A song for today

If you have any appreciation for either Kid Cudi or Snoop D-O-double-G, then maybe this video is for you. The arboreal motif speaks volumes about these two artists' dedication to nature, and particularly "that tree".

Whether of not you're into the kind of trees these two characters are hip-hopping about, enjoy today, be safe, be sensible.

Artist Profile: Cyrus Goudarzi

Cyrus Goudarzi is a singer-songwriter out of Wilmington, NC, currently attending Loyola University Chicago. I went to see him live at Zips Lounge at Loyola over the weekend and had a blast listening. He played an electric set with another Loyola band, Sons of the West. Sons of the West both accompanied Cyrus and played their own awesome set. It was a pretty intimate setup, but everyone there seemed to have a good time.

Cyrus' musical style is pretty straightforward; meaningful lyrics coupled with ultra-catchy riffs and melodies. Think "roadtrip movie" soundtrack. And no, not Crossroads, starring Britney Spears. More like Little Miss Sunshine, or something like that. Definitely not Crossroads though.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Cyrus and pick his brain before seeing the show, and he's got a pretty cool story.

Check it out.

W&D: What kind of music do you like to play

Cyrus: I really like to play all types of music. Like in high school I played in a live beat hip-hop band. Ever since coming to college, and I guess junior – senior year of high school when I really started getting into songwriting, I started doing more folky stuff – just because it was a lot easier to sit on an acoustic guitar, and especially in college when I didn’t have my electric guitar or anything, I started getting into a lot of folk and sort of old style country stuff. And I mean I like playing rock and electric, a lot of alternative, ambient stuff. So I try to mix it all together.

W&D: Are there any specific artists that have influenced you musically?

Cyrus: Sufjan Stevens has been a huge, huge influence. Ben Kweller is another one. Lyrically, I find Bob Dylan to be big – I feel like he’s the king of lyrics. A lot of stuff recently, especially on this EP I released, I listened to a lot of old beach music, like Otis Redding, and the Drifters, a lot of music from the 60’s – music I kinda grew up on living out at the beach.

W&D: How many EP’s have you recorded?

Cyrus: I’ve only released one EP. I just released it in February. It’s Called Mason Burrow EP, and it’s kinda like a tribute to where I grew up – I grew up on Mason Burrow Sound road. And I wanted to take all the influences from my home and put it into a couple songs. I just self-produced it in my basement, and I was hoping to release an acoustic EP with more of the folky stuff over the summer.

W&D: Do you only record at home?

Cyrus: Yeah, I’ve only really delved into home recording, just because I haven’t gathered the money for a studio, but I mean it’s on my list of things to do – to go in the studio and do a full album. But the self produced EPs are kinda like high enough quality to release, but not as high quality as a studio record would be.

W&D: So, how long have you been playing music?

Cyrus: It’s a weird story. I started playing guitar in like fourth grade, learning chords and stuff, and that’s when I started writing. I would write songs and stuff about getting dumped by my girlfriend in fourth grad or something like that. But I would hate my songs. I would write them and I would just not like them at all. It wasn’t until sophomore year that I started writing things and saying, “you know, that sounds good” and I would listen to it and say, “I actually like this” and I would share it with people. But in eighth grade was when I really started taking guitar lessons – in fourth grade I just sort of doodled around – but, yeah in eighth grade I started studying jazz guitar and blues, and that’s what really expanded my musical tastes. And then in sixth grade I started playing saxophone in band – so it started in fourth grade, kinda basic, and then in sixth grade I started taking music classes at school, and in eighth grade I started doing one-on-one guitar until high school where I took AP music theory and and stuff that really helped expand my knowledge.

W&D: How do you normally play your live sets? Do you play by yourself or do you have some accompaniment?

Cyrus: Thus far, I’ve only played guitar. I’ve done a couple of piano songs – because usually my biggest problem is when I record in my basement, I layer everything for the recording, so I can play drums, bass, guitar, and everything. But when I’m live it’s like – it’s just me. So I’ll just usually do a guitar or piano if I do a piano version by myself. But this Saturday is the first time since, like sophomore year, that I’ll have a band – Sons of the West. I’ve been teaching them all the songs so their gonna’ back me up, which will be cool.

W&D: Do you play a lot of shows around here?

Cyrus: I actually haven’t. Not nearly as much as I had hoped to, at least. But I’ve played open mic a lot. But that’s really it. Just because it’s been just me and my guitar – playing acoustic. So I haven’t really done any big venues or anything. So this weekend’s kinda the first big show. And I guess a lot of it is a learning process, just sort of learning how to get gigs. Like being in Chicago, it’s a huge, huge city, so I think, next year especially, I’ll kind of know how to go forward.

Cyrus plans to tour this summer with Sons of the West, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for him in your hometown.

Check Cyrus out on:

Facebook

Myspace

and get his free EP, Mason Burrow EP.

Treasure Hunting

How many times have you seen this? Just some guy trolling the beach for buried treasure. Or land mines. Or maybe a wedding ring. I saw one of these guys at Loyola Beach, but I'm pretty sure all he found was some loose change and a rusty syringe.

It turns out you don't need a metal detector to find treasure at Loyola Beach. A friend and I were walking through the rocks monday afternoon and we happened across these two beauties. Corona and some Polish beer. Interesting combo, but what's more intriguing: who leaves unopened beer on the beach? Who leaves beer unopened? Why hasn't anyone else on the beach taken these?

Our response to these questions was a very decisive, "fuck that, we don't want AIDs."

So we left the beer where it was. Hopefully we made the right choice, because the Corona was ice cold, and my friend happened to be Polish. We could have enjoyed them thoroughly if they weren't so sketchy. But I guess there are a lot of things I would thoroughly enjoy if they weren't so sketchy: chicken nuggets from Star Grill, people panhandling outside the Loyola red line stop at night, Mertz Hall, just to name a few.

Loyola Beach is chock full of little surprises. This in particular is one of my favorite little quirks:

I know snow on the ground doesn't exactly scream "beachy", but this looks pretty cool when the weather is warm.

And it's an incredibly loaded sentiment to consider. It's so much bolder than "everyone love everyone" or "peace on earth". It's not a fleeting, half-assed appeal to do something right in your life, but a resounding commandment that every able-minded person should embrace.

For a lot of people, getting "really close to another human being" isn't always easy. Sure, everyone has their superficial relationships: the weekend friends, drinking buddies, classmates, teammates. It's not to say that these relationships are always depthless or meaningless, but more often than not, you wouldn't consider yourself to be really close to these people. This little decree forces me to consider, who are the people closest to me at this point in my life and why? It's a kind reminder, and something I'll always appreciate.

Easter

I was holding out for an Easter basket this year. This is my first Easter: A. away from my family, B. without church, C. without brunch, and D. without so much as one Cadbury egg.

But I'm loving it.

I thought about buying easter candy, a basket, plastic grass, and plastic eggs at CVS last night. I had it all planned out. Fill my basket with all sorts of treats and goodies, slam a few beers, fall asleep, wake up surprised. Nothing like creme eggs and a hangover to celebrate the resurrection of arguably the most recognized and respected religious figure on the planet -- and I don't mean Oprah.

That little plan didn't exactly materialize the way I had envisioned. In fact, I only really accomplished the 'slam a few beers' part. Who wants to buy their own Easter basket? Not this guy. That's about as pathetic as looking for dates on Craigslist. I'm not at that point in my life yet.

I hope whoever reads this enjoys their own Easter break, even if you date people on the internet.