Bio

Well, hi. I'm guessing if you're reading this page, then you're slightly interested in me - the writer of this blog. Well, my name's Nick Rogers, I'm 21 years old, I studied Media at Portsmouth University and live in the suburbs of the city. That's the boring stuff over. Now, the ever-so-minisculey more interesting prospect of my musical journey.

Now, everyone has a musical journey, before you decide it's a wanky term and you look elsewhere. I define a musical journey as the trip through CD's, records, albums etc, it has taken us to find our favourite bands and genres. And just like everyone else's, mine starts in embarassing ways. Yes, in my youth, I'm afraid I fell a foul of the first real reality group - Hear'Say were my first musical exploration. 'Pure and Simple' was commonplace on my CD player, and although I now despise it and music like it, it did start my journey into what was then the unknown.

It was through seniors school that I first started listening to more music. It was the mid-2000's, and what a brilliant time for the indie/rock scene. It brings back good memories of trekking to the nearest CD shop, MVC, to get Feeder's 'Singles', or singing 'I Miss You' by Blink 182 at sleepovers. And it was around the time that I discovered some of the bands I still call my favourites - Arctic Monkeys and The Killers especially, plus the likes of Hard-Fi, Keane, The Kooks, Franz Ferdinand, The Feeling and others in that indie genre. 'Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not' and 'Hot Fuss' basically soundtracked that happy time of my life, and still stand out as my best album to this day.

But it was another discovery at that time which would change my life forever - 'What's The Story, Morning Glory?' by Oasis. Up until then, Coldplay's 'X&Y' had dominated my listening habits, but a tip from a friend led me onto the guys who had come up with 'Wonderwall' and 'Don't Look Back In Anger', and I gave it a proper listen. Suddenly, I had found my favourite band. As soon as I delved deeper and found debut album 'Definitely Maybe', I knew I had my favourite album of all-time and in 'Supersonic', my favourite song of all-time - 'I need to be myself/I can't be no-one else/I'm feeling supersonic' summed up my feelings at the time and forever will it stand out in my memory.

With Oasis firm at the summit of my likings, I began to broaden, and as college, iPods and Bittorrent came into my life, it was easier to find new and old music. My knowledge of Oasis broadened to Britpop - to Blur, Pulp, Suede and Radiohead. From Britpop, it broadened to 90's rock - from these shores and abroad. It encountered many, from Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers and The Verve to Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers. I discovered I had a soft spot for modern American punk - the likes of Blink 182, Green Day, Avril Lavigne, My Chemical Romance, Panic At The Disco, Fallout Boy, Paramore and Weezer all falling into this category. Staying in the US, I discovered The Strokes as one of my favourite bands, while Muse went right up to the top of my list.

Still, I was eager for more - so I went backwards. Thanks to my Dad, exposure to the extensive talents of  Queen, AC/DC and Thin Lizzy was easy, as was the further research into David Bowie and T-Rex. I learned of U2, and R.E.M, and going further back I found all these bands had something in common; their influences. And of course, there's a select group of bands from the Sixties where everyone draws their style from. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix and many others are all bands that at some point any music fan will discover; my time came just before and during University. It was here that I went everywhere I could; from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Genesis, to Jay-Z and Wu-Tang Clan, to The Clash and Sex Pistols. It went everywhere .... places that were very dark and that I've never been since .... but I went there.

Right now, I've settled my music taste somewhere in the middle of indie, rock and pop. Bands I really like at the moment are Black Keys, Jake Bugg, Biffy Clyro and a huge soft spot for Lana Del Rey (I know, right?), but I find that most of the time I'm going backwards in my search for new music. And there's nothing I like more than putting on 'Definitely Maybe' or 'Abbey Road'; to quench my constant thirst for nostalgia.

Well, there we go, the horrible introduction stuff is over and done with, now feel free to read on knowing that you're getting this crap from someone who listened to Hear'Say, has flirted with emo, rap, punk and prog-rock in the same week and now likes Lana Del Rey. Enjoy.

NWR