When I was a kid my upbringing was ruough. I found solace in my imagination. I loved just going outside with my He-Man and Thundercats figures, and creating my own little universe.
Music was very prevalent in my home. My dad raised me on artists like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings. My sisters listened to hair metal, and top 40 radio seemed like the norm at school leaving me without a musical outlet of my own. I would live some life, and mature one day, and fall in love with outlaw country, but at this point I felt like I had no voice.
Visiting family in Texas one day, and running into this pretty cool girl I scored a cassette tape of this brand new band. The name was different, the sound was different. It was angry, poetic, and had a raw energy that was unlike anything I had heard. The band was Nirvana. It literally changed everything for me. I suddenly felt like someone understood me. Like some guys somewhere far away from me had maybe lived like me, and found a way to reach me. Romantic I know, but being a kid it was very real to me. I knew without a doubt I had found my path, and that was being in a band. I fell in love with songwriting most recently, and it’s my biggest creative outlet.
We as artists sometimes overcomplicate it. Strive for a meaning, a hook, or a sound only to realize that the next big thing doesn’t sound anything like that, and your back to ground zero.
If I could share a word of advice. Never forget why you started playing, what inspired you to write music, and play in a band. Give no thought to what the world is saying, and only then can you find the purity you need to give voice to whats truly inside you. That is what people are looking for. It may not seem that way by todays standard of oversaturated garbage, but at the end of the day what is real will never get old.
–
facebook.com/pauljohnsonandtheaboutlastnights
instagram.com/theaboutlastnights
–
Post by Corey Kleinsasser
Follow Concert Crap on Instagram
Follow Concert Crap on Twitter
Follow us on Snapchat: @ConcertCrap
Or click the “Follow” link on the bottom right corner and type in your email to get updates sent directly to your inbox.
#ConcertCrap
[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]
Leave a Reply