Fashion. Design. Music. These are a few of my favorite things. I have always wanted to incorporate music into Modern Material. I am not a musician unless you count my lousy attempts with the piano, cello, and flute in grade school. I admire the skill and creativity involved in writing music. As a designer, it's a continual struggle to create something new, fresh, yet still appealing to the crowd. I believe musicians have the same challenge to overcome. Just as there will always be songs criticized for sounding like another, there will always be fashion and design accused of being knock offs. Originality only goes so far. There are only so many beats and melodies in the musical universe. And there are only so many colors and styles in the design spectrum.
Modern Material is about what inspires me. It's what gives me light at the end of the tunnel. It's a goal. It's a dream. It's the feeling of waking up each day motivated and ready to discover something new.
So while my professional career is about the trends in fashion and design, my personal career has dedicated a lot of time to finding great new tunes to rock out to. I am a strong believer and promoter of indie music. I can relate to their struggle to survive in a world of major record labels and platinum albums. Only my world revolves around making a name for myself among the Gap's or Calvin Klein's of the industry.
Here's my most recent thought. Why not start a collaboration between designers and musicians? I've been slacking off on listening to new artists over the past year while developing Modern Material. I used to make it to several shows each month. I really want and need to be inspired by new music. We all get a dozen Myspace requests for bands each week. How many of us actually listen to the music player? My goal is to start listening. If I find the music exciting and inspiring, I would love to feature a blog review of their album and post a link on my website. In return, I would like for the band to feature a banner for Modern Material on their Myspace or Facebook page for at least 2 weeks. Indie artists unite.
To kick it off, I'd like to share some of my favorite songs from musicians including: The Bravery, Citizen Cope, Audioslave, The Kaiser Chiefs, Modest Mouse, Atmosphere, Gwen Stefani, Gavin Rossdale, Your Vegas, Switches, Howie Day, Jack Johnson, Charlotte Sometimes, Jason Mraz, Mark Ronson, Snow Patrol, 30 Seconds to Mars, Aqualung, Radiohead, Mat Kearney, Pete Yorn, Hard-Fi, Bush, Incubus, Rock Kills Kid, The Shins, Cake, Pat Monahan, New Radicals, Big City Rock, Foo Fighters, and The Fray.
Rock On. - a n n i e -
