I am a good example of what people call a “slasher”, and no, I haven’t killed anyone yet.
People define slashers as those who usually multi-task or have multiple job roles. This is now common nowadays because we tend to shift our focus to different things that we want to achieve before our time expires. And so the statements “Let’s do it all!” and “Let’s have it all!” are those beginning words that urges us to become a slasher.
In the music business, slashers are almost everybody. A great example of slashers are those singer/songwriters that are now becoming a trend.
And I’m no exception. To quote Queen, the greatest band ever lived, I want it all!
I started as a songwriter, and back then I was contented in just writing those words. Then I saw a movie that would become my favorite movie ever, Cayote Ugly. This movie tells a story of a songwriter who moved to New York hoping that one great artist can sing her songs. But it wasn’t easy. People who write songs should be the one singing them because they know the feeling of the song. They know how each line sounds. That’s what happened to the girl. She gets nowhere near her dream unless she sings those songs herself. But the problem was she has stage-fright. And then the cliche part comes. Girl meets boy….boy helps her to face her fears… ya di ya di ya… girl finally sings one of her songs… and in the end, Leanne Rimes sang that song.
And so I ended up singing. I’m not saying I was good, but it’s enough that I hit the correct notes.
And then I realized that to be a true songwriter, I must be able to play an instrument so that I can record it. So I studied piano, and it was not easy and ended up quitting. So I moved to guitar. And guess what, I also quit. Something about learning how to play an instrument made me uncomfortable in a sense that until now I haven’t figured out yet. But this wasn’t a sad time. This made me look for alternatives. And this lead me to Digital Music where in I can play all the instruments ever existed digitally.
So I was fine in Digital Music. I did that for almost 6 years. But then again, I saw an interview of the greatest artist that ever lived, Freddie Mercury. He said that your songs are your babies. You are the only one who knows how it should sound. And in order for you to produce that sound, you have to play it yourself. Imagine what’s going on in his mind when he wrote Bohemian Rhapsody. But he had an advantage because he played the piano and little guitar. This opened my eyes that I really need to learn how to play. So I forced myself to learn how to play the guitar again, thinking that this will make me a step closer to what I wanted.
And then one thing led to another. I was seriously obsessed with Queen, and when I say “seriously obsessed”, I mean a shrine, autobiography books, memorized 90% of all their songs, and I watched all the documentaries and music videos there is about them. So yeah. Even though Freddie Mercury died 2 months before I was born, I idolized him so much. I wanted to know everything about him that made him a legend.
Then this thing started. A fascination of legends, icons, and significant people that influenced everyone, every sound, and every genre that we have today. I wanted to know why The Beatles became so huge. I wanted to know what Bohemian Rhapsody means. I wanted to know who invented Rock n’ Roll. I wanted to know everything. So, what I did was enroll myself in online courses about the History of Rock n’ Roll.
From then on, I was out of control.
I studied the music of the 20s, the 30s, 40s, and my personal favorite, the 50s. Then the 60s came and I became obsessed with The Beatles, but this time it wasn’t “seriously obsessed”. Just enough obsession.
If I wasn’t weird enough back then, I now became much weirder. People asks me what music I like, and I answer them honestly. I like Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Darin, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, The Beatles, Queen… and almost everyone who asks me that question follows up with “How old are you?”. Then I realized how many 22 year olds out there who listens to these kinds of music nowadays. I was not listening to the latest music but the opposite, I go backwards. Since my obsession with Queen (which are abundant in the 70s), then came to my obsession with The Beatles and Bob Dylan (60s), then to Buddy Holly (50s), then to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong (40s) and so on.
This made me realize something that I could become… a Music Historian.
Very few people in my age knows about these stuff, and why not be one of them.
So therefore I conclude, I am now a singer / songwriter / music producer / music historian. And who knows, in a few years, this list might be longer.
-Gigi ❤
lyrically wired 