How Sez Sees It

On being a fan and the number of times it has saved me You hear this a lot (or read it a lot) if you go online and scroll through your twitter or tumblr timeline. Someone will be talking about how a particular song, band, tv show or film saved their life. You might not understand this way of thinking and I am genuinely happy for you because it means you have had the stability in your life to just enjoy things without them taking on a greater meaning for you. However, I am one of those people and I am going to explain how being a fan of different things at different times saved my life...in some cases literally! How Lord of the Rings saved me The year was 2001 and on 28 December I (just turned 15 years old) went to the cinema with my family to see the first in a trilogy of films adapted from the J.R.R. Tolkein series, The Lord of the Rings. This first instalment was called The Fellowship of the Ring and tells the story of a band of different peoples (Dwarfs, Elves, Men and Hobbits...

A few years ago I used to write reviews of my favourite films and albums. I don't know why I stopped because I really enjoyed it. I found an old memory stick the other day and this is a review I wrote back in 2008 about William Control's first album, Hate Culture: William Control – Hate Culture This is a concept album from the front man of Aiden.  The idea being that William Control is in London and is spending the last night on earth before he commits suicide. He is going to spend it fucking and killing in London before ending his own life. The CD case has a brooding image of William Control (aka. wiL Francis from Aiden).  Dressed in 18 th century style on the cover art, you would take him for a Jack the Ripper type. Inside the cover contains so many thanks it takes a while to read them all and proves that this artist needs people and places in his life.  The pictures in the booklet set the scene that will carry on in the music, one of sex and violence.  A...

You hear about it all the time, someone says that a song/album/band changed or saved their life. Can it though? From personal experience I would say yes, although other factors come into play, such as the influence of my aunty. I believe I have written about her before. My aunty is 10 years older than me, so when I was 5/6 years old she was in her mid-teens. Her taste in music was Nirvana and it was her that introduced me to the band via their epic album ‘Nevermind’ by making a tape recording of it for me. Influenced by me ‘cool’ aunty, I began a life long love affair with all things rock. This was cemented in 1995 by my parents buying me a Smash Hits tape containing Green Day’s ‘Basket Case’. From then on the band soundtracked my life and I love them to this day. I feel I have ‘grown up’ with the band (which actually formed the year I was born!). That is the early influence where someone else changed, or rather set the course, of my musical love. From then on certain song...