An Introduction by Steve-O

Hey there. My name is Steve-O or Steve or "hey you" or whatever you'd like to call me. I'll reiterate what my good buddy Jackson pointed out and say that this is not a fan page, but an exploration.

The first time I tried getting into this whole music thing I was about 12. I went on a field trip and everyone around me had a cd player. I was so confused. What were they listening to? How did they hear about music? Being 12 years old and feeling left out, I immediately decided I needed a cd player. The only problem was, as my parents so astutely pointed out, that I didn't own any cds. One day soon after my mother took me to Best Buy. I stood there in disbelief. I had been there countless times and it hadn't even dawned on my that there is a MASSIVE cd section there and I had NO IDEA where to start. We stood in the entrance for a few minutes before leaving. I just didn't have any direction, no idea what I liked. A second trip with my Dad had me flirting with a John Hiatt CD, but yielded a Tangerine Dream and not much more insight into what I liked. I bought a few CDs over the next couple years, more Tangerine Dream, the Shrek soundtrack, Barenaked Ladies. I was still just buying what I heard on the radio, not really putting much thought into it and if I'm honest, not really listening to the music.

I really didn't start listening to music until I was 17. That is not-so-coincidentally the exact time I started playing guitar. The only music I was really familiar with was the few CDs I owned, 90's radio country my mom would play and the classic rock station my dad was always blaring. So because of that classic rock radio I must have been a bit familiar with a some Zeppelin, Sabbath, Deep Purple, etc.

From the first week of playing guitar my musical world began expanding rapidly. Jackson lead me through those first few formative years. I was getting into The Allman Brothers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and even some Rage Against the Machine.

Then I went to college and instead of just one musical shepherd I found a thousand. I was going in as many different directions getting into indie rock, electronic/dance, country, rap, deeper into the blues, and just about every genre and sub genre you could name. Except, that is, heavy metal and most hard rock.

Even after a quick foray into rap, heavy metal still made me uncomfortable. Just the aesthetic of the whole thing. The droning, unintelligible vocal, the abrasive shrieking guitar tones, and the satanic lyrics. At least that's the stereotype. I realized after Jackson presented me this challenge, that I had written off the entire genre based on bits and pieces of random songs and rumor and hearsay about the rest. That's unlike me, so I've decided to finally give the genre a fair chance. So begins our exploration...