Shadowplay, the day the clouds parted
(a song that may have changed my
life)
By Michael Aliani (chiron / ikon)
I have always
had the feeling that I am running out of time.
Since I can remember, since I was very young, I have had an
understanding that time is marked, that life is short, and that what you expect
in life is not always what you get. This
may seem a little peculiar for a young child, but a little realistic
perspective can never hurt, even at a young age.
With this
perspective came the desire to express myself, something we all do in different
ways. In my youth this yearning to
express myself first came about through
a world of fantasy. A youthful
imagination is somewhere to get totally lost in. You can be anything you want, do anything you
desire in your own mind. This innocent,
youthful imagination is something truly wonderful, but alas it does not last
forever.
Also during
these yearly years I was also introduced to a love of music that my grandmother
had for blues and jazz music. She would
put these crazy songs on the record player and dance around the house trying to
get me to dance with here. Often I would
oblige, but most of the time I would run off to go and satisfy my own fantasy
world. I didn't really understand my
grandmothers passion. Would I ever, or was she just crazy.
With time, the
youthful imagination slowly losses it’s power, and more reality based passions
begin to manifest to express one’s self.
A love of visual art, creative
writing, a love of theatre, discovering
my fathers vinyl collection all became ways of expressing myself during
different periods of my youth.
Time passes,
then one day in early 1988 during my final year of high school, a friend Chris
asked me to listen to some music on his cassette walk-man. Being the expert on music that I thought I
was, I asked who it was. Joy Division
was the reply. I had never heard of
them. Putting the headphones on Chris
pressed play and ‘Shadowplay’ from 'Still' began. I listened to the song to the end, one song
only. I had never heard anything like it
in my entire life. I hated it. It was unlike anything I had ever heard. It made me feel something that music had
never made me feel before, and I wasn’t sure what it was. It challenged me and I could not get it out
of my head. It was like a disease, the
start of an addiction. Within a few days
I had bought my own copy of Still. I
soon realised something had changed in me, or so I felt. Ideas, lyrics began popping into my head, and
I had no control of it.
Not long after
this my friend Chris started a band with another friend Dino. Naturally I thought I was the ideal
candidate for the singer they
required. This was the start of ‘Death
in the Dark’ that later became ‘Ikon’.
I immediately
started writing my own lyrics. On the
walk home from school an idea would begin.
By the time I arrived home a whole song would be completed. I would frantically write it down trying to
remember all that had entered my mind on that walk home.
Music has become
my way of expressing myself. It becomes
a part of who you are, a part of you identity.
And yet it is much, much more.
You almost don't have a choice.
It drives you, and in some ways controls you. And yet it can be so pure. I remember the feeling when we (Death in The
Dark) recorded our first original song at a rehearsal on a cassette. I was so excited, so proud of what I had
done, what we had done. I still get that
same feeling now when I write a new song.
That part of music will always be pure to me.
After Ikon, I
started Chiron which continues today. It
some ways it is the same as it was in beginning. Doing something you love. It doesn't always go exactly to plan, but
what does in life.
I now understand
my grandmother's passion. She is 86 and
her love for music is as strong as ever.
I suppose I am just like her, a little crazy. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Categories:
DUSK MEMORIES
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