Music is a Religion

I normally don't do a lot of fan posts - that really isn't what I use my little internet space for. I've used it to keep up with my writing - or at least the practice of it, at any rate - and as mental floss, of a sort,  to just really empty out my head sometimes. It does tend to get a little crowded in there sometimes, and while I don't think the internet is really the place, for me at least, to really lay down those soul bearing moments of hurt, pain, love, loss, joy and ... everything else, I've found my way to signal to other people that I communicate regularly with through the vastness of the internet that something important is happening, or will happen, and that I'd like to talk about with them. Usually, when I need someone to reach out to me, they do.

Today however, I am doing a bit of a fan post. I'm a fan of a lot of things, a lot of musicians, writers, actors, and every day people. But my fandom for 30 SECONDS TO MARS is largely a result of a combination of a few very wonderful things.


First of all, more than all of the people in my life, my big brother Ernie (who's also a writer and musician) has really influenced my musical taste more than anyone. I have told you already that when we were younger we would take drives on Sunday afternoons and there, zipping around the few neighboring towns he introduced me to The Tea Party, Counting Crows, R.E.M, The Tragically Hip, Dave Matthews Band, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Barenaked Ladies, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, Red Hot Chili Peppers and probably dozens more who I'm forgetting. I may not have stuck with a lot of the bands he introduced me to back then, but 3 bands we listened to have stuck with me through the years.

The Tea Party.

Garbage.

30 SECONDS TO MARS.

I saw The Tea Party in one of the last concerts they ever did before they split up. Ernie gave me free tickets. To this day, it remains the only concert I have ever gone to. I got so swept up in their music and performance I cried.

Garbage's Version 2.0 album is never left my tape deck for MONTHS after I inherited it from Ernie, once he'd trotted himself off to University. "Queer" remains a favourite song of mine, along with Sex Is Not The Enemy, and several others.

Back in the day, when Jared was just branching out in to the music scene, Ernie somehow came across the first album on CD, which - again - stayed in the deck in the car for months. In fact, I think I might still have it kicking around somewhere, thousands of miles and countless Sundays later. I was immediately a fan. I lost touch with the band over the years, but this year I reintroduced myself to them and bought their latest album - LOVE, LUST,FAITH, DREAMS.

In my opinion it is the BEST album they've ever put together. These three incredibly talented - not to mention ridiculously handsome - gentleman have really, really created something spectacular with their latest offering. But what gets me more than their music ... is the videos (or short films as a certain Bartholomew Cubbins is fond of saying) are what really, really make a fan. They aren't just music videos ... they're stories and I can guarentee you that I have been brought to tears on more than one occasion watching them for reasons that remain a mystery to me.

Take for example this one: Do or Die

It's a song called Do or Die. The part that really gets me, is the little clip at the end where there's a young girl crying (for any number of reasons I'm sure. I'd probably cry if I meet Jared Leto too) and he just walks up to her, without a word and hugs her. Srsly. How amazing is that?!

  
And to listen to those fans, just talking to the camera, revealing very personal bits about themselves is something that I don't think you'd find happening with a lot of other fans. I mean .. it's the Echelon - a global family, by all accounts, of people who just really survive in their need for music and have been helped in some way by this band. To be able to reach and touch and affect that many people on that grand of a scale really, honestly and truly, amazes me.

Then we have this video: Closer To The Edge


I cannot tell you how many times I have been driven with this song absolutely cranked, speakers blaring, and pretending that the steering wheel is a drum set.

Also, can we talk about Jared's hair for a second? I don't think I've come across a cut or a style or a length or a color (or any combination thereof) that he doesn't look good in.

This video, to me, is just about pure enjoyment. It's passion and love and drive and ambition and never giving up and being so close to something you can almost taste it. I am, like that one kid, a believer when I hear this song.

I also LOVE all the tour footage they have in their videos. They did come to Canada this year, but they only had a couple of dates - one of which was in Montreal, but I couldn't make it. They're on world tour, again, so I'm not sure when they'll be back but I bet it'd be an experience like no other to be there.

And then, there's this: Kings and Queens

They did a whole little concert series where they performed in churches. The first time I saw this, I cried. I don't know why.

But I will say this ... music, for a lot of people, is a religious experience and MARS isn't the first band to make this connection. Check out a documentary on Netflix about Kings of Leon. Srsly.

I could go on and on at great length about this amazing trio of dudes and probably wouldn't even scratch the surface of the countless things I could say about them,

All I can really say, at this point, is thank you. They were SUCH a part of who I was when I growing up ... a little girl of god, 13 or 14 years tagging along behind my big brother and living for those Sunday drives where we'd speed around way too fast on sharp turns or just bitch about a shitty week ... but most of time the, we didn't really say anything at all. So .. thank you MARS for being a part of that, for being a part of memories of my younger years that I will never forget and is something that I will always remember. Thanks for being part of a time that was a lot less complicated, when I didn't have to figure out who I was, or learn how to be an adult, or worry about all the things that come along with being an adult.

And now, here I am ... a woman of 30 and you're all back in my life again. I'm still figuring out who I am, I'm still making mistakes but I never outgrew you. Thank you for coming back. Thank you for music that moves me, that inspires me.

"Some people believe in God. I believe in music.
Some people go to church, I turn up the radio." --- this girl's words <3 p="">
And last, but not least, thank you big brother for those Sunday drives, to countless cassettes and mix tapes, for debates, and for starting my musical education.