From the pits of the IE in San Bernardino - Redlands/Loma Linda area specifically. I gave up music temporarily to pursue a college education. Yeah, that was foolish in retrospect and got me nowhere. I'm becoming a Notary Public in July to financially support my musical endeavors full time.
West Coast bands have shaped my playing more than anyone (which is obvious at first glance of my influences list), they've all help connect with my indigenous Western regional background - cultivating an overall sound unique to our side of the U.S. Music is not only a religion or catharsis, it's damn near my heartbeat and universal truth I can sonically share with others.
Perform with a 4-5 member band, redefine and shape what music in general is capable of, change the way studio engineering or songwriting shapes a group's musicianship. Expand what's possible in creative expression and showcase some new modes guitarists aren't familiar with composing. I'd also love to venture into the Soundtrack world - ambiance does so much via minuet details.
The way musicians are represented in social media and award shows, actual musicians and composers seldom get proper recognition. We get treated like we're the outcasts when we're responsible for primarily shaping American Musical History - that means hit songs too.
War's classic "Low Rider" - my first exposure to why Dorian is so fundamental to Black music (particularly Funk even more than Jazz) and most forms derived from African American composers. Always loved that song and my family always played War songs among countless legendary Funk bands. Reminds me of my childhood decades later after the track released. It evokes very strong "Casual afternoon SoCal drive" vibes - the pulse of that iconic bassline even suggest you're cruising in a Impala.
Everyone who I listed as pivotal guitarists I'm a huge fan of are among my wider preferred range of bands - heavily rotated on a 24/7 basis. That includes other artists like Fu Manchu, Israel Houghton (Occasional fan of modern Gospel artists, his is way more energetic and extremely Rock driven), Heart, Korn (early periods), Exodus, Machine Head (None of their Nu Metal stuff), Foo Fighters, Go-Go's (Extremely talented group of famous Pop players, I think they were the first all female band to get signed to a major label) Vektor, Tourniquet, Soundgarden, Dead Kennedys, Linkin Park (Loved their first 3 albums, went they went Industrial, nope..) Job For A Cowboy, etc. Those are all regional specific acts. Others I listen to from around the country and rest of the world - Acrassicauda, John McLaughlin's Mahavisnu Orchestra, Carcass, Horace Silver, Bloc Party, The Killers (again, their classics, none of their stuff from this decade), Franz Ferdinand (Old School eras, not their forays into Electronica), Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Pantera, Chevelle, Lamb of God, Sepultura (Everything up to Roots), Sergio Mendes, AFI (first 3 albums), Emperor, Wrust (from South Africa, sick band who doesn't release a lot of music), Athiest, Believer (I know ironic given the previous band, how they contradict each other. They're both incredible Progressive Extreme Metal bands - particularly Death and Thrash Metal respectively. Atheist is Jazzier, Funky, and Latin, Believer is more Classical, Atonal and Industrial oriented), Living Colour (Best all Black band who ever existed, very underrated and forgotten about), Helmet, Death (Ironically, as generic as the name sounds they are the best in Death Metal, 7 straight classic albums all different subgenres that defined the main style they perfected), Baroness Clutch, Mastodon, Solace, Candlemass, Trivium, The Sword, Trouble, Neurosis, Opeth, Tribulation (The Blackened Death Metal band from Arvika, Sweden that later experiments with Goth, New Wave and Psychedelia - NOT the other Swedish Metal band of the same name. Trust me there's a huge difference). That's basically a long list of my main and secondary influences to give you an idea of who influences my songwriting. I'll list Soundtrack composers sometime later this year.
Hearing the natural sound vibrated by the outside environment - can be anything from hummingbirds chirping, to the waves of LA beaches crashing, to mechanical sound of dumpster trucks moving trash bins. Setting plays a huge role in how I imagine a song can be thoroughly approached. Concept albums are a niche I'm super interested in. My debut album I'm working on (as well as successive projects) all are based on grand ideas.
That music can be Jesus - heal you and yet you never likely will ever see who that is in your lifetime. You just intake the aural space of your internal self being cleansed by sound. There's faith in audio, believe it or not - even the most die hard skeptics innately trust noise they are familiar with. It's acoustical physics, but everyone believes music is spiritual on some inexplicable, supernatural level (Btw, that's a great album by Santana I highly recommend besides Abraxas).
I never have before, hopefully that changes next year after I have all my songs written for a demo.
Everything from studio time costs, the general confusion of recording a whole album, using either theory (cerebral) or learning by ear (feel) approach to making stuff. The reality is as musicians we invest ultimately in whatever is desired to be heard - for better or worse. It's our responsibility to make each generation is comfortable with what they are tuning in to - should be for their betterment as people not regressing. At the same time, musicians should be a bonding type of community it's us against the labels and industry. If we do all the music, why do those who mostly never interacted with this process (or played an instrument) get to decide the fate and compensation of the songwriters? Also if all award shows were cancelled that would greatly foster creative thinking to rely on how you intend to personalize promoting your material. That way there's a direct link to how many people REALLY care about your music - not just because it's popular, has accolades behind it, Billboard charts, etc.
First timer user, looks cool and accessible so far.
Short on practice time, focusing on honing my skills and talent to productive use. Unfortunately working 5 days a week, does not make you inclined to unload on your sounds.
I seldom get to go to concerts, so I still show appreciation by buying any band's tunes I'm a fan of. I have a couple of band shirts, but kinda grew up from that type of fashion.
Self-reliance, ingenuity, transparency and being uncompromising. In this day and age, we need music that's not just relatable, but grounded in common sense and empathy. Confidence in yourself is an incredible motivating force.
Here's one https://youtu.be/XpGGaGeguGs