Q.  What are some of your favorite bands?

A.  Music is huge in my life, especially when you can use it to block out noisy distractions as you’re working on your homework.  Believe me, there are plenty of noisy distractions in the dorms.  Just the other day, some guy was playing a trumpet for fun in the hallway.  I had a feeling that he couldn’t really play, but was just proud that he could make a somewhat musical noise.  But that’s not the point.  I’ll list some of my favorite bands below…



it’s kinda ironic how i got to like this band.  back when i started listening to music in grade 6, i only liked rap.  my friend bradley told me about P.O.D. and lent me the satellite album, which went double platinum.  i popped it into my computer, and i briefly played a few seconds from each song.  that’s as far as i got.  i hated it.  distorted guitars and yelling weren’t my thing, they just hurt my ears.  several years later, after going through punk and rapcore, i started listening to rock.  that’s about the time i picked up P.O.D. again.  i borrowed the satellite CD again, and i was hooked to it.  i went online and watched their music videos, and i loved it.  they instantly became one of my favorite bands.



i know a lot of people bash this band, but as a drummer, i just have to admire travis barker.  i mean, blink 182 is completely drummer-driven, and their success with that has been phenomenal.  not a lot of bands can pull that off, and it means something that blink 182 did.  sure they have catchy lyrics and all that, but their drumming is just nuts.  the creativity, precision, and live performance is just inspiring.  i recently bought their older albums, Enema of State and Take Off Your Pants And Jacket.  impressive stuff… and i love it!



my favorite piano-driven band.  i had the opportunity to see them at calvin when they visited last month.  it was great, they played superbly and i loved it!  some of my friends in hong kong introduced me to this band, along with mae and waking ashland.  we loved their music so much that we covered one of their songs, Testing the Strong Ones, for a gig.  the lead vocalist has a great voice.  i like how he switches between normal voice and falsetto.  it just shows a lot of talent and versatility.  their latest album, In Motion, is one of my favorites.