to loving one another. 

Songs like “Lonely” and my personal favorite “Alone” remind people that they are never alone. Often times, people forget that and believe they are alone whenever they struggle with problems or just in life in general.  The music helps to enforce this idea as it gives a sense of hope. 

Every song has its own message to tell you and that you may experience in life. The album “Different World” is not only an album that gives you good music to enjoy. It’s an album that teaches you the struggles and victories found in life. It shows the heartaches and the nightmares alongside the hopes and dreams. It teaches you what it means to be a human being.

[mechanizedmonster]

Glitterer: a post-Title Fight reality?

Ned Russin (Glitterer, Title Fight). Photo Source

It’s been four years since Pennsylvanian punk quartet Title Fight has released their most current album Hyperview back in the winter of 2015 on their record label ANTI-. After touring in promotion of Hyperview from 2015- 2016, it seems as though the band had just dropped from the face of the earth. (With the exception of playing a few shows in 2017 and 2018 respectively)

For me Title Fight is one of my favorite bands of all time and has played an integral part in my mid to late teens, from my junior year of high school to my first year in college. Having not heard from them not releasing any new music post-Hyperview or announcing any tours, I was beginning to think they weren’t ever going to come back. For most people along with myself Title Fight had a lasting influence on their respective music scene to this day.

So what does a post-Title Fight reality look like? In August of 2017, Title Fight bassist and vocalist, Ned Russin had announced a project called Glitterer and along came with it a self-titled EP.

Artwork for the self-titled EP 

This EP took me by surprise and made me excited about the direction that Ned took in this project.

For most people who are familiar with Title Fight’s music. They are most recognized by their sound which included elements of pop-punk, 90′s emo and melodic hardcore in their first two albums Shed and Floral Green along with their high energetic shows. They later incorporated elements of shoegaze and dream pop in their 2015 release of Hyperview.

Ned is also known to play in several hardcore punk bands such as Disengage.

The sounds of this debut EP remind me of a bedroom pop side-project with GarageBand instruments and Ned’s notable voice and bass guitar playing. This makes it an interesting combination of indie, punk and pop. It’s interesting to point out that each of the songs in this EP are all under 2 minutes some under a minutes. A vast majority of punk and hardcore songs are under 2 minutes or less.

In a podcast interview on Culture Creature, we find that Ned has moved from his Pennsylvanian home of Kingston/Wilkes-Barre  to New York City he currently attends Columbia University in pursuit of a degree in Creative Writing. (This is mostly why Title Fight hasn’t been making music for a while.) I also  have this idea that as Ned studied in Columbia, his writing style may have evolved and used those elements in writing the Glitterer EP.

By 2018, another Glitterer EP was released this time titled Not Glitterer.

Artwork for Not Glitterer.

Upon listening to this, we notice that Ned still incorporates elements from the first EP to this one with all of it’s synthesizers, Ned’s bass playing and drum machine. Again like the last EP all of the songs are around 1 minute.

In 2019 it was revealed that Ned was going to release a debut album for Glitterer called Looking Through The Shades which was released on July 12, 2019 on ANTI- Records, the same label that Title Fight is in.

Artwork for Looking Through The Shades

Music video for one of the singles of the album and my favorite track: Two

This album goes a step further than the previous EPs with Ned employing his brothers, Alex Russin (guitarist of Cold World) and Ben Russin (drummer of Title Fight)

In a StereoGum interview, Ned mentioned that he has also worked with musician (Sandy) Alex G and music producer Arthur Rizk (Code Orange, Power Trip and Trapped Under Ice)

Further down the interview he reveals that he has reached an existential crossroads in his life, questioning what his purpose in life besides playing music. I relate to this on a personal level because I was experiencing something similar in 2016, wondering how my life choices have had an effect. He also goes into detail on how he’ll always be remembered as being in Title Fight.

I’ll be honest initially I thought that the first EP wasn’t in my taste but still I was stoked about it. It grew on me quickly and with the release of the full LP, I’ve come to understand why Ned would take this direction in his music.

If this is what a post-Title Fight era looks like I’ll be fine with it, I’ll always be interested in whatever the rest of the members will do, not just Ned of course. However if Title Fight does come back that would bring joy to me as well.

Pick up Looking Through The Shades or stream it on your favorite music streaming service.

[mechanizedmonster]

The Demons Within

                Artwork of Imagine Dragon’s band (from billboard.com) 

Most of the time, the songs by Imagine Dragons usual center their focus on hope. Often there are upbeat tempos found in the music, allowing one to understand not to feel down. Just take a look at songs such as “It’s Time” and “On top of the World”. These songs give a sense that everything will work out in the end. It’s good in that it inspires hope and inspiration to others.  There is one song, however, that doesn’t follow this at all. If anything, it seems to have gone through the opposite route. The song doesn’t inspire hope but rather acts as though it needs hope and that song is Demons. Demons is the best song that Imagine Dragons has made in that it depicts the reality of despair through its music.  

First of all, Demons shows the reality of despair through its music. In the beginning sequence, Demons starts out in a slow and soft whisper. The voice and tone are passive. There is no sense of feeling active. There is nothing that pumps you up. If anything, the song slowly pulls you along for the ride like a river. The piano keys that slowly sound like raindrops on a windowsill, painting a gloomy picture. You can hear this in the official music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWRsgZuwf_8

The music speed in Demons emphasize the point that despair is not easy to overcome. It’s slow and gives the listener the understanding that people who are in despair take a while to crawl out of it. In a way, the song’s expression of weakness is what makes its greatest strength. It made it very effective as the core of despair and grief hits you. The depression and the feelings of failure feel real. As much as you want to believe you can jump right back on your feet at any moment, the reality is that you are going to be struggling through doubts and self-worth for a long time.

Imagine Dragons’s Demons Cover 

In the other songs by Imagine Dragons, you have an easier time of losing yourself into the music. If the song is upbeat, you can lose yourself in the words and enjoy it. If not, you can lose yourself in the melody and enjoy that. Demons, however, does not allow you to lose yourself and enjoy a happy tune. In fact, it keeps you trapped and forces you to listen to it’s lament. To listen to reality. To understand that everyone is going through tough times and you may not even realize it.

In fact, Dan Reynolds himself was battling depression. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40277696

It was shocking to find out that Dan Reynolds was suffering through depression. The idea would never have come to mind until he actually said it himself. It made the impact of this song much stronger. Every member of the Imagine Dragons band was going through some sort of battle and Dan Reynolds proves it.  

It made me understand that every day everyone is struggling in their battles with their demons. One person may be smiling, but someone else could be crying. Perhaps there are people who hide their problems behind a smile but inside, they are screaming for help. Maybe there are people who let loose in anger because they do not know what to do with their demons tearing them up in the inside.

Demons helped to teach that lesson. This is what makes Demons the best song that Imagine Dragons has made. It helps to teach us that everyone has different battles and demons they are struggling to deal with. It even leaves us with a powerful message in the end of what we can do as people.

Just look at the lines: “I can’t escape this now. Unless you show me how.” These lines are a mirror to how people feel while in depression or in despair. They feel they can not get out of it. That they are stuck in an endless loop unless someone can pull them out of their nightmare.. 

Although it’s true that we can’t fight each other’s demons, we can at least help pull each other up when we fall down. We can stretch our hands out instead of leaving each other alone in the dark.

Nobody deserves to fall into an abyss of torment and grief. No one should ever have to.