Myself

I'm Tayyab. As of 2012, I study Artificial Intelligence at the University of Leeds, where I also play a large part in running CompSoc and I host and guest on Leeds Student Radio shows. I am not sure how different things may be when I look back on the previous sentence in several years' time, but I want to share my journey with you through the music that carries me towards my future. I hope this turns out to be worthwhile for you and me both. Maybe you'll even share something back with me, I'd appreciate that.

You can find out more about me or how to contact me here, if you wish to:
http://about.me/tayyabamin


A History of Music and Me


I wasn't one of those children that grew up in a particularly musical household, or learned to play from an early age or anything. Being poor doesn't allow for many extra-curricular activities, unsurprisingly. Dad's musical taste concerned whatever was popular at the time, ranging from Celine Dion to Ricky Martin - he did also have a collection of cassettes containing Bollywood hits and soundtracks. It's hard for me to recall what my mum was into, though I know she was a fan of Boney M and The Beautiful South so there's a start I guess.

The first song I remember liking myself was Cornershop's Brimful of Asha, specifically the Norman Cook Remix. I'll assume this was a result of my dad's influence seeing as it was pop at the time, but I have vivid memories of seeing the video too. There was something engrossing about seeing that girl having the time of her life throwing records on amidst a colourful collage of sleeves smeared across her living room carpet.

It was the 1990s; All the usual musical suspects were loose - Saturday morning TV and pop-groups galore. I was a little too young to find all the UK's highlights of the decade (i.e. the dance music) and though I happily followed all this cheese pop like a little pup would, but I can't say I really enjoyed it. On the other hand I'd always look forward to seeing my older cousins - the more we grew, the more we saw them, and the more time we spent riding in their cars listening to the Hip-Hop and RnB of the moment. They pretty much educated me towards that, and other influences such as our hacked Sky box that only had the German version of MTV, only proved to be distractions.

Until I was 11, I'd never really heard rock music. I'd always tune into the Cartoon Network spin-off channel, CNX, which was aimed at boys like me who just wanted to see some DBZ, and they had this advert for it. It contained some ferocious drums, thumping yet funky bass, powerful guitar chords and a vocallist voicing nonsense that just seemed so right (it was somewhere between singing and rapping - more like talking. I didn't think it could be rapping because it was obviously a rock song and you obviously cannot combine rock and rap because they are opposites. Obviously.) It was of course the Red Hot Chili Peppers, with By The Way.

This discovery of a whole new area of music coincided with my high school attendance, in a place where hip-hop was a myth from beyond Cheshire's borders. Soon enough I was introduced to Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance and all the other music I was supposed to like as a teenage boy. I spent the next few years listening to your standard Rock and Pop while I began to tune out of hip-hop.

My cousins' car cassettes and CDs were still a major influence on me, and seemed to balance the Rock with some more urban-oriented sounds. We were driving around, doing odd-jobs, when I'm told there's something I have to hear; I had no idea how to describe it. You had this Jamaican Patois vocal loop talking about Jamaican things over this Jamaican-sounding reggae-dub beat but I knew it had to be from the UK. The bass and the synths warbled into distorted frequencies but it couldn't be some form of dance music, surely? Dance music was SUPPOSED to be fast, right?
It was at least a year before I'd heard the term for Zomby's Spliff Dub, 'dubstep'.

Meanwhile another cousin introduced me to bassline as he took breaks from university, revealing the fruits of
Sheffield's Niche nightclub scene. After spending so much time listening to mixes, I somehow found my way into jungle, while also following the rise and rise of dubstep. The love of jungle and drum and bass lead me to the one who goes by the name Shy FX, and he was the DJ that convinced me to go to my first 'rave' once I was old enough.

It was an eye-opening experience for me as I was thrown into a place I'd never imagined myself fitting in, and it was certainly difficult for me as one who wouldn't drink or take drugs. It was also an ear-opening experience for me. I soon realised it's not about what the DJ's produced, but about what the DJ listens to, is influenced by, what the people like, what makes the best vibes for a party. I stuck to these kinds of clubs, where I could discover more and more wonderful soundscapes. I'd say that back when I went to see Shy FX and others at The Warehouse Project was when I became a music lover. Loving music and being a music lover are different things in my opinion.

Back during my mid-teens I never had much money so I missed out on the gigs phase. I'm catching up now, what with actually having some money to spend.

What I think I may enjoy the most these days is actually feeling like I'm a part of something. A movement. It's not like 'the good old days', like those people who can't stop talking about The Hacienda or whatever, this movement is more about just loving music and sharing the love in this age of hyper-information.
I love feeling like a part of something. I also wanted to give a little something back to the industry financially,
and so in Spring 2012, I began to buy records.

The collection is accumulating, and though I currently lack any system to play my records in a way that respects the quality of vinyl, I remain hopeful that one day I'll be as happy as that girl in Brimful of Asha.