So I thought a good way to start this blog would be to introduce you to my musical background, some of my tastes and a few of my aversions.
My parents introduced me to a lot of wonderful music when I was growing up. My father is a professional musician with a respectable vinyl collection, which I regularly sifted through and took great pleasure in abusing from as early as 6 years old. Artists like Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley are the ones that stick out the most in my mind, and I still listen to them nostalgically to this day. From what I can gather, this makes me a little different to a lot of my peers, who grew up listening to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd and other similar rock legends of the 60’s and 70’s. Music like this I wouldn’t discover until much later on in life.
Singing has always been a big part of my life, something that was cultivated through my mother’s love of classic soul singers. From a very early age I would perform Whitney Houston songs for my family, and that love for singing is something that it is still with me today. It has a big influence on my musical tastes, with inspiring vocalists never failing to raise the hairs on my arms as a sign of true awe.
On of the first albums that changed my life was Nirvana’s “Nevermind”. I remember being introduced to this album when I was a 13 year old ‘wannabe’ skater kid/grunger that wasted my days away in Kingston’s Skate park. It was an album that was beautiful in a way that was acceptable to my peers and I, and was a favourite amongst us all. We all shared a love for this music that introduced us to a world we never thought would be ours. Little did we know what was to follow. At around the same time, artists like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Greenday, Limp Bizkit and Deftones became our idols, not only making music we could all identify with in our adolescent rage, but also giving us a taste for life different to that of the Spice Girls and other bands we no longer associated ourselves with. We felt cool, we felt like real music lovers.
Throughout this phase of my life, I never forgot about my roots, and I pride myself in the fact that I have always had an eclectic musical taste. My teenage years were consumed with singing, and I was seeking out more and more artists that could provoke that hair raising feeling I loved so much. At around this time Christina Aguilera had broken free from the shackles of manufactured music, and had started to record truly inspiring music, with the end result being her critically acclaimed album “stripped”. Destiny’s Child and Alicia Keys also succeeded in making their marks on the scene, although without such lasting effects. Although these artists gave me ample material to practise my art of signing to, it was one extraordinary woman in particular, fronting one extraordinary band, that would prove to be the most triumphant of them all in claiming my attention.
Skunk Anansie weren’t what you would call the stereotypical band a 13-year-old girl in the millennium would listen to. An incredibly popular band in the nineties, I jumped on this band-wagon a little late, with their musical career coming to an end in 2001, sadly before I got a chance to see them live. They provided me with the perfect soundtrack to my teenage years, with each album giving me something new and interesting to indulge in. Skin’s powerful and evocative vocal range really hit the spot, and I still listen to them today with as much enthusiasm as I did 8 years ago.
As I continued to grow up, my musical tastes evolved substantially. As I progressed through and out of my teenage angst, I started to listen to a lot of chilled out music, Zero 7, Morcheeba, and Martha Tilston to name a few. I started to appreciate the lighter side to music, the delicate riffs and beautiful melodies were now my inspiration. But I needed balance, I needing something to give me unrelenting energy in the hours I wasn’t wasting away in a haze of smoke.
At just the right time it seemed, came my introduction to Dance music. At the age of 16, I had a boyfriend whose passion was focused wholly on Drum and Bass, and as I listened to him spinning the decks hour after hour, I found myself falling in love with the fast paced nature of the beats. I always preferred the more melodic side of this genre, and there was plenty of this to go around. This was when I first heard of the mighty Pendulum, who are easily one of my top 5 acts. Their take on Drum and Bass was like nothing I had ever heard, which seemed to be a very popular opinion, seeing their popularity rise to epic proportions a few years later. I started to go clubbing regularly, and found myself dancing all night to Andy C, Roni Size, Mampi Swift and the rest of the True Playaz. It was invigorating, it was fun, it was me.
I still consider myself to be a true raver, however where I choose to indulge myself in this pleasure is far more selective. Gone are the days of the grimey drum and bass raves, where you kept one hand on your wallet and one eye on the dodgy looking guy in the corner. I’ve now found my haven, my safe place to dance the nights away, and it goes by the name of Planet Angel. No other club has ever compared to this one, with music to keep you dancing, and people to keep you talking, it really is a one in a million dance club experience. That’s not to say I don’t go elsewhere every no and again, but this certainly my regular haunt, and has been for the past 4 years or so. It also introduced me to a wider range of dance music, most noteably electro and breakbeat. These are genres which have followed me everywhere I go, until I finally started to associate myself properly with them and indulge myself with them in the home as well as in the nightclubs. Digitalism, Stanton Warriors, Justice, Simian Mobile Disco are just a few of the artists I like to put on in preparation for a good night out. In addition to this, Hospital records have started to play a big part in my life, with a whole host of uplifting drum and bass acts that never fail to deliver a pumping set, and release some top quality tunes. High Contrast and London Elektricity are two of my favourites from this label, and I have recently started going to their club night “hospitality” at every chance I get.
When I was 18, I decided to take my love for music further by doing a degree in Music Industry Management and Live Production. During my time at university, I met a lot of music lovers, some with similar tastes and others that were eager to introduce me to new things. Word of mouth is the most powerful way to find new music, and this was certainly demonstrated fully in these 3 years. Artists like the Foo Fighters, The Chemical Brothers, UNKLE, and Kings of Leon are still some of my favourites to listen to.
It was also during my time at university that I started to go to Festivals, and couldn’t believe that I had waited so long to do so. They are my home away from home, and where I really belong. The idea of immersing myself fully in a world of music and free love is what life is all about for me, and this is exactly the joy that festivals bring. Having just finished my 3rd season, amounting to a total of 12 festivals attended, I show no signs of slowing down, and can’t wait for next summer to come around.
So that’s a quick round up of my life in music so far, there’s a lot I haven’t mentioned, especially a lot of the new music that I’m listening to at the moment – that I’m saving for some true in depth blogging ☺
Watch this space!
My parents introduced me to a lot of wonderful music when I was growing up. My father is a professional musician with a respectable vinyl collection, which I regularly sifted through and took great pleasure in abusing from as early as 6 years old. Artists like Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley are the ones that stick out the most in my mind, and I still listen to them nostalgically to this day. From what I can gather, this makes me a little different to a lot of my peers, who grew up listening to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd and other similar rock legends of the 60’s and 70’s. Music like this I wouldn’t discover until much later on in life.
Singing has always been a big part of my life, something that was cultivated through my mother’s love of classic soul singers. From a very early age I would perform Whitney Houston songs for my family, and that love for singing is something that it is still with me today. It has a big influence on my musical tastes, with inspiring vocalists never failing to raise the hairs on my arms as a sign of true awe.
On of the first albums that changed my life was Nirvana’s “Nevermind”. I remember being introduced to this album when I was a 13 year old ‘wannabe’ skater kid/grunger that wasted my days away in Kingston’s Skate park. It was an album that was beautiful in a way that was acceptable to my peers and I, and was a favourite amongst us all. We all shared a love for this music that introduced us to a world we never thought would be ours. Little did we know what was to follow. At around the same time, artists like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Greenday, Limp Bizkit and Deftones became our idols, not only making music we could all identify with in our adolescent rage, but also giving us a taste for life different to that of the Spice Girls and other bands we no longer associated ourselves with. We felt cool, we felt like real music lovers.
Throughout this phase of my life, I never forgot about my roots, and I pride myself in the fact that I have always had an eclectic musical taste. My teenage years were consumed with singing, and I was seeking out more and more artists that could provoke that hair raising feeling I loved so much. At around this time Christina Aguilera had broken free from the shackles of manufactured music, and had started to record truly inspiring music, with the end result being her critically acclaimed album “stripped”. Destiny’s Child and Alicia Keys also succeeded in making their marks on the scene, although without such lasting effects. Although these artists gave me ample material to practise my art of signing to, it was one extraordinary woman in particular, fronting one extraordinary band, that would prove to be the most triumphant of them all in claiming my attention.
Skunk Anansie weren’t what you would call the stereotypical band a 13-year-old girl in the millennium would listen to. An incredibly popular band in the nineties, I jumped on this band-wagon a little late, with their musical career coming to an end in 2001, sadly before I got a chance to see them live. They provided me with the perfect soundtrack to my teenage years, with each album giving me something new and interesting to indulge in. Skin’s powerful and evocative vocal range really hit the spot, and I still listen to them today with as much enthusiasm as I did 8 years ago.
As I continued to grow up, my musical tastes evolved substantially. As I progressed through and out of my teenage angst, I started to listen to a lot of chilled out music, Zero 7, Morcheeba, and Martha Tilston to name a few. I started to appreciate the lighter side to music, the delicate riffs and beautiful melodies were now my inspiration. But I needed balance, I needing something to give me unrelenting energy in the hours I wasn’t wasting away in a haze of smoke.
At just the right time it seemed, came my introduction to Dance music. At the age of 16, I had a boyfriend whose passion was focused wholly on Drum and Bass, and as I listened to him spinning the decks hour after hour, I found myself falling in love with the fast paced nature of the beats. I always preferred the more melodic side of this genre, and there was plenty of this to go around. This was when I first heard of the mighty Pendulum, who are easily one of my top 5 acts. Their take on Drum and Bass was like nothing I had ever heard, which seemed to be a very popular opinion, seeing their popularity rise to epic proportions a few years later. I started to go clubbing regularly, and found myself dancing all night to Andy C, Roni Size, Mampi Swift and the rest of the True Playaz. It was invigorating, it was fun, it was me.
I still consider myself to be a true raver, however where I choose to indulge myself in this pleasure is far more selective. Gone are the days of the grimey drum and bass raves, where you kept one hand on your wallet and one eye on the dodgy looking guy in the corner. I’ve now found my haven, my safe place to dance the nights away, and it goes by the name of Planet Angel. No other club has ever compared to this one, with music to keep you dancing, and people to keep you talking, it really is a one in a million dance club experience. That’s not to say I don’t go elsewhere every no and again, but this certainly my regular haunt, and has been for the past 4 years or so. It also introduced me to a wider range of dance music, most noteably electro and breakbeat. These are genres which have followed me everywhere I go, until I finally started to associate myself properly with them and indulge myself with them in the home as well as in the nightclubs. Digitalism, Stanton Warriors, Justice, Simian Mobile Disco are just a few of the artists I like to put on in preparation for a good night out. In addition to this, Hospital records have started to play a big part in my life, with a whole host of uplifting drum and bass acts that never fail to deliver a pumping set, and release some top quality tunes. High Contrast and London Elektricity are two of my favourites from this label, and I have recently started going to their club night “hospitality” at every chance I get.
When I was 18, I decided to take my love for music further by doing a degree in Music Industry Management and Live Production. During my time at university, I met a lot of music lovers, some with similar tastes and others that were eager to introduce me to new things. Word of mouth is the most powerful way to find new music, and this was certainly demonstrated fully in these 3 years. Artists like the Foo Fighters, The Chemical Brothers, UNKLE, and Kings of Leon are still some of my favourites to listen to.
It was also during my time at university that I started to go to Festivals, and couldn’t believe that I had waited so long to do so. They are my home away from home, and where I really belong. The idea of immersing myself fully in a world of music and free love is what life is all about for me, and this is exactly the joy that festivals bring. Having just finished my 3rd season, amounting to a total of 12 festivals attended, I show no signs of slowing down, and can’t wait for next summer to come around.
So that’s a quick round up of my life in music so far, there’s a lot I haven’t mentioned, especially a lot of the new music that I’m listening to at the moment – that I’m saving for some true in depth blogging ☺
Watch this space!
