Author Archives: Joshua Sanchez

Taking a musical shift

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A band or solo artist releases new music after a while. You’re sitting down with headphones and taking a close listen. You notice that something is off. That band that you liked because they were heavier than a black hole is now softer than your pillow. Or that artist that you liked for being catchy is now experimenting with things that put you off. Either way, you don’t like the direction they’re going in. You feel betrayed by your favourite artist, without any consideration for what they want.

https://twitter.com/RealJonesn18/status/1618470254979731456?s=20&t=-J2ubKECSalrH1X1bLyPWA

One of my favourite examples of this came last year when Architects released The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit. The first single released, titled When We Were Young, was met with confusion from diehard fans. Architects are known as a djenty metalcore band and that song is pretty much a pop song. Some people weren’t happy with this change. These people would end up not listening to the album.

Another example is when Bring Me The Horizon released Amo back in 2019. Before then, they were pretty heavy. They started off as a deathcore band, slowly shifting to metalcore and alternative rock. People were quick to notice how poppy the songs are. Even in the song Heavy Metal, one of the lyrics was ‘Cause some kid on the ‘gram said he used to be a fan, but this s*** ain’t heavy metal.” They were pretty self-aware when they released that album. They know they’re not the band they used to be.

Sometimes these changes have to happen. Xandria, a symphonic metal band from Germany, got a new singer. Unlike their previous vocalists, she has a poppy voice rather than operatic soprano vocals like the previous two or even the gothic soft voice of their first vocalist. People were quick to notice the shift in sound when the band released new songs last year. Instead of the symphonic power metal or gothic metal sound they did before, they started going in a more pop-rock direction. People started calling it generic and I can’t disagree, but if that’s what the band wants, then they should be allowed to.

These bands aren’t obligated to stick with one sound forever. Life would be boring to do the same thing forever. If bands want to start going in a drastically different direction, then they should be allowed to.

Phone storage is getting better these days

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You’re taking a video on your phone. As you’re about to capture that perfect moment, you get that dreadful notification. “Your device storage is running out,” it says. Not only did you not get that perfect moment you’re going to forget, but you also now need to start deleting things off your device. You have too many pictures of your dog running around. You also have videos of you and your significant other doing things on your anniversary. This would never be a problem if you had more storage.

I almost ran out of storage one time. I once went out with a couple of friends and decided to record parts of it. I ended up recording enough footage that there were only 3 gigabytes left on my phone. It was 30 minutes worth of footage, shot in 4k, and my phone had 16 gigabytes with no way of adding storage with an SD card.

You might think about using cloud saves and you’re absolutely right. My family all shared an iCloud account (except me because I’m on Android) and they would fill that drive to oblivion. I’m not sure how long they’ve been using it but let’s just say they only had to start deleting things off the drive to make more room. I want to find flaws in this but I can’t. Having a lot of storage that’s accessible from anywhere is one of the best things in the world. Even I use my Google Drive a lot for school and other things.

We’ve come a long way since having to store things on floppy disks, flash drives, and other forms of external storage. We’re all in for having access to a lot of storage whenever we want. Maybe in the future, it won’t cost money to have more than 15 gigabytes of storage.

Your favourite artist might skip Vancouver

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You’ve just seen your favourite artist announce a North American tour. You’re looking at the concert dates, only to see that Vancouver isn’t listed anywhere. You’re either salty that they’re not coming, or you start planning that trip to Edmonton, Calgary, or Seattle. It doesn’t even make sense to you why they’re not coming to Vancouver. They’re already going to Calgary and Seattle, so why not Vancouver? Do they just not like us? Are our venues that bad? Well, it’s kind of a combination of those things.

Most Vancouver venues aren’t sufficient for most artists. Rogers Arena and BC Place are too expensive and other places can’t fit more than 10,000 people. Artists would rather not waste their time at a venue that small to stop by during a tour most of the time. Also, most of our venues aren’t that great to begin with. The acoustics at these places are pretty terrible. I was at a concert at Red Room back in May. The headliner and the band before them had their levels super high to the point where you sometimes can’t tell what was going on. You had to be at a sweet spot to hear things clearly, which should never be the case.

Thankfully, it looks like things are coming back to Vancouver. There are a total of 3 shows this year that I’m interested in. And these aren’t just top-of-the-line legacy acts. I’m talking about bands such as The Black Dahlia Murder, Kreator, Sepultura, and Rotting Christ. Bands of this calibre are the type to skip Vancouver and the fact that they’re coming is quite a treat. I’ve seen many of my favourite bands just skip Vancouver which has led to some disappointment.

Vancouver will unfortunately be skipped by many artists. They probably prefer just getting something big in Seattle and hope Vancouverites will make the journey down there. If your favourite artist is coming to Vancouver, don’t wait. That is your chance to see them in your city.

Juice will stay in our fridges

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Today is Green Juice Day. You either think green juice is disgusting or you think it’s the best thing in the world. Sometimes you only like it when it’s sweet. Either way, green juice is a part of things people drink on a regular basis.

My first experience with green juice was with Naked. It was on sale at Costco so my parents thought it was a good idea to buy a pack. I immediately tried the green drink which was the most interesting out of all the other drinks. I didn’t know what to expect from it, but it was sweeter than I anticipated. I drank it until we ran out of the flavour. I remember wanting more but we couldn’t get it again because it was no longer on sale. It was honestly for the best that we didn’t get it anymore. That drink was full of sugar and did not have any real health benefits.

Other juices like apple or orange juice are better anyways. Apple juice is a staple of our childhoods. You either had parents that bought apple juice or it was given out during hot lunch days during elementary school. I never had it in my house so getting it during elementary school was a treat. We always had orange juice in the house instead. I drank that stuff religiously, sometimes more than water which is concerning. I don’t know what lead me to not drink as much juice. Maybe it was me wanting to drink more water. Or it was my parents not buying it one day with no one questioning it. We have been getting it again lately, but not to the same extent as we did back in the day.

Juice is a wonderful drink, whether that would be green juice or a normal drink. They will be a staple in our households for generations to come.

We all miss field trips

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You probably remember going on school field trips as a child. Your parents are signing your permission slip, you’re getting an outfit prepared the night before, waking up to a somewhat special breakfast, and other things that are getting you pumped up for the school day.

I can remember my last field trip during elementary school. It was at the PNE which is a pretty decent choice for a final elementary school trip. I got up in the morning, had a special breakfast (unfortunately I can’t remember what I had), put on the outfit I prepared the night before, and got to school early since the bus came before school started. After we arrived, we noticed that a bunch of other schools were also there. I even spotted someone that I knew outside of school there. We had the usual talk before everyone was allowed in, such as not getting lost and staying in groups. I of course, like many others, broke these rules. I have definitely gotten lost a few times and got split from my group. I don’t think any of the teachers actually cared because no one got in trouble as far as I know. It was hard trying to do as much as possible during the trip. At some point, I was too tired to do any further and just sat around our waiting area for the last half hour. I honestly couldn’t care to do any more PNE things. At least I had fun while I was able to. It was one of those trips where we got back to school before it ended, which was weird considering it was a trip to the PNE.

We probably miss going on a field trip. Imagine a world where colleges and workplaces did trips like this yearly as we did during elementary school. Sure, we might have the money to do it ourselves but it’s not the same.

Holland Park is only interesting once in a while

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Fvded In The Park was recently announced. It is an annual music festival at Holland Park in Surrey. It’s one of the more exciting things that happen at Holland Park. If you’ve ever passed by it, you’ve probably noticed how dull it looks.

https://twitter.com/FVDEDinthePARK/status/1617997825543131137?s=20&t=XMuSJBNQ1qNRq7PZvUzAog

These are only mere observations so take what I say with a grain of salt. When I was a child, my dad and I were waiting for my mom at King George station. We decided to kill some time by taking a walk through Holland Park. I don’t know why my dad thought about doing it but I just went along. It was pretty nice…for the first ten seconds. After that, it became a carnival of boredom. There weren’t enough trees, bushes, and other plants to make the scenery worth looking at. Sure, there are a few stone sculptures and water fountains but nothing to write home about. It was also pretty long for something that was super monotonous. Unlike something like Surrey Lake Park where you get up and downhill sections, cool animals, and the occasional golf ball, Holland Park looks dry in comparison. After one round, I thought it was over. Nope, instead, my dad decided it was a good idea to do one more round. If you thought the first round was bad, wait until you do a second round. It is significantly worse than the first time around. You have to experience the same boring route all over again after witnessing the soulless park for the first time.

train and walkway

(waferboard / Flickr)

You probably see this as me hating the park, and you’re right. I don’t like not liking parks, but this one takes the cake for the most soulless thing I have ever seen. There are more interesting ones you can go to such as Surrey Lake Park or Tynehead. At least those places have something going for them.

Education is the backbone of society

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Today is the International Day of Education. This day was declared by The United Nations General Assembly to show their passion for making education a priority for people around the world.

I have always had a subpar relationship with school. I was an ungrateful little brat who thought that I didn’t need education in my life. I thought I could get by in life without school. But that’s just because elementary and high school make you learn things you’re not interested in. For example, we were all supposed to learn science, something I wasn’t interested in. Of course, you’re not going to do well in something you’re not interested in. Even something like math has never interested me (except during fifth grade when I was doing shockingly well).

I’ve always had envy towards people who learned things quickly. It usually takes me some time to pick up on things which is irritating. There’s nothing worse than looking dumb in front of your peers. Whenever I got a low grade, there was always going to be a smart person who was going to make fun of it. I had no reason to talk back because they were right. I just couldn’t pick up on things as easily as them.

Despite these struggles, I have become a lot more grateful for my education over the years. It wasn’t perfect, but there was always something to learn and learning something every day is better than not getting knowledge. It makes the world a lot more interesting and the fact that there are people in the world who don’t get the same opportunity is heartbreaking. These people deserve to have as much education as everyone here. I hope in the future that everyone around the world can get a proper education. Education is the key component to a better future.

The Grammys and “boomer” artists

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With the Grammys around the corner, sometimes people like to talk about how someone should’ve gotten it over the person that received it. People’s standards for music have risen, which means there will always be someone who is upset over someone’s win.

The pop realm usually recognizes newer artists every year, with artists such as Lizzo and Bebe Rexha getting nominations. When it comes to rock and metal, it is clear that legacy artists are the most likely to get the award. For best rock and metal performances, only a few artists/bands such as Turnstile and Ghost can be considered new, even though they’ve been around for over 10 years now. The other ones that have been nominated, such as Ozzy Osbourne and Megadeth, have been around for more than 40 years now. There have been a lot more artists during that time and for them to not get recognition is doing modern rock and metal a disservice.

With classic rock, people are always putting older artists as the standard for music, usually saying stuff such as music reaching greatness in the 70s or 80s, and how it has gone downhill since then. The truth is, while those songs still hold up today, rock and metal were nowhere at their peak during that time. No genre can ever peak. We just keep doing what older generations do, saying that music during our time was the best. Even for their generation, their parents and grandparents complained about how rock is destroying music. Sure, these artists need to exist for new artists to be inspired by, but by no means is it considered the standard for all music.

People will always hold older artists on a pedestal. I can’t blame them for doing that. They hold a special place in their hearts just like how the artists we have today hold a special place in ours.

A band’s break up story

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Just recently, Brendon Urie announced the end of his solo project Panic! At the Disco. A lot of bands have been going away lately such as Blessthefall, NOFX, and Tristania. Most of these bands break up for multiple reasons such as lack of interest, changes in life plans, money, and chemistry issues.

One of my favourite bands, After Forever, broke up back in 2009. It all started in 2008 when guitarist/harsh vocalist Sander Gommans wanted to take a year-long break. After a year, they realized they all wanted to go in different directions. They decided to break up after this revelation, with no current plans for any kind of reunion.

Some bands don’t even want to get back together. Take Linkin Park for example. When Chester Bennington passed away, people started to wonder about the future of the band. They did a tribute concert a few months after his death and Mike Shinoda performed Faint with Sum 41. As of right now, Mike Shinoda says there are no plans to continue the band any further.

Then there are cases where people think the band should just stop. The big one most people want to see end is KISS. For years, they have been doing farewell shows, without a sign of an end coming. I think bands should be allowed to stick around for as long as they like. As long as they are able to still support themselves through the band, I don’t think they should have any obligation to end it. If they enjoy what they do, then let them be. There’s only so much time a person has before not being able to do the things they love.

Bands come and go. Whether a band needs to break up or not is up to them. At the end of the day, as long as they got their chance to do something, they achieved something in life.

 

Sharing is caring, except for names.

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Many people in the world share a name. Recently, there was a case where someone bought a Cameo video for his friend who is a fan of The 1975, specifically their frontman Matt Healy. After a few days, he received the video, only to realize he got Matt Heafy from Trivium. Heafy only found out about what happened after the person who ordered it made a video about the incident.

As someone who is named Josh, I’ve been a victim of a case like this three times: two in 8th grade and one in 9th grade. This mix-up all happened with another Josh whose last name starts with an S.

The first time happened when I was starting high school. I was called into the counsellor’s office to talk about changes to my schedule. I had no idea why but I went along with it. Toward the end, we noticed a few things. One, the picture that pulled up when my file opened wasn’t mine. That should’ve been the time to say something but we kept going. When the counsellor handed me my schedule, it had the name of the other Josh. I don’t know what caused the mix-up but we realized the mistake and moved on.

The 2nd time it happened was not as bad, but still notable. I was called into the counsellor’s for some reason, not knowing why. I was in the waiting area and when my counsellor came, she realized she called the wrong classroom and sent me back.

This final case almost caused a headache. My brother’s now fiance was working at one of the public rec centres. She was talking to someone who she found out was one of my friends at the time. When she asked if she knew anyone from my school named Josh, my friend said “Yeah he’s my ex.” Just to make sure she got the right Josh, she asked my friend if she meant Sanchez since as of right now, I’ve never been in a relationship. My friend quickly corrected herself saying “Oh that guy? Yeah, he’s my homie. That was another Josh.”

People are going to share names whether they like it or not. You can go with your life being awkward about it, or embrace it and bond with other people who share the same name, just like the Joshes that held the Josh Fight.