Hammerhead, inspiration and why I do it

Aug 28, 2009 03:48

I want to expand on this post.

I still have no clue how I got into music. I remember being 12 and suddenly I needed to play drums. That was it, really. And nothing felt right without a kit. It wasn't what I was listening to, though it shaped what I listened to after that. It was simply an urge, a blind, intense urge that defies any explanation to me.

I spent years trying to be Dave Grohl. I surrounded myself with his work. Those years, high school and beyond, people even said I looked like him. I got a big kit because of him and Dale Crover. It shaped my technique, my style. I opted for power over finesse. Given my body type, this is quite funny, but it worked. Here I was, this tall, rail thin guy, sitting as low as possible, dwarfed by this mammoth, simple yet huge kit, swallowed by it. During the BLACKOUT days people saw me take the stage, shirtless, and probably wondered what the fuck I was gonna do. And I beat the crap out of them. And it was intense as fuck, always, and people were blown away. I know I was the hardest hitting drummer in Denver, 2002-2003. I never took a survey, but I saw so many local shows, no one could touch me. I'm the guy that has to use all ride cymbals because regular crashes are too thin. I'm a human machine.

Meanwhile I was teaching myself guitar, bass, and vox. Early on I was inspired by what I liked, as always. Not much more reason than that. In the mid 90's I discovered Amrep, and I was born again. Here are guys like me, no one's hearing them and they think like I do! And they're creating the same simple, intense, angry shit I've been trying to do! It's like finding a friendly voice far behind enemy lines. Then I found early stoner shit, 90's era, and I found even more of my voice. The lyrics might not of hit me like the Amrep shit, but the simplicity, the riffs, the simple power of it blew me away and endlessly inspired me.

It's so different today. Back then I had to buy a cd based on a label or such. And if I found a gem, generally, that was that. It was sharing with friends and word of mouth. I was very lucky, I had some great friends with incredible tastes, there is no way I could of learned what I did or even did anything I later did if it wasn't for them. And once you had that cd, that was it. You made up your own mind.

In a way it hasn't changed, for my kind of sounds. There's still minimal net presence, little to no info. I love it that way, because it's like being a detective. You actually hear the songs, the musicianship, the production, everything...because it's all you have. It's the way it should be. I need to take a note from that, and not over do it.

Did I say what I meant to say? I'm not sure.

inspiration, music

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