Rambling and Year End List 2011 - Nick

The end of the year is almost here and what a 'year' it has been. I didn't start Blackened Slugs until July 1st of this year, and pretty much the only reason I did was to give myself something to do while I sat around healing from my first ever surgery. With the help of my close friend and neighbor, Joe, we scoured the internet day in and day out looking for music we both enjoyed. We discovered a ton of shitty bands and a few really awesome bands. On top of that, it helped to rekindle my love of writing. I'm not a vocal person and highly introverted by nature but Blackened Slugs turned into a huge outlet for me. I've always been passionate about music, but I've never understood or been able to hear all the finite details of it. If you haven't noticed by my reviews I tend to just write about how the music makes me feel or what it brings to my imagination rather than deconstructing songs bit by bit, instrument by instrument, etc. It works for me, and people seem to dig it too.

I've met some really awesome people in this short travel and heard more music than I thought I could in 5 months time. The page-views have increased tenfold (literally comparing some months to others). We broke 60 fans which may not seem like a lot, but it's more than I ever anticipated and I managed to get a hold of two writers that are both talented in their own unique regard (Todd - Technical, Mark - Maniacally outrageous). Luckily, I've become good friends with both of these gentlemen. I've met and kept in contact with a few labels that are run by truly genuine people. I met an artist who was kind enough to lend his time and talent toward creating a kick-ass superhero-esque Slug Stamp. It's really humbling and awesome to sit here and reflect on the amount of things that have happened since July. At the time of writing this, the page is sitting at over 5,500 views.