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Joseph Unrein
So I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with this blog. I've done blogs on blogger for various things before, but most of them turned into a series of short posts apologizing for not posting more.
I'll try not to let that happen here, but I'm not going to stick to any kind of a schedule or anything. If I think of something I feel like writing about, I'll write about it, and whoever reads this will get something to read.
Anyway, this is supposed to have a music kinda thing goin' on so I guess I'll talk about music. Fancy that.
Since this is really my first post here, I should probably tell you where I'm coming from.
I'm first and foremost a musician. I played guitar for years until I broke my wrist. Unfortunately I'm no longer able to play, but I picked up a lefty bass, and I'm looking into getting a lefty acoustic if I can find one cheap, but I don't suspect I'll ever be anything to write home about. The busted wrist makes actually playing pretty hard.
Anyway, I've always been into Rock music. Mostly alternative stuff like Anberlin and Paramore. Back in high school I was big into a local ska band called Five Iron Frenzy.
More recently I've been listening to a lot of Indie/Folk Rock stuff. Stuff like Band of Horses, Pavement, Wilco, Whitely, ect. Bit of a tangent, but I got into these bands after I started reading a web-comic called Questionable Content. There are a lot of references to the obscure kind of bands I've recently fallen in love with, and Jeph Jacques, QC's writer, plays a lot of that kind of music on his livestream.
Anyway, I fell in love with this kind of music because a lot of these bands don't really care what you think. They just want to make music that they enjoy playing and write songs about things they want to write about. They aren't trying to please anyone, or make money, or be famous. If that happens, it's cool, but it's not the point.
That kind of viewpoint allows them to write with amazing sincerity, clarity, and integrity. They have their own viewpoint of the world and they write songs about it and nothing anyone says is going to change it.
I believe that same viewpoint applies to recording. The engineer admittedly has to change to fit the vision of the artist or band, but if part of the engineer isn't in the music, then what's the point. The performance of the artist only goes so far in creating music. The man behind the glass is also important in the creation of a musical artform, and whatever he or she is feeling will show in the music just as much as the artist creating it.
My point is, be yourself. Making good music isn't about doing more of the same, creating what already exists. Push the boundaries, do something new, something unexpected. You may just create the next musical revolution, and isn't that what we're all trying to do anyway?
WHAT TO EXPECT SOMETIME SOON
Like I said, I'm not going to stick to any kind of a schedule, but there is something coming up that may deserve a post.
That would be the new album "C'mon" by Low. Set to release on 4/12. They did a stream on npr.org and I took a listen. So far it's probably the best thing I've listened to this year. I've got a preorder through iTunes, so I should have it sometime next Tuesday, and I'll probably write something about it.
LINKS FROM THIS POST
Questionable Content- A slice of life web-comic written by Jeph Jacques. Be aware there is occasional strong language, irreverent humor, and every once in a while some light nudity... and also random music jokes you won't get if you aren't into weird, obscure indie music. I got into indie music BECAUSE of the comic, and I had no idea what the hell the characters were talking about a lot of the time and it was still funny. It's pretty long (1898 strips and counting...) but definitely worth a look.
