Music is an avenue of communication. Whatever someone has to say, it can be expressed in terms of notes and tones that somehow get translated into emotion and imagery once they have passed through the ear. I have always loved it.
I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and from the age of three and beyond, I have been in North Carolina (first Chapel Hill, then Burlington, and now Chapel Hill again). My hobbies are playing guitar, doing wanker sports like crew and fencing, pursuing the finer of the species (women, not animals), and acting very drunk/insane just because (no substances needed). I enjoy good reading and movies-I highly recommend Playboy and Facesitter II respectively. And I seriously love people. I will never be able to go anywhere in life that I can't be around really cool people.
I have been playing guitar for as long as I can remember, starting (I think) in middle school with classical guitar lessons. Although I didn't like them much (my classical guitar teacher was a fat bearded bastard), I knew they were the way to get my hands on an electric guitar. And in hindsight, they provided me with chord progressions and syncopated rhythms that can be heard on our more serious songs. My strongest guitar influences are Jimi Hendrix and David Gilmour. If you haven't heard of them, they're pretty good. In terms of overall song appreciation, I love Weezer, Nerf Herder, the Blink boys, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, and the Pixies. I want our songs to sound just like theirs. And then maybe we could get sued and people would notice us and buy our album. And then…. groupies! I listen to EBC music. Everything But Country. There is nothing original out there, it's all been done better and earlier, but the key is knowing your musical roots ands appreciating the attitude and similarity between now and past generations. We're young and hung and having fun just like they were in their crazy youth.
It is very hard these days to play music as a job per se. Rock and roll is not dead, but the industry is saturated by money-grubbing idiots who think that the sound of the future is some train wreck of hip-hop, rock, and boy band vocals. That shit sucks, and it also sucks that bands don't have any staying power anymore. Carson Daly has more job security than the world's best bands. I see a slight problem with that. I have medical school ambitions and want job security, but I could also see myself playing music everyday of my life. I have been very lucky to have a supportive family. No matter what I do, as long as I am happy, my family will love and support me. It is nice not to have ridiculous pressure, but to try and achieve for myself. My friends are the greatest ever. I write songs about them. They watch me do stupid things and come to our unbearable shows. And I am at the best University in the land. UNC-Chapel Hill has given me every opportunity imaginable-to succeed or to completely destroy myself. I enjoy a healthy mix of the two.
In the next few years, I will inevitably be thrown into the jaws of the real world. We like to sing about that kind of thing and make fun of it, but I know that one day college and rock n' roll will be parts of my soul and no longer what I do everyday. I want to always stay young at heart and subvert the system in little annoying ways, but I really do want to be a great doctor. So it's a toss up, and everyone including myself will have to stay tuned to see how the David Cykert story turns out. Maybe I can get it on VH1's Behind the Music one day. Peace.