SOTY - Friday the 13th

Recently, I was asked to share life advice for someone in high school. I maybe spent excessive time in my own thoughts looking back at the things that have shaped me and then honing in on the aspects that have made me a better person. I’m not going to post all of it right now, but it fits into a set of Story of the Year photos that I had been holding in order to share when their latest album was released.

One piece of my advice was— “Say yes to adventures and it is highly likely you will find joy in the things that you love now, later in life. It’s crazy when I look at my life at 39, and what I like is not much different than what I liked at 16. I love taking photos, going to concerts, all things space, rollerblading, backpacking, and listening to the same heavy music I listened to in high school. As an adult, it can be difficult to find others that enjoy the same things, but I think we often get stuck trying to reflect the persona that society says we should be. Don’t live vicariously through others. Find ways to make that you.

Always be authentic to yourself, show kindness to everyone, and never be afraid to do things solo. Be someone that you’re proud of and take time to enjoy what you love doing as it will bring joy to your life.”

This brings me to Story of the Year. A band that I discovered in 2003 from their platinum certified “Page Avenue” album. I’ve continued to listen to them as well as many other bands for the past 20 years, always looking forward to latest releases and constantly found wearing the latest merch. It is so common to hear, “wow, I haven’t listened to them since high school”… Why not!? So many of these bands are releasing fire albums. I do think that we should also continually find new artists and support up and coming bands. However, bands like Story of the Year pour their hearts into music, relying on it for their livelihoods. The time spent creating, recording, practicing, touring, and promoting their art is an extremely expensive investment. As we’ve grown older, the trade-offs increase such as time with our families or missing kids activities to play a show in a random town across the country. The art created by the musicians must have purpose, must have meaning, and must be worth sharing with the world.

Some of the most recent music released from artists including Story of the Year, Thursday, Armor for Sleep, Emery, Underoath, Thrice, and Hayley Williams to name a few, has so much depth, authenticity, and intention that the culmination of these elements combines into powerful albums that need to be heard.

Take time this year to support music. Check out the artists that carried you through your high school years, stream their latest releases, buy their merch, and go to that show. Feel alive. Let the artist breath life into their listeners.