Oh, Ash Newell :)

If there is one thing I love about photography it has to be the fact that you can capture beauty on film and I’m not just talking about outer beauty. I recently was surfing the web looking for pictures of music photography and I came across a website called Photography Photographers, I looked under music photography (of course ;]) and I came across the name Ash Newell. I don’t remember why I clicked on his name out of all the other names but once I got to his website I didn’t regret it. I was in awe looking through his portfolio, everything about it was simply amazing. Clicking through pictures of Taylor Swift, Ministry, Papa Roach, Pete Wentz, and countless other artists; I felt like I was in paradise. There is just something about his photos that make you feel like you are there or maybe its just me haha Either way Ash Newell is one of my favorite music photographers! Check out more of his work at www.ashnewell.com but as for now enjoy these pictures of Taylor Swift and Nickelback below:

BandoftheMonth:December|MatchBox Twenty!!

Like I told you guys before everything has been kinda hectic in my life right now from school to work, etc. But like I promised I have a whole bunch of things in store for you guys!!:) Starting with this month’s BOM…(a rock band) that goes by the name of MATCHBOX TWENTY!! How did I come to found out about mb20? I actually was on last.fm (like always ) and a song by Rob Thomas came on and from the beginning of the song, I fell in love <3 The song proceeded and I sat there wiggling in my sit and nodding my head, thinking how amazing this guy was. Everything from his lyrics to his sound was truly unique. After the song ended I decided to read about this mysterious "Rob Thomas" guy and found out that he is the lead singer and songwriter for "Matchbox Twenty" and formerly was part of a band called "Tabitha's Secret." I decided to take a listen to Matchbox Twenty and from my first listen of "Push" from their album "Yourself or Someone Like You" I was hooked! Matchbox Twenty consists of 5 members: Rob Thomas, Kyle Cook, Brian Yale, Paul Doucette, Ryan MacMillian and former member Adam Gaynor who left the band in 2005. I continued to listen to Matchbox Twenty throughout the night and gained a few favorite songs such as “If You’re Gone”, “Could I Be You” “Mad Season” “Black and White people” and “The Difference” MB20 have released 4 albums entitled “Yourself or Someone Like You” in 1997, “Mad Season” in 2000, “More Than You Think You Are” in 2002 and lastly “Exile on Mainstream” in 2007. Along with that lead singer and songwriter Rob Thomas also began a solo career apart from the band releasing one album in 2005 entitled “Something to Be” and another in 2009 entitled “Cradlesong” Whether it be singing with MB20 or on his own Rob Thomas is an incredible singer and lyricist <3 If you are interested in knowing more about MB20 visit their website at www.matchboxtwenty.com

Update!

Yes, I am still alive! If anyone was wondering :] November has been a very hectic and crazy month for me. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get any new posts up for the month of November but I promise you guys that there will be plenty for December. I also wanted to thank each and every one of my viewers. You guys are the reason I started this blog and you guys are the one’s who keep me going. It brings a smile to my face each time I check to see the amount of views my blog has gotten. But that isn’t the most important thing to me the fact that people read my blog and take time out of their day to check out what’s new on MusiqExpress fills me with joy. Once again thank you for the views and the comments, without you guys this blog would not be possible :] – xoxo Lisa

“Have a frightfully spooky Halloween!”

“Trick or treat, give me something good to eat if you don’t I don’t care I will pull your underwear.” Haha those were the good old times, I remember my school halloween parties, dancing to scary songs, and feasting on candy all night with my family and friends! :] Having candy for the entire week after halloween was always the best part! By the way, Happy Hallow’s Eve!! Yes that’s right tomorrow night is HALLOWEEN! Time to bring out the candy and cute adorable costumes! I wanted to share with you guys some of my favorite halloween songs to listen to. These songs will, for sure get you into the Halloween spirit! They might even make you want to dance!

# 1. Alice Cooper – W e l c o m e to my Nightmare.
# 2. Micheal Jackson – Thriller
# 3. Ray Parker Jr. – The Ghost buster’s theme song <33
# 4. Bobby Pickett – Monster Mash
# 5. Danny Elfman – This is Halloween
# 6. Oingo Boingo – Dead's Man's Party
# 7. Tegan and Sara – Walking with a Ghost
# 8. DJ Jazzy Jeff and the fresh Prince – Nightmare on my Street

Also, check out some of these amazing halloween costumes for teens! I was amazed when I saw these, there was a lot to choose from but I thought I'd pick a few to share with you guys (From left to right a teen bubble bee, a teen pirate, and teen Betty from the Flintstones!)

P.S. – I’m not going trick or treating this year but if I were I would defiantly be cat woman! :] Have a happy, safe and FANG-TASTIC HALLOWEEN!

The young lady behind the writing …

I decided to flip the script a bit so you guys could get to know the person behind the writing :] There is a lot more to me then my love for music and writing <3 My friend, Charlie and I decided to do a one-on-one interview, we tried to stay on task but we (she) drifted off a little bit. Enjoy :]]] (BTW, my name is Lisa and i'm a sophomore in high school.)

1) Charlie: How did you decide to come up with this shall we say glam blog?

Me: It all started about 2 or 3 years ago, I had actually wanted to start a picture designing website. I looked into it and started designing pictures for people and stuff but it never really was for me. Then one day I had an idea, “why don’t I start a blog?” I knew that I liked writing, it was something I enjoyed doing. I think my first blog was Party on Mars St, and then PlushBitePoesy; both of which were not as successful as I had hoped. I wasn’t going to give up so I thought and I thought and I decided to combine my love for writing and music and thus MusiqExpress was born !

2) Charlie: Where do you see your blog in 5 years?

Me: Geez, I’m not sure. 5 years from now.. I see my blog growing and becoming an inspiration to many other teens. I hope for it to be successful and serve as a place were teens can express themselves through music

3) Charlie: Why did you create a blog about music?

Me: It is as simple as this, I LOVE MUSIC! I say that a lot but I truly do, I am very passionate about it. Music is my one L O V E <3 . That is after writing :]

4) Who is your role model? and why?

Me : My role model would have to be Maya Angelou , for the writing side of me and for the music side of me.. I never really thought about it but I would have to say Cher or Tina Turner. Maya Angelou is an amazing writer, she writes from her heart and the way she writes is truly inspirational. Cher and Tina Turner are amazing artist, they seem to capture everything in song, whether it be love, happiness, or sorrow.

5) Charlie: Why do you love music so much?

Me: I love music because it helps me through everything! Whether it be good or bad times. Music is my escape into another world, music is my escape from reality. Music helps me express myself, it helps me pour out my emotions. Music is my e v e r y t h i n g .

6) Charlie: If you could interview any artist or band who would it be and why?

Me: Omgeee this is hard, I have so many.. Owl City for sure NO! Pink.. no Plain White T’s! I can’t just pick one, seeing as my goal in life is to become a music journalist; I think the opportunity to interview any band or artist would be amazing! Super nerve racking, but amazing! :]

Artist of the Month: October | Jemma Griffiths!

Before I tell you guys who October’s artist of the month is I have an important announcement, i’ve decided that the choosing of “AOM” and “BOM” every month would not be fair to you. Many people do not have time or are very busy and therefore do not have time to pick an artist or a band. So instead I will chose AOM or BOM each month and will post up who the artist or band is. The option for you guys to pick is still open, but to make things easier and faster I think this will work out the best.
You may have noticed that I changed October’s Band of the Month to Artist of the Month and there is a very good reason why; this month’s artist of the month is : JEMMA GRIFFITHS! I know what you are thinking “Jemma who?” I promise you after this you will be going crazy for her music. I first heard Jemma on last fm, it was like any other ordinary day and I signed on to last fm and I typed in Colbie Caillat radio and after the first song they started playing similar artist and Jemma’s song “24″ came on. After it ended I was like “WOW that song was amazing” so I decided to find some of her videos on youtube. Song after song played and I began to love her musical style and lyrical genius! But enough of my rambling.. here’s why I chose Jem as my AOM of the month. Jemma Griffiths better known as Jem, is a singer-songwriter from Penarth, Wales, UK. She began writing and singing at the age of 13 but music was not always her desire. She went to school and received a degree in law before finding out what her true passion was. Her career began in 2002 when a demo of her song “Finally Woken” was played on KCRW radio, right away it became one of the “most listened to/requested” songs on KCRW. Since then, Jem has had a lot of success, many of her songs are played on TV shows and movies such as, “Grey’s Anatomy <- (I love this show), The OC, Monster-In-Law, Sex in the City" and more. Some of my personal favorites songs of hers include: " They, Down to Earth, Its Amazing, and Falling For You" I find her songs easy to relate to, its almost as if she can read my mind. Point blank, I think Jem is an amazing artist, with out of this world talent :] She does have 2 albums out entitled "Down to Earth", and “Finally Woken” so make sure you check them out! You can find out more about Jem on her website www.jem-music.net! :]:]:]

My Favorites for 2009! (So far)

Hey guys! Feels like I haven’t written on here in a while. With school everything gets a little harder to do. Just so you know, I’ve added the twitter widget to the sidebar, so now you guys will always know if there is anything new happening with me & what I am up to (not that, that is creepy or anything, haha) Any who, enough of my jibber jabber; I wanted to do a post for guys about my favorite songs so far for 2009! (Not all of these were in 2009 but I found out about these artist this year!) Believe it or not this was a tough decision for me, I’m not saying that these were the best songs but they were the songs I sang and wiggled to the most (:

1) Matt Nathanson – Come on Get Higher
2) Elliot Yamin – Fight For Love
3) Miley Cyrus – Party In the USA
4) Kelly Clarkson – I Do Not Hookup
5) Katy Perry – Waking up in Vegas
6) Colbie Caillat – Fallin’ For You
7) Kings of Leon – Use Somebody
8] Lady Gaga – Paparazzi
9) Boys Like Girls – Love Drum
10) Owl City – Fireflies
11) Owl City – Vanilla Twilight
12) Owl City – Hello Seattle && The Bird and the Worm
13) Tristan PrettyMan – Hello
14) Green Day – 21 Guns
15) Drake – Best I Ever Had
16) Britney Spears – Radar
17) Britney Spears – If You Seek Amy
18) Cascada – Evacuate The Dance Floor
19) Self Against City – Speechless
20) Jessica Simpson – Still Beautiful

Artist of the Month: September | Owl City!

September’s artist of the month was a tough one to choose, as you know this month I let you guys choose Artist of the Month. But there were some complications and limited participation, so this month AOM was chosen by me. I promise you in future months (October) you guys will defiantly get to chose BOM(: A good friend of mine suggested that I listen to Owl City – “Fire Flies” and after the first listen I fell in love with the song, Adam Young’s voice and the music video! You’ve probably already guessed it, September’s Artist of the Month is OWL CITY!! Owl City is a project started in 2007 with Adam Young, the sound and genre is more Synthpop and Electronica.



Adam Young was born in Owatonna, Minnesota and started out making music in his parents basement. Adam sings about various topics such as; love, urban design, travel, and yes even dental care(: His voice is truly something to admire! In fact I could probably listen to him sing all day. Besides being the sole member of OC, Adam does many collaborations with other artist such as ” Lights, Swimming with Dolphins, and Breanne Duren” Owl City’s first album “Of June” was released in 2007 while he was unsigned, followed by “Maybe I’m Dreaming” in 2008 (unsigned) and his recent album “Ocean Eyes” in 09. Some of my favorite songs so far by Owl City have to be “Fire Flies, The Bird and the Worm, Hello Seattle, and Vanilla Twilight” <3 Adam Young is an amazing artist with extraordinary talent!! If you want to know more about Owl City check out their website at www.owlcitymusic.com

History of Music | Pop

We all love different types of music, some of us love rock and some of us would prefer country or rap. But have you ever wondered how these different genre’s of music came to be? We all know and love pop artists such as, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and Justin Timberlake; but have you ever wondered how “Pop Music” was started? Believe it or not “pop music” first begun in the mid-1950’s as another choice to rock n’ roll but with a softer sound. Before that when ever some one used the term “pop song” they meant a type of music that was popular amongst many people. Pop music was more commercial and accessible. In the fact the main purpose of pop music was to appeal to the youth market. Today most pop songs are about love and relationships, they have catchy chorus and hooks that tend to draw us in and are easy to relate to. There are many different types of pop such as, Bubblegum Pop, Teen Pop, Techno P o p, and Space Age Pop! Pop music is and forever will be a type of music that you can sing and dance to. It will forever be a type of music that we love no matter how it changes

Teens Talk Music .

Now that you guys know how crazy I am about MUSIC, I wanted you guys to see what other teens my age think about music. Since this will be my last post for quite a while because of school, I wanted to remind you guys why so many of us LOVE music. So I sat down with a few of my friends and got the “dish” on their love of music and some of their favorite music artists and bands!! I asked them all the same three questions, ” Why do you love music? , What are your favorite genre’s of music? and What are some of your favorite artists? Here’s what they had to say..

Kimberlyn T. – “I love music because it represents me in a different way! I love listening to gospel, r&b and some rock, my favorite artists would have to be Jay Sean, All Time Low, Paramore, Rhianna, Colby O’Donis, Trey Songz and Pink!!”

Ashly T. – “Music changes the mood i’m in, it has the power of making me happy, sad, etc. I LOVE listening to pop, soft rock and r&b. Boys Like Girls, Black Eyed Peas, Selena Gomez, Jordin Sparks, Akon, and Mariah Carey are some of my favorite artist!”

Daniel V. – “Music stands for something, it is filled with energy and it helps me get rid of certain emotions that I have inside of me. I love pop, some hip-hop, dance hall, reggaeton, bachata,and alternative music. Daddy Yankee, Javiel, Rhianna, Don Omar, Aventura, Wisin and Yandel and Justin Timberlake are my favorite artist!”

As you can see Music is an important aspect of the lives of so many teens, it helps us to express our selves and it gives us something to relate to and For some of us MUSIC IS EVERYTHING!