Saturday, February 18, 2012

Chronicles of an Up-and-Coming Band Ch. 2

Finding people who are like-minded seems to be very difficult these days. I know of a lot of people who are creative musicians who for one reason or other are stuck in bands that are not that great or bands that seem to have stalled in their writing process.

I wonder if it's always been like this for everyone in this neck of the woods.

The worst part is trying to find a singer down here. You know, not everyone wants to listen to a guy scream for his life on every single song, or on any song, for that matter. That is the main problem I have with Death Metal in general, or any band, style, or genre that features a screaming/growling vocalist. A lot of those bands write amazing music, but the screaming makes it impossible for me to like any of their material. I respect the fact that you can do that without permanently messing up your throat, but I like vocal melodies because, if used properly, they can add a whole different dimension to the songs. It really is like having another instrument in the band.

Screams, in my humble opinion, seem to be more one-dimensional and add very little to a song, except maybe for aggression, which is OK if you're into that sort of thing, I guess.

I can't pretend that the music that I write is cutting edge and way ahead of everything that you've ever heard, because that would be a terrible lie. The truth is that my guitar playing skills are not what I would like for them to be, which is very frustrating. There are things that I hear in my mind that I can't play, which gets me really mad at myself for not being able to keep up with the things I create.

However, I am fortunate enough that I am relatively open-minded when it comes to music, so if I can't play something on the guitar, then I just arrange it for another instrument, which adds a bit of flavor and spice to the songs. That's why you'll hear string sections, pianos, harps, etc. on some of the songs.

I guess it's a blessing in disguise.

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