Soon to be published essay on thisibelieve.org
I believe that even at three o’clock in the morning, the night is still young.
My life revolves around music. It’s the first thing I do when I wake up and the last thing I do before going to sleep. Unfortunately, being a high school senior and trying to pursue this passion is quite difficult since my life is like the stock market; it’s always busy, it is vulnerable, and subject to change at anytime.
I play trumpet. I have been for eight years. It has expanded my awareness of musical genres to what it is now. Recently, I started experimenting with what kind of genres I could blend my trumpet playing into. Some came easy, including Jazz, Classical, and Contemporary. Others I worked with, just figuring out how a trumpet would work in a song that might have an electric guitar solo, or maybe a violin feature. Styles like Rock, Orchestral, and Alternative have always kept me on my toes. But I have to tell you, I have completely fallen in love with my defined genre of pop/punk with horns.
I know, I know. That is not a real genre. I play trumpet in a band that would fall under that genre. We call ourselves Dice in the Icebox, there are seven of us, three guitars, two horns, a bass player, and a drum set player. The music we play is very modern and all original composition. Play trumpet for them is something that has changed my views of life’s musical aspect.
I just entered my first year of adulthood, this makes me the youngest person in the band and I am also the newest. I never really saw the side of music that has to do with recording it for the public’s ears. Now you can find me in a small closet-like room at three in the morning recording a sixteen bar hornline for a song, taking anywhere from one take to thirty takes and getting either completely frustrated with myself or accepting what comes out of my horn and taking that or trying it again. Sometimes we can be in the studio until five or six in the morning, or whenever somebody has to go to work in the morning. I have never been so devoted to music; it has always been an extra-curricular activity to me. Now, it is my way of life, I have to devote so much of my time and re-arrange my priorities to make room for what I love.
We are not always in the studio, no, just recently we toured down to southern California. We are originally from Northern California, the Bay Area, and from a city called Brentwood to be even more precise. We are a Christian based band so we play at places like churches and youth groups. But also, we play at your local venues, bars, parties, special requests, etc. During our small in-state tour I learned even more things about the relationship between music and I, it does not fill my gas tank. Music is now starting to take control of my finances; going on a tour is expensive when your share is paid for solely by yourself.
Alright, to break it all down for you, Music is a part of me; it’s my left lung, my right arm, my gallbladder, and my own heart. Everyday that passes I find myself growing closer with Music like newlywed lovers on a honeymoon. I have to thank Dice in the Icebox for it; they showed me what I love to do within the world of music. The studios, the tours, the lifelong friends, the dedication, the discipline, the devotion, and any other long word that starts with a‘d’. So therefore I believe in music, and the true beauty it holds within it. I want a little sticker on my license card that says ‘music donor’, so when I die, I can pass on my love and passion for it to someone who will use it to live off of it like I do.
My life revolves around music. It’s the first thing I do when I wake up and the last thing I do before going to sleep. Unfortunately, being a high school senior and trying to pursue this passion is quite difficult since my life is like the stock market; it’s always busy, it is vulnerable, and subject to change at anytime.
I play trumpet. I have been for eight years. It has expanded my awareness of musical genres to what it is now. Recently, I started experimenting with what kind of genres I could blend my trumpet playing into. Some came easy, including Jazz, Classical, and Contemporary. Others I worked with, just figuring out how a trumpet would work in a song that might have an electric guitar solo, or maybe a violin feature. Styles like Rock, Orchestral, and Alternative have always kept me on my toes. But I have to tell you, I have completely fallen in love with my defined genre of pop/punk with horns.
I know, I know. That is not a real genre. I play trumpet in a band that would fall under that genre. We call ourselves Dice in the Icebox, there are seven of us, three guitars, two horns, a bass player, and a drum set player. The music we play is very modern and all original composition. Play trumpet for them is something that has changed my views of life’s musical aspect.
I just entered my first year of adulthood, this makes me the youngest person in the band and I am also the newest. I never really saw the side of music that has to do with recording it for the public’s ears. Now you can find me in a small closet-like room at three in the morning recording a sixteen bar hornline for a song, taking anywhere from one take to thirty takes and getting either completely frustrated with myself or accepting what comes out of my horn and taking that or trying it again. Sometimes we can be in the studio until five or six in the morning, or whenever somebody has to go to work in the morning. I have never been so devoted to music; it has always been an extra-curricular activity to me. Now, it is my way of life, I have to devote so much of my time and re-arrange my priorities to make room for what I love.
We are not always in the studio, no, just recently we toured down to southern California. We are originally from Northern California, the Bay Area, and from a city called Brentwood to be even more precise. We are a Christian based band so we play at places like churches and youth groups. But also, we play at your local venues, bars, parties, special requests, etc. During our small in-state tour I learned even more things about the relationship between music and I, it does not fill my gas tank. Music is now starting to take control of my finances; going on a tour is expensive when your share is paid for solely by yourself.
Alright, to break it all down for you, Music is a part of me; it’s my left lung, my right arm, my gallbladder, and my own heart. Everyday that passes I find myself growing closer with Music like newlywed lovers on a honeymoon. I have to thank Dice in the Icebox for it; they showed me what I love to do within the world of music. The studios, the tours, the lifelong friends, the dedication, the discipline, the devotion, and any other long word that starts with a‘d’. So therefore I believe in music, and the true beauty it holds within it. I want a little sticker on my license card that says ‘music donor’, so when I die, I can pass on my love and passion for it to someone who will use it to live off of it like I do.