Your friends probably talk about their favourite music artists all the time. You don’t get why they love them, or you’re intrigued but not sure when you’ll be ready to check them out. I’ve been in this situation multiple times in my life. Sometimes I throw them out. Other times, I understood what they were talking about.
A band that I recently started listening to is Seven Spires. I’ve been a fan of symphonic metal for a long time and heard their name as well. To be honest, I have no idea why in the world I did this. I thought I already knew which symphonic metal bands I liked so listening to them was unnecessary. One day, I just happened to be in the mood to go through their discography. I happened to have all the time in the world so I started from the beginning of their discography. Oh. My. God. I didn’t know what I was missing out on. Dark fantasy lyrics, mixed in with clean vocals that soar through the heaven, with harsh vocals that might make you jump, riffs and basslines that melt your face, and bombastic symphonic elements. This was completely up my alley for things I enjoyed. Discovering Seven Spires for me was like looking for copper but finding gold. Since that day, I don’t think I went a day without listening to them. I’m even salty over the fact that I missed out on seeing them when they opened for DragonForce last year during their North American tour.
Next is Bad Omens. I’m a metalcore kid at heart and this band has been on most metalcore kids’ timelines lately. I decided to check them out to see what the hype is all about. If you know what Bring Me The Horizon during Sempiternal sounds like, you will know what Bad Omens sound like. They’re definitely the best ones to copy that style because they try to bring something new to the table. But I can’t get the hype around them other than that. People are treating them like the best band in the scene when they’re not that different. I honestly couldn’t get the hype around them. They’re definitely talented individuals who can write catchy songs, but I think everyone overhyped them. I still like what they’re doing, but you would have to be a diehard fan to love the music.
On the lighter end of the spectrum, we got Snarky Puppy. I’ve heard about this group since high school. By this time most of my jazz listening started to dwindle down but Snarky Puppy was a name that I was still interested in. I finally gave them a chance. I was met with soul-crushing solos, spicy chords, and intense rhythm. I felt like I should’ve been a fan for years but just wasn’t sure how to approach it.
Arctic Monkeys are a name you’re probably familiar with. I was interested in them for a while but didn’t know how to jump right in. After some research, I jumped right in. I wasn’t impressed with what I got. I was met with music that I could mix in well with stuff I can hear on the radio.
With Bad Bunny becoming the most listened-to artist on Spotify for the third year in a row, people were quick to jump on others for not knowing who Bad Bunny is. They were always saying things along the lines of “You know if you expand your music taste you will enjoy his music.” However, I don’t think they should be obligated to listen to him if they don’t want to. Even someone like Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater) said that he has never listened to a single Beyonce song. It’s not like he actively avoids her or anything like that. He just happens to have never heard a song from her. He should not be obligated to listen to her if he doesn’t want. Even my sister who listens to a lot of BTS tries to sometimes get me into them. While I admit they make good music, I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to them.
As someone with more obscure music tastes, sometimes it’s a lot harder to try to get my friends to listen to some of the stuff I’m interested in. After discovering Seven Spires, I immediately tried to get my friends into them. So far I got one of my friends into them. As for the others, I feel like they’re in a similar spot as me for other bands where they just don’t get the hype.
Another example of this for me is Falling In Reverse. People always talk about this band and I have heard some songs out of my free will. However, I have absolutely no interest in them at all for personal reasons I don’t want to get into. You might try to force me to listen to them. I’ll hear it, but I’m not going to pay attention the entire time and just write them off.
For metal, people have always checked off metal as just noise. These people claim to listen to everything but the moment you mention metal to them, they will say “Oh, I don’t like all that screamy growly stuff. I only like REAL music.” This just shows close-mindedness. YOu might call me hypocritical because I refuse to listen to Falling In Reverse, but completely discrediting something isn’t the move.
Your friends and family will always try to get you into the music they like and you will do the same for them. When you give them a listen, you either say to yourself “Oh my god. Why haven’t I heard this before” or “I don’t understand why they’re excited over this.” However, maybe don’t always write them off. Give every artist your way a chance. Even if you don’t like it, you at least tried. When you do like it, you’ll probably become the person that was recommending them to you.