#than I do remembering bands and other pop artists that everyone knows

[steddieas-shegoes]

documentary

for @corrodedcoffinfest prompt 'behind the music'

rated m | 723 words | cw: implied sexual content | tags: modern era, famous corroded coffin, established steddie

📹📹📹📹📹📹📹📹📹📹

"Steve!" Gareth calls from the couch of the living room, not caring that Eddie was fast asleep in his chair. "It's on!"

Steve rushes into the room, nearly falling face first when he slips on the corner of the rug. He's wiping his hands on a towel, probably wet from doing the dishes after dinner.

Jeff and Frankie are sitting on the other couch, leaning forward to watch.

Eddie's still asleep somehow.

"Metal bands have always been expected to just make due with whatever already exists in the metal community. 'Don't play acoustic' and 'You can't play Coachella' and 'You can't feature a pop star.' But we just like music. We wanna share music with people."

"Listen to you, Jeff. So poetic," Frankie teases. Jeff shoves him, but they keep watching the ad for their documentary.

"We live in a time where people don't have to just like one thing. Someone can have a playlist that's got us right next to Dolly Parton and Taylor Swift if they want. If people saw my playlists, they'd think a group of teenagers made it."

Eddie doesn't even wake up when his voice fills the room, his face on the screen.

"Corroded Coffin announces world tour with a new opening guest for every show. The artists range anywhere from Chappell Roan to Sleep Token." A male reporter is shown on the screen.

"No one's doing it like them, that's why we love them," a few fans say into a camera during an interview.

"The members of Corroded Coffin refused to do a documentary for years, too busy writing, recording, and performing music for the masses. But they've taken time off this year, focusing on personal time with loved ones and staying out of the limelight they worked so hard to reach. We finally managed to sit down with them and find out who they are...behind the music."

The ad changes to a fast food commercial and Steve laughs.

"That was somehow more dramatic than anything Eddie's ever done," he says as he walks over to wake up his still sleeping boyfriend. "Ed, you missed it."

Eddie's eyes blink open, but he doesn't seem to remember that he fell asleep with everyone in the room. He grabs Steve's thighs and pulls him down so he's straddling his waist.

"Hey, big boy. Was just dreamin' about you."

Steve laughs. "You can tell me all about it later. When your best friends are not sitting a few feet away."

Eddie turns his head, but doesn't take his hands off of Steve's hips. "You should all go. I have business to attend to."

"You missed the ad, dumbass," Gareth says, throwing one of the pillows at Eddie. "Keep your hands to yourself until the next run."

"Don't you think it's already on social media?" Frankie asked before Eddie could.

"Probably, but it's different on tv."

Eddie squeezes Steve's hips, but lets him get up. He sits up and smiles up at Steve. "Later?"

"If you can stay awake, sure."

Steve leaves the room and Jeff, Frankie, and Gareth all start teasing Eddie immediately. He lets them; He knows he's a lovesick idiot.

When the next ad comes on as scheduled, Eddie watches it silently.

He pulls his phone out and calls Wayne, asking if he saw it.

And then he starts crying.

Everyone's in complete shock.

"Steve! Eddie's crying!" Gareth yells.

This time when Steve comes rushing into the room, it's with panic in his eyes. He seems to realize what's going on the moment he sees Eddie, though. He shoos everyone out of the room as he makes his way to him, kneeling in front of him and placing his hands on his face.

The guys don't hear much, but they can make out Eddie blubbering "we worked so hard for this and it's happening" and Steve's gentle shushing and praise.

"Should we get pizza delivered?" Frankie asks.

"I think now's a good time to just leave," Jeff suggests. "We can get hibachi."

"Hell yeah!" Frankie fist pumps and opens the front door, holding it open as Jeff walks through it.

Gareth looks back towards where Steve has Eddie's head against his shoulder, hand in his hair. He smiles to himself as he leaves to join Jeff and Frankie.

They really did work their asses off to get here.

[stars-and-the-min]

☆ the wrong way to hard launch (7) | OP81

summary : oscar's girlfriend is a walking pr problem for literally everyone (including herself) social media au

pairing : oscar piastri x zhou!fem!singer!oc

a/n switch out one shitty ex for a slightly less shitty one

masterlist | last part | part 7 | next part

ARTICLE

Revisiting 'Twelve More Days' : How Empty Bottles Spun Their Signature Sound on its Head on Tour April 12, 2024 · Written by Catherine Moore

Almost halfway through the Asian leg of their world tour, it's finally time to talk about what the pandemic-era rock band Empty Bottles has been up to. For greener artists, it's the cookie-cutter way to stick to a genre that has previously worked and give the masses what they want but instead, Empty Bottles have taken their 2022 sophomore sensation 'Twelve More Days' and tweaked the songs for their world tour.

Long-time fans of the Sydney-born band are familiar with the classic rock elements that brought Empty Bottles into the spotlight; claiming influence from fellow Sydneysiders 5 Seconds of Summer, Arctic Monkeys and other croony rock artists, so it was a rather big surprise for critics and fans alike when the album opened with a much softer, hypnotising approach.

The even bigger surprise was the creative and musical approach they took with their tour. As noted by various critics back during the album release, 'Twelve More Days' had a not-so-subtle jazz flavour to their sound, and the band seems to have embraced the jazz-rock sound by opening their tour with a speakeasy-style set, complete with the band decked out in snazzy 1930s reminiscent suits and frontwoman Selina Bui in glittery minidresses, opera gloves and a thematic vintage ribbon microphone.

Despite close to three years since she last performed in front of a live audience, Bui took to the stage like a fish to water, instantly entrancing her audience with her universally acknowledged rich sirenic vocals, drawing in the attention and sending the venue back to a 1930s speakeasy. Strangely, she performs this part of the show without her trusty guitar, leaving the grunt work on the other lead guitarist, talented Lukas Zhang, who delivers without a hiccup with no twin guitar to help cover any mistakes.

Quite a few of the sophomore album's songs are given a jazz-rock twist that nobody could have predicted. Other already jazz-influenced songs - namely deluxe track number 13 'money talks' and track 6 'typo' - have been breathed to life, as well as a couple of songs from the band's debut album 'overtime'.

Empty Bottles then returns after a brief intermission with their award-winning pop-rock sound, spending the rest of the set in much more familiar-looking leather jackets and t-shirts and a guitar returned to Bui's hand. Bui, very well known for having an interesting sense of humour, made the choice of returning to the stage with the fitting song choice of 'do you remember me?'. One thing you have to give the 22-year-old is that she really does know how to pick her moments, and the now-iconic first chords of the cocky, energetic track are enough to send the crowd screaming.

The exploration into the many subgenres of what is considered rock 'n' roll has always been a very fuzzy point of conversation, and it's been an honour seeing Empty Bottles have fun playing jump rope over that line. What makes this tour such a raving success is their perfect balance of experimentation and keeping to what is tried and true for them; the classic, hard-hitting, no-nonsense, inane-lyricism rock coupled magnetically with Bui's captivating execution on stage.

Would you find me at one of their shows again? Absolutely, there was truly nothing more thrilling than the first moments you see Selina Bui walk onto stage with her infamous cheshire cat smile. What did I personally think about the sound change? I was pleasantly surprised at how seamlessly they've adjusted the songs to fit the jazz-rock genre, I also believe that they have found the perfect sound to complement Selina Bui's voice. It's uncanny how it just clicked that she was born to sing the soft, almost lullaby-like, calming songs. If they were to release another album with a similar soft sound, I would happily eat it up.

Empty Bottles wrap up the Asian leg of the tour in Bangkok, Thailand later this month and then shortly begin the European leg in Sofia, Bulgaria.

INSTAGRAM

cameliazzz

liked by aidan_ebass and 122,394 others

cameliazzz life lately 🐾 tagged: selinabui

aidan_ebass Yes ma'am 🫡 ↳ selinabui @aidan_ebass i'm dying u are such an old man ↳ lukaszhang @ selinabui he's like barely a year older than you??

cami.png the hottest drummer ever 💜💜💜

conangray a little commotion for the drummer pls and thank you ↳ cameliazzz @ conangray stop i'm blushing 🙈

TWITTER

fiona🩷 @fififorlina · 4h i mean we can all thank tommy for one thing and that's for twelve more days lmao ↳ lina bui x2 grammy winner @urdaisea · 3h i forget that not all empty bottles fans have read this article but i think they all should: Why 'Twelve More Days' isn't a Break-Up Album, it's a Healing One

emme @flowersforcami · 1h yes twelve more days is full of t*mmy slander BUT remember that all the band members have writing credits and they ALL helped write songs so basically what i'm trying to say is that twelve more days is actually the rest of the band roasting the shit out of lina's ex ↳ emme @flowersforcami · 1h every one of those bitches rocked up to the studio and went for blood. that is a universally hated man in their group chat.

amie <3 @mieflrs · 2h it's been 3 years, i think it's time to admit that keeping tabs is absolutely not about thomas fucking howard ↳ amie <3 @mieflrs · 2h i don't care how delusional u are, where in those 3 minutes 54 seconds did you hear a single line that sounds like anything like that sorry excuse of a man??? now a certain japanese-american singer who is exceptionally hot playing the guitar on the other hand... ↳ lukas 🔛🔝 @lukiepookie28 · 2h yes i agree it's not about t*mmy but it's also not about CHRISTOPHER like WTF R U ON???

oscalina real ?! @ emptyginbottles · 32m we're in an oscalina drought and it's plain to see not all of us are coping well

MESSAGES

from the phone of selina bui

INSTAGRAM

selinabui

liked by chrisyamada, oscarpiastri and 279,384 others

selinabui now he's thinkin' 'bout me every night, oh is it that sweet? i guess so

amelia_belrose pop!lina perhaps 🫣

oscarpiastri Didn't need to call me out like that ↳ selinabui @ oscarpiastri don't tell me u miss me already

sabrinacarpenter she's working late coz she's a singer

lukaszhang woman you hate coffee what are you on ↳ selinabui @lukaszhang why are u even here

MESSAGES

from the phone of selina bui

TWITTER

Yamada Updates @chrisyamadanews · 2h 🚨| Chris spotted at the Empty Bottles 'Twelve More Days' Tour in Seoul Night 2

Yamada Updates @chrisyamadanews · 32m 🚨| CHRIS ONSTAGE WITH EMPTY BOTTLES!!!

↳ Yamada Updates @chrisyamadanews · 30m this made me break ok, i am so fucking thrown off. WDYM WE GOT SELINA BUI AND CHRISTOPHER YAMADA ON STAGE TOGETHER IN THE YEAR 2024???

mabel @ maplemabel32 · 25m i can't breathe chris and lina??? chris and lina???????? after so long??? CHRISTOPHER AND SELINA???? as in "hello it's chris" "and lina"??? MY BESTIES REUNITED???

june @linafesting · 18m sometimes, i'm convinced lina spins a wheel on how to break the internet today

↳ kat ୨୧ @yamayaps · 2m with all due respect, this stunt was NAUT selina's idea, this was a move that christopher 'no boundaries' yamada suggested

INSTAGRAM

emptybottles_official Olympic Gymnastics Arena

liked by chrisyamada and 334,294 others

emptybottles_official Nowhere as incredible as Seoul! Always special to have @chrisyamada join us on stage. tagged: chrisyamada

chrisyamada someone better return the favor later 👀 ↳ selinabui @chrisyamada u begged me to let u come what are u on ↳ chrisyamada @ selinabui ok maybe i did

pi4str1 ok someone catch me up bc i did not know chris and lina were friends??? ↳ linasgirl4 @pi4str1 it's probably best we don't get into it

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:

taglist @ririyulife @ashy-kit @fionaschicken @namgification @cherry-piee

[ascendanttarot]

PAC: Messages From Your Spirit Guides

Hi everyone! This PAC will cover whether your spirit guides have any messages or guidance for you. This is a little shorter than the last PAC but only a little bit, promise! I'll list a few signs for every pile before your reading to ensure you have picked the right pile for yourself. If you resonate with one or more signs, that is meant to be your reading. And! You’ll get a channelled song! :)

Please remember your fate is not set in stone so your answers may change depending on the actions you take and will take if you please. Tarot is not a substitute for professional advice. The images I’ve used are not mine.

From left to right: Pile 1, Pile 2, Pile 3

Pile 1

Signs:

You play guitar or favour the sound of acoustic guitar in your songs

You listen to the following bands/artists: Hozier, Florence + the Machine, Mitski, and other similar artists

This is a weird one, but when cleaning you like buying the sprays/wipes/detergent with a fruitier smell?

You like going on nature walks

You read poetry

Your cards: The Tower, Queen of Cups rx, (clarified by the Six of Swords rx) Page of Wands

Your message: Something unfolded in ways you could have never imagined. It’s like all your backup plans fell apart too, and your optimism has been taken away from you. I just heard ‘victim of circumstance’. This is a difficult message to give, but your guides are saying whatever happened, happened beyond anyone’s control. You tried to shield yourself from these difficult emotions by hardening your heart, creating distance between you and your feelings... but you’re spirit guides are asking you, “Is this really worth it all?”. It won’t be an easy feat to move on from this situation, and your guides understand that. However, they’re saying that when the time comes and the right opportunity is in front of you to take that first step of healing, please take it. The best part of your life requires a childlike sense of wonder. It’s going to require a lot more determination and ambition than what you’re feeling now. Your guides are saying to take your time to feel messy, and when it’s time to heal, don’t rush yourself to do that too. They’re here for you if you ask them. They believe in you even if you don’t believe in yourself, but they are waiting patiently and happily for a time when you’ll start standing by your back too.

Thank you for letting me be your reader, Pile 1!

Song: In Your Own Sweet Time by Zaska, Karen Cowley and Hozier

Pile 2

Signs:

You have an alternative sense of style

You love 80s music. I just heard Wham and The Cure to name a few of the bands that popped up in my intuition

Odd sign to give, but you may have had a vaporwave phase? If you know, you know

You like Fantasy and Sci-Fi books and shows

Another odd message to give here—you may be sensitive to touch, but it goes both ways? Like you can only wear certain fabrics, or you like soft things, but also people may say you give good hugs

Your Cards: 8 of Swords rx, 6 of Cups, The World

Your Message: I just saw the image of your spirit guides popping open a bottle of champagne with a knife before chucking (yes, that violently) streamers and confetti! You know why? Because. You. Did. That. You’ve just come out of a period in your life when you had to do some intense shadow work. You’ve worked on your biases, and have started to fix your flawed systems on your environment and yourself; your spirit guides could not be more proud of you. They’re celebrating 24 hours a day 7 days a week because that chapter of your life is over! This new phase of your life will be given gently to you with the love and compassion you deserve. I think this may be an opportunity to let yourself be seen by others again. At the very least you’ll be hanging out with old friends and making new ones, but at the most, I’m seeing possibly an opportunity for a project to start online. Either way, your spirit guides will have your back for that in the future. For now, though, they’re asking you to put your feet up and high-five yourself for how far you’ve come!

Thank you for letting me be your reader, Pile 2!

Your Song: Blame It on the Boogie by The Jacksons (I’m serious, they’re having a party right now haha!)

Pile 3

Signs:

You prefer the dusk over the dawn

You like RnB, so artists like Victoria Monét and Ashanti might be familiar artists to have in your playlists. I also heard Destiny’s Child and Ms. Lauryn Hill

I feel like you might like, collect, or work with crystals and metals. I just saw some people here may wear protective jewellery

You like sports, or were heavily involved in sports when you were younger, but you aren’t anymore

I just heard ‘helping hand’, so you may just be a really helpful and generous person. You’d be the friend people go to if they need advice on something

Your Cards: 2 of Wands, 2 of Swords, King of Cups

Your Message: Okay this feels pretty straightforward. Your spirit guides want you to know that you’re coming into a divine partnership (not necessarily romantic if that’s not you’re thing or if you’re aromantic, so this could be a friendship or a business partner even) very soon. With the emphasis on the number two in this reading, this may correlate with timings in your life. You may meet this person in 2 weeks, 2 months, or even within the span of 2 years, but there’s a strong message of divine timing working in your favour. I feel you may have issues trusting the people around you to have good intentions because of negative experiences in the past. This person won’t break that mental belief for you, you’ll do that yourself, but they will certainly be the catalyst for it. Maybe the reason why you’re so jaded is because you’ve hoped for this so long the hope soured to cynicism, but this is not the natural state of your soul. This person will offer you the emotionally mature partnership you’ve dreamed of, with a sensitivity for you and your feelings you aren’t used to. Your spirit guides can’t wait for you to meet them because I’m hearing this relationship will be healing for all the parties involved. They’re with you on this every step of the way.

Thank you for letting me be your reader, Pile 3!

Your Song: Love Is on My Side by Brandy

[hello-nichya-here]

Girl.... Imma need all the tea abt Michael's brothers being leaches.

I do remember that one of them said that there wouldn't be no Michael Jackson without Jackson 5. BFFR. omg.

Just look at Spotify monthly listeners. I tend to compare artists who debuted at the same time and if they are still alive or not.

Marlon Jackson: 945

Jackie Jackson: 1'180

Tito Jackson: 15'148

Jermaine Jackson: 771'648

The Jacksons: 2'862'021

The Jackson 5: 8'607'046

Michael Jackson: 43'067'506

I know Spotify listeners aren't everything in terms of success or talent. Just look how Selena Gomez supposedly has more than Beyonce. But here I mean the gap is huge.

And the fact they NEEDED him for the Victory Tour otherwise no one would have showed up.

...Anon, I'm gonna be honest here, I completely forgot Jermaine wasn't the only of MJ's brothers to try and have his own solo career. And it says a lot that even though he was the most sucessful of MJ's brothers, he was nowhere near as relevant as he wanted to be - let alone as relevant as Michael.

Also, I know that showbusiness is cruel, especially to child stars, and the music industry is super unfair and buries really talented artists while promoting others that are not even good - but lets not kid ourselves here.

Like you said, the very fact that they had to drag him into that tour to make it relevant already says a lot - but there's even more to that. Michael decided, on his own, that this was going to be the LAST tour, and announced it at the last concert, without discussing it with anyone. He didn't just quit, he essentially ended the group.

They tried to carry on without him a few years later, and it went nowhere because nobody cared about them if Michael wasn't there. Meanwhile, he had random dancers/back-up singers stand in for his brothers whenever he'd ocasionally perform "his" old songs, and nobody except their mom ever complained. I strongly suspect some people didn't even notice - first time I watched some of the performances of the Bad Era, I sure didn't.

They had a reunion in 2001 - in some concerts to celebrate MICHAEL's career, with a moment dedicated to some Jackson 5/the Jackson's hits. They tried for a reunion and their own TV show in 2009 - the same time Michael's final tour was supposed to happen. When Michael died, all the interest in the projects of his brother's died too, with their proper reunion only happening a few years later... in a tribute to Michael.

But by far the biggest evidence that Michael didn't need them was Motown 25. He performed with his brothers, and even though he was obviously the star, they were still great, truly fucking awesome, you can clearly tell they are all giving it all their talent and energy.

Then he performed Billie Jean and did the moonwalk without a breaking a sweat and it was like his brothers never existed. Their big moment was Michael's warm up, and his big moment had him on stage by himself, singing the biggest hit of his SOLO career, overshadowing everything that came before it.

The only one of his siblings that ever managed to not be in his shadow was Janet. And even then, despite being HUGE, she was not KING OF POP huge. Probably because literally nobody else, before or since, could do what Michael did.

For fuck's sake, look at "We Are The World." Pretty much every famous singer of the decade was there, every single one of them giving it their all - and Michael is still clearly the star, because he wasn't just better than his siblings, he was better than everybody.

And I think that's the reason why his brothers never fully let go of all their envy. Pretty much everyone in that family exploited Michael for his money/relevance, but since his brothers were once his bandmates, they felt full on entitled towards not just Michael's money, but his career in general - because their time as a band was the most sucess they were ever gonna achieve, but it was quickly becoming just "Michael Jackson's early years, when he was not as famous as he is right now, but was already way more famous than his brothers will ever be." They were dependent on him, and were now being told "No, he won't let you all tag along forever."

Hence them demanding to be part of "Off The Wall" and getting mad when Michael didn't let them, making him tour with them singing the band's biggest hits instead of doing a tour for Thriller, fucking raiding his house for valluable stuff, using his money to buy mansions for themselves and raise their kids/pay child support, claiming that if things had been just slightly different their own solo careers totally could have been just as big as Michael's, etc.

It wasn't just that their sibling slowly became way better than them and eventually didn't need them to be sucessful. Michael NEVER needed them. He was always the star, the one people were more interested in, the one with the most talent, and eventually he realized that, if he continued letting his family pressure him into ignoring his own goals and focused on "paying his debt to his siblings (and father)" he was at best going to be held back forever so his brother's could stay relevant at his expense, and at worst he'd ruin his own career completely just so they could all fail together and his brother's egos would be spared.

Again, see how HE basically ended the band (or at least the version the public actually cared about). To them, it wasn't Michael going solo, it was him kicking them out. Like they would have TOTALLY made Thriller with him, or could have each done it on their own. Like his solo works are theirs by extention just because they used to do things as a group, and therefore they deserve the profit and the credit for something they were not involved in.

Joseph, of course, did not fucking help make the situation any better. I already mentioned all the physical abuse he put his children through during reharsals, but there's one more thing: he'd sometimes deliberately compare his other sons to Michael when they made a mistake while dancing or singing, to make them feel worse about themselves for not being as good as their brother. OBVIOUSLY that led to a ton of misplaced resentment towards their sibling for them, and to Michael feeling guilty about something that wasn't his fault.

Joseph is also the person who taught them their very warped idea of "family." He had always said that family was the most important thing in the world - because he was one of these parents who believed that, since he was responsible for them being alive, they owed him literally EVERYTHING and thus had to put up with EVERYTHING.

He wanted to beat them with a belt whenever they did anything wrong? They should just shut up and endure it, it's just discipline, and they wouldn't be going through that if they could just do what they're told.

He wants to control their careers, have "his share" of their money, and then use said money to cheat on their mother? Doesn't matter, he is still the man of the house if he's not the one making the money, and thus they owe him respect and shouldn't meddle on what he does with his life.

Michael is clearly depressed about all the trauma he was put through and the childhood that was stolen from him? Oh please, he should be thankful that he was made to work like a dog for most of his life, it's the thing that has allowed the whole family to live not just comfortably, but luxuriously - with his money. That he totally only made because of Joseph, so they really don't owe anything to Michael.

It's really no surprise that, after being raised by that man, Michael's brothers turned out the way they did. Their complaints were "God, he told me to buy a smaller house since I can't afford a mansion instead of buying said mansion for me, the watch he gave me for my birthday is only worth ONE million dollars instead of two, and he will only let us do a medley of our Jackson 5 hits during his show, not tour with us again, how selfish!" meanwhile Michael was complaining that since everyone, including his own family, was only ever thinking of how being close to him would benefit their image/lead to them making money, he was incredibly lonely and miserable.

Nine times out of ten, Michael helped his family out of "obligation" - because that's what they turned their relationship into. A transaction, a contract. Michael "paying his debt" to people that cared about his money and fame so much that they often forgot he was a person that, even after all they did, STILL loved them.

But I guess "We are totally responsible for his sucess, and in fact could have totally been just as famous" is a much more pleasant version of the story than "We completely failed our brother, and we should thank God everyday that he never fully broke free of this AWFUL family, because otherwise we'd be broke and even more irrelevant."

[dojae-huh]

why do you think there's this disparity between doyoung as taeyong promos overall as soloists (that all fuels the fire to the already existent akgae fanwars) ? not blaming doyoung but just curious i guess sm doesn't see potential for ty to reach the gp meanwhile doyoung has and is doing it

but TY had a full album ready but sm decided to go with a mini for tap meanwhile DY released a full album on his debut

jut wanna discuss

The main reason is that Taeyong went to the military. He will dissapear from the public's eye for two years. It's a huge time period in SK. Idols fear they won't comeback to their level of pre-enlistment popularity for a reason. Taeyong also talked a lot about this fear. Of being forgotten.

There is no point investing in trying to catch new fans if they won't be given easy means to develop real interest (media and tv appearences, concerts, merch, new albums).

Just think of how JaeDo are believed to be a dead ship by newer fans because there is little concent from thm. It is the older fans, who knew JaeDo pre 2020, are still very dedicated. It is the same idea with Tae and his core fans. The fans he already has will wait for him. The viewers of TV-shows he could have appeared in - will not care.

Secondly, the time of album preparation. Taeyong had to release early, before his enlistment. He even had to shoot his MV in Japan, and discuss arrangement of his songs deep in the night, half awake. He had no time to go on many programmes.

There is little need, really, to introduce Taeyong. Everyone knows he is a great rapper and dancer. He is front and centre in 127 MVs, he has his own multiple performance clips, features, special stages, solo stages (Super M, Link). If someone develops an interest "hm, is this guy any good as an artist?", there is no lack of material for them to watch on YT. Meanwhile there are so called NCTzens who don't think Doyoung can sing that well. Do needs to be introduced as a real deal. And away from k-pop, as a soloist he sings in other genres (pop-rock and band music). Lots of live singing clips thus are needed. There was a comment "YT keeps offering me vids with this guy, is he OK? he sings so much" (paraphrasing).

Tae has lots of tiktoks for Tap era. Fans of other idols he danced with had seen those reels. Thai actors did his challenge a lot. His promotion works on TT, on the internet, through virality (remember the case with "Zoo") and inside k-pop sphere. He has always caught people's eye by looks and moves alone.

Doyoung, on the other hand, is known to general public as a variety personality. His potential audience as a soloist, people who like ballads, Korean music, go to festivals and musicals, don't find new artists on tiktok. Melon top100 chart, YT programmes, TV programmes with live singing are what they tap into.

Do got a concert tour because he wants to sing as much as possible, to be in a band. Tae got a fanmeet tour because he wanted the love from the fans, the reassurance that they will stay before his dissapearence. (Plus, as I said before, he should have been busy with 127 preparations in March).

Doyoung came up with the way he wants to see his promotions unfold. Documentaries, medleys - his idea. He supervised it. He pushed for more.

Fans count numbers, but forget about contents. Taeyong's promo clips were very innovative, fun, effort was put in developing them. Wasn't his abduction video memorable? Despite very pressing circumstances, very short time to work, Tae's comeback was of high quality (photoshoots, the MV, stages, his 2 day concert was prepared better than Link).

Shooting singing Doyoung five times is not a big deal, it is easy to increase the number of uploaded promotional material. Heh, antis counted "medley clips" as content, when it is just a track playing over a circled on itself short video of nature (that you buy on stock sites).

Taeyong had two albums in the same year. Who gets two albums same year right away? Even Baekhyun didn't. And fans dare complain.

Tae had songs he wrote in thepast. However, those songs needed to be re-recorded and remastered. We've seen it in bts video. Either there was no time to record enough songs for a full album, or Tae's songs were lacking/didn't fit the overall sound of the album. Remember how DJJ re-recorded "Ordinary" a year later (we can sing better now), how "Can we go back" was re-arranged for the album (bless, the track was saved for me). Songs take time, SM works up to 6 months on one song.

[anewbrainjughead]

I saw you down the Elton John tag and couldn't help but reply but I think you're right, remembering Freddie Mercury feels weird because he doesn't feel he has been gone as long as he has been just because his presence is still here ( I can't explain why or how though ) he is remembered in a way no past artist has been, Queen as a band and Freddie individually have transcended relevity in a way no one has before. It's a wonder how more that could have been if he was still alive.

And Freddie never knew about that impact, his bandmates and his other friends have said that Freddie would have been surprised and could have never imagined people remembering him decades after his death.

Right! His legacy is so interesting to think about bc obviously he is still a massively important cultural icon, especially within the LGBT+ community, but he died so young that there's just a gaping hole left where decades of music and public appearances and life was supposed to be.

I can't help but wonder how he, or at least the public persona of Freddie Mercury, might have interacted with a considerably more progressive public. I know he was pretty private about his personal life and there's every chance that he would have continued to be very private had he lived, but he died in 1991! And he died of a deeply stigmatised illness that the government was letting kill people because the people it was killing weren't worth saving.

He exists in such a weird space in pop culture bc he was the front man of a super mainstream band in a genre of music beloved by straight dudes who wanna hear some other straight dude do an insane guitar riff so they can feel macho and cool, but he died tragically young of the scary gay disease that a lot of those dudes make south park jokes about.

Elton John also made very mainstream pop music, but straight 13 year old boys were never smugly wearing Elton John t shirts the way that they wear queen t shirts, and Elton John is still alive and still in charge of his own legacy and narrative.

When they made a film about Elton John he was alive to have his input and approve and deny whatever he wanted. The big biopic with Freddie Mercury in it is just a cinematic depiction of an ageing rock bands ongoing struggle to refuse to come to terms with how much more everyone else cares about the front man who has been dead for 3 decades than they do about the surviving members.

Idk. I don't really have a point, i just do think about it quite a lot.

[married-2-the-music]

Tell Me What To Do; A Letter To Jonghyun

If you’ve ever stumbled across one of my posts before, you’ll probably know me as a (maybe somewhat harsh) reviewer, who will always take the chance to rhapsodize about harmonizing and complain about Dynamite. But that’s not what this is; I did write a review about JH’s work but this is different; I want to start off not with my “credentials” but with a story. I’ve been a casual k-pop fan since early 2019 through BLACKPINK and a deeper fan since March of the year after, when I discovered Red Velvet.

In late November of 2020, during lockdown, I lost one of the people I loved most in the world. I was still a teenager (barely younger than he was when he debuted in SHINee), and I felt alone and isolated in that grief. Just three weeks later, on December 18th, three years ago now, I was scrolling on social media when I came across posts memorializing Jonghyun. I had heard his name mentioned, through Yeri of Red Velvet, but had never taken the time to really listen, and I finally did.

It gives me no joy to say that I discovered that he had made a plan; his last album, Poet | Artist was released just a month after he chose to leave the world, a final gift to the fans who had watched him grow up for both so long and not nearly long enough. When I looked closer, I saw people mourning, people celebrating, and most of all, people remembering. The k-pop world had just lost two more idols to suicide, Sulli (Choi Jinri, of f(x)), and Hara (Goo Hara, of KARA), and the messages surrounding mental health had never been stronger. It was this that finally got through to me, like a lightbulb going off, and I went, “Shit. I think I have depression.”

Now, I’m not going to credit him with saving my life because I have no idea what would’ve happened, but to this day, it’s Jonghyun’s voice that sings “tell me what to do” on the 6:45 alarm reminding me to take my anti-depressants. To this day, it’s his music that I turn to when I need comfort. In his memory, I try to continue what he did for me. I take December 18th as a day to be just a little bit of a better person—a better sister, a better daughter, and a better friend both to others and to myself—as much as I possibly can.

Jonghyun’s discography is only five albums, less than three hours long. The mere fact of this makes me sad. I wish I could tell a story with a happier ending, one that I finish by saying that he’s still here, still on his 27th collection of wonderful stories, still teasing the hell out of the band members who loved him more than anything, still being a dork who brightens everyone’s day with the same humor that made me laugh for the first time in a month the first time I came across it.

But, no matter how good of a writer I think I am, I can’t do that. All I can do is what all of us can do, which is remember who he was, respect the art he created, and continue the great advocacy he started. In this, I’m trying to do all three.

I can’t really put into words the feelings I have about this. Writing it has reminded me how grateful I am, not only that I found Jonghyun and his story, not only that I became a Shawol, but that I became a k-pop fan in general. After finding SHINee, I became a fan of Gfriend, Girls Generation, Seventeen, (G)I-DLE, Stray Kids, Sunmi, and, of course, Dreamcatcher, whose music is now a part of me too.

I know that I’ve probably made this way more about me than it should’ve been, but I’d like to end by saying this: I know that k-pop (and being a fan of it) are seen as something to mock, something only done by insecure, screeching teenage girls with too much free time on their hands who are obsessed with random men they’ve never met. And maybe that is who I was in 2019.

But to me now, and so many other people I know, it is stories like mine that are the real reason why we choose to dedicate so much of our precious free time to something that so many people deem childish. I’m a linguistics major, and I can tell you firsthand that music is one of very few things that can break a language barrier and reach people across the world. Had Jonghyun’s not reached me, I don’t know where I’d be. But I wouldn’t be here, and I definitely wouldn’t be a linguistics major. As he wrote in his book, “Even though we can’t communicate using the same language, we use music instead.”

Jonghyun broke boundaries in k-pop, with his openness, his self-producing, his prolific writing, his advocacy, and, of course, his incredible kindness. Both our community and the world as a whole were very lucky to have him for as long as we did, which still wasn’t nearly long enough. He changed the lives of so many people—he changed mine, without me even knowing the word “K-pop” at the time he passed away—and overall, he made the world just a little easier for everybody else, no matter how hard it was for himself. Whenever I have my bad days, I listen to his music; I ask him to tell me what to do. And I make myself a promise: that whatever I do, I will never make the decision that he did.

Whether he’s out there and whether he’s listening or not, I’d just like to say thank you, Jonghyun, for changing my life. You did so, so, well, and, in an odd way, I’m incredibly proud of you and all you managed to accomplish despite the kind of pain you went through. I hope that, even though we never got the chance to meet, you would be proud of me too.

And thank you, for taking the time to read this. I hope that whoever you are and whatever Jonghyun means to you, you find a little comfort in the fact that you are not alone in it. However you want to grieve (or not grieve) is valid. If you’ve never heard of our wonderful singer before, take this as a sign to take ten minutes to learn something about a truly beautiful human.

And if you have, take this as a reminder to take your medication, get some sleep, and check in with your friends. Though Jonghyun thought that what he did was the only way out, he was wrong, because I’ve been there. I’m still there, sometimes. But take this as reassurance that it’ll get better. It might not be better tomorrow and it might not be better for a while. But it will get better.

Happy holidays, folks. Take care of yourselves out there. Tschüss and Fröhliche Weihnachten!

[alexstorm]

Not sure that has anything to do with PR. You can't make people love certain songs if they don't // actually, you kinda can. Yeah you can’t shove a bad song down their throat, but when an album, song, movie, any other product that needs to sell, is hyped up enough people will realize that they like it. No we don’t want AM to be Harry, but I mean, look at Taylor Swift’s last album receiving better ratings from critics than The Car. Is it actually THAT good?! Is it really better than her previous albums?! Imo, this one and the previous ones are equally good. And The Car is even better, imo. But the hype she creates and receives makes people like her recent work just as older ones. If she quietly just dropped it her fans would only be interested in her older albums, like 1989. And she didn’t even do as many interviews as AM last year, just a couple of late night shows. Fans do the a lot of the work but you can’t deny the artist also has to create the hype in the first place. AM should hype up their last albums in smart ways, instead of sending Matt to do interviews telling people that they’re never gonna make a song like R U Mine again. Ok we get it, you don’t have to say it for the 100th time. Now she people that your new sound is equally good, if not even better. I heard Beyoncé performed almost all of the songs on her last album in some of her concerts recently, her album wasn’t the most successful one of the year or her career but she’s also doing something about it. Fans who go to her concerts will hear those songs and might decide to give it a(nother) try. AM just decided they’re gonna snub TBHC or the Car and dedicate most of the setlist to +10 y/o songs. Sorry for the long rant Xx

But what you're talking about is promotion, not PR. And we all know AM isn't big on promotion. Alex literally started his career by saying "don't believe the hype". So he's also not into creating some artificial hype just to sell more albums. Tbh, I love that he's arrogant enough to say "if they don't like it I'm not gonna try" instead of being an eager pop star and trying to sell his music to everyone. Again, we all got the album at home (I even just ordered the vinyl). Alex couldn't care less if people take a beer break as they already paid for the ticket. He's got their money.

We also need to get away from that thinking that an album has to be an immediate hit after release. Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas reached number one 25 years after its release. Another one of my favourite non-English speaking bands hit number one with one of their songs after 22 years. Some songs/albums need to stew and be rediscovered. Only history will tell us who will be remembered for their talent to write or their talent to sell.

[voidofall]

I posted 587 times in 2022

65 posts created (11%)

522 posts reblogged (89%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@section-69

@justsomerandomletters

@dreamsequencer

@voidofall

@aw--heck

I tagged 323 of my posts in 2022

Only 45% of my posts had no tags

#ask me - 37 posts

#ask game - 27 posts

#romulans - 26 posts

#aftermath - 17 posts

#my writing - 17 posts

#star trek - 16 posts

#pride - 12 posts

#space - 10 posts

#snw - 10 posts

#nanowrimo 2022 - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 128 characters

#i truly feel like sometime i am missing something with how feral some trek fans get over certain ships but perhaps that is on me

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

💚Happy Valentines day💚  Here have a stab wife in a cute outfit

Commission | Tip Jar

16 notes - Posted February 14, 2022

#4

if anyone knows how to add working music player to a tumblr theme let me know XD ya girl is struggling

16 notes - Posted April 24, 2022

#3

Watching everyone flip out SNW is like watching a train derail. Like this is why I don't interact with the Spirk/Tos side of star trek. I have so far seen some ridiculous comments from Kirks new actor should be heavier and should basically just Shatner again to Spock is GAY as if it was ever confirmed in canon other than a one off joke in lower decks.

How about instead jumping straight down the writers throats for a story we don't even know yet. We wait a see. If Kirk turns out to be an Aos style interpretation, what is actually wrong with that. If Spock turns out to be straight, bi, pan, gay what does it actually matter when all anyone is going to do is retcon things through fanfics and fanon. LIKE NO SHIT HE IS WITH T'PRING THEY ARE ENGAGED. God forbid this might be a decent coming out story or a story about struggling with sexuality.

I don't know y'all, this is all just giving me flashback to how Michael was treated when she was announced in Disco and now look how beloved she is

16 notes - Posted April 4, 2022

#2

ehehe hi love :> hephaestus & titans for the lil ask game? 💜

Oh hohohohoh do I have a rant about art incoming dkfjhasljfjdsal

Hephaestus- What is your favourite form of art?

Ok! so i have some very strong thoughts about surrealism. One, I absolutely love love love the 'pure psychic automatism' that Breton spoke of in one of the surrealist manifestos. I believe Freud and his dream interpretations laid the basis for it (I could be wrong it has been a long time since I took Art History). So 'Pure psychic automatism' was basically "“psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express—verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other manner—the actual functioning of thought. Dictated by thought, in the absence of any control exercised by reason, exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern.”

this was at first usual kept to writings but I believe Max Ernst really brought in the visual aspects that were picked up by people like Dali.

Two, and the main reason I love surrealism is it is just unfettered from 'normal' art. You just let your mind wander and either write or draw your meaning in whatever pops up. Some of my favorite surrealists are Dalí

The Hallucinogenic Toreador, uses a technique called 'paranoiac-critical method, which basically is the artist invoking a paranoid state in the viewer from what I remember.

The other artist I really love is Zdzisław Beksiński. His work is usually split into two periods, one is a utopian realism that focuses on the doomsday like landscapes and architecture and the other is more abstract figures. Personally I love the utopian realism.

i don't remember if this one has a title but this is a fucking amazing piece.

See the full post

21 notes - Posted January 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

2022 Reading list

Started the year off with Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente. Really loved the idea of this no name band is a fucking bop in outer space XD. Really good light read and fun, basically space eurovision but instead the prize is you get to live.

Then I read 1984 by George Orwell, fucking god I love this book so much. The themes are just peak, the fact that we are basically living in this timeline is just peak like wow. Five stars. Great book. Take it from the random internet person.

24 notes - Posted January 7, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[awfulronpa]

Awfulronpa (Prologue)

When i woke up, i was in a classroom of sorts. Weird..i don’t remember entering a school? On the desk i was sat at, i noticed a small rectangle. I picked it up, and inspected it. It seems like a device. When i turned it on, there it showed my face, name, and..ultimate?

Enigma. The Ultimate Podcaster.

Enigma?? That isn’t my name. My name is…why can’t i remember my name? Great. Well, i might as well get out of this class room and look around.

I exited the room, and took in my surroundings. This was a ginormous school. As i walked, i noticed stairs that led downstairs.

Walking down, i could hear voices. Ah. So more people are here. At the end of the steps, i opened the door, just to be greeted by a wide range of people.

Adults..kids..teens..a weird range of them. I could hear normal conversations, along with two shouting at each other. I looked over to a person with white hair. My..lets say “phone” vibrated, when i checked it, i saw their information.

Melowon. The Ultimate Trickster.

Isn’t that trustworthy. I could hear someone— a girl? "Hey, hey, there’s no need to argue, calm down!"

Another voice. "This dumbass started it!" A younger girl.

"No way, it was toootally you." Another. A guy. I turned to see three brown haired people. A girl with some 80’s shirt inbetween a kid and some guy.

My “phone” vibrated again, all their information on the screen.

DorkyLesbian. The Ultimate Digital Artist.

Ouroboros. The Ultimate Asshole.

Swappy. The Ultimate Fangirl.

Dorky lesbian? And ultimate asshole? These names and ultimates just get weirder each time.

"NO DONT PUNCH EACH OTHER!" I heard from the older one— Dorky, im assuming. I shoot my head up and run over to grab Ouroboros while Dorky grabs Swappy. They’re glaring at each other.

I sigh and shake my head, looking towards Dorky. "What’s happening?"

"I didn’t hear much, but from what im guessing they got into a heated argument about the situation.." she responded with her guess, suddenly the younger one pipes up.

"He was saying the most stupidest shit!" She retorted "Someone needed to shut him up."

He scoffed slightly "It wasn’t even that big of a deal!" I huffed and set him down, and quickly after, Dorky set down Swappy.

Suddenly, another voice. "Well, what seemed to happen here?" A cherry voice, we all look over to a short man. With a dog head band?

All of our “phones” vibrated, and once again, i checked.

Ryuji. The Ultimate Collector.

Why are we all given these fake names?? This doesn’t make sense.. I decide to speak up on that. "Do any of you remember your actual name?" I asked. They all looked at me, then had a face of..i couldn’t tell. Attempting to remember?

A voice behind me speaks. "Seems we cant. Sad." I jumped. I turned around to see it was the one named Melowon. They smirked at me, knowing what they did.

I checked my “phone” once again, to go through everyone in this place.

Marble. The Ultimate Meteorologist.

Louise. The Ultimate Chaos Inducer.

Andi. The Ultimate Vocalist.

Moon. The Ultimate Clown.

George. The Ultimate Skit Maker.

Bobby. The Ultimate Racer.

Ebony. The Ultimate Emo.

Thirteen of us— myself included —in total. We suddenly hear a screech of a mic, then a voice. "HELLLOOOOO, NEW STUDENTS OF HOPES PEAK!"

We all turn to the podium, where out pops…a stuffed bear?! "I am your new principal! Monokuma!" It looks around "Seems i screwed up a bit and got a lot who dont fit the age range. Oh well!"

It claps. "Now, i hope you all are ready for this never ending semester, because this is your new home forever!" We all express our distaste for this..idea.

"What the hell?! Are you fucking crazy?!" Yells one— i think is Louise. We’re all furious.

"Now, now, calm down! There is a loophole to graduate." The bear speaks. We all quiet down to listen. "All y’gotta do a murder someone and dont get caught! Simple!"

Dead silence.

Kill each other? We’re all human beings— some of us are even younger than anyone here! I can already hear crying from someone. One of the younger ones im assuming.

"Oh, dont be all high and mighty now! You’ll get the motivation to kill one way or another!" Monokuma laughs.

"AS IF!" Scoffs..Ebony, i think? "This is all some stupid prank made up by some posers. Like i’d listen to a stuffed bear."

"THAT’S MISTER STUFFED BEAR TO YOU! And this isn’t a prank!" He huffs. "You’ll find yourself with a dead body sooner or later!" He cackles as he descends, assuming he left.

I turn around to see angry, fearful, and anguished students. Swappy clung onto Melowon as she’s sobbing, Ryuji and Dorky trying to compose their nervousness, others? I can’t describe well.

One thing’s for sure.

This isn’t a school worthy to be named Hopes Peak.

[ambiguousthoughtsinsilence]

30 years / 30 songs

As of 2:26 AM Latvian time, I am thirty years old. Originally, I was going to try and summarise my life in 30 sentences, but everything I wrote felt like it was an incomplete attempt at trying to capture my existence. Then, I thought I could try to reflect on these thirty years of my life by having a song per a year on being on Earth, with a little element of my life being associated with a certain song. This is the playlist that came about.

Bo Burnham - 30 Inside came out in 2020. I believe that no work of art captured the sense of isolation and desperation,while being saturated with content, and dealing with historical reckoning and loneliness at the same time, better than Inside. After turning 18, 30 is the next big milestone. It comes with a lot of pressures around romantic, professional and general life milestones. Burnham's 30 captures a sense of youth slipping away and realising that you might be losing touch, and being taken aback by that realisation.

Talking Heads - Road to Nowhere This was the first song I blasted from my North London balcony in 2021 as the fireworks echoed in the distance. This is one of my all time favourite songs, mainly because it embodies a certain positive nihilism. 'There's a city in my mind/ Come along and take that ride / and it's all right, baby, it's all right' Death is the only certainity, so why not enjoy the journey on the way?

The Flaming Lips - Do you realize? When I was 18, I wanted to tattoo the lyrics 'Let them know you realize that life goes fast / It's hard to make the good things last' I have seen The Flaming Lips twice and both times I have come out, feeling an immense sense of joy and love for other humans. Everything is tempory so every moment of joy and happiness is worthy to hold onto.

Pulp - Common People I love Jarvis Cocker, this song is a storytelling masterpiece and Different Class is a perfect album. Common People is one of the wittiest songs ever written, while being an absolute banger.

Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin' I always think of Bob Dylan as my first 'serious' musical love so I had to include this. As I became more interested in music, I remember creating a certain canon to explore. Dylan's revolutionary and political songs spoke to my 14-year old maximalism. The maximalism has faded, but Dylan manages to return.

Eels - Beginners Luck It was 2009 and I discovered Hombre Lobo through a radio show, I was 15 and discovering Eels felt so special. Like walking through my hometown and having this cool alt-rock playing in my ears, and feeling like I had discovered a secret. Years later I read Things the Grandchildren Should Know. It's one of my favourite books, mainly because of how honest and no-bullshit it is, while showing the way in which art can pull you out from the darkest hellholes.

Patti Smith - Because the Night I spent my teenage years going out to bars in the oldtown, and dancing till the first public tranport could get me home at 5 or 6 am. Because the Night was the most passionate and sexy song to let go of any worries and just dance the night away.

The Kooks - Do You Wanna? As a kid, I listened to a lot of mainstream pop as that was what everyone was listening to. The Kooks were the first 'indie' band (whatever that means) that I encountered. Me and my friend would walk around quiet areas of Ventspils and drink cheap red wine stolen from our parents and listen to the Kooks, and we felt so cool. I don't think I've ever felt as cool as I did when I wore vans, ripped jeans and listened to the Kooks.

Janelle Monae- Screwed Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer is a masterpiece. It is a meaningful artistic statement and it is about taking up space. It's a reminder that we have the agency to act and change the world in a way that we desire.

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) This is included for the little Alina, who loved watching VH1 Top 10 after school and was obsessed with this song.

Joy Division - Shadowplay This is for the angsty teen, who could not get enough of the bass line on Shadowplay.

Bērnības milicija - Ārā The Latvian band that made highschool bearable, the songs of which were the most beautiful poetry, so much so that I ended up analysing their lyrics in a state exam.

The National - Slow Show 'A little more stupid / A little more scared / Every minute a bit more unprepared' I could not have a playlist without a band that has become such a big part of me. This was the first song, I genuinely felt captured something true to the way I existed in the world.

Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone Would I be proper millenial if I didn't have an AM phase? Cornerstone was my first song of theirs I really grew to love, which led to listening to the first two albums, and a few years later seeing them live in Stockholm with my dad, which is a memory I hold dear and close to my heart.

Avril Lavigne - Anything But Ordinary Let Go was the first album I remember listening to ad nauseum. I was going to write her a letter, when I was 10, but never got round to it. Avril embodied a girlhood that seemed appealing to me, a tomboy-ness that felt almost revolutionary in a world that kept saying that girls were meant to be a certain way, a way which I did not resonate with nor resemble.

boygenius - Not Strong Enough A band that has had such an impact on my life over the past year that I cannot exclude them.

Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows For the disilliusioned part of me that feels like the world is a unchanging clusterfuck of suffering and there is little that can be done about it. Also for the 18 year old version of me, who loved Pump Up the Volume and a young Christian Slater

Bon Iver - Holocene For the 17 year old who felt this album was so beautiful and the video for this song so awe-inspiring that she started crying in central Riga as it played in her earphones.

Elliott Smith - Waltz #2  My big love for many years, whose albums I replayed again and again, as I attended my classes, hosted a radio show rather badly and felt like no one wrote more beautifully than Elliott Smith.

Nick Drake - Time Has Told Me More beauty that surrvives the test of time.

Sufjan Stevens - Mystery of Love One of my favourite love songs ever written, composed for a film that I absolutely adore.

Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks theme My mom says she watched Twin Peaks when she was pregnant with me and she always loved the opening credits. I watched it when I was 17 and it is one hell of a soundtrack to the work of fantastic film maker.

Bruce Springsteen - I'm on Fire A reminder of a time, when I was playing a dj set at my favourite bar with my friend and a man commented that he approved of our Bruce choice. Still one of the sexiest songs to exist.

The xx - Night Time I still haven't found an album that feels as intimate and gentle as the xx debut. It was a special moment in time as I listened to it for the first time in my bedroom, late at night, before going to bed and I remember being completely taken aback by the fact that something like that had been created.

Pete Doherty - For Lovers Positivus 2015 was my first music festival, it opened a whole new world to me and was a key event of shaping the person I am now.

Alise Joste- A Thousand Questions Alise made music that soothed my troubled soul and her concerts always felt like wonderful intimate affairs, in a world that felt like it was rushing and making you fall behind.

Lucy Dacus - A Map on the Wall

'But I feel fine

And I made up my mind

To live happily, feeling beautiful beneath the trees

Above a ground that's solid at the core

Oh please, don't make fun of me

Oh, you know I get frightened so easily

When I'm all alone and the floorboards creak

It's those noises in the dark'

28. Mazzy Star - Fade Into You A reminder of the Alina that bawled her eyes out at Primavera Sound, aged 18, and captivated by Hope's magical voice.

29. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah The most beautiful cover and a man, whose musical ability blew me away, when I first heard Grace.

30. Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen Forever valuable life lessons. The words were actually written by Mary Schmich, which I only learnt this year.

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. Welcome to Throwback Thursday!

Many thanks to everyone that contributed to WEDNESDAY WORDS. Every week, it just gets better! Thanks to those that contribute, and thanks to those that read and leave a ‘like’ or ‘love’. As you can see, some contributions really resonate with people. Joint winners yesterday: firstly, Beverley Pyzer with some lyrics from a beautiful song called ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’, originally recorded by Bonnie Raitt, later covered by George Michael, Boyz II Men, Bon Iver, Adele and Priyanka Chopra, and secondly, Anthea Ranjit-Singh with the immortal, “Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, and the way you make others feel is your trademark.”

On this page, ‘Throwback Thursday’ is all about memories. So, what do you remember? If I was to say the word CINEMA what immediately comes to mind?

You won’t be surprised to know that my parents were very liberal. My father, in particular, wanted me to explore adult themes as early as possible and, because I’d had a major growth spurt, even at the age of 11, I could pass for 18. So, Mum and Dad took me to the movies and, whatever they wanted to see, they took me along too! One of my earliest memories was a film called ‘W.R. Mysteries Of The Organism’, a 1971 film by Serbian director Dušan Makavejev, all about William Reich, an Austrian doctor of medicine and psychoanalyst. After initial screenings, the film was banned for 16 years, but I saw one of those initial screenings and, for some reason, it featured New York artist Nancy Godfrey, who was one of The Plaster Casters, known for taking plaster casts of rock stars’ penises. I kid you not! The swinging sixties carried on through into the early seventies! An entire film screen taken up with an erect male member! It left quite an impression! Other memorable films from 1971 included ‘A Clockwork Orange’, ‘Summer Of ‘42’, ‘Carnal Knowledge’ and ‘The Last Picture Show’ (featuring a 21-year-old Cybill Shepherd).

So, on this Throwback Thursday, what kind of memories does the word CINEMA conjure up for you?

“We named The GAP Band after Greenwood Archer & Pine streets because we all knew what happened to the thriving black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.” The words of (Uncle) Charlie Wilson of The GAP Band. So, what was the Tulsa Race Massacre? It was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials, attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood district in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The attackers burned and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the neighbourhood, at the time, one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States, colloquially known as Black Wall Street. Interestingly, last month, Ryan Walters, Oklahoma State Superintendent said that the Tulsa Race Massacre can be taught in schools but it cannot be connected to race. This he described as “critical race theory”. Amazingly, this politician added, “Let’s not tie it to skin colour and say that skin colour determined that.” So, why did mobs of white men burn Greenwood to the ground?

In amongst all the prepping, teaching, marking and moderating, in coming weeks, I’ve got lots to look forward to. Popping down to the Irie! Dance Theatre Family Fun Day in Fordham Park, SE14 this Saturday; The Trouble a.k.a. MissCop Patterson-Wesker is selling jewellery and Di Greeneyez is playing the tunes. I’ve got lunch with one of my favourite people on July 18th. I’m covering ‘Mi-Drive’ on July 20th and July 27th. Always fun! It’s the Margate Soul Festival on the weekend of August 4th. The Trouble and I are coming down to Margate for the day and I’ll be doing my radio show live from Olbey’s. Please pop in! We’re going to see Dolly on August 12th, got one garden party on August 13th and another garden party on August 20th, then I’m looking forward to going back to Stevenage on Bank Holiday Sunday, August 27th for ‘Let The Music Play’. And, of course, we’ll be back and forth to Hove regularly to see Lady Wesker

Have a throbbing and thrusting Thursday (with hopefully a few thrills through your thoroughfare?) I love you all.

[amateurd18]

Hii Ami!! Secret Santa here!! Hope your Monday treated you well for the start of your week!!✨

That’s so valid!! Sometimes, all it truly takes is taking the canon complicit storyline and turning it on its head to make it into something new!! Is there a specific trope you like to read? I really like reading things that have a lot of fluff, but I can also appreciate a good angsty fic!! I tend to lead more into one-shots rather than chaptered fics only because it’s hard for me to really get immersed into the storyline if it runs on for too long, if that made any sense!! 😅 doesn’t mean I don’t read them from time to time!!

Someone else who loves art!!? Icon!! Love that for you!! I really love art as well!! I haven’t really experienced much when it comes to digital art; I tend to stick more to traditional mediums like painting/drawing and the occasional 3D pierce!! What do you like to create the most? I tend to gain inspiration from the 1d boys in the sense that I really like drawing them in portrait style lately, if that makes any sense!! I remember being in high school and creating art pieces with lyrics from different songs associated with them!! I had those all over my walls that ranged from 1d lyrics to fall out boy to panic at the disco and much more lol. Good times.

I can agree with you that Niall/Louis have the sounds that I like out of the other boys, doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate their other sounds as well!! I totally understand having an appreciation for the pop-rock genre!! It slaps!!

Speed Round Questions!! Fav. Food/Cuisine? That’s a tough one!! My family is from Puerto Rico, so I have an appreciation for that Caribbean style of cooking!! I love all things rice, so I would probably say that!! My grandmother makes the best pot of rice and beans!! I would probably have that as my last meal if I could!! Spotify Artist? Since I do not have Spotify, my Apple Music top artist is a little embarrassing to say. If you know the band Big Time Rush!! I didn’t realize just how much I listened to them this year since it was their comeback tour!! I grew up listening to their music and watching their tv show that I guess the feeling of nostalgia that was associated with their music just took over me without really realizing it lol. It surly did surprise me!! Christmas? I do celebrate Christmas, to an extent!! Not necessarily in the religious way, but I do participate in the gift-giving aspect of the holiday!! I like getting my friends/family gifts to show my appreciation for them more than I like to receive them! I stopped asking for gifts on Christmas around the time I finished high school. Never really asked for much since I can afford to get it for myself!! Do you celebrate any particular holiday? Also, do you have a favorite place you have ever visited, whether that be on vacation or just as a tourist? 🎄✨

Hii! Omg i do remember big time rush. I wasn't ever a fan personally, but i remember hearing about them. Didn't they first kick off their careers like a yearish before 1D?

Also, i love the gift exchange and chilling with family aspects of festivals, they're so much fun. I'm Hindu, so i don't celebrate Christmas per say (i just do secret Santas with my friends because gifts). My fav festival would probably be Diwali. Though the vibes between that and Christmas are very similar. Everyone decorates houses, you hang out with your fam, eat good food, and get gifts.

Ooh i don't know if i have a favourite place as such, but some places I've really liked are...drumroll for cliches....nyc and Disneyland and universal studios. Do you have a favourite place? Also, any touristy things you've done which you've thoroughly enjoyed? Xx

[urbiggestdaydream]

Why Kpop in America is a Big Deal: A Mini Essay

hello everyone! my name is paris and today i am going to be discussing kpop. kpop, or korean pop, has been an online phenomenon flourishing in the past 5 years. with the first mainstream acts being girls generation, wonder girls and psy’s gangnam style, bts helped catapult kpop to become a socially acceptable form of entertainment. with kpop penetrating american society, i would like to discuss why kpop being in america is a big deal.

firstly and the most important in my opinion, kpop opens the door for asian artists. it is known that america doesn’t have any major asian pop stars. asians are still severely underrepresented and undervalued in the entertainment industry. we have rina sawayama, but she doesn’t get the recognition she deserves unfortunately. kpop allows for asian artists to chart on billboard with bts and blackpink dominating with each comeback. with the recognition of kpop, i am hoping that more music labels start to give asian artists a chance.

secondly, kpop is reigniting the boy band/girl group concept. boy bands such as *nsync and the backstreet boys and girl groups such as the spice girls and destiny’s child, are one of many successful group acts in the music industry. however, within the last 10 years i wanna say, we have had a severe lack. the last major boy band (before bts went mainstream, of course) was one direction and the last major girl group was fifth harmony, both who have went on hiatus over 5 years ago. kpop feeds that hunger of a boy band and a girl group that america is lacking. 

now, with that being said one of the bad things about kpop in america is the need to conform to american tastes. america is seen as a country that is needed to breakthrough in order to be successful. therefore, many kpop companies will release english versions and english singles in order to be successful in america. however, with this, some fans believe when kpop companies try to conform to american tastes. they lose their original identity. “ice cream” by blackpink was considered lazy. “boys like you” by itzy was considered a flop by fans and also considered lazy. kim namjoon, the leader of bts, admitted that the time period of them solely releasing english songs (dynamite, butter, permission to dance) was a weird time for the group because they were releasing songs that didn’t sound like them and therefore they lost who they were as a group. in my opinion, i agree. although they are good songs, but those 3 singles sound like they would belong in an old navy commercial. i’ve heard some armies say that they miss the old bts. those 3 singles sound like they are conforming to american standards rather than what made their fans love their music.

 for my last point, kpop being mainstream leads to disrespect to other kpop groups and asians in general. for several other kpop groups that are in america, interview questions often lead to them being compared to bts. similar to female rap culture, americans seem to think that only one male kpop group and exist, in this case bts. with that being said, interviewers would often be racist towards kpop idols, whether it be their mannerisms or assuming they don’t know english. during the covid-19 outbreak, asians were being blamed for bringing covid because it originated in china. bts were then used as scapegoats and were relentlessly harassed. 

being a kpop fan for close to 10 years, it is shocking to see the transformation of kpop being mainstream. i remember kpop being so niche and feeling weird for listening to it as a black woman. like previously stated, the massive success of bts catapulted kpop to become a mainstream form of entertainment. with this, asian artists are (hopefully) being taken more seriously. we, as a society, do need to work on our ignorance towards asians and learn to be more accepting and loving. with that being said, that’s all i have for today! i hope you enjoyed reading my micro deep dive of kpop in america. have a great day!

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Music is life; Eddie Munson x reader

*Author’s note*

Well this is a first time for everything, although I’ll be honest I’ve been wanting to do a Stranger Things fanfic for awhile (like around s.2) but ever since the first episode of s.4 this man Eddie Munson has STOLEN my heart (and YES I’M STILL NUMB WITH WHAT HAPPENED). So I can speak for everyone that we NEED some Eddie fluff so I DELIVERED!!! Now there’s NO SPOILERS HERE, in fact I’d imagine this is as a PRE S.4 oneshot. Hope you all enjoy this and if there’s anymore Stranger things requests you wanna send my way, I’ve opened it up as a FANDOM TO WRITE just look at my pin post and see what character’s I’ll do.

ALSO SIDE NOTE. PLEASE LISTEN TO THE FILM SCORES I’VE LISTED. (honestly too lazy to do links plus you guys can just search them up on youtube or whatever streaming music service you use to set the mood).

Warnings: fluff, flirty Eddie, swearing.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@queen-paladin​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@peter-parkers-cullen-nerd​

__________________________________________________________

The chaos of lunchtime was the perfect time for me to escape to my music.  Now while some people would be listening to the latest pop artist, new Queen song, or for people like a certain boyfriend of mine, drown the world out with heavy metal. Me, well I prefer to listen to the great scores of my favorite movies, today’s mixtape was Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I sat with the other ‘band geeks’ as I fingered on the table each note of the main theme when sitting down beside me was my bffl Robin Buckley.

“What’s on the score box for today?”

“Raiders of the Lost Ark.” I replied pausing the song and removing my headphones.

“Ahh, your sexy go to movie.” She teased.

“Hey any chance to see Harrison Ford’s chest is a win in my books. Didn’t see enough of that in Star Wars.”

“I swear you’ve got the weirdest taste in actors.”

“Oh you’re just jealous cause a character like Indy can get a girl like Marion and you can’t. Don’t deny it! Last time I was at the video store and Steve had it playing in the background, you kept staring at her like the way you stare at Vickie.” She shushed me before tossing one of my French fries at me.  I gawked at her and threw a fry at her which made her laugh.

“Backtracking away from my failed attempts at a love life, how are things going with yours?” she asked me.

“Great. Couldn’t be better.”

“You know I still sometimes can’t believe that you and Eddie Munson are a thing.” I shrugged.

“He’s really not so bad once you get to know him. We’re both nerds, enjoy music, and are basically all types of insanity wrapped up in a sack trying to survive in this fucked up world that is high school.”

“One thing though, your music tastes are way beyond being the same thing.”

“True. He tries to get me over to the dark side but I refuse. Sorry but his metal taste in music sucks.”

“Which surprises me that you both have stayed together for a year.”

“Oh trust me Rob. We have our fights about it, not in public but they can get pretty nasty.”

“Oh by nasty you mean swapping spit with each other to try and make your points across.”

“We do not swap spit. He tries to give me hickeys.”

“Same thing.” I shoved her arm as I stuffed some fries into my mouth.

“You know, instead of hassling me about my love life, why don’t I help you with yours?”

“God I swear you’re worse than Steve.” I grinned.

“Come on songbird, you know I care about you right? Band geeks in diapers remember?”

“Yeah, yeah nightingale. Band geeks in diapers.” Since Robin and I had been besties since we were practically babies, we always called each other a type of bird (and since we both love music and been taking band since middle school together) she calls me Nightingale since they’re the most passionate singers in the bird realm, and I call her songbird cause of the way she always plays her instruments so beautifully.

“And hell I could be your wing-woman if you ever need me too. You know I could give a crap about what people say about me. They already rat on me for both being in band and for dating Eddie.”

“As much as one would appreciate that, I don’t want you to be looked at as the ‘freak of sexuality’. I’ll just…..find my own way. Besides Steve and I are hoping to combine our failed relationships together to hopefully find the right match for us. I need his confidence and he needs my perfect perception on what he wants.”

“I’m not gonna voice out on what I think on what that love child is gonna look like.” She shoved me as I chuckled. “Kidding! Kidding. Hey speaking of that lovable dingus, could you tell him to stop stalking me and Eddie on our dates?”

“Oh god, what’d he do now?” she whined.

“He came into the diner, in probably the worst disguise ever. Fake mustache and everything, even tried to pull off the worst Irish accent I’d ever heard.”

“Are you serious?”

“Robin. He told me pip-pip da-doodley-do.” She cringed but also laughed. “I swear Steve’s a sweetheart, especially after what we went through with the—you know Russians. But sometimes he can be such a—”

“Overbearing dumbass? Yeah I totally get it. He’s the same with me. But I’ll talk to him, get him to lay off before your next outing with your man.”

“Thanks Robin, I owe yah.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She said with an evil, cunning grin. I shook my head at her and went back to listening to Raiders for the remainder of lunch.

Once school was over, I walked towards the isolated picnic table deep within the woods in the back of the school.  I had traded out Raiders of the Lost Ark for Empire strikes back and I fast forward the mixtape until I knew it would lay in (what I would also call mine and Eddie’s love theme) ‘Han Solo and the Princess’.

I sat along the table waiting patiently as I allowed the gently intro of the love theme take me away.  It wasn’t until the horns started playing when I felt two hands cover my eyes and my right headphone was removed.

“You really shouldn’t leave yourself vulnerable like this. You never know what kind of dangers lurk in these woods.” Eddie’s voice whispered teasingly in my ear.  I giggled and turned to face him as his hands removed themselves from my eyes.

“Oh really? And what kind of scoundrels should I be on the lookout for?”

“Scoundrel?” he said in mock offense as he took my hand in both of his gently squeezing it (much like Han did with Leia in Empire). “Scoundrel?” he repeated with a smirk. “I like the sound of that.” In timing with the music I could feel my heart fluttering hard against my chest and my breath nearly being taken away.

“Stop that.” I couldn’t help myself but say.  Thankfully Eddie and I share the same love for quoting films at each other as he said.

“Stop what?”

“Stop that. My hands are dirty.”

“My hands are dirty too, what are you afraid of?” Eddie said squeezing my hand once more, even giving it a soft massage (it felt twice as good since my last class was English and we had to write an essay for the whole class before turning it in).

“Afraid?” I asked incredulously.

“You’re trembling.” He said slowly leaning closer and closer towards me.

“I’m not trembling.” Eddie gave his infamous grin as his forehead pressed against mine, and I could feel his curls gently brush and tickle across my face.

“You like me because I’m a scoundrel. There aren’t enough scoundrels in your life.” He teased as his nose brushed against mine.

“I happen to like nice men.” I teased.

“I’m a nice man.” Inch by inch his lips brushed against mine until I leaned forward and kissed him right as the music reached it’s brief crescendo before decrescendo-ing to the part where 3PO basically cockblocks their moment.

Eddie reached over for my Walkman and stopped the tape but never once separated our lips until the need for air took over us both.  Our foreheads pressed together and I couldn’t help but say.

“That just made it ten times better.”

“And what song were you playing this time?”

“Our song.”

“Ahh. Han Solo and the Princess.”

“Yep. Although today was mostly Raiders but I figured I’d test this moment out with our song. See if we could make the kiss feel even more—thrilling.”

“And did it?” he said pulling me into his lap.

“Along with quoting the scene in perfect timing with the music, kissing you already feels like I’m on an all-time high. But with our song—Eddie I saw the entire galaxy.” I said wrapping my arms around his neck so that I could brush my fingers through those soft curly locks.

“God you are such a cheesy poet.” He chuckled.

“Look who’s talking Mr. ‘My heart beats faster than Gareth’s suckish drumming everytime I look at you’.” He covered my mouth with his hand.

“You know I have a reputation. If anyone hears you say that, I’ll…..”

“Be labeled as the school’s softie? You know that’s what you’ll always be to me Eddie-bear.” He lowered his head bashfully as he groaned in embarrassment.

“That nickname again.”

“Yes that nickname. Now c’mon let’s go. I’m making mac and cheese tonight.”

“With those homemade biscuits of yours?”

“Don’t I always make them with mac and cheese?” I stood up and Eddie followed right behind me like a puppy as the two of us headed for his van and he drove us to my house.

Since my parents were away on a business trip all the way in Dublin, Ireland, that left me to handle the house (which also meant free sleepovers between Eddie and I).  He always preferred coming here, even though I don’t mind going over to his uncle’s trailer.

“But in all seriousness, you have got to admit that you at least liked Metallica. If not Shout at the Devil.” He said as he stuffed the last bit of my homemade biscuit into his mouth.

“Eddie, I’m not denying anything it’s just that—there’s more to music than just heavy head bangers and lyrics being screamed so loud and rasply that you can’t understand what they’re saying.” I said going through my records of all my favorite movie soundtracks.

“Alright, alright I’ll admit doing the covers of some of those screaming metal songs is hard on my voice. But you can’t deny a good head-banger.”

“The last time I head-banged to Bohemian Rhapsody, I hit my head on the counter in Robin’s living room and ended up with 6 stitches in my head.” I said rubbing my right temple where the scar was hidden underneath my wildly, untamed hair.  

“Aww my poor baby.” He cooed as he brought me in a one arm hugged, removed my hand and replaced it with his lips.  “Guess that means no more Queen music for you.”

“Oh I still listen to them. Can’t deny they’ve basically changed the way music is. Plus the first ever band to do a music video that basically sparked MTV, fuck yeah. But in all honesty, there’s something about the pure beauty and raw emotion that program music has.”

“Program music?” he asked confused.

“That’s what my uncle calls it. You know the one who plays for the London Symphony.”

“Is that the same uncle who you say actually got to record for films like Star Wars, Superman and ET?”

“Don’t forget JAWS and Raiders.”

“Right how can I forget that? And what instrument did you say he played again?”

“The French Horn. Remember I told you he’s the one who actually plays that solo for the Binary sunset in A New Hope.”

“Oh yeah that’s right. Damn you’ve got such a metal uncle.”

“Hey Wayne’s a pretty cool dude. At least he’s kept you on the straight and narrow.”

“True. Been more of a dad to me than my old man ever was. Though I wish he would’ve been those uncles you’d allow me to have my first beer at 16. Still did it anyways but you know.”

“Edward Munson you are the devil incarnate.”

“Oh yeah?” he hummed as he smirked at me mischievously. Suddenly I felt him come up behind me, his arms wrapped around my waist and I heard him growl in my ear, “Well if I’m the Devil, you are my Lilith.” He let out a playful roar as he suddenly threw us backwards on my bed, the weight of the two of us making us slightly bounce as he kept a firmer grip around my waist.

He then buried his face into my neck and altered between gently nipping the skin, or just being straight up mean as he blew raspberries into the sensitive parts of my neck making it tickle.

“No tickling. No tickling!” I said trying to scrunch my neck to protect myself.

“Oh if it’s tickling you want,” I soon felt his fingers dig into my sides as I let out a shriek of laughter.

“Eddie plhehehease!” I screamed in laughter before he finally stopped and rolled me over till I was on my side and the two of us were facing each other.

“Never change, my beautiful, beautiful (Y/n).” he said stroking the hair out of my face.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He softly grinned before bopping my nose which made me softly giggle before he leaned in and kissed the tip of it.

“So, care to give me a…whatcha call it uhh—Program music? Yeah program music education?”

“Are you for real?”

“Well figured I’ve stuffed you with pretty much every one of my favorite metal bands, think it’s about time I learn a little about your music taste. So long as you don’t give me any of those old dudes from like the dinosaur age.”

“Eddie, Bach and Beethoven didn’t exist in the dinosaur age.”

“Well you know what I mean.”

“Darn there goes my first lesson then.” We both chuckled as he playfully ruffled my head but I got out of his grip before returning to my vinyl records and started to search for the first album I could introduce him to.

I pulled it out of the case and went over to my record player and set the record up before turning it on.

“So what’s first on the music appreciation list Ms. (L/n)?” Eddie said as he sat up on my bed.

“The first ever summer blockbuster.” The record started to spin and all was silent before the haunting two notes came up.

DUN-DUN…….DUN-DUN.

“JAWS?” he guessed.

“I’ll tell yah, first time I saw this movie, couldn’t sleep for a month and literally threw a temper tantrum begging my parents not to take me to the beach. Not to mention that besides television, this would be the spark that would launch John William’s career as a composer. And that it only took two notes to instill true terror, the like of which Freddy Krueger nor Michael Myers could never pull.” I said the last part in a haunting tone as I came up to him and sat on his lap.

As the music got faster as I spoke, I could already see the terror in Eddie’s eyes.

“Jesus……you’re already starting to scare me.”

“Good. That’s the power of music like this. Now close your eyes.” He looked at me skeptically but with a raised brow from me, he did as he was told.  “Imagine: you’re out in the middle of a large body of water. But you’re not on any boat, nor canoe, not even a wooden plank to float on. Blissfully unaware of what lurks just beneath you. But it slowly, silently gets closer….and closer….and closer until…..” when the tightening of the strings pierced my empty room I saw Eddie give a flinch.

He was seeing it!

“It has you by the leg. You feel yourself being pulled across the water. Pain and fear succumbs your very being as your screaming, begging for your life to be spared. The water around you erupting into frantic splashing as your body is being thrashed around like a ragdoll. Your screams piercing the air but there’s no one in sight to save you. Then all is still.” As the music went still I paused for dramatic effect.  “You think it’s heard your pleas and let you go. But then you feel it’s grip on you again, pulling your body once more. Your screaming resumes but you know it will only fall on deaf ears. Then with a final cry, you’re finally pulled under the water. The water now starts to still, and all is quiet.”

As the gently yet frantic sounds of the xylophone plays in the background signaling that the horrific scene had ended and all was back to normal.  Like nothing had happened.

“Jesus H Christ. Can I open my eyes now?”

“Yes you can open them.” He opened his eyes and looked straight at me.  “I should have you sub for me as DM with the way you just described that horrifying scene. And I know you haven’t seen that movie in a while to remember exactly what happened.”

“Told you. That’s the power of program music. It don’t have to match the scene word by word that it’s shown in the films. Or like with normal music how a lyric distracts the listener from the actual rhythm and melody being played. It can be erratic, moving, heartbreaking, and it’ll fit the scene of life itself.”

“Damn. You are a music philosopher.”

“Well I wouldn’t say that. My uncle just knows how to read music’s emotions and he taught me what he knows.”

“You got anything else?”

“Tons. Care to see why I think the Superman theme song is like the greatest opening to ever exist?”

“Compared to Star Wars?! Oh babe we’re gonna have another fight if you say that again.”

“You wanna debate, let’s debate. Star Wars opening theme is great, no denying that. But Superman’s theme song actually says its name.”

“When does it say that? I’ve seen that film enough times and I don’t hear anybody singing ‘Superman!’” he argued.  I stood up and turned my record player off and took the JAWS record out and began to search for my Superman tape.  I walked over to my stereo and turned it on and opened the slot and put the tape in before closing it and pressed play.

“Prepare to eat your words Munson.” I challenged as the opening started off soft.

“Not until you eat your own (L/n).” the suspense of the tuba soon began as I turned my stereo up as loud as I could and tapped along to the steady beats of the horns and strings as it began to build the suspense of Superman’s arrival.

“Okay, here it comes…..it’s coming…..is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s……SUPERMAN!!” right on cue the high suspense the whole orchestra went into full forte as the theme song actually said SUPERMAN

“HA! See I told you it didn’t say it!” Eddie exclaimed.

“It so did listen to it again!” I exclaimed as the orchestra repeated the superman part once again.

“You’re in denial sweetheart. I still don’t hear it.”

“God all that heavy metal has made you go deaf.”

“What was that missy!?!? I couldn’t hear yah!!” he shouted in my ear as he rubbed his own with his finger, trying to rub away the ‘deafness’. I shoved him away but he soon caught my hand then lifted me as high as he could as he spun me around.

“Eddie put me down yah big oaf!” I laughed as I exclaimed. He laughed as he continued to spin me around my entire room before falling down to my bed once again with me hovering over him.  Our laughter mixed together as the song continued to play in the background. “You are such a dork.”

“Your dork. But hey wouldn’t that count Superman a dork? He does work for the Daily Planet and wears those ugly glasses.”

“True but Christopher Reeves made them work.”

“Do I sense competition in the midst of my lady’s affections?”

“Only in a dream. But never fear good sir knight, you are the only man who has my heart.” I said as I rubbed over his heart.

“Good. Cause I don’t think I would last in a fight with Superman.” We both laughed and I said.

“I don’t think any of us could. Besides his heart belongs to Lois Lane. I could never compete with her.”

“In my opinion, you’re prettier than Lois Lane.”

“Aww Eddie you sweet-talker.” I leaned forward and captured his lips with mine right as the song came to an end.

We continued on with the Superman tape until the flying sequence came about I had to speak my mind.

“Now I both love and hate this song from the track.”

“Oh really? Why’s that?” Eddie asked as he wrapped his arm around me pulling me closer.

“Well not only because of how they shot it after he takes her into the air with the whole physics about how he holds her hand and they’re both flying together normally. But the stupid monologue Lois says during the music. It just—doesn’t fit well. In my mind, I imagined Superman holding her fairly close.”

“You mean like this?” Eddie said as he wrapped his other arm around me.

“Yes. Then we’d just—see them flying together. The music itself is beautiful on its own but her fucking monologue drones it out completely on film. For me personally, there are some scenes in film where we should just— let the music speak for itself. The fascination she already has for Superman, the closeness of their bodies pressed together. The lingering looks they share with one another as he takes her higher and higher into the sky. That’s why I’ll always pick the Binary Sunset over this song any day.”

“You’re not just saying that because your uncle has a solo in that song.”

“No. You know how we’re introduced to Luke right?” he nodded. “The Binary sunset, it—it allows us to also feel exactly what Luke feels. The longing, the desperation, the need, hope and the dream to have something far beyond our reach like the sun.”

“Damn you are really getting deep here babe. How did we ever work out?”

“We work out because you’re funny, you’re sweet, loyal to your friends, a good mentor to the present and future members of Hellfire. And you’ve got such an imagination that could only rival mine. Plus you’re the only guy whose accepted me for my own unique nerdiness. Not even the guys in band would touch me with a ten foot pole.”

“Well those band geeks are blind to see the true goddess that’s before them. All those guys they’re just doing band to get an elective credit. You—you have a truly, fiery passion for the music you play. Long to play, and may eventually play. Can you imagine if they ever did bring Lord of the rings to life? I’m sure the music is gonna need a player with as much passion as you. And I’m gonna be right there cheering you on and listening for yah.”

“Thank Eddie, it really means a lot to me.” He smiled then leaned in and kissed me softly.

“You think we can quote Star Wars all the way through just listening to the scores?” he asked me.

“You really gotta ask that?” I stood up from my bed and switched the Superman tape for A New Hope.  “One thing though, it doesn’t include the 20th Century Fox theme song.”

“Ahh the bastards!” he playfully groaned.

“So care to do the honors Ed?”

“Princess, it’d be my pleasure.” He then grabbed my own version of Brian May’s red special guitar, plugged it into my amp and turned it up as loud as he could.  I then grabbed two pencils and began the drum roll of the company’s theme song before Eddie played the horns section on the electric guitar.  Never before have I heard it be played on anything else but damn did he shred it and to use my guitar, it was pure poetry.

He unplugged my guitar and turned my amp off as we both said the title card introduction.

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….” I pressed play and right on cue the full forte of the Orchestra played throughout my room. “Care to do the honors Dungeon Master?”

“As you wish my fair Princess.” He said before reading out the actual credit roll all the way through in his DM style of how he narrates his campaigns for his club.  From there on, it was the two of us acting out the scenes based off the scores that played out.

We also couldn’t help ourselves with quoting the rest of the movie and right as we came up to my favorite part, I turned to my window balcony and saw that the sun was just about to set.

“Oh my god.”

“Uhh that’s not the quote that comes next babe.” Eddie said.

“No Eds look, the sun’s setting. Oh let’s pause this and you’ll see what I mean come on!” I turned to stereo towards the window and grabbed Eddie’s hand as we went out to my small little balcony and stared at the sunset together.

*Eddie’s POV*

As my girl dragged me to her makeshift balcony and the rays of the sunset landed upon her face, I could hear the sound of the flute starting off the most epic part of the song.  Then as her uncle’s solo came into play, I immediately felt this—fluttery feeling in my stomach.

This angel nay this—goddess of music that stood at my side. She—she was my everything. My wants, my hopes, my dreams. Everything I wish to do, want to do I—I want her to be there at my side.  As the orchestra rose in volume, there was this wave of—god I can’t even describe it.

All I did know was that I never once took my eyes off of (Y/n) for a second as my heart swelled and I could feel my chest constricting with whatever this emotion I was feeling.

 “….d? Ed? Eddie.” I snapped out of my trance and said.

“What? What was it?” (Y/n) only smiled and reached up to touch the corner of my eye.  It was then I felt that I actually had tears in my eyes.

“You felt it too, didn’t you.” She said it as more of a statement than a question.  I sniffled softly and nodded.

“That’s what you feel everytime?” she nodded. “God babe that…..that was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. I felt—warm and…..god I can’t even describe it.”

“Music is the way of life. It’s all around us. Just like I’ve always said.” I cupped her face into my hands and asked her.

“I wanna feel it again. But this time with our song. Please sweetheart? I—I wanna feel it again, but this time as I kiss you.” God I’m sounding like such a sap right now but fuck it! This is a high I’ve never been on and I wanna feel what my girl feels every day she listens to these songs, especially how she described our kiss earlier today with our Star Wars love theme.

She placed her hands over mine and kissed my left palm before taking me back inside her room and switched out the tapes.

“Shall we quote the scene again?”

“I wanna try your theory of just letting the music speak for itself.” I answered.  She nodded and pressed rewind and waited for a couple of seconds before pressing play to see if it was our song.

“Okay let’s just let this last section of Boba Fett play out and then nothing but silence.” She said as she came up and wrapped her arms around my neck and I wrapped mine around her waist pulling her close.

Soon the gentle melody of our love theme started playing over the speakers.  As she gently brushed the hair out of my eyes I could already feel my heart racing faster than it’s ever gone before.  There was a lump in my throat but for some strange reason it felt like the good kind of lump.  Honestly I can’t explain it as beautifully as my musical goddess does, but all I can say was that I liked it.  A lot. It wasn’t a sexual pull, but a truly, deep, love connection (much like Aragorn and Arwen).

I lifted my hands to gently cup her face.  My thumbs gently stroking along where her cute dimples were hidden and I pressed my forehead against hers, our noses gently and affectionately nuzzling the other’s.  We both soon leaned in and as the music got louder our lips met and I swear to god—it was like a firework just exploded in my gut.

We separated and (Y/n) reached over and turned off the stereo as the two of us softly panted.

“Shit……” I gasped out.  

“What’s the verdict doc?” she asked.

“Best……high……ever.” I chuckled and she followed with soft laughter. “You were right. God that was—I know I always get butterflies in my stomach and my heart races every time I kiss you but with our song setting the mood…..holy shit.”

“Like I said. There’s more to music than just headbangers.”

“I’ll never question your wisdom again, my beautiful muse.” I said bringing her into yet another, more passionate kiss.  We walked right towards her bed and she collapsed once more onto it, and I immediately crawled on top of her.  “So what shall it be Princess? Want to make beautiful music of our own?”

“With most scoundrels I wouldn’t but for you, always.”

“I love you.”

“I know.” She said with a grin and a twinkle in her eye before wrapping her hand around the back of my neck and bringing me down to kiss her once more.

That’s a night I’ll never forget, I think out of all my shows I’ve performed, this one will always be my favorite.  Because it was just me, my best girl, and the two of us making music with our bodies all night long.

[slavghoul]

Interview from Gaffa 3/2022

In 2013, long before the identities of the members became public knowledge, Ghost, like most bands at that stage of their career, did a Swedish club tour to promote their second album Infestissumam. Just a few years and a Grammy later, packed venues in the U.S. easily drowned out Tobias Forge's "Hell Satan" in said album's fan favourite Year Zero. Bands that enjoy similar success usually stick to their recipe for success, but Ghost’s hallmark has rather been about innovation and unexpected moves.

- I have an internal compass that keeps spinning and I don't know exactly where it's going. It's mostly about constantly trying to do something that doesn't remind you of what you've already done. That's not to say that everyone else is doing the opposite, but I think there are a lot of bands and artists who, especially when things are going well, run on a recipe that always works. That's not to say it's not a matter of the heart for them but it's very easy to think that if I only produce 40 minutes of content then I've delivered. In hard rock, there's a part of the audience that maybe values the sound of hard rock more than they value the hits - if you simplify everything and say a good sound is a hit. I mean everything from Slayer to Pink Floyd. The older you get as an artist, the more things you have that mean something to you in life. Children, family, maybe other projects or a restaurant you do on the side. Then it's easy to just show up at work and manufacture content, to repeat your sound, and there I find it very easy to sense when what I'm doing becomes too generic.

"YOUR SONGS SUCK BALLS"

There is purpose to avoiding doing the same thing all over again.

- Something I've handily done to avoid repeating myself is to constantly put myself in what some would perceive as potentially threatening situations, such as inviting a producer. Someone who comes in and says "your songs suck balls", a coach who pushes you and makes you go into the game sharper. There are a lot of ideas I didn't bring to the songwriters I worked with this time because I know they weren't fun enough. Some retrospective fans might find those ideas would have created a piece that was more like Opus Eponymous. It would have been interesting to put myself in a situation like when that record came about, without collaborators, but it would feel very much like a reunion at school: great fun, but not for everyone. Not so much fun for my new mates. New records should feel like an even evolution but with new influences. I think I've found a way to do that, even when working with new people.

Along with former colleagues Klas Åhlund, Salem Al Fakir and Vincent Pontare, The Cardigans guitarist Peter Svensson and Kent's Joakim Berg are also present on Impera. But the idea is not to reinvent Ghost.

- Pop artists go to production houses to ask them to create a hit sound for them. If I do songs with someone, we take the sound from the Ghost bank. Almost everyone I've worked with, with the exception of Salem and Vincent, has some kind of hard rock background. It's fun, they become enlivened by doing rock music. They might not even have had an electric guitar in the studio for a while so you get to take them on a bit of a novelty journey which is also inspiring. That's probably why this album can come across as playful.

A MIX BETWEEN SLAYER AND MISSY ELLIOTT

Each chapter of Ghost’s discography is a new concept. Impera was originally influenced by a book on the rise and fall of empires.

- Today we think we look at the world from a narrator’s perspective, that we can look back and tell how it happened that something didn’t work out. But we should remember that all eras - the Byzantine Empire, the Roman Empire, the Mongol Empire - had a beginning and an end. It is always so. The album is set in a fictional empire very reminiscent of the industrial, Victorian era, and strikes quite a few notes from more contemporary things. Ghost has been political before and you can interpret it all however you like. But it's still escapism, it's all fiction.

One song that stands out both in terms of lyrics and music is Twenties, whose seed was planted in a not-so-subtle place.

- It's the roaring 20s, but the coming 20s. A long time ago I saw a documentary about a reggaeton artist who was doing a gig in some Brazilian favela, literally. They were doing that typical reggaeton beat. I thought I'd like to do that sometime, have that beat and that "place" in the song. A mix between Slayer and Missy Elliott, some weird metal hybrid. And then it fit very well with lyrics focusing on the urban jungle theme. It was a good cross-pollination.

SINGLED OUT = DIFFICULT TO ARRANGE

The process behind how a new Ghost album should be designed, processed and arranged has always differed in more ways than who managed the knobs and instruments. Tobias thinks a lot about new ways of stacking and refurnishing different parts.

- Spillways was a song you were happy to hear every time it appeared in the work rotation. But if a song gets singled out early on, it can be a bit difficult to arrange, and so it was in this case. Everyone worked on it on the premise that it would be an important song on the album and that got us a bit overprotective, everyone felt that we couldn't blow it off. I didn't try to make a record that sounds like Def Leppard but I had an idea...if you listen to Hysteria, every song has five parts before you get to the chorus. After however many years, you can still get a little confused and wonder what song you're listening to. Let's just say that Square Hammer is one of the most spontaneous songs I've written, a song like that would have been easy to just copy and write multiple times. With Spillways, I kept thinking - what if I add one more riff before you get to the chorus? But on the other hand, it's easy to get almost too reckless, and if you're unlucky, you end up changing every plank on the boat so much that it's not the same boat anymore.

THE SOUND MUST BE THE SAME THROUGHOUT THE RECORD

On Prequelle, Tobias handled bass, vocals and guitar. This time, the latter was left to a renowned Swedish metal guitarist with bands like Krux, Opeth and Arch Enemy on his CV - Fredrik "Kulle" Åkesson.

- During the demo stage, I played everything, I worked on the drums and then I play the bass too. In a recording situation, I can sit and play the guitar solo, then cut and paste, and fiddle and have fun. But I thought, damn, maybe Kulle can come in and play it nice from start to finish? It will be so much better. And then I thought that if I'm going to be tight on time, he might as well lay all the guitar work. He's very good, partly at playing guitar but also at learning songs. The way I write songs is very special, not very complicated but not intuitive for everybody. And if he's at level 10 in terms of technique, I'm at level 4. To understand the workload, you have to know that there are four layers of guitars on the record. So everything that's on there has to be recorded four times with four different guitars and they all have to be in tune. Because if there's one thing that really skews it when you dub guitars, it's if one of them is a little out of tune. It takes a very long time, maybe two days per song. I just didn't have the time to do that because I had to sing, play bass and keep track of all the drums.

You couldn't have taken the time?

- If I had recorded all the stuff on the demo stage with freshly strung guitars that were tuned exactly the same way, I could have kept them. The problem is that once we went into the studio, the demo guitars weren't recorded in sequence. It could be a verse recorded with four guitars in April 2020, then a chorus recorded with different guitars and old strings in September 2020, and another part recorded two weeks ago with strings of a different thickness. It was not possible to use them. Had I intended to save all the stuff, it would have been possible, but now we were re-tracking everything. We were in a studio where we wanted to use that particular sound, those amps, that particular room. I'm pretty particular that it has to be the same sound throughout the whole record.

UNREALISTIC LO-FI CONNOISSEURS

It's not just Ghost fans who yearn for bygone eras. Overall, many people shake their heads in disapproval at the fact that the recording process looks different today than it did in the '60s.

- Pop records always have different sounds on each song, but I want it to feel like a band went into a room and played everything. Even if it doesn't technically work that way. There are very few bands that do that I think. The demands of authenticity we have as listeners are somehow burdened with ideals that don't quite match the expectations we have of new products. It's easy to be passionate about a classic record from the 60s because that was them, then and there. But if you had put in a tambourine as sloppy as in Time Is On My Side by The Rolling Stones on the record today, no one would have bothered with it. That's why I do not try to think very much about how things were in the past. The ideal of authenticity may not be reproducible. But it's still possible to create an end product that feels natural.

- The Beatles and those bands back in the early '60s, they didn't sit in the studio and work on a song for weeks like they did later in their careers. They'd pop in and finish Love Me Do in a single afternoon. It sounded like it did because they recorded it right after the seven gigs they'd done that week where they'd rehearsed the song in front of an audience. But you can't do that today. Or you can, but once the song is played live it's in the public domain and you can't record it again. So the circumstances are different. I think there are a lot of lo-fi connoisseurs who have a view that's out of touch with reality and those ideals probably mess them up a bit. They think you should record with the whole band all in one take. Absolutely, but it won't have the effect that they want it to have, that it's the most authentic and therefore the best. That's something you wrestle with every day when you're recording, even in our overproduced world where you sit and weigh and change and think. In the end, I listen with as clean an ear as I can and try to make it sound as natural as I can.

LACK OF PURPOSE LEADS TO HATRED

It was only with his "Sommar i P1" talk in 2017 that Tobias officially confirmed he was the man behind Ghost, and by then he had already conquered the world. Anyone would have felt the changes in their persona after such a record-breaking recognition.

- I think that a great deal of the world's tragedies and anxieties stem from a widespread sense of disconnection. When individuals don't feel a sense of purpose, it breeds hatred, anger, misunderstanding and so on. As I myself have gained context in my life where I feel very needed and successful, and where I am where I want to be and on my way to where I want to be, it means that I have the mental capital to take on things that I may not have been able to do before. My class journey isn't necessarily just monetary, but when you're better off, you're able to see and value things differently. I feel a big difference between how I have been and how I am right now from that aspect.

What negative effects can such a change of life have?

- Now I think of the word from a legal perspective: you become more cautious in everything you do. You know there are so many pitfalls. Earlier in life you had nothing to lose, so you could sit and talk about things you could possibly do together with other people. Today I have to be much more careful about everything I say and always have a tub, a huge bucket of salt with me to sprinkle everywhere. It becomes a precaution and at the same time something very unsexy. It's not possible to throw yourself head first into things anymore. So I'm always very careful to say no and try to lower people's expectations. You could simplify it and say I'm a bit too corporate these days, in the sense that I say "that's not worth doing" to things. I hear myself becoming someone who says ‘no’ to things. A little too much of a parent.