The Vice

Hint: this doesn't involve the city of Miami.

We all have some secret vice, whether it's wandering your house in the buff, stealing sugar packets from your local Denny's, or playing that Barbie adventure game your little sister got 10 years ago and for some reason you want to play it. Okay so maybe not the last one, well at least I hope not, but despite all of the different secret vices out there, there is one in particular that I am confident we all share: music. Those songs in your iTunes that get unchecked when the party comes over. You know, that Pokemon theme song, those Katy Perry track,s or even that other song by Justin Bieber. If you deny it then you're lying, and I'm not a fan of lying. In the spirit of that I am going to post here the 10 most recent additions to my iTunes library. Check it out:

1. Justin Bieber - "Never Say Never"
2. Gorillaz - "Dirty Harry (Schtung Chinese New Year Remix)"
3. K'naan - "Bang Bang"
4. Paper Tongues - "Trinity"
5. Katy Perry - "Firework"
6. Young MC - "Bust a Move"
7. Paper Tongues - "Soul"
8. Paper Tongues - "Everybody"
9. Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
10. OneRepublic - "Secrets"

Yes, that is correct there is both Justin Bieber and Katy Perry on that list. And while I may completely deny listening to their music in public they do have a few tracks I do enjoy. "Never Say Never" is the only Justin Bieber song I like, but Katy Perry does have a decent amount of good tracks too. The rest on that list I have no reason to be embarrassed about I suppose, but we should never be embarrassed about our taste in music. I'll admit I have one Lady Gaga song, the (original) Pokémon TV show soundtrack, Danity Kane, and probably other things that people would laugh at me for but hey who cares.

As a part-part-part-part-part-time musician I've come to realize that there are many aspects to creating and listening to a song. There are the lyrics, the music, and the voice and in the creation process they can come in any order. Working with my fellow bandmates (of UTA) we usually create the music first, feel the beat of the drums or the strum of the guitar and then the rest falls in. Other artists work in the same manner, starting with the music and then letting the lyrics follow and the voice bind it all together. When I listen to music I listen in much the same way I create: music first, lyrics and voice second. That is my only defense for why I have Katy Perry and Justin Bieber in my music library. I'm sure I have plenty of bands that you've never heard of in there too, and it's all because of the music.

Music is like the Force: it surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds people together. You don't see jedi hiding the fact that they have this incredibly gift to manipulate it, so why should any of us? Okay so maybe the Star Wars analogy fell apart there, but you get my point. Don't be embarrassed about what's on your iPod because you shouldn't be embarrassed about the music that makes you move, from your feet to your soul. Okay, I think I can now write a song.




Dream on.

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