I like discovering bands on my own, of my own will. It's been a while since I have. Getting to know the artist entirely on my own terms, without others' influence, in this relatively pure form, has been something I've been lacking for a while. I've spent too much time on blogs and forums, too much time letting my friends' and boss' tastes and interests influence my musical decisions.

Perhaps this is contributing to my current "blahs" regarding music in general. It's a lot easier to get excited about something you thought of yourself. When it comes from you first, you know it's real (in as much as what's "real" feels that way at that moment) and aren't so inclined to stop and critique the process or result with an unnecessarily jaded mindset. Oh, I only respect Band X because I met them before I heard their music... I only got into this band because someone else said they were good, and I took that at face value before I truly "listened"... I'm only listening this band because they're popular among people who share my other interests and it benefits me to keep up with what's going on in the music world. Etc, etc.

Of local bands, I got really lucky with Red Fang. I didn't know they were local at all when I first heard "Prehistoric Dog" (on a mix I downloaded because of two other irrelevant artists). I'm not even sure I knew they were local until I saw them live. While not to the same extent, I knew I liked Diesto and Black Elk from the beginning, too, without anyone else's direct influence. Of course, sure, the local "scene" and small time music business happenings certainly led to me discovering either one, but it wasn't by any kind of social imposition. I simply read their names and looked them up.

Later, I was really happy to finally find a new band on my own again with Nether Regions. What better way to discover how affective a band is for you personally than hearing them for the first time live? At the time I didn't know anyone who had any idea who they were except by vague reference of someone on a forum telling me they came from some other band I'd not heard. After the previous year or two of finding out about bands - local and otherwise - mostly because of someone else or some obvious genre or personnel relation, finding one that I liked entirely because I inherently liked them, not because it made sense that I might before I'd even heard them, and not because inbred scenes are fun for the whole family but fuck everybody else(!!!!), was really, really nice. This year's love-hate emotional cycle with my local "scene" aside, I find that this method of initial appreciation works a little better in the end.

One of the last times I heard a local band on my own was Lord Dying. I heard them for the first time live, but the situation was so fucked that I didn't get quite as much as I could have out of their set had they played indoors to a smaller, less douche-ridden crowd. Had I known beforehand that Black Elk's former bassist was now a member of Lord Dying I probably would have been ALL OVER that shit, but perhaps it's good that I didn't figure that out til later because then I would have been comparing them to Black Elk right away when they don't share much in common, musically.

Nonetheless, it's been a while since I've found any bands on my own - local and otherwise. A lot of it has to do simply from a lack of trying. I'm not downloading or sampling nearly as much as I was a few years back. My former habit of trying to keep up with what's going on in music is practically nonexistent by comparison now. For the most part I've been looking up bands for work or for some immediate reason, but even then not paying as much attention as I would have before. I haven't been to a show in months - I think I needed a break, nevermind my health or state of life. Still, the shows I would have gone to I wouldn't have learned anything. As much as I love certain bands and it stings to miss out, things have gotten stagnant for me. It's about time for change. Palette refresh.

Thanks to Karma to Burn canceling the remaining dates of their tour recently, I finally got to discover a new local band along my wavelength. Plan B put up a new show poster, now with White Orange headlining, followed by Lamprey, Towers, and Moth Dust. I know and have seen White Orange and Lamprey (who may be a band I discovered on my own, but it seems strange to care for a band that sounds so much like their influences), I've seen Moth Dust's name around and haven't bothered to check them out yet, but who the fuck are Towers?

I typed their name into the facebook search bar thinking I would get a bunch of irrelevant hits but they were on top of the list that came up, and their location is in their URL, so that was fucking easy. For once. I poked around, first going to their info. It says this under "Artists We Also Like":

"Black Sabbath, YOB, Kyuss, High On Fire, Nether Regions, X's For I's, Rabbits, Danava, Lord Dying, Marlena, Subarachnoid Space, Witch Mountain"

Uh... I guess that means I have to listen to them now. I'm a snob about 20-30 year olds who like Black Sabbath, don't know two of those bands (for good reason - they're not my bag), but the rest? OKAY. WANNA BE MY FRIEND?!

They were so kind as to actually put music on their profile, which you can hear here.

First impression: these guys need to play a show with Wizard Rifle STAT. Also, Rabbits. They sound a bit like a toned down, more stoner/doom-friendly Arabrot. Which is a good thing...

I'm surprised I don't recognize the names of any of the band members. That can't be too much of a surprise - I keep to myself and tend to ignore personnel - but still. How nice. Something totally fresh.

Exactly what I needed.

Unfortunately, because I have to continue choosing my battles wisely, this does mean I'm going to miss them live for a while yet. But just knowing this little spot on earth is still churning out decent music related to my interests makes me pretty happy.