alternative
Alternative music from the underground, straight to your listening device.
Are you (Un)Lost?
(Un)Lost In my opinion, The Maine have easily been the source of the biggest influence towards positive growth throughout my young adult life. But, even before songwriting had become an outlet for my thoughts, their lyrics had been storming my ears. Their constant messages of vibrancy and an acute attention to mental health really struck a chord. As a child, when times were low and survival seemed impossible, one particular song stood out – ‘(Un)Lost’ from The Maine's 2015 album ‘American Candy’. (Un)Lost is substantial enough to have earned its place permanently on my skin - not once, but twice, in the form of tattoos on my wrist and hips. A constant reminder of who I was, am and will be. Growing up I was dealt with circumstances that I wouldn’t wish on anyone else. Separated parents, suffering from Depression and Borderline Personality Disorder, and discovering I was gay in a strict Christian household… These are just a small piece of those difficult circumstances. I was confused and lost. Eventually I gave up on finding a purpose … a sense of gravity. I dabbled in many different career aspects - cooking (which I still love), gaming, graphic design, fitness and personal training, media and even psychology, but nothing stuck until more recently, when I gathered the tools and confidence to fold absolutely into music and creative writing. In those early years it was easier to follow the tide of mediocrity – “Get a job” and “Finish school” was what I was told. So I kept my head low and somehow survived. Hence when I heard the lyrics:
By Brody Graham4 years ago in Beat
Escaping Insanity
When I listen to music, it's usually as a means to escape. I yearn to be transported to a different reality than the one I currently reside in. Most of the time that means listening to upbeat pop music, if it's in another language then it's bonus points because I can only focus on the melody. But as I'm writing this, I realize that for the first time I have a song that has rooted me in the center of my reality. CG5 is a YouTuber and the creator behind the popular song Absolutely Anything and the genius behind the song Sepiatoned that keeps me trapped.
By Anecia Lewis4 years ago in Beat
How Paramore's "Last Hope" Helped Me Heal
TRIGGER WARNING: sexual assault. I have loved Paramore for every moment of their existence. I grew up listening to lots of female pop stars, but it was largely unheard of for a woman to front a band - let alone a band that played Warped Tour. Hayley Williams became an instant inspiration for me, someone who has always secretly wanted to be in a band and play music for a living. Her personality, wisdom, genuineness, and style were all things I admired from the very beginning. I feel as though I've grown up through and with Paramore; each of their albums came out at a time in my life where I needed guidance from a woman who wasn't my mom. I spent so many days dancing around my room and singing into a hairbrush along with All We Know is Falling and Riot!. I used to pretend to put on concerts, and I'd serenade all of the posters covering my walls. In those moments, I channeled teenaged Hayley. I envisioned myself with brightly dyed hair and dramatic makeup, jumping around on a stage. Brand New Eyes was released my senior year, and it was a time when I needed direction. I was very much a misguided ghost, like the song with the same name.
By Portgas D. Sara (they/them)4 years ago in Beat
THE SILENCE OF MUSIC
A bass line. Vocals that make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. The guitar solo that will stick with you to the grave, and beyond. Music can reach the range of emotions we didn't think we had. Unravel thoughts and faces from the dusty tomes of memory. Experiences stuck in the amber of the mind, ready to be revisited by the rolling drums of a familiar song.
By Dom Watson 4 years ago in Beat
The song that asks "Did You?"
It’s the end of another seemingly endless day that’s basically identical to so many that came before it that the only tangible difference seems to be who I did the favor for, rescued or listened to when all I wanted to do was grieve for who I thought I would be by now.
By Lisa Suhay4 years ago in Beat
How Punk Rock Changed My Life
I grew up listening to music. My Dad was a child of the 60s and enjoyed bands such as The Byrds, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles. My Mom on the other hand was a child of the 70s, and love the music of Edward Bear, Dr. Hook, and Sweeney Todd. I grew up with this music. I am forever grateful to my parents for introducing me to such great music. Bands like The Guess Who, BTO, and Trooper were a big part of my childhood. Although I didn't appreciate it as much as I do now. As a kid I didn't really have an interest in music. As I grew older a lot of different bands entered my life. Let's start with the first album I ever bought with my own money. "Weird Al" Yankovic's Bad Hair Day. I was so in love with this album, and now as an adult, I appreciate it on a higher level. Let's fast forward to 1999. I was at school in the gym for something, and someone played Green Day's Nimrod album. I had never heard of this band, but was intrigued by their music. So on one family vacation, I was able to go to a record store, and buy the album. And it changed me. I listened to the song The Grouch for hours on end. I had never heard music like this before. So fast paced and fun. It wasn't until a few years later that I really became a fan of punk. At that time I was a subscriber to Rolling Stone Magazine, and every year they would chronicle who was going into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The year was 2003, and that was the year The Clash were inducted. I had never heard them before, but below their picture on suggested listening was the song "London Calling," I listened to it and I was hooked. I soon heard "Rock The Casbah," and I wanted to find everything out I could about this band. So on a trip to Winnipeg I had $20 in my pocket, and I bought The Essential Clash. One of the best albums I have ever bought. This band was my introduction to punk rock; songs like "Tommy Gun," "London Calling," and "Complete Control," just blew me away. I loved how fast paced and fun they were.
By Terry Koss5 years ago in Beat
Popular Shoegaze/Dreampop Groups
Dreampop AKA Shoegaze has been around since the early 1980s with origins in the United Kingdom, but eventually reaching cultural popularity within the states thanks to groups like My Bloody Valentine and Lush solidifying this sub-genre’s social impact on the youth of the early 90s
By Jayla McKiver5 years ago in Beat
Tribute to Kurt D. Cobain
I've always been a music lover. What oxygen is to common people, music is to my brain. I just cannot function without it. It feels as if I get teleported to some other parallel universe, and since music became my passion, my first ever gift as a child was a toy guitar, and second, a piano. Later on, my grandmother, who enjoyed music equally, decided to lend me her radio since she saw I just couldn't live without music. I loved listening to the Radio everyday, and the more I listened to it, the more my thirst for music increased, and I couldn't constraint myself by listening just to the local media and songs available. I decided to listen to all sorts of the world's music that I got exposed too without judgment. Slowly and gradually, I started to fall in love with sweet boy bands with all the romantic love songs on my playlist.
By Maliha Anwer5 years ago in Beat