The Lost Years Have Found Their Voice What happens when two mild mannered dudes from Riverside get together? You get the Lost Years. Last Thursday, I attended a show arranged by the lead singer of the Lost Years, Joey Reynoso, who just so happens to be one of my former students. I was thrilled to see Reynoso and guitarist, Nigel Hamblin (also my former student), in their band. I have to admit I was sort of shocked to hear that they had formed a band together. When I knew them as theatre students at MLK High School in Riverside, they were the polite kids. Joey always tried his hardest, presenting new ideas to the theatre department, but never saying anything negative about anyone (at least in my presence any way). Nigel was always soft spoken with a hilariously, dry sense of humor. I found them both to be driven students with big dreams and open to whatever criticism people gave to them. As I was driving to the event with one of my friends, he asked me what kind of music do they play? I said I didn’t know but I had a feeling it was going to be punk or screamo. The reason why I thought it would be one of these genres is because these two young men were so properly polite that I knew the anger and angst had to escape somewhere. Sure enough…they are a punk band. I was proud to see Joey Reynoso, letting lose all the anger and opinions that he had suppressed for so long. In his music, he talked about love, dead friendships, politics, and the stupidness of society. His voice is surprisingly suited for emphasizing those fury filled notes. His belts of rage were carried through efficiently and with abandon flare. It takes a strong voice to sustain those screams and Joey achieves it. Nigel Hamblin is a great sideman, playing guitar with passion and singing back up with his eyes squinted closed to push the emotion toward the audience. These guys have opinions and they are ready to share them with the world. I’m proud of these guys for pursuing their dreams and using their voices to do so. The best art is what portrays how you truly feel deep inside. These two have been bottled-up for too long. The bottle has been shaken up and now it is time to take off the cap and let the explosion loose. Detonate guys and let your punk rock juices flow over the crowd. Your “lost years” are those where your voices were plugged with duct tape over your mouths. You have ripped off the tape and you are letting the pain out. I’m proud to say that you were once my students!
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 04:44:33 +0000
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