#dont even get me started on the fucking chord progressions i have for them dude [insane about music theory]

[noonbeam17]

they love me for the convoluted motifs i stuff into my ocs

[rogertaylcr]

its alright if its long! i asked bc i was curious, id love a long answer

OKAY HERE IS THE SUPER LONG ANSWER, it’s self indulgent and, dare I say, Boring as shit -- but it’s the full answer to how/when/why I started drumming -- it is also 1.5k words long so it’s under a read more

so I started like drumming in a serious way i would say like a year and a halfish ago which isn’t a super long time I know but theres a tediously long story behind it which you asked for so don’t blame me for how long this is cause dude i know it’s long

The why of it is actually pretty short though. So my house is a music house, my mom plays a bunch of instruments and sings and my dad listens to a bunch of music so theres a lot of musical passion (even when theres no talent necessarily). As a kid, like 3-4 like EARLY memory, I remember listening to bohemian rhapsody and hearing the drums specifically, which idk if this is universal but for a lot of songs for awhile i just didn’t hear the drums as like part of the song really, and with bohemian rhapsody they were just so clear, like i could hear the heartbeat of the song. (this was the first song I felt that with but definitely not the only one, baba oreilly was another one that i made me realise the life of the song comes from the drums) When I was .... like 6-7, a beatles doc came on MTV and I saw Ringo drumming during the early beatles years and he was standing and stomping the hi hat and bass and there was just so much movement and power behind it and so much more fun in my opinion than the other instruments and i was like “i wanna be the one giving songs their heartbeats”. The more i got into a bunch of other, new and old, bands the more i was like This Has To Be Me. I had always been a fidegty person who was drumming to shit anyway but like the idea that that could translate into like something palatable and musical and entertaining and LOUD was News™ to me and I wanted to do that, but at the time I only knew a bit of piano and like a single chord on guitar and, like a lot of people’s parents, my parents saw creative fields as really unstable/unrealistic so I was like “well obvious it would be nice to be a loud drummer but I’m going to be a business person” (this is how cynical i was as a child).

the WHEN of it is a longer story, like it isn’t actually cause the actual answer is that i’ve been seriously drumming for about 1.5 years but theres like more to it imo

When i was in the third grade, instruments were compulsory at school so we all had to choose and buy one to learn on as well as basic piano lessons. I wanted to play the drums as “my instrument” at that time BUT my school didn’t have the budget or the space really to accommodate that (i would've had to buy my own kit and haul it to and from the school which didn’t make sense for me to do for someone who hadn’t ever touched drums) AND they didn’t have a teacher that could really teach drums, our percussion section was just a xylophone and some cymbals it was a school of like 2000 kids so :/

So I learned clarinet and then when i was 10, in the fifth grade, my older sister’s friend stopped playing saxophone and got permission to bring her drums in. We only had an orchestra so our teacher had to write her music for/with her which was cool but anyway. She left her drums at school and i knew her and so while i was supposed to be in the practice room playing clarinet i was trying semi-fruitlessly to drum. I knew i wanted to drum by any means necessary but like I was 10 and since i had no guidance (and no proper sticks i was using xylophone mallets) I didn’t think I was “good” at it and when we moved away I took that as a sign that it wasn’t meant to be.

When we got to america I joined school bands (as in orchestra/concert band) as a clarinet player once again, I still wanted to be drumming and i was in a public school by then so i had access to like “school drums” but I was so far behind the not-self-taught drummers in the actual band that I just like decided I had to focus on what I was already good at which was my art and dove into the upper level art program which like GOOD cause that made life worth living but it also meant the only time I could drum was when I was at this one friends house or had access to the band hall and like I just couldn’t keep the improvements i’d made, like i’d perfect a song and then have zero access for a couple weeks (except to like stand alone snares but :/ ) and i’d have to start over essentially and it was SUPER discouraging and it made me feel like I wasn’t making any progress

In the meantime I was trying to get my musical fix by learning guitar/piano and piano came back to me pretty quickly (its gone again now) but guitar like.....you can’t hit it lmao, piano i could slam the keys how i wanted to and get that really great loud resonating sound and i could stand to play and get more movement out of it but guitar is tedious in a way that other instruments aren’t imo, like the sound is loud but the movement is very precise and i never had the patience for that

when I got to college I really had to focus on my art especially the first two years, I literally lived in the studio (im not exaggerating, the students in my major and I had a janitorial bathroom set aside for showering) so pretty much all of my hobbies got tossed aside those two years it was grueling, fun but also hell

Junior year came and i had like 30% of my time back and i was like considering switching majors. I knew i didn’t want to do animation but also you can’t just switch into music at a university, you have to be pretty accomplished already and percussion at my school is HUGE like i would’ve had to be roger himself to have a chance of switching in. On top of that the degree isn’t super useful so I now have my Bachelors of Science. But by junior year i KNEW i didn’t wanna do that, I knew i wanted/i want to drum so I.... licherally................went to the library and printed like 50 pieces of paper each with three flyers on them and cut them up and put them up ALL over campus essentially begging for access to a drum kit. I could only afford like a couple hours on this one guys kit every few weeks for one semester (and then the following semester i did a semester away, they had drums at the school there but i only got access like a total of 5 times) so when i came back to america I did the exact same thing, I put up flyers in the music building and eventually i found a girl who let me use her drums for free all year, she gave me access like last august? I think? and just now has packed them away in the last month or so, and i would literally go into this tiny stuffy unairconditioned room (that had an automatic light timer so i’d be in the dark halfway through a song ahsdkhajkda and a couple times the heat got to me and i had to go outside and sit in my car w/ the AC before coming back in ahdjkahdjkasdjka) and drum for about 6-8 hours MWF and maybe like 3-4 hours T/TR which i know isn’t as much as some people but like I had school work still so I couldn’t do too much more. (it worked out great cuase i only took 7 hours my last two semesters so it was like something i could do while all my friends were in class and they weren’t open on weekends so my social life didn’t get fucked up) and like i know i haven’t been drumming drumming that long comparatively to like normal people who start at age -2 and are born with a snare in their laps but you spend that much time each week doing something and you’ll get good you just like… have to and I like where I’m at right now, I think I’ll always have super severe imposter syndrome abt my skill level b/c of how long it took me to get here and being an overcritical perfectionist doesnt help but yeah

i really dont think its a coincidence that my coming out (to myself) coincided with when I said “fuck it im gonna play drums come hell or high water” but SUPER LONG AND OVERLY DETAILED story short, I heard roger drum and said “if i dont do that ill die” and then when i finally had the resources i drummed myself into multiple heat strokes and i recently saw roger live so the universe rewarded me for all that shit

[philipseering]

Music Review #1

June 1st, 2019

"Twisted Daffodils,"

By

Twice The Outlaw

Artist: Gabriel Michaud

I didnt know what to expect, when I first listened to an unknown artist apparently from WV. I did a little research, and saw he is from a lower middle class working family, college educated but undoubtedly troubled from the gossip around the local haunts and shady venues. I searched him on the internet and the first thing that popped up was an image of him playing drums?

I thought, another drummer looking for some face time? So I did a little more research, on his previous unknown; but somehow how small, minuscule, cult like following band projects. Did he write anything? I wonder what the fuck this is going to be like?

Apparently hes been writing songs most of his life. I'm always looking for new music. "What is this gonna be a pop country beer drinking EP?" "He is from WV?" I stereotype him. Hes an attractive man 30 years old but looks much younger.

I start the demo, it's a cheap sounding recording doesn't he have computer or anything? The opening riff to, "Lost In A Trance;" is not what I expected. I dive back into his musical background pop rock alt punk hmm. Not a country EP??

The logo is professional! He obviously invested some money. SHOCKING! Probably his own money. Anyways, the song starts and it reminds me of a an old pop punk intro from this band called Homegrown called "Tomorrow." The vocals start. Good voice well controlled masculine but not a pure singer. I continue the song.

I usually listen to about ten seconds of most of the trash put out in 2019. The first chorus hits. "I'll stay in your thoughts like flowers and pots." Interesting, happy line and melody. Didnt expect a happy hook based on his apparent musical background.

The second verse hits. Tee guitar work is on time, simple but effective. A line pierces me; "to run in the moon light, I'm scared to write again." Oohh! this happy fella' must be in love or heartbroken, maybe an emo trap!!!

There's the hook again. I start to sing it, I feel happy. Interesting; I feel jubilant. Then a rifft hits like a brick. A simple 4 note line. Chills hit my knees. Why is this dude so happy? Now I'm angry! The song ends, and the second song starts.

What chord is that? Strange E shape on the 9th fret. Is that even a real chord, I snicker. Then I immediately think back to nostalgic opening lines and chords. Ya, this guy has good taste in music. "I dont even know how to describe this style but its infectiously happy." "Carved your own path on a road full of sames!"

The first verse of the second song hits, "Lord Knows."Religious man! Oh no! not a Christian album. The second song verses dont really grab my attention but the pre chorus and chorus hits again like a baseball bat to the face. "Jealousy got the best of me... I couldnt breathe without you by myside" Ya this dude, definitely has some drug culture reference. "Shame on him according to the gossip at the local bars!" But that chorus a mix between "Hey Jealousy," by the Gin Blossoms and the "Best of Me," by the The Starting Line clever. I start singing again. Okay, okay that's two now. "The guitar work on the second song is very good simple, but very good with a sad melodic undertone." Hes a drummer?

The song ends its its apparent I stereotyped him. Sounds like he's in some treacherous relationship or something. Dont go to the dark side playboy. I was happy after the first song!

The third song rolls in a waltz tempo in 3/4; get the fuck out! Who does this guy think he is. I'm jealous now. I restrain my fury hoping for another hook.

"I cant stand you wearing that fucking black dress" the chorus to the track "Blue out the Moon." uh huh. I wonder what this chic looks like? Do I know her? Does he know her? "I dont know you you dont know me." A line from the opening track.

The waltz is melodic, and on time with an akward Eminor chord. G D A em doesnt fit typical music theory. Nothing weird besides the fact that Em fits the logo and the feel so far. Three quarters of the through the waltz, "it slows down into a beautiful melodic strum pattern that makes my heart race and my breathing quicken." Then there is that riffy from Flowers and Pots, "perfect."

4th song, "Lullaby," acapella? Okay, this ought it be interesting. Very good vocal control on a voice memo demo. I didn't even listen to the lyrics just the vocal control. I take it back, he can sing not a pure singer, but a damn good crooner.

I got through four songs already. I sang along to three of them. Then the last song hits. Oh Shit! That's What I expected from a song writer who grew up in Appalachia. Outlaw Rifft, or something very cool. At this point, I'm wishing I had a shot or a beer, although I dont drink. The guitar work pumping simple fast effective catchy and progressed talent wise throughout the 4 songs. Then, there's another chorus. I start howling along. I regret stereotyping this dude. I know hes a drummer, hopefully he gets some drums on the guitar work.

"Unique simple, creative, musical piece of pure happy energy, combined with a hint of masochism, just enough, so that it is relatable."

Ten minutes, after listening to the demo EP, "Twisted Daffodils," I start thinking about his personal life. I try to control myself from analyzing his lyrics. I could see him doing well. Better than me right now, with very little money as I burn one of the last pieces of chicken left in the refrigerator.

I hope he doesnt burn quick and end fast like dynamite! Or the pistols his logo! I'm already dwelling on what an interesting person he seems to be. Definitely the potential to be more than a one hit wonder.

4/5 stars just because I already hate the dude and whoever he writes about.

Chickens done! Burnt lunch for one! I'm apparently Emo?

-Anonymous Writer-