notunderarock

[notunderarock]

Best New Music Released during Quarantine

To get myself back into the swing of things, because do I really need to get back into the swing of things I love, I’m going to do a series of posts writing about my favorite new music that’s come out during this crazy time period of isolation and dread in the United States. Basically, any album that came out in March - now, will be considered. Sorry Best Coast! Even though Always Tomorrow was not bad!

#best new music during quarantine #best new music #new music #charli xcx #watsky #george watsky #the strokes #fiona apple #phoebe bridgers #haim #run the jewels #waxahatchee #best coast #music #yay music

[notunderarock]

I’m back... why did I leave in the first place?

I’ve been trying to start this entry for almost a year and haven’t been able to due to what I like to call, “freezing in fear”. It happens to me when I get overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. I deleted my previous blog for a variety of reasons: 

1. I hate Blogger. I’ve wanted to switch to Tumblr for a while, but thought since I had somewhat of a following on the Blogger site that was building after 9 years, I figured switching would not be wise.

2. I was and still am, frustrated with writing. Frustrated with the struggle of not being paid for my work. I put a lot of time and effort into theprestonbeat.com and thought, maybe one day, I’d be able to sustain a side hustle of writing on the side for other websites and having my blog featured, etc. After 9 years, I was getting paid a little bit, but not a lot. Definitely not enough to consider it a “side hustle”. So then I got into a spiral of negativity and thought, could you really consider yourself as a writer if you weren’t getting paid for it? I don’t know. And I still don’t. But here we are because I realized that this blog isn’t just for monetizing a potential side hustle I dream of having. I also really like talking about music and sharing my opinions about it. I like people reading it, commenting and giving feedback (which relates to #3,) because I like to hear what other people have to say about it - even if they 100% disagree with me! After a few times talking to my husband and various friends about music and them saying, “I have no idea who that is,” giving me a blank stare right back at me. That’s when I realized, “okay, I really need to start my blog again.”

3. Number three is the hardest for me to admit. Because a lot of people weren’t commenting or giving any feedback, I thought it wasn’t really going anywhere for me, why do it? Writing is kind of a weird art form because you want people to react or give feedback to it - yeah, you write it and it’s very personal to you, but you also like to get edits - that’s after the first draft, ya know! That’s why writing workshops exist. So anyway, I was feeling unfulfilled in that way, but really, I think it was the fact that I was getting married and planning a wedding is mentally and physically exhausting. At the end of the day, the personal aspect of this art form for me is more important. The most important thing about writing should be if you like what you’re writing, all the other stuff is secondary. Because after almost a year of not writing and saying, “why am I bothering? I’m not getting paid for this and it stresses me out to keep updating the blog. So fuck it!” I realized if anything, it’s a creative outlet I normally don’t get on a daily basis at my job. And I need that. Because I need to talk about music to someone. 

4. My last name isn’t “Preston” anymore :D