JUST ME RAMBLING ABOUT MY GUITAR AND FOLK PUNK (BUT MOSTLY FOLK PUNK)

ADDING THIS IN LAST SECOND BUT THIS IS SUPER LONG AND GOES ON TANGENTS. SORRY ABOUT THAT. I DONT THING ANYONES READING THIS AND IM WRITING JUST TO HEAR MYSELF TALK SO WHO CARES.

SO LAST YEAR I GOT AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR. I ACTUALLY FORGET IF IT WAS FOR MY BIRTHDAY OR CHRISTMAS (I THINK IT WAS BIRTHDAY BUT I DUNNO) BUT THAT DOESNT MATTER. I WAS STOKED!!! I TRIED DOING VIOLIN IN 3RD GRADE AND FLUTE IN 5TH BUT I COULDNT PAY ATTENTION FIRST TIME (PROBABLY UNDIAGNOSED ADHD) AND SECOND TIME I JUST NEVER FIGURED OUT HOW TO BLOW INTO THE FLUTE EVEN AFTER PRACTICING FOR HOURS SO I GAVE THOSE UP.

ITS RED WITH BLACK EDGES, AND IT LOOKS SUPER COOL!! PROBLEM IS, IM SUPER LAZY AND ITS HARD FOR ME TO DEDICATE MYSELF TO SOMETHING SERIOUSLY, SO EVEN AFTER OWNING THIS THING FOR A YEAR I DONT ACTUALLY KNOW HOW TO PLAY IT AT ALL.

LIKE, AT ALL.

IVE TRIED A FEW APPS TO HELP ME LEARN, ONE OF THEM WAS SUPER USEFUL BUT IT NATURALLY CHARGED MONEY (WHICH MAKES SENSE CUZ THESE PEOPLE NEED TO GET PAID) BUT MY PARENTS ARENT MADE OF THE STUFF SO I HAD TO STOP THERE AND HIT A ROADBLOCK.

I HAD A BOOK ON LEARNING TO PLAY, BUT IT WASNT AS HELPFUL AS THE APP (PROBABLY BECAUSE AUDIO AND MOVING VISUALS ARE MORE HELPFUL WHEN TEACHING AN INSTRUMENT THAN A WALL OF TEXT AND A STATIC IMAGE. OR AT LEAST THATS HOW I LEARN).

I HAVE A STRANGE GUILT AROUND MY GUITAR. IT SITS IN THE CORNER OF MY ROOM JUST A FOOT AWAY FROM MY DESK SURROUNDED BY A BUNCH OF JUNK (ITS ON A STAND OF COURSE, I TREAT IT LIKE ITS MADE OF PAPER). I DONT WANT MY PARENTS MONEY TO GO TO WASTE, AND I DONT WANT THIS OPPORTUNITY AND THIS SUPER PRETTY LOOKIN GUITAR TO EITHER!!!

BUT EVEN IF I DID LEARN, WHAT WOULD I DO? SOMETIMES I FLIRT WITH THE IDEA OF MAKING MUSIC OR STARTING A BAND, BUT THATS ALL FANTASIES AND REALISTICALLY I DONT HAVE ANY STRONG DESIRES TO DO THAT. IF I WERE TO MAKE MUSIC ID PROBABLY WANT TO DO SOMETHING MORE HARDCORE AND WANT TO GET AN ELECTRIC GUITAR ANYWAYS (WHICH I FIGURED IF I WAS GONNA DO THAT ID LEARN ON THIS ACOUSTIC ONE NOW AND IF I WAS STILL INTERESTED ID BUY AN ELECTRIC ONE IN THE FUTURE. MY HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIOS ARE MORE PLANNED OUT THAN ANYTHING ELSE I DO).

THOUGH I GUESS YOU DONT NEED TO MAKE MUSIC IN ORDER TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY AN INSTRUMENT. YOU DONT NEED A REASON. I CAN JUST SIT THERE AND STRUM A RANDOM TUNE OR PLAY A SONG I LIKE. ITS LIKE HOW I DRAW BUT IM NOT PURSUING IT AS A CAREER PATH, JUST A HOBBY.

THOUGH MAKING MUSIC ISNT OFF THE TABLE. RECENTLY I GOT A RANDOM WAVE OF INSPIRATION TO WRITE A MURDERFOLK SONG. ITS IN THE EARLY EARLY EARLY STAGES AND I DOUBT ITLL GET ANYWHERE FURTHER THAN THIS, BUT ITS WEIRD CUZ THE LAST TIME I WROTE A SONG WAS WHEN I WAS LIKE... 11. AND IT WAS REALLY BAD.

IM DECENT AT WRITING IN GENERAL. MY ESSAYS HAVE ALWAYS GOT RELATIVELY HIGH GRADES (WHENEVER I ACTUALLY TURNED THEM IN AT LEAST) AND PEOPLE SEEM TO LIKE MY OCS STORIES (THEY ARENT SOLID WORKS BUT MORESO LORE I SHARE WITH PEOPLE VIA WORD OF MOUTH. I DONT PLAN TO WRITE A BOOK OR ANYTHING BUT I JUST LIKE TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT MY OCS AND THEY SEEM PRETTY INTERESTED SO I MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT). AND FANFICS TOO, BUT I WONT GET TOO INTO THAT.

IM NOT THE BEST AT WRITING, OF COURSE. I OFTEN USE SIMPLE LANGUAGE AND DONT HAVE THE BEST READING COMPREHENSION SO I OFTEN DONT INTERPRET ANY MESSAGE DEEPER THAN THE SURFACE LEVEL PLOT. BUT I NEVER WRITE ABOUT ANYTHING THATS ACTUALLY SUPER DEEP AND METAPHORICAL ANYWAYS, SO BEING UPFRONT ABOUT WHATS HAPPENING IN THE STORY ISNT A HUGE DETRIMENT.

AS FOR SONGWRITING... IM ACTUALLY KIND OF COMFORTABLE WITH THE TRACK IM GOING AT. SURE IM PROBABLY NEVER GONNA FINISH THE LYRICS, AND IF I DO ILL PROBABLY NEVER WRITE AN INSTRUMENTAL TO GO ALONG WITH IT. BUT I THINK BECAUSE THE SONG IS SUPPOSED TO BE MURDERFOLK OR AT LEAST HEAVILY INSPIRED BY MURDERFOLK ARTISTS, BEING HONEST AND NOT SHY AT ALL ABOUT THE SUBJECT MATTER AND NOT HIDING BEHIND LAYERS AND LAYERS OF REFERENCES AND SYMBOLISM WILL PROBABLY MAKE SENSE AND ACTUALLY HELP.

GOING OFF ON A BIT OF A TANGENT HERE, BUT I ALWAYS REALLY LIKED FOLK PUNK. I GOT INTO IT IN 8TH GRADE BY FIRST DISCOVERING PAT THE BUNNY. I ACTUALLY FOUND HIM ON A KOKICHI PLAYLIST OF ALL THINGS. I TRY TO IGNORE THAT PART OF THE MEMORY. BUT I REMEMBER HEARING HIS MUSIC AND INSTANTLY FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE SOUND CUZ IVE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING LIKE IT. I LISTENED TO MORE OF HIS PROBABLY NOTHING, POSSIBLY EVERYTHING ALBUM AND WAS OBSESSED. I FOUND OUT THE SOUND I WAS LOOKING FOR WAS FOLK PUNK SO I STARTED DIPPING MY TOES INTO THE GENRE, FINDING ARTISTS LIKE AJJ, DAYS N DAZE, HARLEY POE, VIOLENT FEMMES, ETC ETC.

THAT WAS ABOUT AS DEEP AS I WENT AT THE TIME. BUT HONESTLY I THINK THIS EXPERIENCE WAS THE FIRST TIME I WENT OUT OF MY WAY TO FIND MUSIC THAT WASNT JUST WHAT WAS POPULAR ON THE INTERNET AT THE TIME, CUZ IN MIDDLE SCHOOL A LOT OF WHAT I LISTENED TO WAS JUST MUSIC THAT YOUD FIND IN ANIMATION MEMES. SO THIS WAS COMPLETELY NEW TO ME. IT WOULD STILL TAKE ME A FEW YEARS TO REALLY DIVE DEEPER INTO MUSIC (WHICH ID SAY I STARTED REALLY DOING THIS OCTOBER), BUT THAT REALLY KICKED IT OFF CUZ I JUST REALLY OPENED MY MIND TO SOUNDS I NEVER THOUGHT ID ENJOY.

LIKE, MY WHOLE LIFE I ALWAYS THOUGHT COUNTRY MUSIC WAS GARBAGE. WHENEVER I HEARD COUNTRY ON THE RADIO I CHANGED THE STATION OR JUST TRIED TO BLOCK IT OUT IN MY MIND. AND ILL ADMIT I STILL HAVE A BIAS AGAINST COUNTRY IN GENERAL (PROBABLY BECAUSE IVE ONLY REALLY HEARD MODERN MAINSTREAM COUNTRY AND ITS... NOT FOR ME TO SAY THE LEAST). BUT COUNTRY IS JUST A STYLE OF FOLK, AND NOW IM SUPER INTO ITS PUNKY COUSIN. SO WHO KNOWS?

THEN FOLK PUNK OPENED ME UP TO PUNK IN GENERAL, WHICH IM SO HAPPY IT DID BECAUSE I LOVE PUNK AND A TON OF PUNK SUBGENRES.

WHERE WAS I GOING WITH THIS? I WAS TALKING ABOUT SONGWRITING. I THINK I WAS GONNA MENTION FOLK PUNKS LYRICS AND VOCALS. WHATEVER, ILL JUST TALK ABOUT THAT NOW. SO IN FOLK PUNK, OR AT LEAST THE ARTISTS IVE LISTENED TO, THE VOCALS ARE OFTEN VERY ROUGH AND MORE AKIN TO TALKING WITH RHYTHM THAN ACTUAL SINGING. AND SURE SINGING IS JUST TALKING WITH RHYTHM, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. THESE GUYS USUALLY ARENT BELTING OUT PITCH PERFECT HARMONIES OR ANYTHING. PUNKS ARENT EXACTLY KNOWN FOR THAT.

AND ASIDE FROM DAYS N DAZE, WHICH SOUNDS LIKE TWO GOBLINS SCREAMING AT EACH OTHER WHILE PLAYING GUITAR AND TAPPING ON THE NEAREST OBJECT THEY CAN FIND TO PRODUCE A RHYTHM (I MEAN THIS IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE I ADORE THIS BAND), ITS OFTEN VERY EASY FOR ME TO MAKE OUT WHAT THEYRE SAYING.

I COULD GO ON ANOTHER TANGENT FOR THIS TOPIC ALONE, BUT ILL TRY TO KEEP IT BRIEF. I DONT HAVE ANY PROBLEMS HEARING OR PROCESSING AUDIO OR ANYTHING, BUT A LOT OF SINGING IS JUST HARD FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND IF IM NOT READING THE LYRICS TOO. DOESNT MATTER IF ITS FAST OR SLOW OR KINDA MODERATE, I DUNNO WHY SOME SONGS I UNDERSTAND WHILE OTHERS I DONT. MAYBE ITS MOSTLY SONGS WITH LOUD INSTRUMENTALS (GOOD EXAMPLE IS TURBULENT BY WATERPARKS, I COULD ONLY MAKE OUT A FEW WORDS AND EVEN FEWER I GUESSED WERE RIGHT) OR WEIRD VOCAL EFFECTS (ANOTHER EXAMPLE IS MR BRIGHTSIDE BY THE KILLERS. BIT EASIER TO UNDERSTAND FOR ME THAN TURBULENT, AND I COULD MAKE A WHOLE ESSAY ON MY HISTORY WITH THIS SONG, BUT I HAVE IT MEMORIZED NOW SO ITS NOT A PROBLEM BUT BC ITS KINDA FUZZY I HAD A LOT OF TROUBLE). BUT EVEN RECENT AND SUPER HIGH QUALITY STUFF LIKE A LOTTA SONGS BY THE WEEKND WOULD TRIP ME UP. USUALLY TO A LESSER EXTENT, BUT ITS STILL OFTEN FRUSTRATING.

ANYWAYS, PIGGYBACKING OFF OF THAT, I VERY RARELY HAVE THAT ISSUE WHILE LISTENING TO FOLK PUNK ARTISTS. EVEN THOUGH I POKED FUN AT DAYS N DAZE EARLIER, I CAN STILL HEAR WHAT THEYRE SAYING FOR THE MOSTPART. THE ONLY SONG BY THEM THAT WAS INDECIPHERABLE FOR ME WAS FALLOUT, BUT ID BET ITS THE SAME FOR EVERYONE. ALSO ITS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF THE GOBLIN THING I MENTIONED. LISTEN TO IT, SERIOUSLY. AT FIRST IT WAS FUNNY IN A KIND OF "WOAH WHAT THE HELL IS THIS" WAY BUT I WAS GROOVING ALONG, THEN I READ THE LYRICS AND WAS LIKE "HOLY SHIT THIS IS ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH AND IS ACTUALLY SUPER SERIOUS AND THE VOCALS KIND OF HELP A LOT BECAUSE THEY SOUND SUPER FUCKIN ANGRY" AND I WAS GROOVING ALONG EVEN MORE!!!!!!!!

AND OTHER ARTISTS LIKE PAT THE BUNNY, AJJ, HARLEY POE, VIOLENT FEMMES, AND MORE, THE VOCALS ARE PRETTY CLEAN. I KNOW THATS AN OXYMORON CUZ I JUST CALLED THEM ROUGH, BUT I MEAN ROUGH IN A KIND OF UGLY WAY. THEYRE NOT PAINFUL TO LISTEN TO (UNLESS YOU HATE FOLK PUNK OR SOMETHING, IN WHICH CASE ITS SUPER COOL YOU READ THIS FAR CUZ THAT MEANS YOURE EITHER OPEN MINDED TO GIVING THE GENRE ANOTHER CHANCE OR JUST HEARING THE THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS OF FANS OF IT).

THEYRE NOT PRETTY, NOT POLISHED, NOT PERFECTLY HARMONIOUS. AND ITS PERFECT BECAUSE IT FEELS SO REAL FOR THE SUPER HONEST AND EMOTIONAL STUFF THEYRE DOING. BUT THE VOCALS ARE ALSO CLEAN IN THE SENSE THAT, WHILE NOT INDUSTRY STANDARD, ITS EASY TO HEAR WHAT THEYRE SAYING. AND THAT MAKES SENSE. WHILE A BIG PART OF PUNK IS THE SOUND ITSELF, AND THE SOUND IS PART OF THE REBELLION, PUNK HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE ABOUT THE LYRICS AND THE MESSAGE. SOME FOLK PUNK SONGS ARE JUST A GUY STRUMMING AT A GUITAR AND TALKING  FEW NOTES INTO HIS MIC ABOUT HOW BAD THE PRISON SYSTEM IS. THATS NOT TO SAY FOLK PUNK WITH MORE PEOPLE AND MORE INSTRUMENTS ARE BAD, OR THAT YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR STUFF REALLY SHITTY ON PURPOSE, BUT THE BAR FOR ENTRY IS LOW AND ITS ACTUALLY REALLY CREATIVELY LIBERATING HOW THIS SCENE LETS LITERALLY ANYONE WITH A GUITAR AND A VOICE TALK ABOUT WHATEVERS ON THEIR MIND.

JEEZ, THAT WAS KINDA CORNY WASNT IT? BUT SERIOUSLY I THINK ITS SUPER COOL HOW EASY IT IS FOR ARTISTS IN THIS SCENE TO CREATE AND PUT THEIR MESSAGE AND THEIR ART OUT THERE IN THE WORLD. AND I THINK BECAUSE IVE BEEN DRAWING MY WHOLE LIFE, AND WRITING TO A LESSER EXTENT, AND LISTENING TO MUSIC, IT CLICKED SOMETHING INSIDE ME AND GAVE ME SOME WEIRD INSPIRATION TO CREATE MUSIC THAT IVE LITERALLY NEVER HAD BEFORE.

ALSO A BIT OFF TOPIC, ANOTHER REASON WHY FOLK PUNK IS SO NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART IS CUZ IT INTRODUCED ME TO ANARCHISM. I SERIOUSLY BECAME AN ANARCHIST IN LIKE 8TH GRADE AND I STILL AM NOW. I DONT WAVE IT AROUND CUZ IM STILL SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND I DONT KNOW HOW VALID THE POLITICAL OPINIONS OF SOMEONE WHO CANT EVEN LEGALLY VOTE ACTUALLY ARE, BUT I DIGRESS.

BUT YEAH. PROBABLY NOT GONNA BE ACTUALLY MAKING OR RELEASING MUSIC ANYTIME SOON, BUT THINKING ABOUT IT AND WRITING DOWN SOME CONCEPTS AND LYRICS IS ACTUALLY A LOT OF FUN.

TYING THIS ALL TOGETHER, I WAS THINKING ABOUT MY GUITAR EARLIER. WELL I OBVIOUSLY WAS BECAUSE I WROTE THIS BLOG. BUT ALL THIS RAMBLING STEMMED FROM ME THINKING "HEY, WOULDNT IT BE FUNNY IF I PLAYED THE GUITAR LICK FROM BUDDY HOLLY?" SO I STARTED LOOKING SOME STUFF UP AND REALIZED, WOW! I REALLY DONT KNOW SHIT ABOUT GUITAR!

SO HERES THE PLAN. IM NOT GONNA SET ANY SORT OF SCHEDULE OR DATE OF A MEASURABLE GOAL CUZ THAT WOULD PROBABLY TURN THIS INTO MORE OF A CHORE THAN A HOBBY. AND I DONT KNOW HOW IM GONNA ACTUALLY LEARN, BUT IM ALSO GONNA FIGURE THAT OUT LATER. BUT MY CURRENT GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO PLAY THE LICK FROM BUDDY HOLLY. I THINK IF I HAVE A SOLID GOAL OTHER THAN JUST "PLAY GUITAR" ITLL HELP ME TAKE SMALL STEPS AND FIGURE OUT SPECIFIC THINGS I NEED TO LEARN.

BUT YEAH. I DONT THINK ANYONES READING THIS. AND IF THEY DID THEN THEY PROBABLY CLICKED OFF FOUR PARAGRAPHS IN. BUT I JUST WANTED TO SPIT OUT WHAT I WAS THINKING ABOUT AND I GUESS ALSO PROFESS MY UNDYING LOVE FOR FOLK PUNK.