A piece that I wrote mostly myself with my band, this is a song I can't wait to play live. Lyrically it's about that no matter what choice you make, someone will be opposed to it so be yourself, take your shots, and have fun! I play the drums but the guitars (minus the solo) are me as well as having fun with my singer in the vocal booth to write some melodies! And we didn't have our bassist yet so I tracked that. My profile has more info, but I basically want music to be life and to have some financial assistance in attending school for that would be all I could ever ask for.

As us musicians know, money is always a big factor to get that perfect sound we all crave. And as a metal musician, getting a miced up drum kit and those glorious tube amps we all crave is a costly expense. However, provided I had all this, I would just be making music that I feel would be a blast for live shows. Given the current circumstances it may be a minute until we see those, but I love writing songs that make people listen and think “oh man, I hope they play this when live when I see them!” I want to make choruses that can get a whole building singing in unison, I want to create those riffs that would create the biggest mosh pits and perhaps introduce someone to that for the first time. I want to create music that inspires others to do the same. I don’t know how common it is, but a live show gives me an adrenaline rush I don’t feel when riding roller coasters that shoot me at 85 MPH. I want to make those songs that are an absolute staple as well as those songs that when we bring them out for the first time in awhile it’s received as a surprise that everyone who attended and even those who didn’t talk about it the next day. As much as I love studio recording, I would use it as a vessel to tour. Seeing all sorts of places and forming a bond with my bandmates and having those moments when scheduling dates where we say “ooh, when we go to (insert city here), we’ve got to stop here for their food!” It’s always been a lifelong dream of mine and will never not be. As someone going to an audio school, there is a chance that if I don’t do that as an artist that I could be running the board for someone doing that. Not only am I passionate about the music itself, but I have a burning one for the thoughts of where music could take me. I’ve never wanted the rockstar life of living in mansions and too many cars, but rather just the idea that I could travel the world and play music that touches those in the way so many artists have for me.

A song that I have only discovered more recently in my life is called Walk With me in Hell by Lamb of God. It’s a song by a band that makes very heavy music and you can hear that in this song, but this one is packed with so much emotion. From the intro with the soaring lead guitar and an added choir to make it sound much more majestic, you can already tell from the intro that this is different from their normal work. Not only is the main riff have a great bounce to it, it leads into these awesome verses with tons of variations and cool transitions. The chorus is a continuation of the intro and it sounds even more majestic. After a repeat, it goes into this heavy breakdown riff with a very cool groove, and as a guitar player, the little lead doodles in this section are extremely hard to time with the open palm muted low note. And then it kicks into a Mark Morton guitar solo, and while it’s not his fastest or advanced, it’s certainly my favorite. It’s so groovy (I know I use it a lot, but they have but put intro the subgenre of groove metal), and then, we reach the final chorus, and oh wow, is this amazing. To really show the impact, we must talk about the lyrics. The meaning of this song is about someone supporting you in your darkest times. The verses describe the sense of hopelessness of the person the narrator (or Mr. Randy Blythe in this situation). The chorus is just beautifully written: “ Take hold of my hand/For you are no longer alone/Walk with me in hell”. However, the delivery of these lines reach their peak awesomeness on the final chorus. It starts off at a half tempo pace, and you can hear the producer of the album Machine (one of my favorites in the business) added the metal clanging sounds for effect and it just adds to the tension, and then it finally explodes into the ending! Chris Adler is do quick machine gun-style double kick drums, and the lead guitar line is back again, and with Randy in the background screaming “you’re never alone”, it feels like a sense of fulfillment and comfort is achieved in a strange way. Randy himself has said many fans tell him the song helped them through their hardest times. What I also love about the ending is during the recording, machine made randy run around the block twice before doing the last few screams so he was out of breath and he was forced to just give it his all, as if he were in a concert. This song has a wonderful arrangement, very tricky yet amazing sounding guitar work, and spectacular lyrics. As someone who just became a fan for around a year now, I love this band and I love the lyrics and music in general! Very inspirational stuff.

My dog Abby is one of the oldest memories I have. A lot of my early memories don't stick too well, but I will never forget the day we drove and hour and a half just to get her. She is reaching the time of the average boxer lifespan, but she is still very vibrant and playful, and as you can see here, interested in birds. I remember just being happy that she didn't drool like my uncles boxer, but after 10 years with her, Abby has found a special place in my heart, and I cherish our days.

My first time touching a guitar in almost a week was to play a song I haven't played in years in front of a bunch of people in a foreign country? Yep, that's what this is. On vacation in Mexico, my parents noticed the karaoke night and said I should see if I could play guitar. I ripped through "Enter Sandman" after a long break from playing, and it was very nerve wracking, especially since it was hard to hear myself and I didn't know all of parts off the top of my head!