What changed the way you look at music?

For me, it was Can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ds9CyVupaU"]CAN "Spoon" - YouTube

Drugs, too.

 

Maybe black metal. But I think I look in different ways at different kinds of music and my general outlook may have never changed at all.

 

I grew up watching Tour of Duty and just about any Vietnam war movie/show that my old man used to watch so I grew up with rock and roll I guess. I remember listening to that song "War" what is it good for and as a kid I thought that was like the heaviest song ever and I guess that pushed me into the heavy metal world which I listen to today.

 

I've had a few moments where the way I looked at music changed, ill list them roughly in chronological order:

Pink Floyd: I was turned onto Pink Floyd fairly young but prior to this I mostly experienced music (I primarily listened to rock) in a basic sense of song structure. Pink Floyd showed me how effective exploring space and not playing can often be effective as playing. I.e. Shine on you Crazy Diamond

Seeing Rolling Stones live: This was also when I was young. I had been to a few concerts prior to this but this was the first concert which had elements of spectacle to it. I saw how performance can involve more than just playing instruments.

Shpongle and Tool: This corresponds with my beginning of experimentation with drugs other then pot such as Shrooms and LSD. I was absolutely mindblown to hear electronic music sound so organic when i heard Shpongle. It really felt like electonic music made the possibilities limitless, soundscapes.. Tool made me apperciate how sublime beauty and aggressive anger could be represented with continuity in the same song. Many of the thematic elements defy metal and they kind of create their own soundscapes in the music as well.

Learning guitar and basics of music theory: Learning chord progressions and the minor pentatonic not only opened up my guitar playing for personal riffs/composition but also allowed me to freely play with other music, this allowed me to understand how a lot of the music I enjoyed is structured and arranged.


Rave music and Ecstasy: At this point I had already experimented with drugs and music as I mentioned and I saw how a lot of how music reflected aspects of certain experiences but raving on ecstasy was the first time I felt music directed the drug experience. The music seemed to almost act as a drug itself with each style being played seemingly having a direct effect on my consciousness and how I was experiencing the roll.

 

When i first discovered Chuck Shuldiner, and his amazing band Death.

 

Just seeing all that was out there. That music was not limited to MTV or whatever radio station is famous in whatever town you are from. And there are resources around to help you find all sorts of obscure stuff, like Can (semi obscure at least), etc.

 

Learning guitar has been changing the way I hear music.

I'm much more focused on how the individual parts come together as well as how each disparate part stands on it's own.

Now, sometimes I find brilliance in songs I found cliched and annoying; and blandness in songs I had worshiped.

 

Music festivals. 4 days of tripping in the woods with funky folks and great musicians. The energy that grows as the days go on and strangers become neighbors. The connection you feel with everyone involved. It's a beautiful thing on various levels.

 

^^^ And lots of backwards tape...

 

Ever notice the piano near the very end?

 

learning how to read sheet music?

 

Getting deep into music history.

 

Sitting in my grandmas car one evening in 1949 listening to the radio. Turning the dial--Eddie fisher. Turn a little more-Patti Page. Ok. Keep going-keep going. Andrews sisters. Big band. Glenn Miller? Don't know. WAIT! What is that?? A black preacher from LA. XERB? WOW. "Never heard anything like this," I bet music is going to change, if this kind of stuff starts being played, I thought. And sure enough---by cracky, black music would be played not long after. Ray Charles, The Charms, The Platters,Little Richard, Mickey and Sylvia(Lu-uve--Love is Strange), etc, etc.

And then the whites like Pat Boone were brought in to "clean those dirty black songs up." Thus, 'Work With me Annie' (feels so good-so good) became Dance with me Henry." Ooops!. Too late. Here comes ROCK & ROLL, citizens!!

Of course my first hit of L at 28 to the tune of Inna-Gadda- Da Vida, honey---changed me up even more. Many branches of the originals have come forth, some I like, some I don't. I'm glad I was "there" when it all started.

Can was good, PR.

 

the unicursal dodecagram really changed the way I look at the circle of fifths

 

MTV, literally.
Prior to that we relied on our own imaginations and impressions to give visuals and interpretations to a song. With music videos we are offered the visual interpretation of the song from the artist's viewpoint.
I think that is a double edged sword.
In one sense NOT having a visual interpretation of a song lends the listener the opportunity to better "relate" to the music.
When forced into a particular visual interpretation, that limits the individuals ability to completely relate to a song.
At least to some extent.
On the other hand it's cool to see/understand from a visual perspective the intent of the artist.

 

I grew up listening to 60s-70s rock and country, as well as a lot of fiddle and Celtic music (my mother's family was from Cape Breton and that was a big deal, plus my father loved those tunes).

My father also played guitar, and sang. I heard a lot of old folk songs growing up. I guess I kind of believed that folk music was, well, something that didn't happen anymore.

Then I found Folk Alley, a radio station that played a ton of folk music (surprise!). See to me, folk music is a storyteller with a guitar and I love it. I love stories, in any form.


HeartBeat -- my 4yo daughter
SoulBuddy -- my 4mo son
Superhero -- my awesome husband

 

I've always loved Tools videos, because they offer a different dynamic. The band records the music first, and then the guitarists does the video. Maynard comes in after the video is completed to write the lyrics. It allows you to look at the music from several different angles at the same time.

 

headbangers ball, best show MTV ever did and will ever do