Been A While

It's been almost 5 months since I posted on here. It's all because I started a tumblr and have been using that as my sort of blog thing. But, anyways. Ratlot update, like I promised in BatEofG. I'm just gonna call that BEG from now on. Yeah, BEG. Like you're BEGging for more. Ha.

Ratlot performed a basement show at Tom Mariani's house back in February. The show started slow and there were a few people on a few things (DRUGS) which pissed off a lot of people. So we played our set of angry music. Including this, Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine. It was an amazing show. Not gonna lie.

We haven't had a practice in months and it's a pain to set them up, but we're trying. More to come soon, I hope.

More Than Words, But Everything

One band that describes not only a lot of anger I feel but also keeps me thinking a lot about myself is Tool. I've been listening to them almost constantly. Not only are their songs challenging to play on guitar, but songs like Lateralus that's written with the Fibonacci sequence (click the link for a video explanation) or Ticks & Leeches. My take on the latter of the two is pretty much about changing yourself to make someone happy then realizing that they won't be happy regardless of how you change or act and that it's not your job to go that far out of your way to do something for them. Lateralus isn't a song that I pay attention to lyrically. For me, that song is just a guitar orgasm, so to speak. The time signature changes and tempo changes and OH!! It's amazing. A song like Eulogy, again, in my opinion (I almost wrote "in my onion"), is about how people say that they'll do something and get full of themselves and then get surprised when it's not just all talk anymore. The song H. is about trying not to give into temptation, even though it's killing you. Tool is a lot more than just a band to me. A lot of bands I listen to hit home lyrically and also make me try harder on guitar, but Tool has something different about them. They stay angry. They create their own sound with each album. They go through changes on each album that sound different but the same as the last. I can hear a song of theirs and immediately know it's either Maynard's soothing voice or his high screams of anger, or Adam's heaviness of not even playing, Justin's funky bass that can't really be put into words, or Danny's insane drumming patterns that make anyone think twice when trying to keep a beat.
Tool is definitely one of the best bands ever to exist. I want to see them live and, if I'm super lucky, either tour with them or at least talk with one of them.
And I do advise to listen to at least one of, if not all, of the songs I put links to. You won't be disappointed. Unless you're Jollie. Cause his music taste isn't as advanced as mine.

Practice Makes Perfect

After the first Ratlot practice yesterday, I was feeling a little better about my skills as a guitarist. After a 3 month period of hardly playing at all, I can finally feel myself becoming better at guitar. It's making me feel a little better about myself. I've been writing more songs by myself in the past few days and that's helping me, too.

Now for the song I couldn't get out of my head today.
If you've EVER talked to me about video games or my childhood, you know that my all-time favorite game is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It literally crafted me. And, thankfully, music plays a huge role in the game. I still remember every song from the game (muscle memory). The song I couldn't get out of my head today was, well, just about all the songs from the game, so here's a medley of most of them.

Ocarina of Time Medley
For shits and giggles, here's the metal Bolero of Fire

Ratlot Practice #1

Today was the first practice I had with Ratlot. We are a band that does random covers. We played at last year's Concert for Cancer and tore that shit UP! We are playing again this year and then, hopefully, the year after with some original stuff. With members like Dan Kavcak, Alex Reinsmith, and Matt Kelly, we can't really go wrong. At the practice, we knew most of our songs. We jammed a little to 2 of the songs we did last year and to a few others, like Hourglass by Lamb of God, Lateralus by Tool, and Freedom by Rage Against the Machine, (SPOILER) the latter being one of the songs we are doing for this year's show (END SPOILER). All in all, we seem good. I'm pushing for at least 1 practice a month so we can kick a lot more ass than last year. I can't describe how pumped I am for this. It's one of the highlights of my year.
Here's one of our 3 songs we did last year. I think we pulled this off the best:
Ratlot - Wake Up Cover

What Music Means to Me

I can't even come close to hitting the nail on the head, here. There's so much that goes on in my head when I listen to just one song. Any song. It can trigger a memory that has almost nothing to do with the song. Songs like "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Krovvy)" by Rob Zombie makes me think of, well, the aestheticism in violence. Now, before you get worried about me, it will all make sense. Be patient. The "Red Red Krovvy" is a reference to the Anthony Burgess novel/Stanley Kubrick film, "A Clockwork Orange," where the narrator and main character, Alex, is obsessed with violence and other horrid things, such as milk laced with hallucinogens and sex (which coincides with rape a few times). Alex and his droogs (pals) speak Nasdat, a language Anthony Burgess made up that is mostly Russian and English or something of the sort. The word "krovvy" roughly translates to "blood." And the video and lyrics reference the story, amongst other things that are in the horror genre. Mr. Zombie is known for that. He's a freak.
But that is just one example of how music makes my mind wander.
More to come?
Maybe?

Here's a Start

So, I have a Music Symposium class in my school and the teacher inspired me to make this blog.
It will cover everything from what inspires me to be a musician to a song I just can't get out of my head. I don't know if this will be updated every day, but I'll try to find stuff as much as possible. I'll try to make this as descriptive as possible, too, while also keeping it short and sweet. I don't know much about blogging, so if there's some weird stuff on here, it's not my fault.



...Well, it is. But I don't mean to do it.