Jacob Fury

So this is my first blog for Fuzz.com and I suppose I should take a moment to introduce myself. Music is one of the most important aspects of my life - and it nearly became my career. I started playing violin when I was 5 years old and until I was about 16 years old I had no doubt that it was going to be what I was going to do for the rest of my life. At that point, I made a choice that fundamentally altered my trajectory. I decided that while music was my passion, I absolutely and positively did not want to have to depend on it to eat. Call me a coward, a sell-out, or whatever you want to, but that was what I decided. Of course, it didn't help that I had grown up in the Bay Area and in an area filled with more talented classical musicians per capita than just about anywhere in the world. But I didn't stop playing music and in my third year of college I was spending more time on violin than on my course-work and was playing more than 32 hours a week. Needless to say, a full-time job has rendered this no longer possible but I still try to play whenever I can. I love russian composers most of all, and some of my favorites include: Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Mahler, Brahms and Tchaikovsky.

When it comes to music appreciation, I listened to nothing but classical music until I was 12 or 13, same as my parents. The teenage years I suppose are a natural time to begin to branch out and seek out new things on your own or with friends. I began listening to bands like Stone Temple Pilots, They Might be Giants, Green day, Oasis, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc. In college is where my musical preferences really began to bloom. I was going to school at a small private liberal arts college in the pacific northwest, so naturally I listened to more indie bands like Elliot Smith, Death Cab for Cutie, Sleeter Keeney. I also began an infatuation with British music that is even stronger today.

Which brings us to today. I like a wide variety of music. Its impossible for me to say who my favorites are as they shift with my mood and who knows, possibly even with the weather! But bands like Muse, Pulp, The Smiths, The Hives, The Buzzcocks, Johnny Cash, The Clash, and Radiohead are some of the bands I've been listening to the most of late. I like punk, rock, brit pop, indie, electro, and many others. Most of all, I'm biased towards music that is lyrical, driven by melodies and performed with passion. Enough about me. We'll talk again soon.