"I've watched you change"

If you were to ask an older adult, say 60 years or so old, about rock music most of them would display a kind of scorn for it. Many would say that these musicians are party animals who flip the finger in the direction of authority while simultaneously corrupting the youth. This may be true of some, but not for all. There are positive elements in some artists out there who become better people by continuing to write music and others who have journeys of self discovery that lead to positive outputs.

The Deftones released a new record this week and it got me thinking about this growth in terms of both music and personal development. It is their 6th album and their music has changed a lot since the release of Adrenaline in 1995. In today’s industry it seems that there are many bands that stay in a comfort zone and never push themselves to try innovative things. Others continue to express the same things over and over rather than tackling new things in their lives.

I was reminded of where I started out as a musician way back in elementary school with the violin and the snare drum. In middle school I focused on the drums and continued up through high school. As with most people I wasn’t great when I started out, I was just looking to make as much noise as possible. As time went on I improved and began trying things that I had never been able to do before. That was my first experience with purely musical growth.

When I joined my first band sophomore year in high school I ended up writing some of the lyrics while holding down my drum duties. As I look back at the words I wrote, I am reminded of the person that I was at the time and the limited experiences I was drawing on. Flipping forward in the spiral notebook at the things I have written recently, it feels as though I have in fact become a better person and expanded my views. I don’t feel like I’m the same foolish and naive person that I was at that time.

A perfect example of this type of emotional and personal growth is in the career of the band Tool. When they started out in the early 90's vocalist James Maynard Keenan was full of anger and even hate. His lyrics were bitter and biting as they erupted from his throat. Jumping ahead about 10 years, the band grew enormously in terms of musicianship and also lyrical content on 2001’s Lateralus. The album had many positive themes laced through the tracks and Keenan has also said in interviews that the record is largely about healing. When asked why he no longer seems as angry, Keenan said that if his music can help heal others then it can also heal himself.




Tool in 1992. Video from rev79 on youtube.com





Tool in 2001. Video from Beast6 on youtube.com


I hope that bands, no matter how known or unknown they are, will try to achieve both kinds of growth and continue to push music and their own potential. If this development ever ends then the art will be at a standstill. I hope that I can also follow that same path as I continue my musical endeavors.