Hah!

My second daughter turned twelve and got her drum kit. She has to finish her piano book before she's allowed to play it. I wouldn't have stipulated that, but when the wife or I make a decision we back each other up.

My first son is twelve and got a bass amp for his birthday. He's awash in endorphins. What a couple of lucky kids. My grandparents had too many grandkids to give gifts like that, lol. 

The World is overdue for an LDS family Speed Metal act.

Like Donny and Marie meets Megadeth. I'd buy it. 

Yeah... using music as an incentive seems - I dunno, counter productive. Especially when learning and advancing in one instrument often leads to breakthrough in others. It is like insisting that you finish mastery of watercolor before you start picking up charcoal, or color theory. Art is generally not a study where you *finish* one particular study before you start on another. But I get supporting one another - and maybe the wife sees her wanting to put down piano in a way that will leave it behind and wants to ensure that she has absorbed all of that - or otherwise wants to instill a habit of completing a project.  

Sat Jul 17 2021 20:45:59 MST from Wangiss <wangiss@wallofhate.com>

Hah!

My second daughter turned twelve and got her drum kit. She has to finish her piano book before she's allowed to play it. I wouldn't have stipulated that, but when the wife or I make a decision we back each other up.

My first son is twelve and got a bass amp for his birthday. He's awash in endorphins. What a couple of lucky kids. My grandparents had too many grandkids to give gifts like that, lol. 

So, I've got a family story. On our trip to Tahoe - I was feeling overwhelmed with the energy of the entire family all together down in the living areas. It was just too much interaction, too many kids, too many adults, too many different families, all in a very small area. So, I went upstairs. I noticed my nephew had a fender student model hanging on the wall and a cheap fender amp. Took it off the wall, hooked it to the amp, and tuned it. I haven't been playing much, but I went to YouTube for refreshers and started playing a couple of songs and quickly picked them back up. 

My niece - who is about 16, wandered up into the room and listened to me play a couple of tunes, then mentioned she had a ukulele. I asked her if she knew any songs. Said she knew a couple. She went and got her uke, and played the two songs she knows (she has a pretty great singing voice too...). 

I recognized them both... and watching her play, I asked her what chords the songs were. The first one was an A Minor, G, C, I think... so I played them - and then quickly figured out the strumming pattern - and we had a little jam session. The other little niece and nephew came up... and we kind of entertained them, then let them play the instruments a bit, which was chaos and killed the jam session... 

Eventually they got bored and went on to take their destruction elsewhere. Older niece shared a bunch of her music with me - some of which was just angsty teenage pop that I acted supportive of but didn't really get - but some of it was quite good. Then she did a dance routine she had choreographed to one of the songs - pretty much "interpretive dance." The girl is over 6' tall, and I was afraid that she was going to cut her hands off on the ceiling fan, but - she has talent. Pretty sure she will end up doing stuff in the arts. 

It was one of my favorite parts of the visit - especially the little impromptu jam session. That we were able to figure out the chords and play a harmony on electric and uke so quickly and it worked - that I've grown my ability enough to be able to do that to any limited extent - was awesome - but it was also cool that she got an opportunity to share her skill with someone and it got her excited about making art and sharing what inspires her artistically.

I also went up onto this rim-top road that overlooks the lake and took a photograph back through the trees, brought it back, and showed it to the family - my Brother-in-Law's wife said, "That is almost EXACTLY like the painting Russ (My father-in-law) painted..." 

Took me over and showed me his pastel, and sure enough - it was the same view framed almost exactly the same - my photo looked like it could have been a study for his drawing. 

That was also cool. Encourage your kids to continue to pursue art. 

 

The kids lean towards rock and jazz, but daughter #2 I mentioned loves the metal aesthetic, so it could happen.

I love that you got to jam. That's so excellent. I love moments like that. My uncle gave me drum lessons and it was a big step into the musical world for me. 

Yeah, it was a really cool moment and awesome way to connect. It was great seeing how excited it got her about "her" music and wanting to share it with me when she realized I knew a song she knew and was able to play it with her so quickly. 

You know my opinion of metal drummers. She'll probably end up suing you and shutting down your website for copyright infringement once she gets rich off of bootleg albums. :) 

Sun Jul 18 2021 09:04:19 MST from Wangiss <wangiss@wallofhate.com>

The kids lean towards rock and jazz, but daughter #2 I mentioned loves the metal aesthetic, so it could happen.

I love that you got to jam. That's so excellent. I love moments like that. My uncle gave me drum lessons and it was a big step into the musical world for me. 

Subdivisions, by Rush, was released in 1982, which was an awkward time for me. I was headed well down the path of "or be outcast." Or at least, I felt that way. I was always well known and well connected, with a group of peers who were also well known and well connected, as far as adolescent cliques go - but I was also slipping into obscurity and awkwardness and more than anything, a lack of confidence. To be fair, it is 7th grade, a major transitionary period of life - and I would face a cycle of this again in later adolescence as I went from high school kid to young adult. 

But by 1984, I had found my mojo, and I was part of the in-clique again. During this period I met a girl named Christian Pacheco - who had a more significant impact on shaping me through this period than a lot of girls I was ultimately far more intimate with. My *first* kind of organic sexually charged interaction with a girl was playing Hide-and-Seek in our house with her, and we hid in a dark closet and simply held hands. Over the next few years, that would intensify in several brief encounters, each a little more "advanced" - everyone *knew* we were "something", but everyone knew we also were not boyfriend and girlfriend - and we never would be. She was, from the very start - very private, secretive, and skittish - and I suspect that there were some terrible and dark secrets in her life. It didn't turn out well for her the last time I heard about her before I lost track. Shortly before I finally lost track of her for good, one of her friends, a girl a couple years older than us, actually basically "poached" me from her and that was the first girl I slept with. 

But Chris (she didn't spell it fancy or girlish) - was also a huge Rush fan - and despite much of my time involved with her being at the height of my adolescent popularity - it was also a very dark, disturbed time - full of negative energy and influences, a feeling of malevolence and violence and decay. 

So every time I hear Subdivisions - it stirs up a very complex, conflicted and uneasy set of memories and emotions. Oddly enough - I've been on a kick with "The Kids Aren't Alright," by The Offspring - which is also a song that I strongly identify with this period and this group and circle of friends. 

Listened to Flood and Apollo 18 from They Might Be Giants on the way home from the dentist today. It's nice that the kids like it.

Shpai-dah

HE IS OUR HERO!

UNNNGGGHHHHHHH

My wife was quietly a They Might be Giants fan in the early 90s. She is kinda a nerd. :) 

Tue Jul 27 2021 02:07:57 MST from Wangiss <wangiss@wallofhate.com>

Listened to Flood and Apollo 18 from They Might Be Giants on the way home from the dentist today. It's nice that the kids like it.

 

Shpai-dah

HE IS OUR HERO!

UNNNGGGHHHHHHH

My son is 13. He's kind of a nerd, too. And he's head over heels for TMBG. But he's also pretty into the 90s generally. Crash Test Dummies. Weird Al. A little Semisonic. He's evangelizing 90s alt rock to his private school. It's pretty funny. 

I was about to suggest Crash Test Dummies. 

Also suggest 10,000 Maniacs and for something more modern, with the same kind of nerdy intellectual rockin' vibe - OK GO. 

Tue Aug 24 2021 02:53:55 MST from Wangiss <wangiss@wallofhate.com>

My son is 13. He's kind of a nerd, too. And he's head over heels for TMBG. But he's also pretty into the 90s generally. Crash Test Dummies. Weird Al. A little Semisonic. He's evangelizing 90s alt rock to his private school. It's pretty funny. 

My friend who is 13 years younger than me was extolling the virtues of this criminally unknown band that nobody at her school had ever heard of and they're SO GOOD.

Have I heard of... "The Cranberries"?

I don't think I've laughed so hard for so long in ages.

"Yes Madysen, everyone my age knows them, they were massive.  What the hell do your friends listen to anyway?"

"My Chemical Romance."

Maybe I'm just a stuck up asshole but that was enough reason for me never to listen to "emo" music.

My Chemical Romance is a pretty old band, at this point.

Which illustrates just how stagnant and stale the music industry has become. This is *another* side effect of technology and instant distribution.

It is weird, but things being MASSIVELY available, instantly - cheapens it to a disposable commodity. Music, movies, games, Everything has become such a flood of the next big thing that things are obsolete 10 weeks before they're available.

Wed Sep 22 2021 01:01:27 MST from TheDave

My friend who is 13 years younger than me was extolling the virtues of this criminally unknown band that nobody at her school had ever heard of and they're SO GOOD.

Have I heard of... "The Cranberries"?

 

I don't think I've laughed so hard for so long in ages.

"Yes Madysen, everyone my age knows them, they were massive.  What the hell do your friends listen to anyway?"

"My Chemical Romance."

 

Maybe I'm just a stuck up asshole but that was enough reason for me never to listen to "emo" music.

My kids (14, 13, and 12) asked me if there would ever be another real music revolutionary. 

Yes, of course. Every 30 years like clockwork. 1920s Louis Armstrong unlocked Jazz for the masses. 1950s Elvis unlocked Rock for the masses. 1980s Michael Jackson unlocked Pop for the masses. And in the 2010s, um.. the... there was.

Okay, we're in a lull. 

We're adjusting to oversaturation and dominant corporate players locking out disruptive alternatives. 

Eventually, a youth demographic will soundly and loudly refuse and reject it. That'll be the start. Right now, they're still caught up in the attraction of it all - but eventually - they'll turn on it. 

Mon Oct 04 2021 15:25:34 MST from Wangiss <wangiss@wallofhate.com>

My kids (14, 13, and 12) asked me if there would ever be another real music revolutionary. 

Yes, of course. Every 30 years like clockwork. 1920s Louis Armstrong unlocked Jazz for the masses. 1950s Elvis unlocked Rock for the masses. 1980s Michael Jackson unlocked Pop for the masses. And in the 2010s, um.. the... there was.

 

Okay, we're in a lull. 

Agreed. SoundCloud mumble rappers are making tens of millions with no extra help from the overclass. Just host my songs and let me hustle.

We're in the golden age of indy games. It's going to happen to music as well for sure. 

I don't get mumble rap. How an entire generation of inner city hardcore kids decided to come out as bisexual and pan and dress like Rainbow Brite and they were actually accepted... is beyond me... 

Sat Oct 16 2021 11:45:05 MST from ParanoidDelusions <paranoiddelusions@wallofhate.com>

I don't get mumble rap. How an entire generation of inner city hardcore kids decided to come out as bisexual and pan and dress like Rainbow Brite and they were actually accepted... is beyond me... 

 

That's easy.  Bullying is illegal now.

LOL. 

Only for white kids. If you're in the hood and you're a dude and you start dressing like Rainbow Brite - I think you're still gonna get your ass kicked. 

Fri Oct 29 2021 02:30:03 MST from TheDave

 

Sat Oct 16 2021 11:45:05 MST from ParanoidDelusions <paranoiddelusions@wallofhate.com>

I don't get mumble rap. How an entire generation of inner city hardcore kids decided to come out as bisexual and pan and dress like Rainbow Brite and they were actually accepted... is beyond me... 

 

That's easy.  Bullying is illegal now.

I played my first song with the kids as a family band today. 

Ticket to Ride.

What a great song. My 12-year-old daughter got some drums from my brother-in-law and she spent all week learning the part. My 13-year-old son played the bass. My 15-year-old daughter sang harmony. I played lead guitar for the iconic intro but rhythm for the rest. I'm no George, and John's rhythm guitar was unremarkable--his writing was his real contribution if you ask me.

Anyway, it made for a very merry Christmas morning. After that, we played a song I wrote called It's Christmas Time, which you can go watch on my Facebook. I post a version of it every Christmas Eve.

What an absolute pleasure it was to play a rock song with my own children. Seriously a dream come true. 

Sun Dec 26 2021 04:26:59 MST from Wangiss <wangiss@wallofhate.com>

I played my first song with the kids as a family band today. 

Ticket to Ride.

What a great song. My 12-year-old daughter got some drums from my brother-in-law and she spent all week learning the part. My 13-year-old son played the bass. My 15-year-old daughter sang harmony. I played lead guitar for the iconic intro but rhythm for the rest. I'm no George, and John's rhythm guitar was unremarkable--his writing was his real contribution if you ask me.

Anyway, it made for a very merry Christmas morning. After that, we played a song I wrote called It's Christmas Time, which you can go watch on my Facebook. I post a version of it every Christmas Eve.

What an absolute pleasure it was to play a rock song with my own children. Seriously a dream come true. 

Are you spying on me?  I've been listening to Help this week.  That's a great song.