How'd You Get Into This Music?!

I get asked a lot of questions when it comes to the music I like and listen to. Probably the question I get asked the most is, "Just how did you get into this?". It is a simple question with a not so simple answer. I do not fit the mold of what someone would think a person who listens to metal or screamo would look like. I am probably the furthest person from a typical metal head. I grew up listening to country music and was raised on Garth Brooks being played loudly while we cleaned the house growing up. My first concert ever was Toby Keith and Blake Shelton when I was in the 5th grade. Little did I know that concert would be the first of countless concerts and shows for me and would ignite something in me to want to go to as many as possible.

Around that time I remember hearing All The Small Things by Blink-182 and really really liking it. I was also getting in to the drums around this time as well which looking back, really influenced my musical tastes as well. I began listening to bands like Blink-182, Relient K, Yellowcard, Fall Out Boy and so many other of those pop-punk bands while in junior high. My sister would get mad at me for air-drumming along with them while sitting shotgun in her car. Those bands really got me exploring more into the "underground" scene of music that was not played on the radio or mainstream.

As I got older and into high school I was introduced into Underoath and my life was never the same again. It was like the scales were taken off my eyes and they were opened to a whole world of music I did not know existed. At first I did not like the screaming. I was not a fan of it at all. Then it slowly began to grow on me and then I loved it. My buddies and I in high school all liked the same type of music and there was so much good music out there. We would go out to shows and jam out in our cars and blare the music incredibly loud with the windows down. The first show I ever went to was Oh, Sleeper and it was like something I have never experienced before. When I walked in it felt like I was walking into a place where everyone belonged. It was absolute chaos but at the same time very peaceful for those that were there. I did not know that I would end up seeing that same band 15+ times over the next 12 years and countless concerts during that span.

So there it is, the slow process of getting into "Angry Music". It has now become apart of me and what I am known for amongst my friends. And no, its not just a phase.

Songs that influenced me:
- All The Small Things
- Vices Like Vipers
- Writing On The Walls
- Reinventing Your Exit
- Lights And Sounds
- Stiletto 
- The Pretender