Hello degenerates,
heathens, weirdos, and deviants. I am the Rock Otaku, and I’m here to
show you worlds such as hard rock, metal, punk, alternative rock, movies, TV,
anime, video games, and anything that makes us scream, shout, and let it out.
Today, I present to
you one of a crazy amount of idears that either I’ve been developing for a long
time and am too damn shy and awkward to just blurt them out in public, or just
came off the top of my head and I seriously needed to write them down (or type)
before they vanished. This series is
less about my critical side and my informal side and more about my creative
side, which means thing’s may or may not get weird. And as a warning, based on certain ideas I
have, there may be profanity in this series.
But before we get started, I have a question?
Where are all the good
rock bands have gone that are young, hungry, and looking for a fight? I’m not talking about older bands from the
70s and 80s (and probably the 90s), but bands that got started now that are trying
to scratch certain itches. For this
question, name a rock band whose median age is under 30 that could count as
badass, aggressive, or even sexy.
Anyone? That’s my point, all the
good, rebellious young rock bands are either nonexistent, underground, or from
another country altogether. It’s as if
the PC climate, Social Justice, and the rise in apathy in learning how to play
instruments has led to a culture that’s docile, obsessed with awful songs that
only work when involving memes, and so soft that we consider EVERYTHING
offensive in some way, shape, or form.
It’s also the reason why we don’t get a lot of great comedians out
there.
But when the seeds of
revolution, rebellion, anger, and frustration are planted, from wonton
destruction and war to anti-progress political climates, it becomes a time to
fight. Not to whine and complain about
how we want things safe, or spend our day check at a rave, or even go to social
media to whine and complain. We put it
into our art, we put it into our desire to explore, we put it into our need to
solve problems, and we put it to music driven by loud guitars and express our kaiju-sized
fury. And in my case, some of my issues,
as a result of my social awkwardness, are more sexual, societal, and based
around contradictory rules. As in, if
you have to do a certain thing a certain way, and that way is not as efficient
or abiding by common sense as a method I’d prefer, then I would have issues and
tell someone that I should approach a task with a different method, as my mind
is hardwired to prefer my method. IN
some cases, I can change it to better fit “the rules”, but If I’m less
efficient or more paranoid because of them, then said rules are full of crap.
That is one case, and
one idea for me has been to start or join a hard rock band (with some punk,
blues, glam, alternative, and preferably metal elements) where I’d play lead
guitar against songs of rebellion, bad behavior, sex, booze, wild parties, and
sci-fi and fantasy media. What do I mean
by all of this? I’ll go piece by piece
so you can understand where I’m coming from.
Musical Style: While I
have a wide range of interests musically in the styles of hard rock and metal,
I would most likely go for a progressive power metal style with elements of thrash
metal, straight progressive, American power metal, European power metal, glam
metal, hair metal, traditional metal, neo-classical metal, hard rock, arena
rock, alternative rock, grunge, alternative metal, and a few other genres like
black metal, death metal, gothic metal, industrial metal, garage rock, and
shoegaze if necessary. Effectively modern
melodic hard rock/metal with everything but hip hop and country added to the
sound (and the last two would only be used of A) a joke is possible and
requires elements of both genres or B) the song works better with beats or
twang). What this means is a lot of
heavy riffs, high technicality, albums that serve as overarching stories (or
collections of cool tales in musical form), catchy hooks, mostly melodic,
empowering vocals with some harsh vocals for certain moments, shredding solos,
thick bass (even if the basslines aren’t as catchy), pounding drums, and a
massive, epic feel. And while it may be
difficult to gain a lot of younger aspiring musicians with this style, I can
say that the goal is to write riffs and licks that are based on how we feel at
the time, ranging from happy, depressed, disgusted, angry, and terrified to
curious, inquisitive, confused, and triumphant.
And the music will be the main focus of the songwriting as far as
getting the quality right.
Examples: Symphony X, Pagan’s Mind, Kamelot, Angra,
Salems Lott, Halycon Way, Dream Theater, DragonForce, Metallica, Slayer,
Megadeth, Anthrax, Helloween, Blind Guardian, Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica,
Nightwish, Rhapsody of Fire, Hammerfall, Sabaton, Powerwolf, Aerosmith, KISS,
Van Halen, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Accept,
Queensryche, Fates Warning, Manowar, Jag Panzer, Helstar, Vicious Rumors, Liege
Lord, X Japan, Galneryus, Versailles, Concerto Moon, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising
Force, Cacophony, Racer X, Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Dokken, Twisted Sister, W.A.S.P.,
Quiet Riot, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Poison, Winger, Warrant, Skid
Row, Cinderella, Guns N’ Roses, Queen, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam,
Soundgarden, and so on. Or more
effectively, imagine a majority of those artists mixed together into a metallic
blade of shredding, intricate hard rock, and you get the picture.
What I’m doing right
now to get this off the ground: Thanks to Rocksmith 2014, I am able to play in
various genres. I even search out tabs
and open-source resources in honing and expanding my technique while also
having books on chords, scales, exercises, and progressions that I will look
into. That and I’m also communicating to
people how I can play guitar while considering learning bass and keyboards.
Lyrical Style: If I
can describe my way of attacking lyrics, it would be based around stuff I know,
something clearly any songwriter would do, and mix it with my weird sense of
humor. If I need a song about a pretty
girl, I use what I know about the prettiest girl, or I pick a waifu to sing
about. A song about boozing it up, I’d
write about going to the bar, getting wasted, singing a few drinking tunes, and
stumbling back home before puking throughout the next morning. A song about societal woes, expect Jonathan
Swift-esque social satire, like setting age limits in regard to certain jobs to
keep baby boomers retired or force them to retire, or eating the poor to handle
wage gaps while writing a cookbook for this scenario. How about songs inspired by other media like
books, movies, TV, anime, manga, comics, and video games? I’d just sing about that, and/or mix it with
more perverted ideas.
Examples: Lyrically, the songs would be more inspired
by Aerosmith, Van Halen, KISS, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, Judas Priest, Iron
Maiden, W.A.S.P., Manowar, Jag Panzer, Weird Al Yankovic, Jonathan Coulton,
Flight of the Conchords, Area 11, Tony Goldmark, and Steel Panther. Yes, I’m that obsessed with raunch,
manliness, and humor.
What I’m doing right
now to get this off the ground: I’ve
already written at least one song using the title as a basis for what I’m
thinking, and I’ve set up more titles and themes I’d like to explore in this
category. Over time, expect my
songwriting to improve.
Image: While the
obvious category would be looking normal and wearing street clothes, mainly
t-shirts and jeans, I’d also pay homage to the denim and leather roots of metal
while incorporating punk, glam, shock rock, visual kei, and barbaric folk metal
imagery such as studs, chains, spandex, teased hair (with possibilities of
spiky shonen hair or mohawks), skulls, pagan imagery, Rococo-era clothes,
leopard skins, and kilts. Beards are
optional, though I’m certain that a clean one or shaven faces would
differentiate my band’s image from contemporary hard rock acts.
Examples: Classic X Japan, Salems Lott, W.A.S.P., Mötley
Crüe, classic and 80s Aerosmith, KISS, Van Halen, Saxon, Iron Maiden, Judas
Priest, Accept, Guns N’ Roses, Poison, Malice Mizer, L’Arc-en-Ciel, Versailles,
Dir En Grey, Alestorm, Powerwolf, Turisas, Korpiklaani, Fintroll, Arkona, Ex
Deo, etc. Effectively, I can go as light
as high heels and as extreme as Rococo Vikings.
What I’m doing right
now to get this off the ground: Not much
at this point, still brainstorming about this.
Album artwork: Animesque
visuals that can be as basic as a schoolgirl looking into the distance and as
epic as a brave party of warriors slaying a dragon.
Examples: ANYTHING by
Dragon Guardian in the album artwork environment.
What I’m doing right
now to get this off the ground: Does watching anime, reading comics and manga,
checking out animesque or cartoon-inspired art on DeviantArt, going to comic
and anime conventions, and thinking of buying a guide on manga artwork count
for this?
Publicity: You know
how I use Facebook and Twitter, right?
Well, I’d definitely use my Instagram account to promote my skills as
well, and you also know that I’m able to do other stuff like helping build and
test any band website, talking with people, and putting up flyers where
possible until a record deal, may it be with a major or independent label,
happens. Plus I can use that flyer
concept, as well as band meetups to try to get people interested. If I come up with possible riffs as well as
fun titles for songs, I’ll set up public and private posts for them
respectively so you can see what I come up with. Plus I can use various social media platforms
to do so.
Examples: Name any
artist in the modern day who is young and hungry that doesn’t use social media
to promote their craft, mainly in music.
Anyone? If not, then I DON’T want
to be like those lazy bums. Social Media is important, so get over it and seize the future with X-S Tech!
What I’m doing right
now to get this off the ground: I’ve mentioned my Facebook and Twitter use,
right? Well, that’s a start. Plus I’m definitely planning on doing covers
of famous songs to prove to people that I can play.
So that’s how I’d do
it. If you are interested, shoot a
message on Facebook here to start a conversation: https://www.facebook.com/RockOtaku92/. You can also do this through Twitter as well
here: https://twitter.com/RockOtaku92. Also here’s my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockotaku92/,
and my Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/rockotaku92. If you have anything to say, please put your
feedback in the comments below as well as on the first two pages. I may add something to Instagram so show
where I’m at right now with this. So be
on the lookout for that.
Until Next Time, This
is the Rock Otaku. Live Loud, Play Hard,
and BRING BACK PROJECT 9-6-1, ATLANTA!
P.S. Yes, this is a
serious attempt at something Tony Goldmark has been doing on Twitter for fun. Right down to the way he spells certain words.
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