I am really interested in finding out about this; everyone has their own unique background story. Heck, my boyfriend who is bloody intense about his music went through a phase when he was younger when he absolutely hated music and wouldn't listen to it. Now, he's completely immersed in it.
I was in touch with ex-Kennedy Soundtrack guitarist/vocalist (you'll know by now they are one of my favourites) to find out about his influences and how they affected him. The Kennedy Soundtrack were a strange blend of sounds to I was intrigued to know...
I'm
now in my early 30's and I'm thinking, how did this happen? We're meant to be
young forever right? No-one warned me it would happen (they did), but happened
it has. As I think back to my musical past, the bands I've been in, the songs
I've written, and the music I've been into all these years, I realize there's
so much in there. Out of the albums I own and love to listen to, what could I
say is my favourite? Do I even have one?
Yesterday
evening myself and a friend of mine (A Chirs Pontius lookalike, also in his
30's and I'd say a typical South Wales metal head) took a walk up Mynyddislwyn
(Islwyn Mountain) en route to the the Church Inn Pub to sink a few pints and to
thrash out our musical opinions. During the walk up we talked about whether
Margaret Thatcher was good for the country, the pros and cons of capitalism and
that the Manic Street Preachers had recorded their early demos in a small
studio somewhere around here . Well, we didn't come to a conclusion on politics
but we did share some memories of youth and music.
I'd
say there are many ways to think of music and albums. There's the music that
has shaped me musically, influenced my singing and guitar styles, such as Yes,
Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and U2 (My Dad had a big impact on my childhood listening
habits). Then there's the albums and bands that have a profound emotional
connection, which can take me back to my teenage years in the 90's, that gets
me all excited and nostalgic. That's what I'll talk about now.
Nirvana - Unplugged
In New York
When
this album was released I was a skinny, awkward, red Doc Martin wearing, long
haired 15 year old, typical of the 90's grunge scene. Kurt had been dead for
around 6 months or so, but the hype was very much still alive. There's many a
drink fuelled (if we could get some) teenage house party where we'd all sing
along to Kurt's haunting voice. What I love about this album is the simplicity
of it, almost anyone could just grab an acoustic guitar, play and sing along.
One of my favourite tracks is probably "On a Plain", but there's many
other gems in there too. Actually, the ones that stick out most for me are
probably the songs that Nirvana didn't even write. The songs they covered, such
as "The Man Who Sold The World" (David Bowie) and "Lake of
Fire" or "Oh Me" (Meat Puppets). Another song "Where Did
You Sleep last Night?" was another favourite of mine and my friends, as
we'd enjoy singing it to one of our mutual friends (who was a Girl) after many
of her boozy snogs with hormone laden boys. The girl in question who is still a
friend of mine, is now a very successful GP and she hasn't changed a bit. (In
event of her reading this, Sorry x)
Stereophonics -
Word Gets Around
You
may well be thinking, how original?! A Welshman that likes the Stereophonics.
Well I can counteract that stereotype with, I don't particularly like Rugby and
none of my family have ever worked down a coal mine. However, the one
stereotype that may well be valid here, and I've already mentioned this in my
Nirvana piece above, is the fact that it is a very sing along kind of album. We
do love a good sing song. "Check My Eyelids For Holes", "Last of
The Big Time Drinkers" all amazing sing along tracks. Not only that, when
this album was released I hadn't long turned 18, so it was around this time I
was heading out to the usual Alternative venues of the Newport scene such as
TJ's (legend has it Kurt Cobain proposed to Courtney Love here, I have no idea
if that's true) and Le Pub. This album, I feel that I can identify with the
sentiment and what these guys are about. It was an exciting time for welsh
music. I know we had the Manics (I do love James Dean Bradfield's Voice and his
guitar work) but the Stereophonics, I think, are perhaps a little more
accessible. I felt that they were just like me and my friends, valley boys (2nd
stereotype).
U2 - Rattle &
Hum
Another
Live album (mostly) and again containing many of their classics from Joshua
Tree and also cover versions of Beatles and Bob Dylan. I would’ve been 8 or 9 years old when
this was released. I think it pretty much past me by, as did most things,
including Bros (yuck) & Kylie Minogue (yum). This album, along with the
film that was released along side it, I discovered a few years later. It was
around 1992, I started to learn guitar after watching Guitar Legends. This was
a series that ran on BBC 2 and part of the Expo 1992 from Seville, Spain. There
were all sorts of guitarists from blues to metal. Two of my favourite
guitarists from this live series was B.B. King and Steve Vai.....anyway I’m off topic a little. I liked
U2 anyway but when I saw the Rattle & Hum film and B.B.King was playing
with U2, that sealed it for me. I was into blues when learning to play guitar,
and this album does go back to the USA’s
Rock n Roll Roots.
My favourite track of this album,
without doubt is “Bullet The Blue Sky” and it’s way better than the studio
version, though having said that, I’m
pretty sure the live version is overdubbed quite a bit, but I don’t care. I love the fact there’s slide guitar in there, funk
riffs, a rolling bass line and vocals which are almost spoken in places, it’s also quite dark.
Conclusion
Now,
are these really my favourite albums? Well maybe, maybe not, I don’t think I have one. If you
asked me to write about this next week, I could well have come up with
different answers.
As
far as The Kennedy Soundtrack goes, I’m
sure we were all trying to get our influences into that album. That’s why it is so eclectic. Of
course there were other bands and musicians just from my point of view that I
haven’t mentioned, but
there’s also four other
individuals in The Kennedy Soundtrack that brought so much to the mix. Their
musical choice’s are probably a
whole lot cooler than mine, though we all made our mark.
You can check out some of his personal musical adventures on his soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/the-big-dc
I love hearing these sort of stories, if you have one feel free to share...
H xx
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