Blogs To Check Out

Here are some of my favorite blogs!!!!!

Rock Blog
All Time Low
My Chemical Romance

Good Charlotte

Good Charlotte is an American Rock band from Maryland, and they were formed in 1996. The story behind me discovering this band for myself is again....through my friends. Back at my middle school, most people were in to rock, so it was easy to exchange bands and songs. My friend Charlotte (I found that to be hilarious), recommended that I listen to the band Good Charlotte. At this point, I wasn't really into Rock that much, I just liked the music that I heard on the radio. Now I'm proud to say that listening to this band has changed my perspective of music. Before I used to think that the songs on the radio were amazing. They were catchy, fun, and talked about relevant things that we're going on in my life. You can say that I felt some sort of connection while listening to radio music. But after listening to Good Charlotte I began to think that there was music out in the world that didn't only talk about the good things in life. I felt that rock music gave a more realistic view on what the song was about. I also felt that rock music was able to express ones feelings better, and sing something that has meaning.

The band consists of:

Joel Madden (Lead Vocals)

Benji Madden (Lead Guitar, Vocals)

Paul Thomas (Bass)

Billy Martin (Rhythm guitar, Keyboard)

Dean Butterworth (Drums)

I also remembered, in 2008 how Good Charlotte appeared in the iCarly movie. I thought that was really cool, because many people love that show so it was a good way to broadcast there music. 

Here's the link to the song that changed my perspective in the world of music:

Keep Your Hands Off My Girl

My Chemical Romance

My Chemical Romance is an American Rock band from New Jersey, formed in the year 2001. The band contains lead vocalist Gerard Way, Ray Toro & Frank Iero as guitarists, and bassist Mikey Way. At first, this band may seem as the type of Rock band that is more on the emo/gothic side. But, to be honest I would disagree with this. Yes, they wear eyeliner and what not, but that doesn't necessarily classify them under emo. I just feel that people should not have the right to label others based on what their style is. Personally, this band is one of the only rock bands that I knew of. The others I have written about I researched myself, and spent time listening to their music. But My Chemical Romance is a band that I will always like. I just feel like their music is so energy relieving, and it's just the type of Rock that I enjoy listening to.

MY FAVORITE SONG:

Helena

This is the first song that I heard from this band. I stumbled across this band when I was about 11 years old. My friend was listening to this song and I enjoyed it, so she's the one that really got me into Rock. My Chemical Romance is a "memory" band for me, since I listened to this band when I was relatively young. This band is what initially got me into Rock, in the first place. So it only seemed right to write a blog post about this band. I really recommend this band to anybody that is looking to listen to relatively new music, and that already likes Rock music.

Another song that I thought had an interesting beginning was:

The Black Parade

The reason I say this is because the beginning of the song sounds like an excerpt from a classical/familiar song. But then I especially like it when the whole mood changes from a more mellow feel, to a more upbeat song. These two extremes is what really draws me in as a listener.

Lennon and Maisy

Lennon and Maisy Stella are a Canadian due from Ontario. Just like Janice and Sonia, they do covers of songs that are requested most or songs that they like. The thing with this duo is that Lennon and Maisy are significantly younger then Janice and Sonia.

My opinion on Lennon and Maisy is that they work so well together vocally that it just creates an angelic voice. Both of them singing together is, in no exaggeration what so ever, like hearing angels sing. They are just the perfect match vocally for each other, because they are able to support each other on the different harmonies.

Some of the covers that they did, that really show what they are able to do musically, are the following:

Ho Hey

Call Your Girlfriend

I Won't Give Up

Especially in the last song I believe that Maisy's voice is really showcased. In a way I admire Maisy, because she provides all the beautiful harmonies for Lennon. This duo originally got famous because of their cover of "Call Your Girlfriend" by Robyn. I provided the link to this cover above. Enjoy!

Mae

Mae, also known as Multi-sensory Aesthetic Experience, is an American alternative/Indie band. This name was created by a course that the band's drummer had taken at college. 

The band consists of:

Dave Elkins (Vocals, Guitar)
Zach Gehring (Guitar)
Jacob Marshall (Drums, Piano)
Mark Padgett (Bass)
Rob Sweitzer (Keyboards) 

The band has released 3 albums which include:

Destination: Beautiful
The Everglow
Singularity

Some of their songs include: 

Waiting: * This is my favorite song that this band made. What caught my attention at first was the musicality of the song. It sounds very 80's in a way, with the techno piano. But on the other hand it has the rocky edge to it, which comes together as a very good song. 

Reflections: *This is another great song. What I like about this particular song is the drums in the background. It kind of reminds me of a traditional drum line. The drums during the beginning of the song up until the chorus is doing a series of different drum roles. 

Home: *This song is very similar to the song "Waiting". I say they are similar because the both have this techno(ish) feeling to it. But then it goes into rock, just around the peek of the chorus. What I also enjoy about this song is the beat and the singing. The voices are making different harmonies which really makes this song great. 

Jayesslee

Ok, so the thing about these two girls is that they are not really a band. But, to be honest they make the most beautiful covers I've ever heard. These two girls are from Australia, and they do covers of different types of songs. They have been asked to sing in multiple areas around the world, so to me they are technically a band of some sort.

Some of the covers that are my favorites are the following:

Try-Pink (Cover)

Dare You To Move- Switchfoot

Secrets- One Republic

These girls covers are actually very healtfelt. For example the covers that they would do are usually dedicated to disasters that happened or to somebody special in their life. The two girls in the video's are Janice and Sonia. They never really thought that they would be in this position today. Janice and Sonia grew up thinking that they would be a painter or a shop-keeper. Never would they have imagined that they would become musicians and singers. What's funny is the way they came up with their name. They took J for Janice, S for Sonia, and Lee their last name; and that is how they came up with Jayesslee. Essentially what motivated these two ladies two sing was Jesus. The goal in each one of their videos was to share the hope they found in knowing Jesus. They both are not shy about expressing their faith.

For more videos/information/shows:

Click this link

All Time Low

All Time Low is an American Pop Punk Band from Towson, Maryland. They formed this band in the year 2003. The band members consist of Alex Gaskarth (vocalist, lead guitarist), Jack Barakat (lead guitarist, backing vocalist), Zack Merrick (bassist, backing vocalist), and Rian Dawson (drummer). The band originally got its name from a song called "Head on Collision" by New Found Glory.

So far the band has released five albums. The albums are: The Party Scene (2005), So Wrong, It's right (2007), Nothing Personal (2009), Dirty Work (2011), and Don't Panic (2012). Some of the songs that I like from the following albums are:

Somewhere in Neverland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFVmlp60oJ0

To Live and Let Go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5yFg6BYTKo

Outlines:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y2DkwtIc1M


One of the things that I enjoy about the band is not only the music but the fact that this band started out as a high school band. I, being in high school am greatly inspired by this because it shows the imense amount of work that these individuals put in to make themselves known. Especially being in high school, I can imagine the amount of skill it takes to sit down and write a song. For me, it's hard to write an original poem for English class. But for these gentleman to be able to write their own lyrics and come up with their own musicality to it, is something that I as a musician really value.

Switchfoot

Switchfoot is an American alternative rock band from San Diego, California. What makes this rock band different from the rest that I've written about is that this band is a Christian Band. At first, I didn't know that this band was christian, but I have heard about this band before. Personally one of the songs that I like most from this band is "Dare You To Move". I like this song not only because of the musicality and technicality that it probably took to create the song, but the lyrics are also very touching and reflecting. Usually, it's rock bands like this that have lyrics that make you reflect on your "life". Yes, that may sound extremely cheesy, but it's very true.

This clip is the song "Dare You To Move", which I previously stated was my favorite song. I also previously said that the lyrics have meaning and a story behind it. Here are the first two verses of the song:

Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next
What happens next
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before

The band members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, background vocals), Chad Butler (drums, percussion), Jerome Fontamillas (guitar, keyboard, background vocals), and Drew Shirley (guitar, background vocals). 

Atomic Tom

Atomic Tom is a rock band from Brooklyn, New York. The Band consists of Luke White (lead vocals), Eric Espiritu (guitar, background vocals), Philip Galitzine (bass, background vocals), and Tobias Smith (drums, background vocals). This band is not necessarily an "underground band" but they are not as famous as most.

This band stood out to me because they did something that I wouldn't think a band would actually do, and this in turn gained the band popularity. In October of 2010, the bands instruments were stolen, and at the time they didn't know what to do. But then they came up with an idea that is still used today. They performed one of their original songs, "Take Me Out" on their iPhones. Story goes that they originally performed this song in the New York Subway B train. This is what ultimately gained their band popularity.

Some of the songs that they released that are personal favorites are:

"You Always Get What You Want" (released in 2007)

"Take Me Out" (released in 2010)

"Don't You Want Me" (released in 2011)

"Red Light Warning Sign" (released in 2011)

Second Blog Post: Jet Lag Gemini

For today, I found another rock band that is not so well known. Jet Lag Gemini is rock band from the United States. They formed their band in 2004, and released their debut EP in 2006. Two years later they released their first full-length album called, "Fire the Cannons". The band did plan to release their second album in 2010 but between 2010 and 2011 the band was dismantled. The Band includes Michael (Misha) Zilman (Lead vocals, Guitar), Vlad Gheorghiu (Guitar, Back up Vocals), Matt Gheorghiu (Bass, Back up Vocals), and Dan DiLiberto (Drums).

Their Album "Fire the Cannons" include the following songs:

1. Run This City
2. Doctor, Please (There's Something Wrong With Me)
3. The Bad Apple(s)
4. Bittersweet
5. Stepping Stone     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjYH_CDMWPs
6. Fit To Be Tied     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9sH62isJG0
7. Just Say How
8. If It Was Up To Me
9. Every Minute
10. Keep This With You
11. Picture Frames

The following links are to the songs I like the most. But in general the songs are very good. I think this band has the potential to be very popular, it's just sad that they don't have the exposure that other bands have had. But in my opinion I would give this band a 4/5.

First Blog Post: Tickle Me Pink

This blog is going to talk about bands that aren't as popular as the ones that are overly played on the radio. Don't get me wrong, it's not because their music isn't good, but rather they didn't have as much exposure as all the other bands in the world. With that being said the first band I will be talking about is, "Tickle Me Pink". Tickle Me Pink is an American Rock band from Fort Collins, Colorado. This band is currently signed to Wind-Up Records. The band members consist of Sean Kennedy (lead vocalist, bass), Stefan Runstrom (drums), Joey Barba (guitar), and Steven Beck (guitar,vocals). The band released their first two EP's If Only We Were Twenty One and Up in 2005 and Half Seas Over in 2006, independently. Then in 2008 the band released its first debut album, Madeline. Sadly, the release of this album also came with the death of the band bassist. Tickle Me Pink officially played their last show together on March 5, 2011. When the album was released, singer Sean Kennedy had said, "It is somewhat ironic that many of our songs deal with death and a higher purpose. We want to let the world know how short life is; embrace the ones you love and treasure each moment without regret". These were truly inspiring words said by the lead singer of Tickle Me Pink. The songs on the album consist of the following:

"Typical"

"The Time Is Wrong"

"The Lush Life"

"Madeline"

"We Still Dance"

"We're Not Alone"

"The Answer"

"I Can't Breathe"

"Go Die"

"Beside the Others"

"Tomorrow's Ending"

Although I was never into rock, except for a couple of songs here and there that I listened to on occasion, this particular band called my attention for things like the name of their last album (that happens to be my name), and their bass player's death ( I play bass), but after listening Tickle Me Pink's songs I realized that within the lyrics there is a message to which I relate even more. This was very inspiring because now a days the music that is played on the radio (for the most part) has no deep reflecting life meaning. It's just music that has no story behind it or a meaningful message but that is pleasing to the ear. But as I listened today, I discovered that some of the bands that are unheard of are the ones that speak from the heart and want to send a moral lesson. These singers take the time to write each and every song based off on personal experiences, which in my opinion is what gives the song more feeling and value than those with a catchy melody. What kind of music do you prefer?