I am Bipolar. Musically That Is. I am an Outlier. Musically That Is. PART #2- THE EFFECT

If you haven't partaken in PART #1 - THE CAUSE, please do. Otherwise, how will you understand my entertaining life-long journey filled with bands and records and concerts and venues and friends and roommates and cities and jobs and all the influences that come with it? So, retreat back if necessary. This can wait at least 5-6 minutes.

Ever try to convince people that this SONG is great? Sure, you have, and with a few small nudges, they eventually give it a listen sooner or later. Ever try to convince people that this ALBUM is great? Sure, you have, and with a few small nudges they eventually give it a listen sooner or later ... well, maybe they eventually spend the time taking in the WHOLE album, but it may take a touch of extra persuasion. Ever try to convince people that this ARTIST is great? Sure, you have, and with a few small nudges, well, maybe they eventually take the time to listen to ... ok, now you've done it. You have forced serious commitment from other human beings. May the force be with you in the thoughtful venture. Ever try to convince people that this music GENRE is great? Ehh, only if you give that much of a shit about music, you did. Now, if you did, ok, now you've done it. You have forced serious commitment from other human beings. Hahahahaha! I bid you gobs of good luck in that in that enormous undertaking.

When I speak about those prior scenarios, I am considering the receiving end being a run-of-the-mill, appreciative, but casual listener of music. I am not speaking of one musical spaz (such as myself) communicating to another musical spaz (such as what I might hope you to be? Sometimes?). I have this behavioral impulse. It's not constant or overly abrasive. Oh, but it's still there. That impulse is labeled, "I feel the need to have you understand music, carry you along the trek, from one stage to another". It's a wonky label and not listed in any psychology books, but I've been lobbying for it. If you're OK with music, I want you to like it. If you like music, I want you to love it. If you love music, I want to dissect it with you, then have those cells multiply in your body like a virus. How do you not want to take the proper time out for music? ... 9.9 out of 10 doctors guarantee it only makes things better. In the privacy of my own existence, MY MUSIC is the only thing that never produces negativity or lets me down. I wish to pass the gift to you and instruct you how to use it. I know that sounds rather conceited, and I am sure I don't give a shit how it comes off. All of this music I absorbed over many years remained in my emotional databank. I think I am such a musically bipolar creature because, I NEVER thought anything was a guilty pleasure coming from any direction, regardless of time, place or company I was keeping. It was like I allowed my body an equal amount of sensitization and desensitization. Music is this huge tapestry and there are threads to pull from all of it. Well, except some of the musical refuse that you seriously can't swallow.

I believe I have refined the skills to encourage musical adventure within a human, but the problem is encountering the willing participant at a higher level. I tend to run into several pretend willing participants. I am not as simplistic as to urge somebody to partake in one song. That is obviously too one-dimensional for me. If it's not an album, artist or beyond, I rarely participate. If people would stop and self-analyze for 10-15 minutes, they would realize that discovering an artist or even just one album is a life altering event. Do you realize how many hours of your life that artist or album can bring you joy, introspection or even help you emote. That's a huge support system over the course of years and decades. The investment yields sizable rewards.

Concerning the sincerely enthusiastic individuals, looking for musical expansion in some way, remember this... music is like wine. Music heads from your ear and lands at a palate (Occipital Cortex, Auditory Cortex or Nucleus Accumbens, depending on your level of listening development). This breaks down and cultivates your acceptance, or should we say your appreciation for flavor and taste of music. Wine heads into your mouth and once again, your palate takes over. It determines your boundaries for flavor and taste of food and drink. Philosophically, there is no difference in either of those processes. Since I was a teenager, I was consistently questioned, even by my peers, "how can you listen to that?" Thankfully for me, my music listening palate was constantly maturing at a higher rate of speed compared to most others.

For example (outside of the typical keg-o-beer scenario), when you were a teenager and were sneaking cheap booze with your friends, you were reaching for one of these fine "technically wine" selections: Mad Dog, Boone's Farm, Thunderbird or pick a wine cooler brand. Those days were captivating and sometimes painful, for sure. Then you surpassed your teenage years, and you were hanging with your girlfriend/boyfriend, and when you wanted the taste of wine, you obviously grabbed a wine cooler or some Boone's Farm, right? Oooof! Probably not. The probable necessity for reduced sugar and cheap alcohol intake, combined with some minor step forward in sophistication prodded you toward some White Zinfandel? Most likely? Make sense? Hey, we're officially drinking a respectable wine substance. It's still a bit sweet, but a legitimate departure. Promptly fast forward to supposedly your mid-20s. You have a steady job. Your social and work circles have grown a bit. Evenings sometimes taken up by restaurant reservations including friends and colleagues. You and your significant other are out with a small group at a nice seafood joint, and when the suggestion of a white wine order arises (bottle or glasses), while others at the table pick out a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio, the both of you must stay true to White Zinfandel? Even if you still do on that evening, your cohorts will insist you try the others, and you will. Hmmm, the Pinot Grigio is a bit more bitter, but there are a few other flavors in there that are pretty decent. Let's file this evening's palate experience away. You like those new flavors in the mix. The next time you head out on the town, your wine order changes. Let's rewind. Maybe it was an Italian meal, and red wine was deemed a requirement. Chances are, the actions and outcome would be quite similar, only with a different color wine at the table. At this point in your 20s or 30s, if you developed a profound like or love of wine, you continued to educate and experiment away. Starting with wine types and moving to blends, brands, grape origins, regions, bottling, etc. It's a 9-figure business for a reason. Wow, how in the hell did you now arrive at a Russian River Valley Pinot Noir coming from the land of Boone's Farm?

Take that paragraph filled with psychology, physiology and alcohol consumption and flip the script to the subject of music. Along the way, we'll create comparisons in a fun and linear fashion. Since we can go in almost infinite directions with this analysis, and these concepts can consistently apply across the board in all categories, I'll mostly focus on my personal evolutionary voyage. I would say 99% of all children past the world of cartoon themes start their true music fascination with pop, and in the modern day, teen pop. It's the simplest, safest, most relatable and most accessible. Let's just say that early pop = Mad Dog/Boone's Farm/Thunderbird/wine cooler. As they get into their teens, they can either stick with teen pop (maybe because they can relate more so, and then even attend the shows), or they branch out. Branching out means that they take one or multiple aspects of what they've been hearing for a period of time and desire a larger dose of that... vocals, guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, organics, personality, showmanship, effects, dynamics, volume, production and LIVE PERFORMANCE FOR SURE (when applicable). The ear-to-brain-to-body "palate" will determine what is flavorful to YOU. For myself, I wanted rock! Even though I still wanted pop-style songwriting, I wanted more dynamics and volume. This radio rock I speak of = White Zinfandel.

Then at some point, you may consider your music to be a little too safe, similar, formulaic... doesn't take as many chances. Your life has additional challenges, so maybe you want your music to match those certain intensities. Taking an opposing perspective, maybe you want your music to take your mind off your everyday world. You could possibly want to travel down both avenues. Once again, regarding myself, my continued extensive listening experiences moved my needs into further dangerous territory ... a more amplified taste, which would be louder and heavier. I chose Ozzy and ACDC over Tom Petty and Yes. That progression landed me in heavy metal. This tasty heavy metal = Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand- light, bright and fruitastic).

Heavy metal was an investment. It wasn't a very public flavor until the mid-80s and MTV acceptance, so you had to trade tapes with friends, follow the magazines and worship the late-night specialty metal show on rock radio. Then there were the concerts. Once I witnessed the live sonic onslaughts only three times, I started chasing after bands that would drop an anvil on my skull. Sure, I always like a good song, but I also wanted some music delivered to me with the most extreme impact and energy... the likes of thrash metal, speed metal, death metal. These levels of metal = Sauvignon Blanc (France- smoky and stronger).

Later, as radio extended its creative tentacles and bands allowed themselves to do the same, I slowly extended myself the same courtesy, with the influence of new acquaintances, media outlets, bars, clubs, etc. I eventually realized I could separately access all these musical qualities I had been consuming for years (melodies, harmonies, power, volume, intricacy) through several different genres of music and be equally satisfied, such as pop-punk (= Pinot Grigio), post-punk (= Pinot Blanc), industrial (= Chenin Blanc), new wave (= Muscat) and straight up "as they generally called it" modern rock (= Chardonnay). What followed those interests on record was live performance attendance. Those concerts once again solidified my new musically adventurous commitments. All those genres (and bands included underneath) sat individually well on my palate at the opportune times and places, but this time through my ears and not on my tongue.

Moving forward, I fully trusted myself to hunt, find and kill for artists pushing the envelope in any direction. My mind and palate were 100% open to savorous opportunities. As decades floated by, fortunately through work as much as through play, my ears additionally locked in on emo, crossover thrash, noise rock, post-rock, post-hardcore, hardcore punk, chill/ambient, trip-hop, alternative country, singer-songwriters, and electronica ... or should I say Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Malbec, Zinfandel, Grenache, Sangiovese, Pinotage, Gamay, and Nebbiolo. It all tasted pretty damn good, once I provided the time, tenderness and acquired listening love language. I also believe at no point in my life have I been a musical snob. I truly judge music with an extremely wide lens and never in tiny pieces. Now that I have established enough redundancy to this point, here we go with the big boom. You don't go from the pop music of ABBA to the noise rock of Jesus Lizard in one swing of the bat. You work the batting cage for years.

On another note, there are many situations when I find myself with people who claim they really want to take in new music and new artists. They like these so-and-so albums with these so-and-so bands and are interested in this other so-and-so and another so-and-so. What other stuff can I throw at them? Then, do you know what I do? I take the proper time to throw just the correct amount and quality of stuff at them. Weeks later, months later, a year later, they barely dove into any of it. They either claim they couldn't get to it, or they are honestly just unadmittedly stuck in their comfortable musical decade and will camp out in it for life. These are the cute little "pretend willing participants" and are unkowingly playing a game with themselves. Now I must say, that frustrates me quite a bit. It's not as much about me wasting the time to try and help. It's about how they are missing out, actually realizing they are missing out, but being unwilling to put the time in. I never considered getting someone to like some piece of musical art as a conquest... it was genuinely part of my natural order... more like my civic duty or borderline behavioral tick of some sort. They really don't know what it takes to create the appropriate long-lasting musical bliss in their lives, as much as I would postulate. Like I stated earlier ... the investment yields sizable rewards.

Here comes the part where I hurl out some arrogance to go along with some serious core beliefs. Primarily, I do not understand people who do not give music a large hug in their lives. The ones that don't incorporate it on a semi-regular basis at the least. How does that work? More times than not, music enhances the setting ... Music is usually soaked in as an additive, if you so choose; driving your car, cooking dinner, at a party, at work, at the gym, fixing your car, mowing the lawn, walking, jogging, drawing, painting, just letting loose with a few drinks in your living room, you name it. Appreciating the art of music is like basketball. If you played sports when growing up, you realize that basketball is the most accessible sport to play/practice. Football, you need someone for a simple back and forth toss, let alone multiple players for a small 3-on-3 game. Baseball, you also need at least one person to play catch, and for any type of game, a full baseball field and many players. Hockey, ha ... let's try for the rink and go from there. Basketball, just give me a simple hoop, and I can dribble, shoot and rebound all day long. Up your game! That's the game of music. All you need is an iphone, ipod, home stereo, car stereo, etc. and you can have at it. How do people easily shrug off music as "ehh, yeah I listen on the way to work and ehh, whatever?" For people who don't understand what music provides for them in life, I truly feel sorry. It's sad. During those moments of thought, I also feel superior to you. I have one up on you and your planet, because I DO get it. I just wish they would partake in what I had to offer.

Remember ... It all tasted pretty damn good, once I provided the time, tenderness and acquired listening love language