When You Were Young....

Welcome to Overstimulated and Jaded. Yet another boring music blog where the author (yours truly) talks about new CDs and shows while putting a cyncial spin on everything. Yep, what would a music blog be without whoever is writing it trying to prove to you that he/she has a good sense of humor and is "in-the-know."

So, before you ask yourself "Why am I reading this?", to which we already know the answer is "because I'm bored at work/school or want to hear what a 23-year-old that lives in Hell's Kitchen thinks about the new CD" perhaps you'd like to read about my credentials (or lack thereof).

Most of us music junkies like to think of ourselves as outsiders. After all, that was the main principle of Rock N' Roll to begin with, right? Rebellion kids. It's fun (and easy to package and market to yo' bitch asses), but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. These days, it's really hard to claim to be an outsider. Sure you can tell everyone you're a "lonely soul" who's "going it on their own" but then you go home, fire up that buddy list with over 150 people on it, update your MySpace profile, post on people's walls on facebook, text message not-so-subtle inside jokes to your friends, etc. Let's face facts here, we all conform by trying not to conform and I'm really no different from the rest.

I grew up in the wealthy suburbs of Manhattan (Darien, CT to be exact). For as long as lived, music was always my passion. There was always a song stuck in my head for as long as I can remember. I'd love to tell you that the VERY first bands I listened to were cool with lots of cred but let's be serious here. You can dig up a picture of me in old photo albums wearing a New Kids On The Block t-shirt that's so large it covers my knees. When I was a baby my father used to put on Michael Jackson's Thriller and swing me around. It's no suprise that he was my first obsession as a child. In fact, at age 23, I still put on his stuff from time to time and am amazed at how awesome it sounds (and no, I'm not being ironic). C&C Music Factory, Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer, oh yeah, I had those tapes, records even. The first CD ever given to me was Michael Jackson's Dangerous. That was also the same Christmas I got my first "boom box" (for any youngins reading, back in the day we didn't always have iTunes to play music on, so getting something that had a CD player, tape player and AM/FM radio all in one to have IN YOUR OWN BEDROOM SUCKA was pretty neato).

Around 1993 or so (holy shit this post is going to be long), I was crossing over from Michael to the Alternative Rock craze. Z100, which was actually a CHR/Top 40 station but had leaned very heavily to "alternative" was playing Pearl Jam and Nirvana none stop. The first CD I actually went out and purchased in my life was Pearl Jam's Ten from the now defunct chain store known as The Wall. Come to think of it, my Ten CD still has "The Wall lifetime guarantee sticker on it." Why'd those bastards have to all go-out-of-business, I need a replacement now, damnit. Anyways, I still think that 'ish owns. I began to buy mostly what MTV and radio were feeding me: Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Collective Soul, Candlebox, Green Day, Offspring. At first I was drawn to the more melodic bands with classic rock styling. Meaning, I dug Pearl Jam more than Nirvana. However, it was Nirvana that inspired me to learn guitar. I still remember the day I mastered the "Teen Spirit" solo in my little basement bedroom. I subscribed to Guitar World and would stay up late learning the new jams of the time. I quickly became "that guy" at any party who could play almost any requests on whatever shitty acoustic guitar the host had laying around.

In 1996 I finally was about to go to my first concert. Smashing Pumpkins were not only the biggest band in the country but my favorite band. I had all their CDs, singles, b-side collections, imports, etc. Also, it was at the "world's most famous arena" Madison Square Garden. Can you pick a better first place for a concert? Ok, yeah, probably, but stop ruining my moment. God, The Devil, Buddah, Allah and all the other higher powers that don't really exist had other plans in mind for those Pumpkins though. Unfortunately, tragedy struck the night before my show and, due to a drug overdose, the touring keyboarding was found dead and the drummer was promptly fired from the band. I would still get to go to the post-poned show in September on a schoolnight nonetheless (thanks Mom & Dad!) My friend Andrew, who played bass at the time, and I, literally, played air guitar/bass to "Today". When I say literally, I mean we had the correct fingering positions and everything. I don't think I've ever seen my father more embarrased (who probably would have let us go by ourselves if he didn't have to drive us).

As I grew up I started going to more and more shows and my music tastes expanded. I checked out each new trend in the rock scene, though I was always a little slow on what the critics loved. I didn't get The Strokes when they first came out yet I thought The White Stripes were dope as hell (hey, this is my blog, I can use cheesy slang whenever I want). I wasn't punk enough for my punk rock friends since I would listen to Korn and System Of A Down. I wasn't "hard enough" for my hard rock friends since I listened to Coldplay, Green Day and Third Eye Blind. I certainly wasn't normal enough for my casual music listener friends since I liked Tool, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails. All mainstream bands but with eccentric music.

College expanded my tastes even more as I began to see just what it was these critics were talking about. I started listening to more bands like Interpol, The Hives while getting into more post-punk/screamo/emo/whatever-the-fuck-its-called with Circa Survive, Say Anything, Mars Volta. One thing that's remained in tact is that, no matter what I do, I can't seem to shake the fact that I love pop music recorded with slick production. I still love stuff like Fall Out Boy. Always will. Green Day will forever be one of my favorites.

The indie crowd won't ever really take me in and that's fine. Maybe the bands they listen to are more accomplished musically, but what it boils down to is that I listen to music for expression of emotions. Sure, guitar solos and interesting rhythms are great, but if it makes you feel nothing, it's just not worth it.

To date, I have seen over 400 shows, seen many bands numerous times. I still buy a great number of CDs and almost always can be found listening to new music. Am I cool? Not in the slightest. Still, I want to write this blog mostly for myself to collect my thoughts on shows/CDs/music industry issues/complaints. If other people dig it, that's cool. If they don't, I'll still be entertained.