So, I had transformed instantaneously from a beebopper to a gothic death metal freak, and that's how I inadvertently identified myself. My hair would get long and greasy, torn & baggy jeans, black, satanic hoodies and so forth. What a mess!
Just another yob, a stupid dopey teenager with an attitude is what I assume passer-bys would see me as. I was actually pretty polite and shy, I suppose.
But Dream Theater took me somewhere else. I was no longer a metal head. My tastes were diversifying. You see, Dream Theater were unique as far as I knew, in that each album was incredibly contrasting. One album was hardcore fast paced booming guitars and drums, the next was a mellow concept album telling a story about a tragedy, and another is cheesy 80's cheese. Their style was limitless to me and I loved every bit of it, because they were all flavoured with Dream Theater Dust.
They forced me to like more styles than I ever had, and this opened the musical world to me even more, to things like Genesis, Tangerine Dream, Jazz music, and so on.
I took a liking to Composition and Arranging of music, something I excelled at above everybody else at college. My natural affinish pulled me through to University, where I had but one friend; a musical (and all round) genius called Nate.
Nate is a big, black, intense guy. He would often break people down into tears just by talking at them intensely, at how their intellect is simply wrong and inferior, and why. Not in an arrogant way. Just in a matter of fact way that people could rarely retort.
His talent was extreme, able to come out with competition-winning compositions for orchestras played in the town hall and promoted on the radio practically on a whim; performances that he would, of course, sing himself on stage. Nobody was going to mess with Nate.
Me on the other hand, I was just a little white guy with torn jeans. I did not belong in this University. Everybody around me was clearly from wealthy families, with priceless violins they had been playing since they were 4. They looked down on me like a freak that needed to go back to the School of Rock I came from (an actual quote in choir practice I heard behind me as they sniggered).
When it came to performance, I couldn't very well pull it off. Everybody watching hated me, I had no enjoyment or confidence in playing guitar in front of a guitar hating audience of snobs.
I did my best though, and performed such feats as Andy McKee's Drifting:
And far more difficult later on, Eric Johnson's 'Manhattan':
Which involved techniques I hadn't even been aware of until learning it.
Screw that
No, my strengths did not lie in performance. I was a nervous wreck, always have and will. Mine came in creation.
Much to the horror of my enemies at the University, I quickly got a grasp of the mechanics in bach chorale harmonies, orchestration, contemporary, extended performance techniques, time signatures (remember those?), and one day, I remember so, so well, our assignments were handed to us in class, and my grades shattered all of theirs.
I saw their jaws drop with some kind of jealous rage. It was beautiful.
It wasn't long until I started to excel in composition classes, studio production, arranging and so on. Before long, these snobs were made to perform my music in various concerts. It must have stung, but eventually we became amicable, and I had earned respect, for what it was worth. We would work together often in various projects, and to my surprise, I was selected with only one other student to represent the University in London by entering a composition competition for the London National Art Gallery.
We were to be informed about a piece of art, and with various limitations, compose a piece that represented said art.
Did I win? No. Did Nate win? Obviously. But I came runner up, something like joint 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Pretty good for a metal head.
I was chosen alone to compose music for the Jazz Cello Trio 'Cellorhythmics':
The point is, I did well. I gained respect of my enemies, who would mock me when I would pronounce 'Shostakovic' as 'Shoss TAK o vich' instead of 'Shoss ta KO vich'.
As soon as I graduated, I deleted them all from Facebook. Felt good.
Since then I've composed music for movies, commercials, taught music and guitar, but most importantly, become intellectually alive and invigorated, a journey of knowledge and learning that can be left for another day.
All thanks to Slipknot.