#Lucky Chops

[thekidsare-not-alright]

Top 5 song titles? Not considering the actual music itself, just what its called.

oo interesting. I'm gonna pick mostly from FOB to make it easier lol

Miss Missing You <- I just think it's clever. Explains a complex feeling very simply

HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON'T <- this title alone makes it kinda feel like "hold me tight please. Please. Or fucking don't I don't care, not at all..." and uergeh. It does make me cringe a tiny bit too lol <3

Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows) <- I just think this title really shows what FOB is all about, yknow? Their awareness and such

Hum Hallelujah <- it's like a command, almost. Hum Hallelujah, a little begrudgingly, a little sarcastically. But do it anyways because it might save your life

It's Not Goodbye by Lucky Chops <- completely outta left field with this one but this song made me cry the first time I heard it after I looked at the title. It really isn't goodbye, yknow? You can feel that (the song is instrumental)

[agrownupgeekgirl]

Lucky Chops with Leo P!?!? Fuck! I love them all so much and Leo is just brilliant🥰🥰🥰🥰!

This is me freaking out about one of my hyper-obsessions.. sorry lol

[twotonetrumpet]

This song is amazing and I've been listening to it on repeat for weeks now. Good times.

[nervouslynerdy]

Just adding this clip here so I never forget he exists

[james-is-nasqueer]

pretty sure Lucky Chops is a gateway drug or somethin

[jcapehartjr]

An Interview with Matt Charuka

When prompted to interview an artist, many different ideas came to mind, but I ultimately landed on an interview with my good friend Matt Charuka. It was Matt’s interest in music blogging that led to my entering the Blog-o-sphere™, and Matt is one of the most artistic people I can think of. Matt is a clarinetist who entered Mason Gross School of the Arts in the same year I did: 2019. He’s doing some really incredible things, and I wanted to shine a spotlight on his endeavors and pick his brain about some aspects of what he does as a musician.

You’ve clearly got a love for music. Where did this love start and where has it led you?

I would say my love for music started when I was a very young kid. I was in the car a lot with my mom from a very early age, and she always had some sort of CD she was listening to. She would listen to it for a couple of weeks, then move on to the next one, and during those listening periods, I was analyzing music before I even knew it. If there was a track I liked, I would ask my mom to play it over and over again, until she was incredibly sick of both the song and the CD itself. I was listening to every little detail, and when I got bored of that track, I would hyperfixate on another one. Perhaps I was the reason for my mom cycling through CDs so much! This eventually led to me singing a lot as a kid while trying to learn guitar by ear. Eventually I picked up a Clarinet and now I’m striving to be a professional performing artist and songwriter/composer/arranger!

What music/musicians would you say have influenced you the most as a performer, music maker, and music consumer?

These past couple of years, I have been largely influenced by rock and electronic music. I constantly find myself listening to all sorts of rock bands and electronic artists, which has had a huge impact on my identity as a Clarinetist and Bass Clarinetist. I know these two concepts don’t seem to blend at all, but I have found a way to combine them, and I will talk more about that later. In terms of musicians, you will remember as much as I do that we took a trip to see STARSET together, Jason! We got to meet them and pick all of their brains about the music industry and even what makes each of them tick haha. Their insight and motivation got me through some dark times to follow, and thus began a year and a half of exploring every unorthodox and strange thing I could do with the Clarinet to put out music that I feel represents myself the most. These musicians are Dustin Bates, Ron DeChant, Brock Richards, Adam Gilbert, Zuzana Engererova, and Siobhán Richards. If any of them see this, I hope to one day see you all again and thank you for your kind words and help! Maybe when I’m a fully established musician in the professional world, we could collaborate at some point! 

What drew you to playing clarinet in particular?

This is without a doubt going to be the least in-depth answer of this whole interview! This answer is very simple, have you ever heard of SpongeBob? Yes I know, I can hear the laughter and groans coming from the readers as I type this on my iPad, but Squidward is basically why. I was largely interested in music as a kid, and once I was in fourth grade, we got to choose if we wanted to play an instrument and what instrument that would be. The only wind instrument I was familiar with at the time was Clarinet thanks to the show, so as a happy-go-lucky kid, I chose the instrument! Definitely an odd circumstance, but I can confidently say that it was the best possible choice for me.

When I first met you, you were on track to becoming a music teacher. Your path has taken quite a few turns since then, which of those would you say were most significant for you?

I’ve had a lot of significant turns that were unique in their own ways, but I would say the largest turn happened sophomore year when I decided to drop music education from my bachelor’s track. I came to Mason Gross as a double major in both music education and Clarinet performance. I’ve talked to many people during that time and got the perspectives of those who were farther along into entering the field or who were already there, and as I continued to grow as a musician and a person, I realized I could not teach in a public school setting. My teaching style would be a private Clarinet studio either tied to a music school of just a studio of my own. I am someone who loves to create music and experiment with contemporary techniques and styles, so while music educators are some of the most important people when it comes to inspiration and sharing the gift of music, it’s not my place. My passion and dreams lie elsewhere.

What do you hope to get out of your time at Mason Gross and do you have plans to pursue any further musical education?

For the rest of my time here, I am going as big as I can in terms of performance and risks. Next semester I will be playing in two recitals, one of which is my own and another one that I will be co-hosting with my fellow quartet members. I am also slated to perform a solo Clarinet work with one of the great ensembles here at MGSA, it’s going to be a semester to remember! Down the line, I do plan to pursue another degree in music. My dream as of now is to pursue a contemporary performance track at Manhattan School of Music, in which I will be able to experiment with fusing Clarinet with electronics all while staying in the city, close to the great friends and colleagues I have already made. In the meantime, I have backup plans prepared, one possible path being to perform on cruise ships for a couple of years!

In your best estimate: what is the next step for you? Where do you expect to end up next?

To go a little deeper in what I said before, my ideal step would be to either pursue a contemporary performance track for a masters or to get some performance experience before entering the masters. Either way, my next large step I have planned is to go for my masters, I am just not sure of when that is going to happen. I have a new music group/project that I am currently working on getting off the ground, and if all goes well they will also climb in priority, hopefully to the point where we can perform and tour together. They are my closest friends and I’d love to tour with them! I have also discovered a means of installing a pickup into my Clarinet and Bass Clarinet, which allows me to feed my instruments’ sound through a signal chain of EFX pedals and out through an amp. This is going to be a HUGE part of my performing career, and I plan to write music for this as well!

What people would you say have been most helpful on your journey?

There are so many people in my life who have both helped and encouraged me on this path, all of which I have been very fortunate to have met. If I were to choose the most helpful people, they would be my immediate family. They have supported me through all of my highs and lows, and I have put those people through absolute hell before, but they never left my side. They never stopped encouraging me and they were always there when I needed them most. I’ve come very close to giving up on my dreams before, and if my family wasn’t around to support me, I probably would have foolishly given up by now. They are my foundation, and I wouldn’t even be close to where I am today without their love and support.

In what ways have your perfect pitch and synesthesia affected your musical path? 

I’ve answered this question plenty of times before, and each time involves a new set of experiences under my belt, and so I feel my answer always changes. Overall, it has its pros and cons. Being able to know exactly what pitch is sounding has made both writing and transcribing music very efficient, and synesthesia has given me the means to have extremely vivid visions while both listening to and performing music. They benefit my musicianship greatly, but I have encountered people in my life who have been jealous of these attributes I possess. It can make social situations a little weird sometimes, especially when someone points it out. Just the other day, I was in a performance seminar and the professor asked “If someone in here has synesthesia, I’d love to hear your perspective on this piece of music”. Due to not wanting to deal with glaring eyes, I didn’t even raise my hand. We just moved on, but all I felt was relief, like I dodged a bullet. It’s something I hope to get over as time goes on, but both of these things have put me in good and bad situations.

I know that you are a proponent of new music and that you have yourself dabbled in the creation of music. Do you see yourself diving deeper into the world of music creation in the future?

100% yes, I love writing music. At this point in time my computer is filled with incomplete creations of various forms. I have incomplete chamber music, solo music, electronic compositions, large ensemble compositions, singles, instruments with EFX pedal compositions, and more. Just recently I have finally finished a complete work of my own, dedicated to my mother. I won’t give details just yet, as I plan to refine the work and release it publicly, but I feel invigorated now that I have a fully finished piece. I have plans to write music for my new music group/project as well. It’s a very large part of my life and I only realized it very recently.

Any plugs or music recommendations for readers to get a taste of the Matt Charuka Musical Experience™?

Here are a couple of groups to listen to, as they have amazing music that I really enjoy. These groups are STARSET, Polyphia, and (though I listen to them pretty infrequently) The Lucky Chops. I mention these three groups because the music I plan to write for my own music group/project will combine the styles and techniques of these three. Plus, they’re all just great groups to listen to with unmatched talent. In terms of new music I am pursuing, I recommend looking up Chris Mothersole, a Clarinetist based in Georgia who does all sorts of music with electronics. This guy is fantastic, we’ve had some email exchanges and he gave me all sorts of advice in terms of equipment and music to pursue. Finally, if you’re a musician who wants to install a pickup into your own instrument(s), look up either Rumberger or Piezobarrel. These are both fantastic brands that will help you out!

[ratlobbers]

ooh oh oho let me go!

1. The Lucky Chops

2. Will Wood

3. Steam Powered Giraffe

4. The Crane Wives

5. Lemon Demon

6. The Oh Hellos

7. Clyde and the Milltailers

8. DragonForce

9. Poor Man's Poison

10. Stan Rogers

11. The Longest Johns

12. Sabaton

13. Bo Burnham

14. Bill Wurtz

15. Christopher Bill

I want all of your favorite song artists you can remember so we can bond over music in the reblogs and replies

I'll start:

The Rolling Stones

AC/DC

Mother Mother

Steam Powered Giraffe

Fish in a Birdcage

Caravan Palace

Cosmo Sheldrake

MGMT

Gabriel Templar

Melanie Martinez

Toby Fox (yes, video game soundtrack creators count)

FOLLOWERS, GO WILD! REBLOG THIS WITH YOUR FAVORITES! TAG YOUR FRIENDS!

and just so this gets some traction i'm tagging @aub-reality @rylielightbulb and @mansplain-manipulate-malewife

also there's no limit on artists you can remember. it can be 50, it can be 5, just list some

[slime-sandwhich-nom]

Ngl gumball is the type to not fuck around when someone says anything about his gf he's very obsessed with

the tags aren't letting me tell you how gumball literally brought an entire PERSON, probably a dead one of unconscious as a SACRIFICE to a fake cult made by his own teachers and classmates (they didn't take it well)

[gorespawn]

anyone wanna hear some fresh gore gossip? of course you do.

my brother works at a parkour gym in town, and he knows most of the people who train there and those who do acrobatic type of sports in the area. anyway, he wasn't there, because he had a fever on that day, but there was a FREAK ACCIDENT.

his friend was doing his little parkour routine, running on the blocks and scaling the tables and walls and whatnot, and he must've been going at a mighty speed, like a crazy mighty speed, because when he was to make a three meter leap between platform A to platform B, he miscalculated i guess, missed by a decimeter, and hit his shin on the edge of platform B.

and his leg fell off.

i didn't know legs could do that.

do you realise how fast you must be running to get such a momentum when you jump that you stub your toe on a table and your leg falls off????

the edge cleaved through the skin, it cleaved straight through the bone and straight through the calf muscle and the fat tissue. it cleaved through literally everything except the skin on the back of the guy's calf. so the whole lower leg of his just hung there, dangling by the skin.

had they had kitchen scissors at the ready, they could've just cut off that thin remaining skin and thrown his entire lower leg away. like it was OFF. dude got AMPUTATED AT THE GYM.

they have to get a replacement for that platform too, because he hit it with such force that his leg made a dent in the wood. not a crack. a dent. a pit, a leg shaped pit. like he molded the wood around his shin as it simultaneously cut his whole leg off. like a meat axe

anyway he screamed bloody murder of course and fell and then proceeded to bleed over a liter all over the floor and everyone had to hold him still so he wouldn't tear the remaining skin of his leg off in his panic. the kid who called the ambulance has had nightmares ever since apparently, which like, fair.

anyway the ambulance arrived and abra cadabra the orthopedists somehow managed to magically reattach the leg again and screw the bone back together and sew all the other tissue together, putting his leg in one of those sort of morbid metal cages that are all frankenstein style with the freakishly large bolts and whatnot.

the grand finish of the story is that guys who do parkour are fucking insane bc he's back at the gym now ready to jump

[sexologii]

im sorry the revisinist history ain’t gon work on me, twitter can delude themselves, Chelsie played an amazing game but I remember a time in the early game where someone was trying to talk game with her and she started huffing and puffing and the next day her #1 ally left the game, and then the next week her other #1 left

[rivalcobalt]

Devilpumpkin gets its own post for doing numbers on twitter back in 2018

[symphonic-scream]

Context: hi! I realized my anime watch list was 100 anime long and, I need to get on that! And I can't choose where to start, so I'm leaving it up to Tumblr!

Rules: Three rounds of voting. Top 5 from each poll on round one go to round two, 5 polls of 10. Top 2 from each of those will go to the finals! I'll watch the winner of that

The tag to find all the polls will be 100 anime poll!

[multifandomhoodies]

they gotta stop letting random people buy chainsaws without ppe man.

[littleorangecutie]

Something different today

[zemos-bathrobe]

the one time i actually plan to do some writing i manage to cut my thumb right at the uhh,, joint? and the wound is so deep and bleeding so much i'll be lucky if i wont need stitches

[ereborne]

Song of the Day: May 19

"Big Deal” by LeAnn Rimes