According To You
You know how the magic of radio works? I do, its when you accidentally stumble upon an amazing singer with a talented gift of playing the electric guitar and also have a great voice to go along with it. Full package right? So I introduce you now, Orianthi Panagaris. She's only 24 years old. Same age as my elder brother Marcus who is in New Zealand. Best part yet is that she's born on the 22th of January 1985!! I kinda get all excited when I know people in the entertainment world has the same name or born close to my birthday kinda thing. xD Orianthi was born in Adelaide, Australia, of half Greek descent. She is most commonly known as Michael Jackson's guitarist for his comeback tour, This Is It.
Orianthi was Michael Jackson's lead guitarist and was present on all rehearsals for his This Is It tour before his death. In regards to being handpicked by Jackson, she stated:
“I don’t know exactly why he picked me, but he watched my YouTube videos and loved them. He had his choice of guitar players, but I came in and played the ‘Beat It’ solo for him. Afterward he was so happy he got up and grabbed my arm and started walking up and down the stage area with me. He said, ‘Can you play once for me?’ He hired me that night. I wish he was still around. He made me believe in myself more, and I learned so much. Going into it, I thought it would be all about playing guitar solos. But the majority of it was playing chords and funky rhythms.”
At 24 years old, Orianthi has already experienced what most aspiring musicians only dream of. She's opened for her hero (Steve Vai), backed an Idol (Carrie Underwood), traded solos with a legend (Carlos Santana) and shared the stage with the King of Pop (Michael Jackson). What's left to conquer? The world stage, for one, and this guitar wunderkind has her sights clearly set on the road ahead.
After a performance with Carrie Underwood on stage at the 2009 Grammy Awards the blogosphere was buzzing with news of this little-known guitar prodigy. It prompted Michael Jackson to call with an offer for her to be his guitarist for his dates at the O2 Arena in London. When offered the gig in Michael Jackson’s live band, Orianthi joined a prestigious line of guitar players including Eddie Van Halen, Santana, Slash, Steve Stevens, Jennifer Batten and Larry Carlton. Sadly the tour was not to be and music lost an icon. “Working with Michael was a life-changing experience,” Orianthi reflects, “One I will never forget.”
Her story starts in Adelaide on the southern tip of Australia where, at the age of six, Orianthi began taking an interest in her dad's record collection. "Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Cream, Santana… he was into guitar players that are real songwriters," she boasts. Growing up in the 80s, a decade remembered for its many guitar greats, Orianthi also listened to a lot of Whitesnake, Van Halen and Def Leppard. Her father, who used to be a player in a Greek band, also kept plenty of instruments around the house, and it didn't take long before Orianthi strummed her first chord. Mastering the six-string came naturally.
"When I was 11, Carlos Santana came to play Adelaide and that show really affected me," she recounts. “I begged my dad to get me a second hand electric guitar so I could be like Carlos, and that was it, no more acoustic. After that, I would buy all of Carlos' videos — on VHS! — which I kept rewinding to try and learn his solos. I totally wore out the tapes."
Some seven years later when Carlos Santana passed through Adelaide again
Carlos' brother arranged a sound-check meeting between the guitar god and his young disciple after hearing some of her music. A sound check jam evolved into an invitation to join him on stage where Orianthi played for about 35 minutes and took a solo in front of a hometown crowd. Performances, tours and guest appearances with Steve Vai, ZZ Top and Prince have kept Orianthi busy up to this point.
But guitar is far from Orianthi’s only means of expression. Before she received the call from the King of Pop, Orianthi had already been hard at work on her upcoming album, Believe, on which she sings, writes and leads her own band. Working with Geffen Records Chairman and A&R veteran Ron Fair and producer Howard Benson (All American Rejects, Daughtry, My Chemical Romance, Three Days Grace) her fierceness of character has made its way to songs that will simply knock the socks off of any boy in the rock star school yard.
Orianthi packs modern girl-power punch into every turn of phrase, but it’s the shredding that takes her brand of rock to an entirely new level. Songs like “Suffocated” and “Think Like A Man” are anthemic rock tracks recalling at time Evanescence, Avril Lavigne, Paramore and even a less-music row more-sunset strip Taylor Swift. First single “According To You” is a catchy tale of an ungrateful boyfriend with a killer guitar solo. The result: a thunderous, hook and riff driven debut that sounds larger than life. If, for a moment, you’ve thought the music world could use another taste of The Runaways’ Joan Jett, let us introduce you to Orianthi.
For someone who has been compared to legendary guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai and has been endorsed by the latter and Carlos Santana, its really quite surprising how much of a pop record Believe actually is. After hearing all the hype surround this gorgeous 24-year old, I wasn't expecting such massive pop hooks that feature on this record, notably on tracks such as According to You, Believe and Drive Away. Indeed with song titles like those mentioned, Feels Like Home, Bad News and others, you might think that this is another pop album that likes any sort of substance. And in many ways it is.
But that doesn't mean they aren't fun pop songs. The girl has a pretty good voice as well, comparable to the likes of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, the latter of which she played behind at the Grammys last year and was subsequently offered a place in her band. There's no doubting that with the right promotion, Orianthi and her four-piece backing band could have quite the success as a pop-rock act in the same feign as Avril Lavigne and Paramore.
But what sets Orianthi apart from those type of acts is obviously the guitar playing. Her work has earned his many awards over the years. Her first ever support gig was with Steve Vai at the age of just fifteen. Vai returns a favour with this record, providing his own guitar work on the instrumental piece Highly Strung, where the two axe-wielders go back and forth in what is an absolutely mammoth track, and honest to God Orianthi more than holds her own. She is an incredible guitarist. Whether its in the masterful solos of According to You, Bad News and others, or the soulful grooves of Drive Away, this woman sets the standard for female guitar players everywhere. Hell, her playing is better than the fast majority of male guitarists in rock and metal, and deserves to be appreciated by as many people as possible.
Like the pop singer that she is though, Orianthi plays it safe with a seemingly average backing band behind her, and songs about typical themes such as inconsiderate men, love, loss and forgiveness. God Only Knows is a powerful track written in the wake of Jacksons death that encourages us to move on despite never having the chance to say goodbye, and this uplifting mantra is reflected in her thunderous guitar work. And there are a fair few duds. Believe has a fairly decent pop hook but it lacks the stunning guitar work present through out the rest of the album, aside from a fairly short solo. If your guitar skills are your selling point, why wouldn't you utilize them at any given opportunity?
All in all though, its a tremendous album that uniquely combines big pop hooks with vicious guitar skills. I want to give a shout out to her drummer as well, who puts in some very impressive performances, namely on Whats It Gonna Be. Its also one of the best guitar tracks on the record, yet the accomplished drumming is still very noticeable and is really the driving force behind the track. This is a must-have for any guitar enthusiast, particularly those who like their guitarists stunningly beautiful and Greek.
Keep Breathing
I wasn't raise to talk about my thoughts or voice out my opinions. I wasn't raise to express dissatisfaction nor was I raise to talk about emotions that runs through me. But I guess I was raise right some way or another cause I wasn't raise to protect the things I love or be loyal to the people who matters to me in my life. Through out the years I learn so many things and I learn to bent for family and friends. I might not be the type of person who runs to her best friends bout my emo stuff, I'm not at all like that. I'm the one who only wants to share the good things that happens to me with people and other then that no way in hell. I'm selfish in that way. I even push people away when I learn that they can take my shit I throw at them cause that just put them this much closer to my heart. And what would people do when they are scared, they run and avoid. That's what I do, I run and avoid.
I build my defense much stronger, my walls much thicker and higher. I'm not an open book where people can read me easily as they want to. I'm not what I appear to be despite my scary serious look. But all this you would know, at least some of you who is reading this would know. But I guess however I was brought up and whatever challenges that life has throw against me I learn to love one way or another. I was brought up right somehow and I protect the things I love. And family friends are the things I love, not that I need to cause all people I care about are strong and caring are raise up to be who they are meant to be by their parents. My parents might be big kids now with their hot-headed and stubbornness but they raise me to be who I am now. =)
And I ain't your average girl as well, for I love scars that I get through out my life.
People have scars. In all sorts of unexpected places. Like secret roadmaps of their personal histories. Diagrams of all their old wounds. Most of our wounds heal, leaving nothing behind but a scar. But some of them don't. Some wounds we carry with us everywhere and though the cut's long gone, the pain still lingers.
What's worse, new wounds which are so horribly painful or old wounds that should've healed years ago and never did? Maybe our old wounds teach us something. They remind us where we've been and what we've overcome. They teach us lessons about what to avoid in the future. That's what we like to think. But that's not the way it is, is it? Some things we just have to learn over and over and over again.
I guess tonight is about me appreciating what I have and who I have with me now in my life. I love each and every single one of them. From my family to my best friends, college friends and camp friends. I love you guys. And thank you for putting up with my all, I know I ain't easy to crack. =) hugs.
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