Thank you

I was listening to a mix cd I made the other night with Empires and The Shins. It sounds like a weird mix, but I like it. They're both artists that relax me. Anyway, as I was listening to my mix, I started thinking about the first time I was introduced to each of the artists.


To begin this, you first need to know who Chris Gutierrez is.

First and foremost, he is an amazing author (aka- askheychris on livejournal)

Second, he is the subject of the song "Grenade Jumper"
"hey chris, you were our only friend and I know this is belated, but we love you back"-Fall Out Boy

Alright, back to the idea...
I was lurking through some entries and he was talking about a band a friend of his had started, and I said 'hey, if the dude loves Black Flag and Radiohead he must have good music taste.' So I check this band called Empires out. If you haven't checked them out already, seriously, go do it. They're on myspace, and they are slowly taking over the world. I'm not even kidding. They will be your new favorite band. 'Keep The Mood' has been on repeat for an unhealthy amount of time. haha.

http://www.myspace.com/Empires

The Shins were introduced to me back in tenth grade by a boy in my Guitar/Piano class. I'm going to be totally honest, I had the biggest crush on this kid, so when he said there was a band I needed to check out, I was quick to listen. Besides, I had a mix tape he made the year before and there were so many good songs on it. This dude just had an aura of coolness about him. He liked Gorillaz, David Bowie, Placebo, Coheed and Cambria, Third Eye Blind, and a bunch of little known bands that sung the kind of songs that were made for the best day ever.

He pulled my head close to his head phones and put on this video with a bunch of penguins. They've been one of my favorite bands ever since. Sure, Zach Braff put 'New Slang' in Garden State and catapulted the band out of their indie obscurity, but it was the boy in my class that made them what they are to me.



If you like that song, check out my favorite song by The Shins- "Pink Bullets."


The whole idea of this is that chance encounters can change the way you look at something for the rest of your life. If you ask me, it's truly amazing.