THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: 5 ARTISTS THAT SHAPED MY TEENS

One of the very few pictures of me in my early teens when I didn't have purple hair. Sigh. Emo phases are rough.

Teenage years are some of the most turbulent you'll ever experience, from what I've heard. Emotions are high, everything matters and absolutely nobody understands you except the people blaring through your speakers. In my opinion, your teens are where you really establish your own musical identity. You find out what music you like, which artists you love and which artists you don't, and you start going to see them of your own accord and aren't just dragged to concerts of people you've never heard of by your parents. So, in this post, I'll be taking you on a whistle-stop tour of the people that I listened to throughout my teens.

FALL OUT BOY

I always believe that good music takes you back to a specific time in your life, and I'd say any given Fall Out Boy song takes me straight back to being 13 with purple hair, Dance Dance(ing) around my room to 'Sugar We're Goin' Down'. I would struggle to find someone of around my age, that went through an emo phase, who could honestly say that Fall Out Boy wasn't a HUGE part of that. I'm almost convinced we were all born knowing the lyrics to 'Thnks Fr Th Mmrs' (and 'Mr Brightside' by The Killers, but that's a whole different story). I won't pretend there's any deeper meaning here. They didn't save my life or anything dramatic, but Fall Out Boy was a real gateway for me to fall in love with other pop-punk/rock artists and discover an entire genre that I loved. Before then. my music taste was based on my parents and whatever was at the top of the charts. Fall Out Boy introduced me to my 'emo phase' but also into a genre that I would still say is my favorite now. I still love Fall Out Boy to this day, and I actually really love the way their music is moving forward. No artist makes me feel nostalgia for my teens like Fall Out Boy does.

DAVID BOWIE

David Bowie was one of the artists that I fell in love with via my parents. He was constantly played throughout my household but wasn't really until I was about 14 when I started appreciating his music and talent. My parents took me to the exhibition all about him at the V&A in 2013, and since then I was hooked. Absolutely nobody compares to the musical artistry and variability of David Bowie. He was someone that changed the face of music and allowed so many people to feel comfortable in being themselves because he was so unbelievably weird and out there. He's not only influenced my life but also the lives and careers of other artists that have influenced me. Listening to his music allowed me to understand the way in which older classic music influences the modern music I was listening to today. I don't think it would be dramatic to say that David Bowie is the person who made me really love music, not just listen to it. Everyone has an artist or multiple, that was introduced to them via their parents and loving that artist is almost a genetic trait: Bowie was mine. The song of his that really stuck with is 'Heroes' and I'm not entirely sure why, but that song, in particular, I've played an unbelievable amount of times. There's nothing I could say about Bowie that a thousand people before me haven't said, and that says it all, really. He's outstanding.


ONE DIRECTION

Okay. Here me out. Am I about to try and convince you One Direction are the pinnacle of musical talent? No. But I would be lying through my teeth if I said they weren't a big part of my teenage years. I somehow (only God knows how), managed to have an emo phase and a One Direction phase simultaneously. Sure, One Direction's music wasn't deep and didn't make you think and barely ever related to your own life, but I think that's what part of their success. Sometimes, especially as a teenager, you want music that you can just dance to and not have to think about anything else. Emotions are running high, you've got a crush on a boy that doesn't like you back, sometimes the last thing you want to do is listen to music about heartbreak and life's difficulties, sometimes you want to stick on 'What Makes You Beautiful'  and get put in a good mood again. Believe it or not, one of my favorite concerts I've been to so far, was One Direction at Wembley Stadium for this reason. There was no pressure, it was just fun. People often look down on pop music for having no meaning and just a funky beat (and perhaps because most pop artists are supported by young girls, but that's a discussion for another time), but that's just sometimes what people need and others ought to start being a little less snobby about it.
I would say I've moved on from One Direction now, but I must admit I'm a big fan of Harry Styles as a solo artist. Even if you despise One Direction with every inch of your being, I'd recommend giving him a listen. His fusion of acoustic/country/80s rock is good and he's one hell of a showman.

ED SHEERAN

I had to put Ed Sheeran in here because he was the majority of my musical firsts. The first album I bought, my first concert, my first song I tried to learn on the guitar (Photograph), the first time I've followed someone from being relatively unknown to success. I've literally seen him in a 2,000 capacity theatre, to Wembley stadium. I spent my teens following him and his music (along with my mum, who I think is mildly in love with him). His music was easy to listen to but raw at the same time, especially his first album in particular. He is simply a man and his guitar and he creates beautiful songs and performs sold out stadiums as that. There's something very inspiring about following someone's career from the early stages to major success. As cheesy as it is, there's a sense of pride that this artist you discovered such a long time ago has become so popular. I'm no longer as huge of a fan as I was, but I still listen to his music often and I'll always have a soft spot for him, no matter how heavy and varied my music tastes get. He is beginning to branch out of the solo guitar and into other inspirations from around the globe, so I'll see where that takes him, but to me, he's always going to be the man that I saw in 2012 performing 'The A Team' at a 2,000 capacity venue in France.

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER

It's going to seem like I'm obsessed with them, mentioning them in my first two proper posts but it would be against everything not to admit that 5SOS were very important to my teen years. In a similar ilk to Ed Sheeran, the reason why this band reminds me of my teens is that I followed them from covers on Youtube to touring with One Direction, and now finally finding their own sound. However, I've not just grown up with their career, I've grown up with them. The members of the band are only 1-4 years older than me which (as depressing as it is that I'm struggling to write blog posts while they're writing hit songs) is something special. They've gone through the same struggles of being a teenager that I did, whilst I was going through it. It's a shame their music got a bad reputation from their interesting decisions for lead singles and being voted Kerrang's worst band (twice), when truthfully some of their deeper songs, particularly on their second album, were so outstandingly well written and somehow made me understand everything I was going through and that I was not alone whilst I was going through it. It didn't cure any mental health issue I had, but it did burst my bubble of feeling like I was alone, and it made me talk to other people about it, which is such an important step. They've also grown from being angst-ridden teenagers to confident adults in front of my eyes and I'd like to think I've done the same.


I'm aware this post was a mixed bag and also aware that this was only 5 artists. In my reality, my music taste is here there and everywhere, going between the most ridiculous amount of music artists, so limiting them down to five was actually quite difficult. There are so many artists and bands that have even just one song that changed my music taste a little, that I couldn't possibly include every single one. I almost feel bad for including the musical genius that is Mr David Bowie with the (relatively) short-lived phenomena that were/is One Direction, and I know a lot of you will wonder why the hell I've done that as well, but at the end of the day I'm not about to pretend that every song I listened to as a teen was a work of musical artistry. I was finding the genres I liked, the voices I like and the instruments I liked. Musical snobbery is something that I'm still trying to get over. Some people spent their entire teenage years in an emo phase, some people spent it convincing everyone classic rock was obviously the superior genre, and others spent it crying whenever One Direction released a new song, and all of those are absolutely valid ways to experience music in your teens. We live and we learn.

Lastly, I have curated a Spotify playlist of some songs that I listened to a hell of a lot as a teenager, from artists featured here and many that aren't so if you want to give it a listen, then please do. (Don't worry, the One Direction is limited and the emo is excessive.)
SONGS I LISTENED TO AS A TEEN

Written by Ruby Crowhurst.