By Aaron Gill
Music is something that has defined the majority of my life.
From the time I was 8-years-old and started listening to a rap group called N.W.A. (Niggaz Wit Attitude) – to the present – a 21-year-old kid that has half-inch stretched ear lobes, skinny jeans and an eclectic taste in music.
There have been multiple times in my life where music has been the sole provider of comfort for me when I had no one to talk to or when I had nowhere to run, music was there. John Mayer – although he will never know – has helped me through countless heartbreaking experiences. Just recently I had tragedy strike my family in the form of my 18-year-old sister packing up and moving in with her boyfriend. I know that people talk about how dysfunctional my family is back home and I know that they truly do not care but the fact that she just up and left and tells my mom constantly that she hates her and wishes she was dead is something that pisses me off.
Music can take you to a completely different place, a whole new world if you will. When I was younger and really big into hardcore rap I was thoroughly convinced that I was going to grow up to be rap artist. That was until I realized that I write entirely too much of love and that the only thing I hated at that time was the fact that my father walked out on my family when I was only two weeks old. After I realized that I probably could not make a career out of my life story I gave up that idea and picked up a guitar.
If anyone truly knows me they know that I love to write songs but I still cannot play the guitar because, to be honest, I was too impatient to try to teach myself. However, when I write lyrics it is like I’m pouring my heart out onto the countless composition books I have stacked up in my room that are filled front to back with over 100 songs.
Music has always been something I can trust to make my feelings better or even when I’m feeling like I just need to break down or that I am so pissed off at the world that I just need to scream, there is always music that can help me with that.
I remember the first time I went to a real concert, even though it was not that long ago. January 8, 2010 was the date that will forever be inscribed in my brain as the first time I experienced an artist get on stage and actually sing – or rap – about what was happening throughout their life.
Lil’ Wayne took the stage with an accompanying light show that truly took everything to a whole other level. As I recited his lyrics back to the crowd of people I was in, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought to myself, “this is what I want to do, I want to write about music and let people know that there are people out there with a message that they can hear if they know where to find it.”
From that moment forward I knew that I wanted to write music reviews and possibly be a music publicist. It has only recently happened that I started to do album reviews in my spare time. I have written reviews about bands and artists like, Sleeping With Sirens, There For Tomorrow, Of Mice and Men, The Devil Wears Prada, I See Stars!, Asking Alexandria, Woe, Is Me, Lydia, Manchester Orchestra, The Dear and Departed, Drake and many others.
Like I have said before, music can take you to a whole new world. It is something that you can immerse yourself in and become a rock star in your bathroom singing into the showerhead, or while you sing those sad songs in your car after a terrible break-up. I have been through all the motions from being that legendary rockstar to the crying fool in his car. The funny thing though is that I would not trade it for anything because music has taught me so much over the years that I can look back at my mistakes and remember exactly what was playing in my head when it happened.
“One good thing about music – when it hits – you feel no pain.” – Bob Marley