Bored of my Playlists

I listen to alot of music. I have a relatively large playlist to (nothing reaching into the thousands tho). I am just beginning to get bored of the music I have. Don't get me wrong I do love my music but even out of the 500 or so songs I have on there, I have a top 50 and a favourite 25.

So I think I need to discover more new bands, or at least download songs from the people I listen to on YouTube etc. Whilst I am not looking for a radically different music type, I just want to branch out within the genres and themes I like.

I have a large enough media card on my phone to cope with more music I just want something more exciting, new and another band to love. I use to love Abney Park when I first heard them. I cannot remember how I got into them or began to love them so but there are certain Abney Park songs that always remind me of the same things, such as my first year of university. But like what happened with Rammstein, I never got to see them and they were slow in releasing new stuff. So while I still love them, I do not listen to them all the time like I did.

My next move is to get on the Das Klub website and download the songs danced to in the video. It will definitely expand my library of cyber music. I also need to get all my musical back on there. I'm missing Phantom of the Opera and Cats!

Being yourself-Even Goth is a label

I talked to my girlfriend about this blog last night. She simply wanted to know why I wanted to do it. She is and always has been very certain about who she is. This is perhaps the reason for this blog. I have always been unsure of myself and my identity. Labelling oneself as Goth or skater or Charver or whatever is still simply conforming to a perceived image and ideal and still does not truly show who you are.

I have always been interested in alternate subculture, not necessarily Goth but the rock/metal alternate scene as a whole. I pick and choose elements of it and while I do not know or understand all of it, I appreciate what it is. I also however appreciate me and myself as an individual.

I own alot of clothes, looks, styles and images. Some day I may be fully Goth, others just a casual jeans and hoody number. Some days I may be Steampunk central on Monday, Cyber/Industrial on the Tuesday and superdry joggers and hoody on the Wednesday. While ones image can change, their mentality, personality, likes and dislikes most often remain the same, especially if you are happy with them, which I am.

My Favourite music is simply so diverse I could not list any. However I am not a fan of certain things that are quintessentially goth such as Bauhaus and Sioux. However I love lots of Industrial Techno Cyber stuff like XRX and God Module. On the flip side I listen to film and theme soundtracks more than anything. Game, film and TV themes represent the largest % of my media library and the most listened to tracks are mostly from the soundtrack genre.

The greatest objective will be the acceptance of my own look and style. I am very happy with who I am at the moment and life is ultimately great at the moment. Nothing is perfect but when is anything perfect. I am damn happy with everything. I have a job, a family that loves me and the most amazing and fantastic girlfriend in the world who for some unknown reason loves me and puts up with me :)

Life is good and with that comes the happiness in my image. It is not a label. If Goth is the word for different, unique and individual, then I am Goth. But if it is the word for dark sombre style and black hair with heavy metal always playing in ones ear then I am definitely not Goth.

Blogs for guys, or are we all lazy?

If I search for 'Male Gothic Fashion', 'Gothic Fashion' or 'Goth for Guys' I am hit with only one thing. Girls! The scene is inundated with huge amounts of girl relevant blogs, advice and fashion advice.

From this, one would get the idea that Men  do not care about what they wear, what they look like and importantly, definitely don't write about either. There is a small collection of YouTube videos for hair and make-up but nothing much more than that. It is certainly a girl dominated zone.

Maybe I am just odd. I perhaps lack originality and need advice and guidance. I would disagree, I pride myself on my ability to analyse a look or style and then disseminate it onto myself with my own mark. I see no issue also about writing about it or looking for inspiration.

'How to be a Goth' articles suck. They are far too generic and stereotypical for what I want to achieve. What I want to achieve is found within the blogs and forums online. It is synthesised and extracted from the music I listen to and from the idealistic images in my head.

The true nature of Goth cannot be written down. It is the individualistic interpretation of the music one listens to and the opinions and perceptions we form from it message. We wear the lyrics and their meanings through what we ware and how we act.