A musicians perspective

 Photo Credit: Mikala Gallo

This is an interview that took place on January 25th 2012 with a 17 year old male. He explains how music has helped him, and has created a remedy for his problems. I am not able to reveal his name so please do not ask.

When did you first start to play music?

Answer:  I was eleven years old.

Did you have any problems going on in your life at the time you started playing music? If so what?

 Answer:  Yes, I definitely had struggles with a lot of things. They were school struggles, not exactly school work related but people and I didn’t fit in with what people thought, I couldn’t really be what everyone else wanted. I cried a lot, people made fun of me, and because of that I cried more. Every day after school I would be completely stressed out, I would yell and just be angry. One day I picked up a guitar and started to fool around with it.

Did music help you deal with these struggles and deal with stress? How so?

Answer: yes, it did. When everyone around me didn’t like who I was, I could be myself just playing music and I knew the guitar wouldn’t judge me. I started to like writing music a lot and listening to music. Whenever I had stress and troubles I would tune into the music, play, write; it was a way for the emotions to get out, I could put them somewhere. I played music to relieve stress. I have turrets and music would make the symptoms disappear, and all the feelings turrets would bring. I became absorbed in the music, because it helped me. I would play hours and hours daily. At the time it became, and still is, the creative element that drives me and relaxes me.

Do you see yourself pursuing music as a career?

Answer:  I can see myself doing that, but our society is in fear of failing, so many people push to go a safe route as a career, and music is not a safe route. As long as I can do it, I want to, even if it is not my primary career. I don’t really know what else I want to do though.

How do you use music as a remedy for stress?

Answer: I write until all of the bad feelings are gone.  I’ll write pages and pages of lyrics pertaining to whatever sound is coming out. I use the sounds of the words to help me relieve my stress. This was my turrets. I would use words with strong continents when I first started to play. After playing for a while the tension inside me would go away and I could write with a clear mind.  Another reason music is so incredibly good for me, is that even if I can’t say the right words when speaking, I can always communicate through music. Even if someone in the same room as me speaks a completely different language, as long as we both have an instrument, we can communicate.

What instruments do you use when playing?

Answer: My voice, guitar, piano and anything else I feel like making into an instrument. Anything can be an instrument, in my opinion.

Do you enjoy playing alone or with others? And why?

Answer: Well, they are completely different. Playing with someone else can be a wall to my own personal feelings, which is why playing by myself, is the best way to express how I actually feel. Playing with other people can be so unexpectedly beautiful in the sense of surprise and creation, and how you interact together to make one conjoined voice.

What kind of advice would you tell someone who went/goes through the same problems you went/go through?  

Answer: Well, I’d say pick up an instrument, find your voice and release it.