Music gives me one of the only ways to safely express how I am feeling, or to convey a message that I am otherwise unable to communicate to others. It gives me unparalleled satisfaction knowing that something I play or create has the ability to help someone feel better, or heal them in some manner; it is also one of the few universal languages.
My musical dream is to run my own studio, teaching guitar and music lessons to a younger generation (or anyone who wants to learn), with the ability to go out and perform for crowds of people and make a living out of it. I want to be able to reach out and affect others in a positive manner, and the best way to generally do that is with music.
Teaching people the true value of music and art. People are constantly reminded to "Get a real job" and that what they do "serves no purpose". If this negativity were to stop, perhaps eventually the world would begin to be a better place.
I have a few: Classically it would be a Bouree from one of the Bach Lute Suites, for more normal music it would have to be any number of songs like "Iron Man, Paranoid, One, Walk, the Trooper, etc." There are too many for there just to be one!
My favorite groups would have to be: Metallica, X-Japan, Girls Dead Monster, Coast in the Clouds, 人間椅子, Iron Maiden, Nintendo's in house band/s, Mick Gordon, and Marbin
I find that playing music from videogames, or playing games helps me to think more musically. I never was one to be able to sit in pure silence for an idea. Fantasy artwork is also a huge inspiration for me, it better helps me to hear things depending on what I'm looking at.
Anyone can play music, and that it's never too late to start doing something. Additionally that music is a liberating experience that everyone has a basic right to witness.
I used to get extremely nervous, almost unable to play anything. Now however, I am able to play for any number of people without much anxiety at all, the more you play for others, the easier it will get.
Our reality has always been a hard one, today now more than ever it is getting harder to make money and have a stable career, especially with the "I can get it for free on Youtube" mentality. What we need to see happen is more people willing to support the arts just as much as they do for Sports and other endeavors. We also need to take more initiative than "waiting" for the job to come to us, you have to GO FIND IT.
I think that so far, Drooble is a very nice, very well laid out site. Finding music is pretty simple, and I've not had any major issues as of yet; once I begin uploading the music that I'm working on we'll see how that aspect works!
The thing that irritates me the most, and this would be two-fold, is that people almost always want something out of us for nothing. People always want to underpay a musician, because they don't perceive it as a "real" job, this in turn creates another issue...our gear or equipment costs are through the roof! People expect to see flashy, nicely made things, but leave it up to us to come up with it, and some people get upset if they see knockoffs and "beginner" gear, but they don't see the 50 hours a week we put into practice, only the 1-3 hour performance we give.
I try to do my best! If bands I like are playing, I buy tickets and go see them, if I can't make it, or afford to go, I at least buy their album wherever it is available (i.e. Bandcamp, CdBaby, etc.).
You don't need "Top level" gear at all. Today all a musician should need to get started is: The best things they can afford. A decent guitar that stays in tune, a basic USB mic or a phone/tablet/laptop with a camera and mic also work! You can buy DAW hardware very cheap second hand: I use a $40 P.O.D. and sometimes a $14 Pockrock. and above all the skills trained enough to sound as good as they can on the gear they own, people only listen to what sounds good. Personal qualities should be: a tenacious spirit, very strong work ethic, and the desire to share something with the world because they feel it must be heard. I have seen many very poor people play better than guys with all custom made gear, and it's just because they PRACTICE more than anyone else, if they can do it, so can you!
人間椅子 (Ningen Isu), Marbin, Coast in the Clouds, GaruDemo (not together anymore but extremely popular after the release of Angel Beats), Berried Alive, Andrew Stein, Terracide, X-Japan (not very popular in the US). I am sure there are more, but that's all that come to mind right now.