Photo by lastnightsparty
My mother asked me, "Do u want piano lessons?"
I said, "No."
My father then asked me, "How about guitar lessons? You can rock n roll."
I said, "No."
My grandmother offered to pay for cello lessons.
She never loved me as much after I said, "No."
My uncle offered me the right field position on my cousin's little league team.
(I went to one practice, then quit. Basically said "No.")
Every1 wanted to know
"What do u want 2 do?
What r ur interests?
What do u like?
What r u passionate about?"
After hearing tons of indie, bloghouse, and chillwave bands
I knew that I needed to learn more about synthesizers
I didn't have time to waste learning mainstream skills
and I didn't have time to translate my mainstream skills to fulfill my alternative needs
I wanted synthesizer lessons
I wanted an authentic collection of synths
2 take my buzzband solo proj to the next lev
This was the best decision I could make as an aspiring authentic alt
If they had 'sampler lessons', I would take them
Maybe will grab a 'minor' in DJing
Maybe take a few 'music business' classes at my local college
Might also learn about maintaining a blog and a twitter feed
My parents think I want to go to school to 'get smart and get a job'
but they don't realize that school is just a place for me to network
to make fans, to make friends on 'facebook' to invite to my shows
to meet potential band mates (after my solo project takes off, I will select talented on-stage musicians, but make sure not to give them a cut of album sales)
This was all my dream
but first, it was time for synth lessons
My teacher was so chill
yet so demanding at the same time
Teaching me about synth history
Synth Settings
Even a little bit about recording techniques
and important perspectives on analog vs digital
He'd send me home with vinyls to listen to
teaching me that there was more to 'synth'
than just chillwave/LCD Soundsystem/bloghouse/modern shitty blog electro
I finally understood the importance of the synth in the modern global rock landscape
My parents came to the recital not knowing what to expect
My fingers pressed down on the keys
arpegiatting tons of rad shit
so many vibes, chill ass drum machine keeping the beat
The power of so many sounds
right at my finger tips
I could tell they were happy for me
because I was happy
for the first time I felt like I had a future
I was going to start a buzzband / record a hit EP that garnered tons of blog press
start a new genre of music
and capture the spirit of the modern alt
This was the beginning of a whole new life for me
Education is an important tool/process
But tons of mainstream educational opportunities are a waste of time
meant to make u feel like ur 'part of a team'/'normalized' even if u don't acquire a skill
Sometimes parents just don't understand
what's culturally relevant
and what decisions they can make
to put u on the road towards being the mastermind behind a culturally relevant buzzband
Did u take any lessons as a kid?
What lessons do u wish yall took as kids?
Who can u construct an authentic alt super kid who makes his/her own decisions?
What types of lessons should alts offer to appeal to alt parents + their kids?