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I, Veronica Calderon, was born in West Los Angeles (I can't sing along to "Born in East LA") in the year of the United States of America's bicentennial. I do not have formal training in music and neither do most of the musicians I will mention here.
In the late 1980s, I was in junior high and had a fondness for glam, sleaze, cheesy metal. I didn't have money for the music and my family didn't have cable. Mostly I would borrow/copy tapes from friends or turn to the radio. Once I even had a subscription to Rip magazine. Bands you could catch me listening to were: L.A. Guns, Poison, Motley Crue, Skid Row, Bang Tango, White Lion, Warrant, Tesla, Faster Pussycat, Winger, Enuff Z' Nuff, Guns 'N' Roses, etc.In the early 1990s, I was in high school and moved on to something harder--speed, thrash, and grind core. I still relied on friends for tapes and the radio waves. The big metal radio station of the day was KNAC, which I could not receive in my area. Instead I would listen to Pirate Radio (which wasn't really "pirate" at all) and the big alternative station KROQ. A friend gave me "Ritual de lo Habitual" by Jane's Addiction. It was good, but looking back, you could say I wasn't ready for it or it just wasn't the right time for me, so to speak. Bands I really liked during this time were: Sepultura, Slayer, Morbid Angel, Obituary, Napalm Death, Megadeth, Death Angel, Metallica, Pungent Stench, Carcass, etc.The mid- to late 1990s was both a geographical and musical change for me. When it was time to attend a college, I moved to the anti-thesis of my beloved Los Angeles County--a land of stinky hippies and lots of trees. (trees? what's that? you mean at night the sky is black and there are stars that actually shine bright?) I began to listen to more mellower music. No, I didn't become a fucking pothead hippy. I sought out instrumentals for background while studying (such as Classical and New Age). I also began to gain a heavy interest in Spanish Rock and Mexican indigenous music. The influence of friends also rubbed a little. They introduced me to genres I had only seen on T-shirts. I began to learn more of Gothic, Industrial, Britpop, Electronica, Death/Black Metal, etc.
1997: The Jane's Addiction Relapse. It brought me back to the glory and beauty of what rocking music could be. All these collisions with the other genres did shape what I tend to seek out in music lately, which is often very percussion based and atmospheric.
Bands I listened to during this period were: Marilyn Manson, Caifanes/Jaguares, Cafe Tacuba, Siouxsie and the Banshees/The Creatures, Aterciopelados, Maldita Vecindad, Burzum, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Victimas del Dr. Cerebro, Plastilina Mosh, Chico Science e Nação Zumbi, etc.
2000s: Rock en Español and Sepultura still rule my life but there is a new addition to form a holy trinity: System of a Down.
I have listed my favorite musicians in no particular order below. This list is more about the single musician rather than the collective group. The short list is more stream of consciousness than the dramatic 'don't forget anyone' speech writing. Warning: some of the entries are not entirely serious.
I might put up some sound/video clips as examples of their greatness but isolating small moments as examples will be quite hard to do. |
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Drums: Igor Cavalera Stephen Perkins Budgie Alfonso Andre Dave Lombardo
Berimbau:
Guitar:
Conducting:
Bass:
Choreography:
Maracas:
Saxophone:
Harmonica:
Piano:
Bells: |
Keyboards: Cecilia Bastida Hide Hoshino Varg Vikernes Pogo
Cello:
Accordian:
Melodion:
Pogo:
Theremin:
Manipulations:
Vocals:
Percussion:
Gong:
Sitar: |