How I Started Getting Into Music

 

Me when I was a kid.

 

I don’t know about other people but I do have memories of my early childhood...as early as 3 years old. I watched a lot of Sesame Street on television, so I guess that was my first encounter with music: the alphabet songs, musicals numbers with Muppets, and animated videos especially the “Pinball Number Count” song...it was groovy and funky for a children’s song, not to mention the animation is psychedelic. 

 

Me at age 4: My dad listens to a lot of Pink Floyd, Nazareth, Scorpions, Bad Company, Eagles, CCR, and Beatles on cassette tapes on our gigantic stereo system. No, he doesn’t listen to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” or Tom Jones’ “Delilah” (thank goodness!). I started to appreciate classic rock by getting exposed to these types of music and bands.At age 7: I got hooked on my dad’s cassette tapes of Billy Idol and Duran Duran. Both of their music is what I considered to be my personal favorites among my dad’s music collection and became a fan of these 2 music icons.

 

Choice tracks:

• Flesh for Fantasy (Billy Idol)
• The Reflex (Duran Duran)
• Hot In The City (Billy Idol)
• Eyes Without A Face (Billy Idol)
• Wild Boys (Duran Duran)
• New Moon on Monday (Duran Duran)
• Rebel Yell (Billy Idol)

I was in the 1st grade at that time. I got tired listening to nursery rhymes and children’s song at that age, felt that the lyrics have outgrown me already. 

 

At age 8: I stumbled upon a radio station playing new wave and rock music while I was “surfing” for radio frequency signals on my walkman. Back then I got a this habit of listening to weird noises and strange signals on radio especially on short wave band (SW1 & SW2) sometimes I picked up radio signals from Taiwan, Japan, Russia, and other stations outside our area. The radio station what played rock and new wave was NU 107. My favorite back then was New Order’s version of “Love Vigilantes” and other chart topping hits of that era. Since then, I got hooked to that radio station although I can only receive a very weak signal from our place. I grew up in a small town in Sta. Rita, Minalin, Pampanga in the Philippines...which seemed to be very far from the city of Manila. 

 

High school days: I started listening to Skid Row, Metallica, Guns n’ Roses, Megadeth, EMF, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, all the famous acts of late 80’s and early 90’s rock, alternative, and metal. I got hooked up to Metallica the most. I collected most of their albums/cassette tapes, my room filled with Metallica posters, I wore Metallica t-shirts. I began to learn to play the guitar using the chord charts of local music magazines we called “Song Hits”...I started to like and enjoy listening to LA 105 as well. This is the time where local band scene grew and flourished.I feel nostalgic until this day everytime I listen to Sandwich’s song “Betamax”...If you belong to the Generation X like me, you will somehow relate to the song, if you grew up in the Philippines as a Gen X kid.I started to join a local band in our town that plays covers, more like a garage band named “Mother Toix”. I started as a bassist. Our lead guitarist Lewie Aguilar taught me how to properly use electric guitars, amps, stompboxes, and reading tabs.The rest was history...my musical tastes and perspective have broadened. Years have passed I’ve been involved in various amateur bands and music groups. Late 90’s I become a big fan of Deftones, Korn, and Smashing Pumpkins. I discovered other amazing artists and bands.

 

How I got hooked in electronic music and music production is another story.

 

If you’re a parent, I suggest you should observe the kind of music that your child listen’s to... Or you think twice on what your child hears on the radio, even the music that you play in your homes. It might affect them on how they might get influenced. Your child looks up on you as a role model and a major influencer, not just in music, even in other aspects as well. 

 

Side note: My dad really wanted me to be a civil engineer because he believed that I could make a living and have a bright future as an engineer when I grow up. Me, my childhood dream was to become an astronaut, not an engineer or a musician.