The road to discovering your music tastes is different for everyone. You could become enmeshed in one scene for years, never venturing outside of it. Maybe you have a certain music blog whose opinions you trust, and they hold your hand along that journey. Perhaps your Spotify curated playlists are *really* accurate and do all the heavy lifting for you (a dream!). Carmela Carr has meticulously documented her journey in Journey to Generation Clash, available now via New Degree Press.
I had the chance to chat with Carmela about the path from getting her first mp3 player to starting her music blog, Generation Clash. You can read our interview below, and grab a copy of Journey to Generation Clash on Amazon or Kobo*.
*more links at the bottom of this article
Tell us a bit about yourself & Generation Clash!
My name is Carmela Carr. I’m an artist, writer, photographer, and music lover. Generation Clash is the name of my music blog, which I started in March 2019, after an eventful day in my room going through my record collection.
Congrats on the release of your first book, Journey To Generation Clash. How has the response been so far?
Thank you!! The response has been amazing so far! My book is currently out on Amazon, but it’s being distributed into other retailers like Barnes & Noble and eBay too! Everyone has really been enjoying my perspective in the book, and they’ve seen how the music industry doesn’t put the same time into every artist, which has caused music to lack diversity.
A big theme of this book is how I’m showing what I’ve seen from my experiences, I do have a love for older music, but there are numerous older groups that are insanely underrated, and were better than what was popular. I feel this way mainly because those acts were different and that was why they didn’t get noticed by the average listener, and they lacked promotion. Without promotion, there’s no way for us to know about these artists. I know about them because I found them by going to a record store and being fascinated by how many different albums could be in a record bin.
When you were contacted to write a book, what made you choose this theme?
When I was first contacted, I thought it was just a spam email…like, why is someone gonna let me write a book? I kept receiving emails and I realized that it was real. Then, I started thinking, if I was to write a book, what would I write about? Soon enough, I came up with an idea to write a book about the past 10 years, from the day I left public school to the day I started my music blog. Every event was seminal to lead up to this moment, and it was really interesting to create a timeline and dive into so many different times in my life, and I do hope that the book inspires people to find themselves first, because everyone buys into what their friends are doing because it’s the “cool” thing to do…but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for you. You have to determine what “you” want to do, not what “they” want you to do. It’s not someone else’s job to make a decision for you. You’re capable of making your own decisions for a reason. Never forget that you always have a choice.
What tips do you have for discovering music? How do you find what you don’t know exists?
From a young age, I always gravitated towards the names I didn’t know. I always knew about the popular band, but I always wondered, who is this other band. Why haven’t I heard of them? My technique is to be open minded. I go to the record store, flip through albums and pull out every album that stands out to me. I feel that whatever I pull stands out for a reason, so I examine the condition and the edition and make a decision. I’ve always loved looking at album art, so most of my album picks are determined by that — I love thinking of albums as concepts, so the title, art, and song titles all are part of what makes up the album. Finally, giving it a listen brings the concept to life.
Your music taste is varied but you have a passion for classic rock bands & newer bands that embrace those sounds. Who are some emerging bands that you’re excited about right now?
I’m a big fan of older rock bands, the majority of them being the most obscure ones, which I somehow come across without even trying! As for new bands, I’m really excited about BRKN LOVE, Ready the Prince, Fury in Few, The Jacks, Silvertone Hills, and The Fame to name a few!
What’s next for you? Where can we support you?
I have something super cool in the works with a friend of mine. All I can say is that it’s a crossover. I have an online newsletter coming soon. You can email me at thegenerationclash@gmail.com for more info.
