Music and the Eternal Bond.

One of the very first tapes I formed a connection with was Nirvana's "Nevermind" album.  I listened to that tape so much I wore it out.  I'm pretty sure that was the album that inspired me to be a drummer too.  Still today when I hear that album it brings me back to when I was a young boy.  I feel like the same kid listening to the tape on my walk-man, drowning out all the crappy stuff happening around me.

I had a small collection of cassette tapes.  When things got tough I'd often retreat into my headphones and get absorbed into the music.  I would imagine myself in those tapes playing the music;  being part of the band.  I would daydream about what it was like to be in a band.  I would wonder about how to make music and how to record it.  It became my world.

As an 11 or 12 year old boy my favorite tapes were "In Utero" by Nirvana, "Ten" by Pearl Jam, Blind Melon's self titled album and "Get a Grip" by Aerosmith.  There were a few others too, but the tape I listened to the most was that album by Nirvana with the blue cover.  "Nevermind" was that one album that would get played time and time again.  Holy shit did that tape rock.  It blew my face off every time.

I remembered when my Mom would plan a trip to the mall, I would be so excited because I could listen to side A on the way there and side B on the way back.  The mall was the perfect distance to listen to the whole tape and I loved to stare out the car window as I escaped into the recording.

Everything about it was fucking amazing.  The songs were great, the performance was incredible, and production was flawless.  I still think it's one of the best records I've ever heard and it would probably be one of my desert island items.

Dave Grohl's drumming on that record taught me the basic principals of what I needed to know to become a good drummer myself.  The simplistic (yet technical) time signatures and beat patterns with the right amount of beefy fills and dynamics were the fundamental building blocks of what I know today.  When I get behind my drums now, I still hear some of his style coming through my own.  That connection will never go away.  He was the first musician I related with.

I later learned more from other drummers from listening to their records.  Drummers such as Jimmy Chamberlin of Smashing Pumpkins and Dave Lombardo of Slayer were huge influences.  I even picked up a lot of technique from Thomen Stauch of Blind Guardian.  At the end of the day though, I always felt as though I related to Grohl's style the most.

Another strange thing that has developed recently with my relationship to the album is the eerie feeling I get while I listen to it.  I feel like I'm listening to ghosts from the past.  Not just the ghost of that band, but myself as a child too.  Hear me out.  I don't get this feeling with a lot of records, even ones with deceased personnel; which in this case I think Kurt being dead plays a significant role.  But even the music as a whole; Kurt's voice and guitar, Krist's bass, Dave's drums... the production.  The recording is like a time capsule of a bygone era where their youth (and mine as a listener) is captured in near perfect clarity and warmth by that fabled Neve board.  The sound sends a chill down my spine and makes me feel things that no other record can.  It's an undeniable connection.  It makes me feel young again.

There are other records too that serve as a reminder to certain time periods in my life; those are special too.  Like those albums I will likely carry a copy of "Nevermind" in my collection for the rest of my life.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Some things good are coming.

The hunger and anticipation of a new project.