So what the hell do I intend to talk about here? I don't know yet. What I do know now though, at a jaded 29-years-old, is that through the highs and lows of my life, through the certainties, uncertainties, anxieties, et. al., music is just about the only thing that I can confidently declare to be one of my true passions in life. There was once a time that I thought it was math and science, but I was only kidding myself. And believe me, I put a lot of effort into trying to make math and science one of my passions. I learned that there's a difference between devoting your life and to science and pursuing science as an interest/hobby only. I would consider my secondary passion to be comedy, but it doesn't come close to music.
And we can break it down even further. Over time I learned that I just don't like playing music at all. There was once a time that I loved playing music, but that ship sailed when I was still in middle school. I would continue to play trumpet in high school and college, but purely for the social aspect of it. From about 8th grade forward I never cared about getting better at it (which is the exact opposite feeling of basically every other trumpet player I've ever met, where it seemed that the ultimate goal was to prove to the people next to you that you were better at playing trumpet than them. Trumpet players, as a personality trait, are awful, but that's a digression for another post). I do not consider myself a musician. My passion for music does not lie in this realm and I'm perfectly fine with this.
So, Tom, your passion for music is related to listening? And that's it? Boo-o-o-ring. I agree, but fuck you, because I refuse to even simplify it to that degree. It gets way more banal, my friend. For one thing, about 99% of the time I don't enjoy live music. I can dig deeper into the reasons another time, but I've long believed that music is not a visceral experience for me, and I therefore don't get much out of being present at a live show. And furthermore, I don't find that I have any reason to brag that I saw a band at a venue at a certain time, or for a certain number of times, or before they were famous, or before they sold-out, or anything of the sort, so that component of the live experience is lost on me as well. I can count on one hand truly memorable concerts I've attended, and even those I wouldn't have consider essential to my life experiences. I'm a boring fucking dude, give me a break. I don't like going to concerts. Suck it.
So, Tom, your passion for music is related to listening to the radio? No, shut up. Through and through, I'm an album guy. I love an artist's work rendered in an artful representation of the studio album. I don't like singles, I don't like the radio, I don't like having my iPod on shuffle, I love listening to a studio album from beginning to end with barely any exceptions. I rarely enjoy live albums, but my thoughts on live albums in general are pretty nebulous and there are a ton that I do like. I intensely dislike compilation albums, because the art is lost for me there. I don't even like EPs, I consider an EP a medium to "get the music out there faster", instead of the fully realized studio album. The art is lost for me there too. Albums, son. Albums.
Anyway, that's a shitty introduction. I'm not good at introductions. I guess the point here is that I'm pretty sure I have a lot to say about music, and that's why I want to start writing about music. I may have opinions about death metal today that won't match my opinions of death metal in two years, but the cool thing is that my opinions will be time-stamped. Today's opinions will be perfectly valid, and tomorrow's opposite opinions will be perfectly valid as well. Music opinions change, as they should for any free-thinking human being who gives even a basic crap about music on an intellectual level, and I look forward to contradicting myself at every turn along the way.
An opinion that I believe will never change is that I consider myself a "good" music listener. Like I said, it's not a visceral experience for me, it's an intellectual one. I'm not bogged down by biases and emotional attachments, for the most part (especially considering how late into the game I was with respect to listening to music as a hobby, but more on that another time), so I'm open-minded to anything and everything (and I do mean everything), and I'm constantly looking to branch out, become more educated, and piece together the entire history of modern music in my brain one day at a time. This is my ultimate goal, and hopefully I can transcribe my passions to the written word and stick with writing consistently for once in my damn life. Have fun reading. Or don't. I don't care, this is all for me.
And we can break it down even further. Over time I learned that I just don't like playing music at all. There was once a time that I loved playing music, but that ship sailed when I was still in middle school. I would continue to play trumpet in high school and college, but purely for the social aspect of it. From about 8th grade forward I never cared about getting better at it (which is the exact opposite feeling of basically every other trumpet player I've ever met, where it seemed that the ultimate goal was to prove to the people next to you that you were better at playing trumpet than them. Trumpet players, as a personality trait, are awful, but that's a digression for another post). I do not consider myself a musician. My passion for music does not lie in this realm and I'm perfectly fine with this.
So, Tom, your passion for music is related to listening? And that's it? Boo-o-o-ring. I agree, but fuck you, because I refuse to even simplify it to that degree. It gets way more banal, my friend. For one thing, about 99% of the time I don't enjoy live music. I can dig deeper into the reasons another time, but I've long believed that music is not a visceral experience for me, and I therefore don't get much out of being present at a live show. And furthermore, I don't find that I have any reason to brag that I saw a band at a venue at a certain time, or for a certain number of times, or before they were famous, or before they sold-out, or anything of the sort, so that component of the live experience is lost on me as well. I can count on one hand truly memorable concerts I've attended, and even those I wouldn't have consider essential to my life experiences. I'm a boring fucking dude, give me a break. I don't like going to concerts. Suck it.
So, Tom, your passion for music is related to listening to the radio? No, shut up. Through and through, I'm an album guy. I love an artist's work rendered in an artful representation of the studio album. I don't like singles, I don't like the radio, I don't like having my iPod on shuffle, I love listening to a studio album from beginning to end with barely any exceptions. I rarely enjoy live albums, but my thoughts on live albums in general are pretty nebulous and there are a ton that I do like. I intensely dislike compilation albums, because the art is lost for me there. I don't even like EPs, I consider an EP a medium to "get the music out there faster", instead of the fully realized studio album. The art is lost for me there too. Albums, son. Albums.
Anyway, that's a shitty introduction. I'm not good at introductions. I guess the point here is that I'm pretty sure I have a lot to say about music, and that's why I want to start writing about music. I may have opinions about death metal today that won't match my opinions of death metal in two years, but the cool thing is that my opinions will be time-stamped. Today's opinions will be perfectly valid, and tomorrow's opposite opinions will be perfectly valid as well. Music opinions change, as they should for any free-thinking human being who gives even a basic crap about music on an intellectual level, and I look forward to contradicting myself at every turn along the way.
An opinion that I believe will never change is that I consider myself a "good" music listener. Like I said, it's not a visceral experience for me, it's an intellectual one. I'm not bogged down by biases and emotional attachments, for the most part (especially considering how late into the game I was with respect to listening to music as a hobby, but more on that another time), so I'm open-minded to anything and everything (and I do mean everything), and I'm constantly looking to branch out, become more educated, and piece together the entire history of modern music in my brain one day at a time. This is my ultimate goal, and hopefully I can transcribe my passions to the written word and stick with writing consistently for once in my damn life. Have fun reading. Or don't. I don't care, this is all for me.
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