As a thirteen year old kid I had no clue what my future held for me, but I know for a fact if I hadn't of learned a couple of guitar chords back then I would not be typing this blog right now. I sometimes find it hard to believe that I am where I am in life. It's pretty incredible that what I once found as a hobby turned into what gets me out of bed everyday.
So with that very brief description of my studies and musical upbringing lets talk about all the stuff that stays in my head rent free.
My Current Go-To:
One of my favorite eras has to be the 1990s, theres just something about the music of that time that scratches an itch in my brain. One of my all time favorite bands is Collective Soul, which originated in the midst of the 90s rock/grunge era. However they have such a unique sound and so much variety in their music. The lead singer and songwriter, Ed Roland, is one of my biggest influences in both orchestral and contemporary music. You might be saying "What? Orchestral?" Yes bro. Orchestral. Because Ed studied at Juilliard before the band was formed, and was writing orchestral accompaniments for his rock songs. Absolutely KILLER!!!
The song below is a deeper cut from their album "Blender". The title is "Skin" and I LOVE THIS SONG! It's a fairly simple song that gets my head bobbing. And shows that a songs formula does not have to be crazy complex to be a banger. Enjoy
Heres a bonus piece called "Pretty Donna" which was composed by Ed Roland. This piece continues to inspire me.
One of Them Meaningful Songs
In my early years of playing guitar I started finding my singing voice. It took me years to have the confidence to sing, now I never shut up. Anyway, this Greenday song, which was incredibly soft for a punk band, was the first song that I ever publicly performed. I was in the 10th grade at the time and spent months on end preparing and the day came to perform... and I was terrified. But I got through it and had my good friend, Rylei Powell accompany the performance on the cello. What a great memory and a great song.
One of Them Songs I Don't Vibe With
Okay I respect all types of music, but the one that I just cant relate to is opera. Im sorry to all you opera lovers out there, but it just doesn't right with me. The vocal tone and intense amount of vibrato is a turn off to for my ears. Now after studying some opera with professor Bani this past semester I can say that I have listened to a fair amount and have achieved a great understanding. Its just not for me.
Like dont get me wrong this performance is impressive and I respect it, but no. Just no.
Hey Isaiah, I also like punk music and I like what you shared song by Greenday! I have a question, among all those kind of punk musics, which one or few catagorys do you find yourself like the most?
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with you that, even myself is a voice performance major singing Bel Canto, if I listen too much on those music I will be pretty bored! So it is just like painting, if there is only pancil, the paining work is limited because just one colour, but if we can use many colours, the paint work will be much more appreciating, so we do need a lot of different kind of music in this world!
Hey Isaiah! I thought it was interesting how you don't really agree with opera music. I also don't really enjoy it because of the vocal ornaments.
ReplyDeleteI too love GreenDay and would love to get into them more. Time Of Your Life is such an iconic tune. I definitely understand where you are coming from with disliking opera, it's an acquired taste. I'm excited to see you grow as a musician!
ReplyDeleteI grew up listening to Green Day. I was a pioneer of the emo days... lol
ReplyDeleteAs far as opera, give it time. I'm sure there's something out there that could change your mind one day.
I'm not at all surprised to learn that "good riddance" was one of the first songs you performed, it's definitely your vibe. I had no idea you performed with Rylei though!! Though now you "don't shut up" the music school would be pretty boring if you were quiet lol
ReplyDeleteHonestly man, "Good Riddance" being your first ever song performed is completely on brand from what I've heard you perform. Also, I really do agree with your stance on opera, even though I have a certain soft spot for all of Pavarotti's performances.
ReplyDeleteI honestly didn’t expect anything less regarding your taste in music haha. It really screams guitar player. Green Day slays, boulevard of broken dreams was the first non classical piece I played on flute 🫣 back in like 8th grade hahaha.
ReplyDeleteHey Isaiah! That is so exciting you are double majoring in contemporary music and composition! I'm sure you must be very busy! Thank you for sharing the music that is meaningful to you! I thought is was so funny when you said you hated opera!! I feel the same way about opera when the opera sings too much vibrato. However, with less vibrato I think opera can be enjoyable. You're not alone about not liking opera. I know a professor (not a Converse professor) with a doctorate degree who said he hated opera!
ReplyDeleteI was so surprised by the contrast between your two favorite songs right now. Because the first song was more of a soft rock kind of thing I was expecting that for the second. Seeing that both of these songs are by the same artists also speaks of their versatility as well. Thanks for sharing
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