Alli's Articles
INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, CULTURE PIECES, MUSICAL RAMBLINGS.
The other day, my friend Rachel texted and asked me if she could ask me some questions about music for an assignment she was doing for a class. Of course, I agreed, and she sent them over to me so I could type out my answers. I realized how fun it was, and how much I enjoyed talking about my musical experiences. My favorite thing about interviewing musicians is seeing them get in depth and passionate about their music, inspirations, and goals. So I asked myself: How do I do a whole article of this without seeming like too much of a crazed narcissist? With quarantine preventing all social interaction and with me running out of fun activities, I decided to do something I always wanted to do with this blog: I asked my Instagram followers to submit questions about music for me to answer. At this point of an interview, I would give a short overlook about the artist I was about to interview, but I think everyone knows all there is to know about me already from this blog. In case you need a refresher course: I’m Alli, 18, from Staten Island, freshman at SUNY New Paltz, I like all types of music, run this blog, do a lot of interviews, I have a radio show. I sat down at my computer at my desk on April 20th, and typed up the answers to questions my followers and friends gave me. == What inspired you to start Twilight Collective and what are your goals for it? (@bmlc._) Starting the blog was Liah’s idea in the beginning. It was her proposal and she asked me if that’s something I would like to be a part of. I thought it would just be fun to write about what music I was listening to and the concerts I saw. We started the blog near the end of my freshman year, and during that period I discovered a lot of new music I needed to talk about. My early articles are mostly concert stories, reviewing some albums, and basically talking about myself and my musical life. It was very personal for me in the beginning, and I never was expecting it to get to the point of interviews like it is now. I know our joint goals are to definitely get some interviews with bigger, more legendary bands, because why not? I want to definitely make more of a profit off of this blog in one way or another. It would be cool for this thing to get bigger and for us to travel to different festivals to write things and interview artists. I definitely aim to have some sort of reputation and credentials in the broader music industry, for sure. What about live music is most appealing to you? (@mattmotherway) Mainly...the connection. The connection between the performers and the audience, and you and the other audience members. The kinship you feel with them, and the freedom you feel to just act crazy and mosh and scream things because you know everyone else is just focused on losing themselves temporarily in the moment. I’ve felt this connection at all GA concerts I’ve been to before college, but living in New Paltz and going to small basement house shows where you can really tell that the artists are passionate about what they’re doing definitely made me more appreciative of live music as a whole. I just love going. Everyone’s a family, everyone’s happy, and you get so close to the musicians spiritually (and very, VERY physically). Also I love live music because the artists can improvise and switch up their songs. I just think that’s a very special experience for them and the audience, like a little secret piece, a shared moment. What was the first band you fell in love with? (@ciaramolumby) This is a tough one. I think I have to go with Arctic Monkeys. Like any teen that made a Tumblr account in 2014, the holy trilogy of introductory alternative music was them, Lana Del Rey, and The Neighbourhood. I hold their album I Love You. so close to my heart, but Arctic Monkeys were a band that I was fascinated by. They taught me how to love a band, I think. When I heard “Do I Wanna Know?” on some small college radio station on our family vacation to Vermont, I just couldn’t believe people made music like that, at the time. It was like a whole new portal was open when I heard AM, and in the later years, I discovered their other older albums which I regard as masterpieces. How do you find time to run a blog on top of schoolwork, activities, and etc? (@lily.eyesinheart) I’m honestly surprised at how I manage to do this sometimes on top of everything, too. I don’t put this in front of school work, and I make sure everything I have to do for the day school-wise is done before I start typing things up, because I would just feel irresponsible and hate myself for a couple hours. I also don’t like to do work and then immediately type stuff for the blog, so I work on articles and stuff when I have an abundance of free time. This semester, I had a lot of free time between classes and on Wednesdays I had off, so that was nice for this. Being in college also has made me better at schedule planning and keeping track of things, so I manage to schedule interviews and give myself time for everything a lot more easily now. The best thing about writing for your own blog is that there are no deadlines, so I can pump stuff out often, but at my own leisure without anyone yelling at me. I know that’s gonna change when I get older and start working for actual publications, so I’m enjoying it while I can…... Where do you see yourself in 10 years time? (@avaakalikas) I change my idea of a dream life, like, twice a month, but there are some constants. For certain, I want to do something in the music industry. A huge inspiration career-wise at the moment is John Peel. I’m fascinated by his live sessions that he had bands come into his show and do, and his connection to his audience as a radio host. His legacy has taught me that you don’t necessarily have to be known for making music to have an impact on the world of it. Press, and the people who promote the music being made, are also very important. Doing college radio makes me want to have my own show so badly. I also would love to travel the world and explore different types of music, and talk to musicians and learn about them like I do now. I see myself being some sort of radio journalism figure in that way, hopefully. How much has music influenced your life, and in what ways? (@ashleyytudor) Oh gosh, literally every way. When I first started really getting into music, I felt that just listening to it wasn’t a good enough, productive hobby for me. I always loved writing, whether it was short stories, news reports for school, and just Notes App ramblings. Music has definitely helped me enhance this hobby and has made me a better writer. If it wasn’t for the help of this blog, I’m not sure I would have fully realized my passion for my future major, Journalism. It also has brought me closer to my friends and, if I wasn’t deeply into it, I’m not sure if I would have ever met some of them. Everyone loves music, everyone has their favorites and enjoys listening to it, and it shapes and influences everyone’s lives, but if I didn’t have the curiosity to dive past the mainstream, I would definitely be a weird, different shadow of myself today. What’s a music group you listen to on a bad day? (@peteringenito) When I need comfort or to accept my sad feelings, I turn to The Drums, one of my favorite bands ever. I love their discography, because Jonny Pierce has written some of the happiest and saddest songs I’ve ever heard. I think it’s important to be able to capture a wide range of emotions in your music, so you can connect with your fanbase during the good times and the bad. He also is just so unbelievably vulnerable and honest in his sadder songs, which is very comforting for me. His songs tell stories, stories that you can tell are very close to his heart, which just makes me feel more when I listen to his band. When I’m in bad moods, I tend to get very theatrical and I want to listen to extremely emotional music. The Drums are perfect for that. How do you find new music? (@halieejade) I really like this question! I don’t know if my processes are interesting but they’re fun. I’m a Spotify user, so I just like letting the radio play after I finish a song or an album of a band or artist I already like. I also like to mess around on the “fans also like” tabs on Spotify. When NME magazines were still being published, I got a lot of my music taste from there. I also have a lot of stuff I listen to because of friends’ recommendations. Whenever I’m bored and need a new band, I’ll think of a certain genre I want to get into and go on Spotify and click on the similar artists for artists I already like from that genre in order to get deeper into obscurity. Also, sometimes I’ll just get really weird urges to check out a strange genre. The other day I discovered Italian post-punk, and damn…..it slaps, I will say. Thoughts on what indie rock culture will be in the 20s (and why will it be the Garden)? (@chazkat) Funny enough, I was just looking through Wyatt from the Garden’s Twitter the other day because he tweets interesting short stories. He tweeted this a while ago and I think it fits this question really well. I’ve been following them since 2018, and it’s interesting to see how much they’ve made their impact on the indie, surf-rock, SoCal drum and bass scene. They definitely fit in with the whole Brandy Melville/skater fashion and music scene I see coming up on social media for the 2020s. They’re definitely next up.
What was the first band you remember hearing? (@that_one_whitedude) When I was younger, I hated music. It’s hard to believe but I would tell my mom to turn off the radio when I was in the car. That weird resentment faded eventually, and was gone by the time I was 8 and started taking art lessons at ArtLab on Staten Island. There, my teacher played some pretty legendary alt records. There was one particular song that I thought was funny, because it went “If you want to destroy my sweater…” I remember laughing with my friend in the class because we thought that was silly, who sings about sweaters? I told my mom when she picked me up about this lyric and she turned on The Blue Album by Weezer. I wouldn’t pick up Weezer again until the 7th grade, but that discovery started it all, and was the first memory of hearing a band I still love today. == This was very fun to do, and I only feel a little narcissistic at the end of it. Thanks to everyone who submitted a question, and it was fun to be the interviewee for once! I hope everyone is well and is staying safe during this mess. I promise, this will all be back to normal soon! If you want to follow me on Instagram, it's @alliidempsey !
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