imaginarium of the booknomad

I had taken piano lessons when I was very young, but it didn’t feel that expressive to me—even though now I listen to piano music and think it’s very expressive. I just didn’t relate to it. Guitar seemed like a very good tool for angst. It has this flexibility and bendability to it, and it can take a lot of abuse. It also has a fragility; you can vacillate between something being very sweet and something being very angular and gritty, just within a matter of seconds. I liked how expressive it was. Also, I really like distortion. And, as a young person, I liked the way it amplified—it was exciting to have volume in my life. To play something loud, to fill a room—and then that room just gets bigger and bigger as you start to play out—that’s very exciting.

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That’s the trick—not feeling like you’re betraying other people. If you have friends who are making you feel that way, that’s not the right community for you. It’s good to find people that are encouraging you, not undermining your efforts or making them seem shallow. Because I think for most people it’s actually not about being rich or famous; it’s about being able to support yourself doing what you love. And I think if you can support yourself doing what you love, no one should criticize that.