my first musical influence.
When people reminisce about middle school, they generally talk about their first loves, their first relationships. As a 13 year old kid with an iPod and some headphones, I was far too busy for any of that. Instead, thanks to the magic of YouTube downloaders and shady Turkish websites, I was first defining the musical tastes that would accompany me for the years to come.
I started out with what my parents listened to. Timbiriche and 90s Spanish pop from my mom's side was way too uncool, so I instead stuck to Aerosmith and Guns N' Roses from my dad's. I eventually branched out to Metallica, whose first albums I still revisit from time to time – I always think about them whenever one of my own masters sounds shoddy.
The hot new thing of the day was EDM, and so I gradually incorporated it into my gradually more disorganized playlist. My main source of music at the time was whatever was hot on Newgrounds, or more specifically Geometry Dash. Among this group of musicians, Xtrullor deserves a special shoutout; of all the artists featured in various levels I played, he's the one I consistently came back to. Otherwise, I'd just download whatever the latest release on Spinnin' Records was. Nothing worth highlighting there.
This all changed on one fateful day, the date lost to time. I'm not sure what exactly incited me to do this, perhaps a billboard somewhere or simple word of mouth. But, I searched for deadmau5 on YouTube, and clicked on the first result catching my attention.
Low-passed saws hitting my ears, I was instantly amazed. I just hadn't heard something like this ever before. A catchy rhythm to follow the tune? Seven entire minutes of music? I was hooked.
For the next three years, deadmau5 and his label became my benchmark for electronic music, and by extension for my own musical preferences. Persistent 4/4 kick drums, long build-ups and layered elements, these became engrained in my musical vocabulary. So when I started making my own songs, these elements followed naturally, for better or worse.
Eventually, I learned of new artists, and my horizons broadened yet again. In time, my own technique and style adapted accordingly. Nowadays, the progressive house format feels way too strict for me. It's a good listen now and then, but there's only so many chord progressions you can arpeggiate for five minutes at a time. Still, in all I make as I move forward, there's always going to be a hint of my first favorite artist.