Thanks for showing an interest in my site.

My name is Craig, and I write about music in my free time and then post it on here for people who may find it interesting or beneficial. I’m 20, too tall and live in Blackburn, England. Right now I’m studying English And Creative Writing at Chichester University after finishing my gap year, during which I set up this blog you’re now browsing.

For me, music has always been an outlet and a means of self-expression. The songs in my iTunes library probably say more about myself than I ever could, and I take pride in the music I listen to, and a little less pride in being able to write about it reasonably well. I started this site mainly as a hobby, to give myself something to occupy some of my free time, of which I have a lot of, and that means I can afford a good amount of luxury in what I write about, being able to do so without any restrictions. If something catches my eye I can write about it, and as result I’ve covered a few releases that no other publication has (that I know of), which I find very cool. The chance to support lesser known bands and give them some exposure is something that makes me very happy, as  know that many artists and bands don’t get the exposure they perhaps deserve. I know this site is very limited in terms of its reach, but it gives me motivation to carry on writing regardless of what I’m reviewing. It also means that a lot of the reviews on this site are positive, which is the main area I need to work on. I write about music that grabs me or sparks an interest, and that means I don’t always have too much to say in the way of criticism. Each review takes a good few hours to put together, including the listening, note-taking and eventual writing and that means I tend to favour releases I like, because I’d view them as more deserving of my time. That seems odd considering, but it’s true, and it means that there isn’t much middle ground when it comes to my reviews, unless I review a big release which I personally find disappointing.

Writing has always been a secondary interest of mine, although I used to spend a good amount of my time reading or writing stories, also as a means of expression. In reality I’m quite a reserved person, in that I generally avoid saying the things I want to and spent a lot of my time on my own, mainly through my own choice. I’m fine with that, and I used to write a lot because I had nothing better to do, which isn’t as much the case now because of things like Netflix. I started this site to be able to say the things I really wanted to say about music on a bigger scale than just over Twitter, and this site has become a platform for myself, even if it’s one I don’t frequent to as much as I’d prefer to. The time I used to spend writing short stories has become the time I write about and listen to music. As I’ve grown a little older fantasy seems harder to write about, and music has taken a more central sort of position, and there’s never a day goes by without it sound tracking at least a few hours of it. Be it at home with my record player or out and about with my iPod I’ll be listening to something, and I find an enjoyment in music that nothing else really gives me. Even now as I write this I’ve got This Will Destroy You spinning in my record player and Threads is leaving me with the biggest smile on my face. Nothing entertains me the way music does, and I doubt anything else ever will, because for me the music I listen to is the essence of who I am, and the joy it brings me is everything. Writing about it doesn’t really come close, but I hope in doing so my writing can inform people, and maybe they’ll listen to a record on my recommendation, or discover an artist they hadn’t known previously. I suppose at the end of the day what I’m getting at is that I write about music because I love music, and hopefully the people that find and use this site share my love of it.

I’ve no aspirations for this blog; there are no lofty goals I want to reach. I just want to discover new music and give my views on it, and hopefully people can benefit from it. I’ve no illusions as to the quality of my writing, in that I know that I’m still new to this and that I don’t know enough about the intricacies of music as an art form. I couldn’t name a chord upon hearing it even though I took guitar lessons for a few years, and I couldn’t accurately describe a time signature or drum beat. But I know how a record makes me feel, and I know enough to make a reasonably sound judgement of that record, getting it right maybe two out of three times (which according to Fall Out Boy ain’t bad). I try and write enough that I say all that I want to say, and that’s why a lot of the stuff on this site surpasses 800 words, including this jumbled ‘About’ page. At times my writing is clumsy and my reviews don’t flow in the way I want, with the words sometimes getting muddled and my own frustrations get the better of me. I can accept that, and I expect that people don’t read what’s on this site with particular high expectations; often they just want a score out of ten and a few suitable adjectives. That’s never really cut it for me, and I know that quality over quantity is a saying that makes sense, but I think my reviews sit somewhere in the middle, which I’m cool with. This site is a pastime, and I expect that’s all it will ever be, which I’m also cool with.

Hopefully that all gives a clear idea about that kind of person I am, and the reasoning behind this site. If for any reason you’d like to get in touch with me there’s a bunch of ways to on my contact page.