ALice-chapter 5-v5-web2

Everybody remembers where he or
she was when they heard a song for
the first time that resonated so deep
within them, they knew for a fact they
were going to listen to that song for
the rest of their life.
Such is the case when I first heard
Blame Candy’s “When I Was Cool.” I
was sitting at my desk on a summer
day, distracted with something other
than Alice, when I got an email from
Cory Ingram with a link to Blame Candy’s
EP. The email was simple: “Hey!
Have you ever heard of these guys?
What do you think?”
I clicked on the link. Faced with 4
choices, “Life Like You,” “Hush,”
“When I Was Cool” and “Toxic Boy,”
I went with “When I Was Cool.” It
starts off dreamy, a little psychedelic,
is this going to be a shoegazing
song? Wait, here comes some harder
guitar riffs, hmmm… some melodic
twists, definitely not that psychedelic,
maybe more hypnotic. But wait, what
the fuck? What’s happening with this
bridge? This brilliant thing happened,
really just a key change, but it felt next
level genius. Like, Oasis genius. Okay,
they’re young, so let’s call it Jason
Faulkner genius. No, this is next level
shit and I’m calling it like it is. Oasis
genius.
I listened to “When I Was Cool” on
repeat about 40 times. I emailed Cory
back, saying “Yeah, they’re pretty cool,
let’s put them in the magazine.” Cory
told me they not only sound great but
they also have “great style.”
People often think that because I’m a
fashion photographer, a band’s style
is more important to me than the
band’s music. They couldn’t be more
wrong. While style is definitely important,
I fell in love with rock and roll
music long before I held a camera in
my hands. It’s the music first, always.
So off I went to some small town near
Vienna, Virginia to see Blame Candy
for the first time. Ever heard of Vienna,
Virginia? Yeah, me neither. But man
was it worth it. I brought my cynical
boyfriend with me, the one who
graduated with a masters in music,
so he’s a music snob. We watched
Blame Candy hit the stage and were
starstruck. I just shook my head and
thought to myself, “Man, this is like the
time you saw that unknown band Van
Halen play at your best friend’s sister’s
graduation party in Pasadena and
years later got to tell people that you
heard ‘Runnin’ with The Devil’ for the
first time at a backyard BBQ graduation
party.” Now I’ll be able to say,
“You know, I saw Blame Candy when
they played this dive bar in Vienna,
Virginia.”
I love watching kids’ eyes get wide.