Music & Me

The fault of me writing a second blog of the day lies entirely with my friend Kay. She has been tweeting me links to music review sites advertising vacancies in the knowledge that my (not so) secret dream is to be a music journalist or be part of the music industry (no Helen don't panic I'm not going to sing). 

As you'll all know music is pretty much my biggest passion, my favourite artists have changed over the years and my taste widened but my love of music has always been there. A lot of people can boast that music has gotten them through tough times (and I'm in no way dismissing that) but I wonder if music means the world to them as it does to me.

My musical heros -

Green Day part of the soundtrack to my college years

30 Seconds To Mars (oh yeah and me)

Joan Jett

Jimi Hendrix

And of course NIRVANA!

Me with Kurt Cobain's ACTUAL GUITAR at the Hard Rock vaults in London

I was actually a pretty late starter when it came to music, I actually think the first music that I actually felt that made me feel euphoric at the same time as shattering my heart at the thought that I may never hear it again was *cough, shuffle, cough, mutter* the er Lion King soundtrack. Yep whilst my school friends were screaming for Take That I was rocking out to songs inspired by cartoon lions (yes since you ask the soundtrack is on my ipod).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HwSKkKrUzUk
Yes this is a massive tune!

I think music and I became a team when I started secondary school. When you're a nerdy 11 year old that most of the year hates you need to take solace in something and for me music was it. Music was my safety blanket that would never let me down or laugh at me. I guess it became my best friend. Funny how now the reason I have my best friend is because of music!

I quickly learnt that music taste is incredibly important in your social status at school, like the wrong band and you're toast. As you may have guessed mine wasn't up to scratch. This did however make me fiercely protective of the bands and singers I loved and I will still argue today that N*Sync are far superior to the Backstreet Boys!

For me the musical game changer came around 2000/2001, I'd always been mostly a pop fan but then the Nu-Metal and pop-punk crazes hit big time. Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Blink 182, Sum 41 were writing songs about being alone and angry at the world, perfect for a 14 year old sick of being bullied. I remember long conversations with friends debating the merits of Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) vs Coby Dick nee Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach). Most importantly? The 'in-crowd' who I detested as much as they detested me hated it. Sold!

I Love Rock N Roll (thanks for the loan of the guitar Alli)

Of course rock music was going to eventually find me, it's the music of rebellion and freedom. I'm lucky enough to have parents with pretty awesome taste in music who introduced me to the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and later Pink Floyd, Tom Petty and so many more. In fact even now I tend to get "turn it up" shouted up to me rather than parental noise control demands!

Once I got to college music became part of my social life more than ever. My friends and I would regularly be found at gigs, I met my future fiancee due to a shared love of Nirvana and god-like worship of Kurt Cobain (I like to think I got custody of that when we split some years later), I met so many new friends who loved music as much as I did and we were always gossiping about hot new indie bands. Music was now rated by the album rather than the single, it was important when referencing a song you liked to add whether the album was any good or not and if the band are any cop live, I can still be found declaring "I love this song *insert* the album's really good/ but I hated the album/ they're awesome live/ they were awful when I saw them (hello Red Hot Chilli Peppers - no I still haven't forgiven you for your shocking Reading 2007 performance)". Of course the ultimate statement of cool was the wearing of a t-shirt of a band - especially if you've bought it at one of their shows, and yes I still hold this belief today - hence my large collection of band shirts ......

This shirt is actually my Dad's from Reading Festival in the 1970s thus propelling it to epically cool scores

Even in the heat of Florida I couldn't be parted with my pop art Kurt Cobain t-shirt

Jenni circa 2003 in my Blur shirt

Albums that remind me of my college years? The Killers - Hot Fuss, Razorlight - Up All Night, Nirvana - Greatest Hits, Green Day - American Idiot, Black Sabbath - Paranoid. Best gigs I went to over those 2 years? Blur at the Brighton Centre, Manic Street Preachers Brighton Centre, The Hives Brighton Dome, Ash Hammersmith Apollo, REM in Hyde Park and of course Reading Festival.

Ah festivals, I'd heard legend of them whilst growing up from my parents who seemed to spend their entire youth at Reading. This was one rite of passage I couldn't wait to embark on! The date was August bank holiday weekend of 2005 and it was fucking amazing! I loved the sheer amount of bands on the bill, the "anything goes" attitude, the general everyone loves everyone else vibe pretty much everything apart from the toilets of course! The headliners that year were The Pixies, The Foo Fighters and Iron Maiden *throws horns* lower down the bill My Chemical Romance, Marilyn Manson, Razorlight, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Coral and The Killers - I still shed many a nostalgic tear for that hour leant against an ice cream van singing along to the entirety of Hot Fuss.

I still maintain that festivals are brilliant value for money (how much would it cost to see all those bands individually?) and are the best way to discover new bands, some of the bands I've first encountered at festivals over the years and have become a fan of include Biffy Clyro, Bring Me The Horizon, The Deftones and The Ghost Inside.

Rather disheveled after 30 Seconds To Mars' set at Reading 2011 

Me and Gem at sunny Download 2013

Reading 2007

Ah festival rain - Reading 2011

It wouldn't be a festival without a tasteful hat! Reading 2011

I love live shows, they really test whether a band "does what it says on the tin" and can of course make or break a band. I can be really put off if I see a band and they, frankly, suck live (yes I am still talking about you Chili Peppers) on the flip side I can see a band who I didn't particularly like the sound of on CD but live they are fantastic - I found this with Bring Me The Horizon who were stunning at Reading. Other acts I've seen live who I've loved are Green Day, Iron Maiden, My Chemical Romance, Lady GaGa (yes really), Muse and of course 30 Seconds To Mars. 

Off to see Alice Cooper in appropriate make-up

Me and 30STM 2009

I travelled nearly 8000 miles for this show, I don't like Mars v much .....

I guess ultimately the point I'm trying to get across is how much music means to me. Some songs can bring me in from the blackest moods, some make me want to dance like a loon, some choke me up with nostalgic memories, some send shivers down my spine. I have always maintained that if I was ever in a coma play me some of my favourite songs and I'll soon come around singing along.

Love Jen

XxxX