Tag: Let’s Talk

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Let’s Talk: What’s your First Live Music Gig Memory … and who was playing?

Evening, folks! With live music firmly locked on the road map with plans in place for a summer of festivals, gigs and events rife with the beauties of music, let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

If you can remember that far back, I want to hear about your first live music memories at a gig, festival or event that either got you hooked forever or you found a new profound respect for the art. Either all, I’m fond to hear about you and your stories!

For me, it has to be the glorious state of local music festivals in a field. More specifically, the majesty of Glastonbudget in 2015.

Not heard of it? I’m not surprised.

Pitched in the centric fields of Leicestershire – and aptly named as the biggest tribute festival in the UK – it features a plethora of glorious bands who play classic covers of the classic bands they are attempting to pose as – and all this for more than half the price than its glorious counterpart in Somerset. Of course, you do lose half the glitz and glamour of course, but as a local festival, I have fond memories of playing for the first time in a music festival with the local band I was with. A class set of friends and family that seemed inseparable at the time. I also have fond memories of the weekend with romantics and inevitable heartbreak. This festival alone, and for what it stood for, made me who I am to this day, I’m sure of it. It shaped my vision in the music industry, altered my perception of working cohesively with one another in a band, and most importantly, gave me that much-needed advice on girls – and what girls to avoid.

I kid of course, with that last segment, but the majority is true, that much is certain.

So, with that said, what are your fond memories of your first live music experience? Bitter-sweet or emphatically disastrous … I’m intrigued to find out …

So, let’s talk.

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Embracing Change in Music

Do you ever feel like you go through the same old music catalogues, playlists and albums day-in and day-out?

Do you have that feeling of drought with your musical palette? Well, fret not, for I have a proposition.

Why not listen to something other than what you’re used to?

Be it a genre you’re not familiar with or an artist you dread, stick it on and delve into the plethora of the unknown. Even if it just for an hour and you come away with a little bit of knowledge about something you didn’t know an hour ago, that is equally fine.

For me, I’ve recently been diving into the classics of hip-hop, rap and more importantly, the mysteries with the likes of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.

Notorious in not just their alter-personas as international music artists, but notorious for their sounds they made and their power-house profile it brought to the scenes of East Coast hip-hop and “Gangsta rap”. Although they were taken from us by a scenario we’re all too familiar with, within the crevices of America, the sheer impact they had with us in the world paints us a picture how iconic these two were and are.

Of course, this led on to the mightiest who are still mighty in their corresponding leagues – Eminem, Jay-Z and Kanye.

So for today’s Sunday – where I usually request for you to take out your favourite Sunday chill playlist with your morning (or afternoon) coffee, instead, listen to something different and learn something new along the way.

Hope your week upcoming is just as prosperous, folks. Take care of yourselves.

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Let’s Talk: What’s Your Favourite Album?

Ah yes, a question that makes you think more than you would like to. With a question being equally challenging as, “what’s your favourite song,” give me to topical insights, fanatic favourites and delicious delights for me to delve into if I haven’t heard of them …

Of course, the more obscure the better!

Favourite albums are our most treasured moments of music, whether it’s for the simple delights of the music, the artist or the emotional connections with such an album, we love them.

It can be seemingly harder than it looks, as when you start thinking about favourite albums, you tend to drift more to favourite singles from a single band – and less so on such an album that has to the same satisfaction all the way throughout. After all, we’re forgetting about those filler songs in an album selection, aren’t we?

Now, you may certainly be the same but I can’t simply just decide on ONE favourite album, it’s like Sophie’s choice – far too many options, that’s for sure.

I’d have to say one of my favourites would be an album I recently reviewed and explored here on Man v Music – What Went Down by Foals. An integral part of my rock-indie collection and avid interest in such a band, it is a rock-hungry powerhouse of an album that is so dirty in material; ..

I love it.

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THE JOURNEY OF FOALS: WHAT WENT DOWN

read more here

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Other cult favourites of mine feature the lengthy ideals of Led Zeppelin, Arctic Monkeys, Tame Impala – simply for his musical themes – and a recent favourite of mine – the new punk prowess from Machine Gun Kelly. An unlikely contender, but there you are – music is certainly full of surprises. Enough surprises it seems, to surprise myself.

So let me know your own favourites and we’ll have a good ol’ chat about them.

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Let’s Talk: Will we ever run out of music?

Liable lawsuits, copyright claims … and only so many notes to play with – will we ever run out of music?

It’s an important topic to discuss after all – as popular music confirms to the usual and sticks to a particular format of notes because it works, will we see more and more music take “inspiration” from those before them and ultimately wind up a disarray among other artists?

I always feel that there will come a time when – certainly for the popular genres – we will indeed run out of conformity and the comfortable. Here, we will more likely re-introduce old genres forgotten or venture into unknown terrority of writing music we’ve never heard of before. Even that will be a mighty feat to comprehend. After all, there is only so many notes, right?

It is still fairly respectable that these music artists and their corresponding songwriter teams, are still drudging up songs that do not formally slip into songs that have already been made. There is certainly an adaptation of the rules at play here. With so many popular songs within the same key, same note configuration and ideas, I’m surprised that this hasn’t happened already.

Either way, let me know your thoughts below on this one.

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Let’s Talk: Can ANYONE be a Musician?

The rise of musicality stature, record labels and music business organisations tell us no.

But, the transparency of social media, the number of bedroom artists rising to fame, the term of ‘music’ losing its meaning as each day passes, tells us a different story.

I believe that anyone can be a musician. Putting in the practice is the first step, your musicianship will then carry you the rest of the way there.

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If you have the perseverance and determination to succeed, you can be more than a musician but a businessman, too. But, I think being a musician takes more than picking up a guitar. It’s learning the ins and outs of the music industry, making sure you know you every loophole, every important name in the industry and making sure it’s who you know and what you know. That all too familiar catchphrase that is so present in creative sectors – and that is no different with the music industry.

I think it’s also more to do with your audience. The hardest thing about being a musician is having a decent audience. Playing an instrument or being able to rap and make a good beat is only the half of it. The ability to market and campaign yourself almost as if you’re running for office yourself is the difficult half. You could argue that if you’re good enough, then the audience comes to you. But that’s not strictly true at all, now is it? I know thousands of talented artists, singers and rappers who are making their way slowly to an audience – despite making amazing music. The audience is hard to achieve, especially within such an over-populated and over-saturated industry that is the music one.

For me, I’m a drummer. We’ll leave the drummer jokes at the foot of the door, thank you. But, it took me 10 years of practice to get to the skill and quality as a drummer where I am today. In no way to represent in numbers of my social media fanbase or a following on this blog, and so it’s important to know your achievements and success, I think.

For me, being a drummer is amazing, fun and downright beautiful. Anyone can be a musician if you have the energy and time for it. I wouldn’t say the talent for it, because I think everyone has talent. The right amount of practice and you’d be up there with the greats. After all, how do you think they got up there?

Anyways, I’ve rambled on enough about this topic – clearly a lot to say! Let me know your thoughts on this one below. And above all else … let’s talk. Because it’s good to talk.