There have been many different artists that have influenced my life and my approach to music. Not only am I influenced by musicians and producers, but also by artists in other fields like film and literature. So I'm going to write about three artists from three different disciplines: In music, the band Phish; in movies, George Lucas; and in literature, the author Chuck Palahniuk.
The band Phish has influenced my music and my life in general more than anyone else. I remember enjoying a few of there songs when I was a freshman in high school, so I decided to buy one of their live albums, and I had never heard anything like it in my life. The singer couldn't sing, and the lyrics were borderline retarded, but I had never heard such incredible musicianship or originality in my life. This has taught me the incredible amount of practice and dedication required to make music. The band has a large cult following, and I've found that there music is a very acquired taste that you either love or hate. Arguing with my friends and telling them that phish is the greatest band ever has taught me just how subjective music really is. There is no "greatest" at anything in music or art in general. This is a very reassuring realization for someone going into a profession such as music production because you're not constantly striving to be the best, but instead striving to to do something original and entertaining that people will enjoy. This clip is from Phish's New Years Eve concert at Madison Square Garden. It shows the bands goofy side but more importantly it shows thousands of fans having the time of their lives which is what the band is really all about.
Chuck Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club and my all-time favorite novel, Choke, has had a big impact on me. His books are filled with many themes that I believe are very important for someone my age. His stories usually involve characters who have trouble becoming their own person and escaping from the expectations of society. He does a great job of using subtext to display these themes. In Fight Club, the characters start there own underground fight club, but the subtext of this is that the fight club is a way for the characters to unleash their anger against the world. I find myself relating to many of the characters in his stories and the themes that he presents in his writing. Being in college and trying to find out what I want to do with my life and who I want to be, its great to be able to read an author who writes about these things and creates characters that I see elements of myself in. Although plot usually comes second to character in his stories, his books are filled with many great twists and turns and interesting narrative structures. You never know what is going to happen in the end of his books, but you know its going to be something mindblowing. This is a clip of Chuck talking about his fourth novel, Choke.
The movies that have had the biggest influence on my life would probably be the Star Wars films. As a child, I would watch these movies obsessively and force my baby sitter to read the subtitles of all the alien languages to me because I couldn't read at the time. I admire the incredible imagination of George Lucas. I think its amazing that he can imagine up an entire world like the one in Star Wars. This ambition and creativity is something that has always inspired me. I love the fact that you can didactically just watch and enjoy the movie, or you can be a more active viewer and read into the mythology of the whole saga. There are many books that have been written on how Star Wars is a retelling of many older greek myths and biblical stories. There is also a lot of fan fiction and an entire expanded universe to the series. George Lucas has gone out of his way to make the Star Wars universe as vast and detailed as possible. Another example of the active fanbase can be found in this clip, which is one of thousands of fan made star wars videos, both funny and serious.
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