I promise you won't read this on my artist bio.

1. I have been playing for 15 years or since i was a very talented kid / I come from a very talented family of musicians & an artists.

Well, most of us did, and if not, what does it matter if we are doing good music anyway? :)

2. I have been in several bands.

Most of them dissolved and probably forgotten, unless you once belong to a certain medium famous band, I find uninteresting for the reader to tell about cancelled projects from the past. It matter to mention if you have a couple of recorded songs that worth to share.

3. Our band line up has constantly changed, first, there was this guy, but then this other guy came and replaced him, then the drummer was replaced by the guy on guitar...

Don't wanna sound rude but I really don't care about unknown former members who probably are not even making music anymore.

4. My style is hard to fit on any genre. I have a very personal sound.

I am the first person to mention I don't want to belong to any specific sound, but about each of my song individually, I perfectly know they could fit into some genres, it is not important to me, but I find a little arrogant to claim that no one could sound like me. In the end, most of time I find very easy to recognize what genre are these people actually into. About the "experimental" label... mmm... I better write another post about it.

I made changes to my bio several times, at first of course I intended to become very personal and mention every little detail. But soon realized not much people care, with the time I felt better with my writing, trying to read it as a listener who find my site for the very first time and remembering what I felt by reading other people's bios, what interested me, what I found boring, senseless to mention, or even disappointed there was no bio, or it really didn't tell me something from the artist.

I found this totally amateur but honest and short bio today:

"I sit in my little brothers bedroom and record using the built in mic on his apple mac and edit my music on GarageBand. That is all. If you want to know more about me, please e-mail me :)"

It really didn't tell me much, but a short, personal, not too self autopromoted is a good start, of course if this person wants to look more professional, will have to change it later.

And oh, please... do not paste a lot of links of where to buy, shorten the link, it helps to read easily, I automatically discard a bio with a bunch of links on it, if I like your music, I will visit your official site and look for a place to buy it.

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The myth about good or bad music

This is a regular argue within friends, mostly in a bar, concert or maybe at some other blog:

Good music vs. bad music.

And usually the result is: there is no such thing, just different tastes, but that is not my point and well, sometimes I am not so agree at all with it.

My story about it, is more based on tolerance.

In México, as any other country, we have our folk/traditional music, sometimes blended with pop, rock, electronic, etc. and sometimes the result is radically opposite from a person to another, while some people just love and play all the day some of the more popular mainstream mexican artists; there are some other who just can't stand it.

It is very similar to the fights between country music and other genres in USA.

the stereotype usually is:

Country/mexican pop-folk= made for rednecks, ignorant people, annoying voices and sounds. But well. there are good performers and skilled people, but anyway, I am not so attracted for it.

But it took me several years to learn how to deal with it, and it is not that I like now, even when I still feel I wanna get pout of that place after an hour of it. But I finally understand it when I made my music project statement:

Music is made for everyone, for listening in different situations, places and expressing different feelings.

So I just became not so demanding about it, for ask to mexican folk to become something it is not. Mexican folk is mostly made for dance and party, and well, you can't party with the same joy with Aphex Twin for example, right? because it is just intended for other situation.

It may sound sarcastic or funny but is kinda true: I recognize the right of such music to exist, even if I will hate it with all my hearth for the rest of my life.

And what would be about the music we like if we can't mock on music we dislike? hehe :D

Tolerance.

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retro versus new music

People is confused, including myself, when more than once, we judged an artist because of "lack of new ideas" while insisting on use sounds from past decades, specially arguing that old times were better.

In the other hand, also said many times I do not like some new band, because I just find their sound meaningless, maybe ridiculous, or sometimes just lack of feeling.

What is good enough then? I think many of people made both critics once in a while. i personally think, as time goes by, it wont be easier and eventually possible to create new sounds, genres or styles, and I don't blame it on the artists, even less, the possible lack of creativity. I think it is a natural flow of things: it will become a time when so may music will be created that, it wont be possible to come up with something new, maybe not this year, maybe not next decade, maybe not in our life, but I am convinced it will totally happen.

For a side, this statement makes me sad, it will mean that copyrights will be a nightmare, and even today sometimes influence and copycat is a debate, in some years after it wont be possible to make a difference from each other. I also will mean that all music will flow in circles, just recycling old fashioned genres & styles or even making weird fusions in the desperate to find a new sound.

Today we have a lot of genres, artists, instruments and resources to create, but unless we as human beings are able to recognize more than 7 notes and 12 tones in the music scale, it wont be any change. It is pretty obvious those combinations are limited. Yes, doing the math it means the combinations possibilities are huge, but again: not all the 12 notes in the scale are meant to be with each other in the same song, unless you do a radical change of melody.

Also, instruments are being the same again and again: drums, guitar, keyboards, bass. It is true that computers also bring lot of new resources and sounds, but I honestly think it will eventually have the same problem as pop - rock, even when genres can be different, such as black metal and hair metal, the new artists of each genre sounds almost the same in many cases. As well it happens with electronic genres: how many copycats of Infected Mushroom, trentemoller, etc. have you heard today?

I ended realizing that I don't have to worry about it, first of all: I wont be there when it happens totally, (because it is starting to happen now!) second: in the desperate for create new things, artist do not have to fall in the mistake of going extreme ridiculous, just for the fact to create a new thing. Third: there is a wish inside all artists to express and enjoy their work, this is how they live and how they like to be, and I think they can't stop just for the fact that everything is already created, or it will all created eventually.

Are you stuck in 80's new wave, pop, hair metal? I probably will first feel sorry for you. And I apologize for my disrespect and intolerance, when it come to my head the idea: damn! this guy will ever accept those times are gone? get over it, try something new!

But once again: if you are a hipster teenager and you think you just discovered the new big thing, probably you actually didn't! or if you did, I could tell: new also has to be nice, not JUST new, again sorry for my hard judgement. But for both of situations & persons, all I have to say is: listen, and enjoy, music is not a contest to see who created it first or who influenced who, a different thing is that it's good to know about past artists, and a different thing is to believe that music is dead after Led Zeppelin, Kraftwerk, etc.

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Music genres I can't stand

R&B.

Why the americans spend their life all around R&B? I admit it takes a lot of talent to perform a good R&B vocal song, and there are a lot of nice, romantic, calm examples, but... ALL ABOUT IT? why do I have to watch a Disney movie for example mmm located in antique Greece and then the muses start with all those vocal thing? Ok. it is just Disney, not big deal but in another example: American Idol or any other music contest: the winner is always a R&B performer, or Pop. but I have the feeling that many media insist too hard to use this genre as a soundtrack for EVERYTHING. And well, as I said is question of likes or dislikes but in my opinion is too much of it and after 30 minutes of it: ALL SOUNDS THE SAME. It doesn't matter if the singer is too talented, with an awesome voice registry, the arrangements sounds once and again and again and is very hard sometimes to difference between one artist from another. I don't know at other countries but in México R&B is recognized but not a media phenomenon.

Death Rock.

I feel incredibly lazy and frustrated while listening to it. yes Bauhaus, Christian Death and many artist are legends but I just don't feel anything by listening, not feeling sad or wandering, or happy or joy... just nothing but boredom. just as R&B there could be a couple of songs I could like but it is one of those genres that is too focused into certain market, too "exclusive" it is made for a very specific audience and it will never be a media hit, of course I don't think any death rock artist would like to become, there is that "wanna be underground" attitude, which is ok, and respectful.

But still those too brilliant guitars, with the typical Murphy voice, simple bass lines and drums are not something I would perform everyday.

Black metal.

Yes, I know it is the brutal of the most brutal sub genres in metal, but, same thing: made for specific people, but with a very, very stupid audience, maybe the black metal is not that bad, but their followers are the most closed mind people I ever met. If somebody like Dimmu Borgir becomes a little succeed, or variate their sound from a release to another is like the end of the world for them, they could lock in their rooms in fetal position while holding the first release of Mayhem and cry for months or years, cursing the day that their favorite artist became commercial... even if that change meant that they just have a video at 3 AM on MTV, and some teenagers started to listen to it. Realize it guys: a band, ANY band who crossed the line of a record company sign contract, (doesn't matter how small or independent it is) the band is intended to get some retribution for their job, and a profit, so get over it. Bands could, and sometimes MUST change a bit.

back to the musical part, I also like a couple of black metal songs, but again: after 20 min. all is the same, same brutal, same dark, same violent, same intense, same distortion, same voice... and a concert with 5 bands is like a constant push-play the same cd with 15 min. interval to change band members.

Country.

I wont try to offend anybody by telling it is shit or redneck music, for ignorant people from farms or so. But I find the country very very wasted, in the way that it have many nice instruments and technics that could result into better melodies, but I listen all the same slide guitar, banjo, guitar, and circle harmonies in a lot of songs. Oh, and those nasal voices trying to be funny, as that yoodeling... omfg.

Is ok if people likes to dance it, I personally don't like, and music made for fun, and dance shouldn't be taken so serious to analyze too deeply, because it is just for that: for fun. Except for those strange sad songs about a little farmer who had a terrible life and suffered a lot and then died and bla bla, yes it has a meaning for the composer, but I never felt touched for a country ballad in my life.

Hip Hop.

Why, really, why black people insist to speak the songs instead of sing?, black people have awesome voices, I could make a huge list of great singers, but when it is about rapping... it is almost the same if it is snoop, or Dre, or Ice Cube, or 50 Cents or whatever, there is just ANY feeling from talking above a repetitive loop.

Why was the Led Zeppelin theme used in Godzilla so popular? was Puff Daddy in charge of it, right? all the strengt in the song came from the orchestral arrangements, not from Puff Daddy, he could been replaced by any other guy and nobody would noticed it and anyway became a hit.


I know it takes some musical knowledge and talent to rap properly, to fit the syllables into the music beat, and play along 1/4, 1/8 etc. times and yes: to have the lyric talent too for the words, not just to speak random stuff to rime.

But again: there is too much of it and many people copying people that it lose the feeling for me, I used to love House of Pain, Cypress Hill, and that song with Anthrax and Public Enemy, as few others, but exciting for it gone as fast as it came.

Epic Metal.

I have particular fun with it, but it is that kind of feeling that makes you laugh and at the same time feel so awkward and shame that you wanna run to a cave and stay there for the rest of your life.

Who in their sane mind dress as Connan the barbarian, and pretend to bring the glory battle to this days? I find valid and respectful that a band wants to expose their culture, past, history and so. But honestly... you can do it in a way that can save your dignity.

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Jorge Reyes passed away.

Saturday night, mexican composer and musician Jorge Reyes passed away.



He was the most important performer from old mexican tribes music. His work inspired and influenced a lot of people (including me) Since aztecs, olmecs, and other tribes did not have written music, he tried to bring back the ancient magic, the feeling, the tradition and the spirit from those days before the spanish soldiers arrived.

May his legacy and music remain forever.

here is a piece of his soundtrack for movie: "La otra conquista"




here a TV presentation:

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