Hello everyone! My name is Tyler, and I’m excited to share my new project with you.
Four years ago, I started a blog called NewYearsDayProject. It was a song-a-day thing, where I’d write about my thoughts on a song or share some interesting facts I learned about it. I really enjoyed it at first, but over time, I started to feel a bit overwhelmed. I wondered if what I was doing was really worth the time.
When I first started, the blog was like a little quarantine project. There wasn’t much else going on in my life, so I had all the time in the world to write, listen, and research. But as the years went by, life started to get busier and busier. And last fall, I just couldn’t keep up with the blog. I lost all my motivation until a couple of posts pulled me back in. But by December, I was burnt out again and started thinking about what I could do this year.
So, here’s the new project: a monthly playlist that I’ll update with more relevant songs. I’m calling it mixtapEmotion. With NewYearsDayProject, I felt like I was just repeating information that was already out there on the web. What could I really add to the conversation? With my new project, I’m not going to feel the pressure to post every day. Instead, I’m going to take some time to figure out what this project is really about and what I want to achieve with it.
I’ve got a few ideas for mixtapeEmotions. First, I’m thinking about playlists. We can explore how songs and artists connect across different genres. One project an older friend of mine asked about was understanding how music has changed in the 2000s. With so much music out there and 20 years of musical history, it’s not cool to make generalizations about “music these days.” Then, there’s the matter of musical influence. In my four years of blogging, I’ve been fascinated by how music influences different generations and genres. For example, it was interesting to find a post-punk connection between ‘80s bands like The Cure and New Order and 2000s rock bands like The Killers and Anberlin, and even contemporary pop acts like some songs by The Weeknd or Lady Gaga. This might seem controversial because some people are really into certain fandoms, but music is all about connections, even if you don’t like the artist. And if we can get past our prejudices about artists, maybe we can get past our prejudices towards people too.
Whatever this project turns out to be, I’m excited to start working on it! I hope you’re all excited about this new project! Let me know what you think.
Mixtapemotions 