ch-ch-ch-changes...

We all inevitably go through changes throughout our lives. You aren't the same person at 26 that you were at 6. Your tastes and hobbies change (drastically!) and you've just basically matured. Sure, you can still like that certain cartoon you got up to watch every Saturday, but mostly it's for nostalgia purposes. The point of the matter is that I want to discuss, for my own sick pleasure (and maybe yours?) the changes that have occurred in my life as I have aged.

Let's begin with my "tween" years as they call them now.
I had unruly, frizzy hair and dressed horribly. I really didn't care how I looked and to me now that seems wonderful. What I wouldn't give today to just not care about my appearance. I loved boy bands and just bubblegum pop in general. My favorite band was the Backstreet Boys and my heart belonged to Nick Carter.

Life was simple back then.

Late tween-early teen years:
Hmm the most awkward of all my phases and probably the one I'm most embarrassed by! So, this would be around the time where I began to like a certain genre of music. I was in 7th grade and I thought listening to bands like Korn was cool. I'd walk around in black t-shirts and my hair all in my face. I can recall this one day while at my grandmothers house my sister said "Geez, Jenn you look Gothic" I laugh at that now seeing as that's clearly not gothic but just plain...stupid! (the way I looked not my sister. How is she to know what "gothic" is.) Anyways, so my favorite bands were Korn, Slipknot, Coal Chamber, Orgy, among countless other horrendous (to me now anyway) musical acts. I met my best friend in Freshman year of high school and we both liked this horrid music. I went to my first concerts with him. By the middle of my freshman year I began dabbling in real heavy metal music, which would soon take over my life.

Teen Years 14-15:
Heavy metal was my life now. I listened to Black metal and Death metal, etc ,etc. I wore band t-shirts and wore lots of black eyeliner. We'd go to metal concerts all the time. I really look back on this time of my life fondly. My favorite band ever during this period was Cradle of Filth. I just couldn't get enough of them! This was before they started touring on Ozzfest and all that bullshit. They were like true black metal. I also liked bands like Emperor, Mayhem, Nile, Cannibal Corpse, and countless others! I saw so many concerts and the funniest one that I'll never forget was when we saw Mortician. So this band has some insane fans and said fans were going crazy moshing at the show. It's me and I believe 2 other friends and this guy hits us and we all fall down! It was too funny! I still love some Black metal acts to this day. I'll pop in a CD or download an album whenever the mood arises.


Teen Years 16-18
Ok, so now we get into the "goth" years hah! With listening to Black metal and really any dark genre of metal comes Gothic music. I don't really no why. I guess you could say these Gothic artists are influential to these Black metal artists. For example, Cradle of Filth covered some Sisters of Mercy songs. Sisters of Mercy (whether they like it or not!) are a staple gothic rock band. So, I discover the wonders of gothic rock and ethereal music (ethereal wasn't that big a deal to me but some bands were decent) I like to think I dressed great during this time! I know it sounds egotistical but I believe it's true! I despised the whole "mall goth" and Manson goth types so I did my best to stear clear. My main inspiration came from the 80's goth look. I'm talking lace and velvet type stuff here. I also start listening to a lot of 80s new wave music which also influences my style greatly! I mostly shop at thrift stores at this point and wear nothing but platform shoes (I miss platforms!). Then I get introduced to the electronic side of gothic music. This is when the whole "cyber goth" thing got really, really popular, you know the beginning of the "dread falls" thing and stuff like that. Well, it'd been around before but it was probably at it's peak then. So I of course began making my own hair falls out of things, mostly yarn. I started wearing PVC clothes like pants and skirts and my platform boots got bigger and PVC. I start going to more shows. My favorite electronic bands were (and in some cases still are) VNV Nation, Assemblage 23, Hocico, Apoptygma Berserk, Pride and Fall, etc etc basically anything on Metropolis Records. I still stay in with my gothic rocks roots and also begin to listen to a lot of deathrock bands. Some gothic rock/ death rock bands I love are: Corpus Delicti, Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Alien Sex Fiend, The Cramps (considered psychobilly in some circles), Christian Death, Bauhaus, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, etc etc. I tease my hair and wear black lipstick and also stick to the motto of "if it's not Aquanet holding up your teased hair then it aint deathrock" hah I stick with this styles until the end of high school. High school for me and for many people was like a freakin' cat walk. I wore things that I loved. I really miss doing that. When I was about lets say 16-17 I was introduced to Visual Kei by my best friend. We started listening to bands like Dir en Grey and Malice Mizer. I remember being in computer class looking up Mana after I'd finished with my assignment :)


18-21:
So for those about 4 years Visual Kei is a big part of me. I listen to it, I travel (in 2007 my best friend and I drove from TX to CA to see Ayabie) for it, I dress for it. Not too much to say here besides having Japanese popular culture take over my life. I still love it to this day but I think the passion was the most intense in the beginning.

21-today (I'm 22 btw and will be 23 in August)
I love every kind of music I've listened to (aside from 14-15 yrs hah!) I probably won't ever stop.
As far as the way I dress...well I've toned it down A LOT. I'm really sad that I have because I just loved the way I dressed before. I feel like I'm not myself sometimes but I guess that's what happens when you get older. Especially, if you are part of a subculture. You get older and you have to dress a certain ways in order to be accepted into society. I still don't dress "normal" enough to most people. I wear a lot of black now but I have my own "thing" I guess you could say. I still love Japanese street fashion, especially gothic lolita. I guess at this point in my life I don't have the money it takes to look how I'd really like to. Once I get my life on track and figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life I'm sure my sense of style will again kick in and I'll be happy with how I dress.

Musically, at this time, I am completely obsessed with the 60s namely the Beatles. I have probably had "across the universe" and "Norwegian wood" on repeat for the past week or so. But, of course I still hear my old faithfuls. Just check out my lastfm to see what I'm hearing.


So, I believe everyone goes through lots of changes. I went through a few but in the end I think I know who I am. I love morbid things and I probably always will. I'll always love the dark side of things and thats just who I am and I'm happy with that. I wouldn't change anything in my past (aside from some financial decisions!)
So I leave you with...