King Of The Acapella App

Everybody has seen the acapella videos produced by an extremely cool new app. It basically replaced Vine for uprising singers. And for people just to goof around. One kid stands out from the crowd of consumers. That would be Austin Jones. All of his acapella videos have gone viral! But who is he? He's way more than a singer on an app and another teen heartthrob.
Austin is a 23 year old from Chicago. His musical styling ranges from Alternative to pop. Of course he has mastered acoustic and acapella music. Austin is definitely a musical king when it comes to social media. He has managed to gather 528,400 likes on his Facebook page, which for a fairly unknown artists to the public is pretty good. His Youtube channel has rapidly expanded since he first started it in July of 2007. As of right now he has over 117,295 subscribers and, as of today, 3,551,894 total views. His Vine following is roughly around 248,000.
Austin started his musical journey in 2010. He began writing his own music that year after "tragic events". He didn't go much deeper than that as far as I know. Honestly, I don't care. I'm just glad that he started in the first place! Austin released his first EP, "We'll Fall Together", in July 2014. The EP went to #12 on the iTunes charts and hit #34 on Billboard's Heat Seekers Chart. Not only did he have a very successful debut EP, he also had rather successful singles. He's released "Love Yourself (acoustic), Meds and Beds, and Fly Away. All of the above are available for download on iTunes.
Since Austin had gained such a big following in such short amount of time, Alternative Press invited him to join their 2015 Warped Tour. With this opportunity, Austin was able to expand his fan base and work along side big name artists. Some of those names included a few of my favorites: Black Veil Brides, Pierce the Veil, AS IT IS, Metro Station, and Our Last Night. Of course there were many other names. Those were just a few of my favorites.
However, Austin didn't walk away from Warped with all positives. Austin was caught up in the middle of a scandal. While touring he was accused of asking underage girls for videos of them twerking. When the rumors started, Warped was forced to take him out of the line up along with other social media sensations. He didn't deny the rumors long. Instead he released an apology. Austin immediately apologized for asking for the inappropriate videos. He also pointed out the fact that he was unaware that some of the people he was talking to were underage. Apparently he sent silly videos of him twerking back. He wasn't taking them very seriously. It was fun and games. He apologized for his actions and said that he was embarrassed for his family, friends, himself, and his fans.

Austin's "I Write Sins not Tragedies" cover

I believe the incident has long been forgotten. Warped Tour said that he had done nothing wrong and had taken responsibility for his actions. They weren't ashamed to have him on their line-up and would be happy to have him again. Since then Austin has regained a lot of his fans and fame with the help of the acapella app. His most popular videos are covers of Fall Out Boy, Panic!, and even Sleeping with Sirens. Austin has true talent. He has made some mistakes, but unlike many other stars, he took responsibility. There is no doubt that he is the King of the Acapella App.

Kenny Holland: Musical Homie Hopper?

Kenny Holland is a 20 year old singer and songwriter. He self-describes him self as a pop/rock artist. Personally, he is way more pop than rock, which is why it's "self-described". He hails from Phoenix, Arizona. He was also raised in Michigan. Kenny grew up in a musical family. All of his sisters are gifted as are his parents. He learned to play the piano when he was eight years old. He wrote his first song in the 6th grade about a girl in his class that he was crushing on. He continued to shine during his time in school by performing at almost every school talent show.
Kenny didn't rise to fame from his school performances though. He owes his fame to the lovely Vine app and Youtube. You have to love social media! Kenny had a Youtube channel in 2011, but he only really started getting attention when he started posting 6 second covers on Vine. He was one of the chosen to go on tours for Magcon and Digifest. As of right now, Kenny has millions of loops on Vine and thousands of followers. He has 147,602 subscribers on Youtube and has managed to rack up 2,122,532 views. His most recent success on Youtube was his "12 HollanDays"videos. He posted one video every day for twelve days leading up to the release of his newest single "Lifeline". The videos were posted over the holidays and the single was released on Christmas.
Kenny release his first full length album before he actually released any singles. "Heart and Keys" was released in 2012. It consists of 10 songs that show off his smooth vocals and piano skills. "Less Than Three" was his first single, which was released in 2013. In 2014 he released a second single, "This Dance". Of course I said, he just released his third single "Lifeline". Kenny also dropped the bomb that he has his acting debut in the independent film "Saturday's Warrior" in 2015.

Kenny, Sammy, and Skate

Holland is associated with a wide range of artists. He has opened for both Aaron Carter and The Summer Set. Since he came from Vine and went on Magcon tours, he is close friends with Jack and Jack. He even accompanied the duo on a leg of Jack and Jacks tour. Kenny is also associated with Sammy Wilk, who is a rapper and part of the duo Sammy and Skate. However, he is most known for his friendship with Wesley Stromberg of Emblem3.

Kenny and Wesley 

Wes and Kenny started their own band, "The Balcony". As a group, they released their single "Fire". They even had a music video for it. The two of them were constantly working on music together. They were practically inseparable. This caused Emblem3 fans to attack Kenny with an unbelievable wrath. They believed that Kenny was the reason that Wes stopped working with his brother and spending time with Keaton. When Wes was with Kenny, there was no Emblem3. Kenny literally killed Emblem3. Fans were also upset about the fact that Kenny had "ditched" Sammy Wilk for Wes. They also accused him of taking Skate Maloley's place in Sammy's life. People accused Kenny of choosing his friendships to gain fans. As soon as he got what he wanted, he would move on.
I believe those fans were right. As soon as Emblem3 got back together, Kenny was completely out of the picture. The Balcony won't be releasing music together anytime soon. However, Emblem3 will be! Now Kenny is back to being friends with Sammy Wilk. The two of them did a cover together for his 12 HollanDays. Kenny has also been spotted with Jack Johnson yet again. Personally, I am not a fan of Kenny. I do believe that he has a tendency to use people to grow his fandom. I don't like who he is a person from what I've seen. I feel like he is rather fake, someone who is trying to hold on to any piece of fame that he has. However, there is no denying that he has talent and I respect him as an artist. So, if you want, go check out some of Kenny's songs and videosIf you feel like it! Tell me how you feel about Kenny. Is he a musical homie hopper?

A Pop-Punk Christmas

I'm tad bit late on posting this, but it's better late than never! Since I missed Christmas this year, you can have this playlist ready for next year! I picked out my personal favorite ORIGINAL pop-punk Christmas songs. Some may or may not be covers that I just haven't heard... Anyways, I got sick of listening to the same songs every year during Christmas, so I came up with my own. Hopefully you guys like a few of these too and they can give you a break from the endless cycle of unoriginal Christmas carols.

1) Yule Shoot Your Eye Out- Fall Out Boy
        (My personal favorite Christmas song in general!)
2) 12 Days of a Pop-Punk Christmas- Sunrise Skater Kids
       (Hilarious!)
3) Fool's Holiday- All Time Low
4) I Won't Be Home For Christmas- Blink 182
5) Merry Christmas, Kiss My Ass- All Time Low
6) Nothing For Christmas- New Found Glory
7) I Don't Wanna Spend Another Christmas Without You- The Ready Set
8) Santa Stole My Girlfriend- The Maine
         (I also found this quite funny)
9) Merry Christmas I missed You So Much- Taking Back Sunday
10) My Christmas List- Simple Plan
          (Sounds very similar to my own Christmas list...)

Of course, these are my personal favorites. You can hate them for all I care. These are just the songs I was playing this Christmas. Next year maybe I'll post a list of my favorite Christmas covers. They'll be on time next year! Because let's be honest, Brendon Urie's cover of "White Christmas" is amazing! The Summer Set has a pretty good Christmas cover out there too...
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!!!!

Best Friend Murder Prank

If you haven't heard about this video than you must not have any connections to the outside world. What a sad life! A video titled "Best Friend Murder Prank ft. Sam and Colby" was uploaded by the already controversial Youtuber Sam Pepper. Sam Pepper is 26 years old. He's been on Youtube for roughly five years. He started out as a rising Youtube sensation. He was well known for his pranking videos as well as his collars with other Youtubers like Marcus Butler, Mark Ludford, Pointless Blog (Alfie Deyes), Harrison Webb, Mazzi Maz, and JacksGap. Of course there are many other names. The YouTube family is a close one.
In 2014 things took a turn for the worse for Sam Pepper. He was accused of sexually harassing multiple women in the UK. He also release his first extremely controversial video. It was a video of him going up and pinching girls butts. However, he did not physically touch them. There was also a follow up video of a female Youtuber doing the same thing to men. They then filmed a video explaining that they were doing a social experiment on gender and double standards. Sam was the only one to get backlash from the videos. He wasn't formally charged of anything. The honest truth is that nobody other than Sam himself knows what did or did not happen.

Sam Golbach and Colby Brock came to fame through Vine. Their videos were mainly public disturbances and skits. The duo got such a large following on the app that they decided to go to Youtube. The two have been friends for five years. They grew up in the same Kansas town and went to the same high school. Needless to say they are best friends going on life's adventure together. Both are fresh out of high school and just moved to LA where they met their friend Sam Pepper.
The three came across each other somehow and ended up spending some quality time together. After a couple days, they decided to film a collaboration. Sam Pepper and Colby decided to prank Sam Golbach because Sam Golbach was always pranking Colby. That's how this video came to be.
Sam Pepper kidnapped Sam and Colby while they were having "car problems" in an alley. Colby is in on the prank. The two of them put Sam Golbach in the trunk of the car and take him to a roof top somewhere in LA. Sam Pepper removes the bag over Sam's head so that he can see Colby kneeling off to the side with a bag still draped over his face. Sam reassures his friend that everything will be okay. Sam Pepper gives him one last look at Colby's face before firing a blank at Colby's head. Sam's reaction is pure, real emotion. There was nothing fake to it. If it was, he definitely needs an award!
The trio didn't realize that the video would get so much attention in such a short amount of time. It has been covered on National news and plastered all over the internet. A petition to take down Sam Pepper's channel also surfaced. Youtubers spoke up saying that Sam took the prank too far and needed to take the video down. People were speaking on behalf of Sam Golbach and saying that he was suffering from things like PTSD and that he was having trouble going outside and sleeping at night. None of which is true. Colby came under fire for being a "dick of a friend". Colby explained that he knew what Sam's limits were that he would be okay once he realized everything was alright. Sam Pepper was also aware of Sam's limits and knew the boundaries. Sam Golbach spoke up and said that he had actually been expecting a prank to happen to him. Not to mention he had two weeks to tell Sam Pepper and Colby that he didn't want to video to go up. Sam also said that he was thankful because the whole experience brought him and Colby closer together as friends. Other people have also reached out to Sam and Colby and told them that because of the video they became closer with the people that they love.
There is a message in the video that everybody is overlooking. Life is short. Anything can happen. Tell the people you love that you love them now. Go and live your life. Keep your friends close. Appreciate what you have and who you have in your life. Don't take a damn thing for granted. In my opinion that was actually an amazing video. You just have to look at it from the perspective that they were looking at it. As for the reaction Sam Pepper is getting, I think it's not deserved. There are more important things that we should pay attention to. The only reason he's getting so much heat from this is because he already had a bad reputation. The truth is, nobody knows Sam Pepper personally and what he's done. Until we know for sure, people should just lay off of him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBvX5dNdMK8

After Romeo

After Romeo is the pure definition of a boy band. BUT they are amazing artists! The band consists of Jayk Purdy (29), Drew Ryan Scott (27), TC Carter (22), and Blake English (21). Former member Devin Fox (18) left to pursue a solo career. Each member of the band contributes something specific to band aside from vocals. Jayk does most of the social media content. TC, which stands for Thomas Carter, is in charge of fashion. He does a pretty good job if I do say so myself. Blake does the choreography for the group while Drew writes a majority of their songs.
The members are from Athens and Las Vegas. They came together in L.A. courtesy of Drew in 2013. As I mentioned before, they started out with 5. So, the five of them started posting videos on Youtube. They caught the eyes of some record producers and are currently signed on to 4 Sound Entertainment's record label. As a band of 5 they released 3 singles. The first being "Free Fall" in 2013. The released a Christmas single, "Save Some Snow" that same year. In 2014, they released what is probably their biggest single "Love On Lock (LOL)". That just so happens to be my jam. After Devin left, the band continued to write music and post videos. Their first single of 2015 had the fitting title of "Juliet". They also released "Where The People Go", which is probably my second favorite from them. Yesterday they released a surprise titled "Souvenir". It's clear that losing Devin didn't deter the band. They are working on an album "The Story Continues". I personally cannot wait to see what all these four can do!

For only being together for a short period of time and not having much publicity, they are doing pretty well. The "Free Fall" music video reached number one on MTV's music chart and was also featured on international advertisements. Most of the time it takes an artist forever to be able to get their music international. In 2014 they launched into the Italian music market. The band has also reached number six on Radio Disney's countdown. The thing that stands out to me the most though is the fact that these boys started a Bully Proof Tour where they toured across the U.S. to stop and talk to students about bullying. They would go to the schools to speak and then perform in the city/town on the weekend. They group has also toured around the U.S. on the 2015 Pop Nation Tour.
I really don't know what else to say about this band. I honestly don't know as much about them as I do other bands, but I do know that these boys are talented and entertaining. They are definitely a boy band, no doubt, but there is something special about them that I can't quite put my finger on. They are just four hard working boys trying to make their dreams come true. I admire that. If you are ever board, look them up. You could find a new music obsession.

Catharsis Playlist

(We're about to get personal)
I cannot be the only one that has those moments where I need to cry. I don't want to cry, but I NEED to cry. I discovered that at these said times, certain songs helps the process along. Not only does this playlist allow me to ball my freaking eyes out, there are also songs that help me kind of reflect on the better times in life and make me feel a little bit better. It my "Catharsis Playlist". I think everybody needs to have one! I suggest you pick songs that you have a connection to, whether it be a good or bad memory or even a person. It helps if you're familiar with the artist as well because it makes it more personal. Most importantly, make sure that you relate to it lyrical wise. That's the whole point to this playlist! It lets you relate to something for a little while and just let go and cry!
1) Untitled- Simple Plan
2) Hotel Ceiling- Rixton
3) Live Forever ft. Faydee- DJ James Yammouni (of The Janoskians)
4) Amnesia- 5 Seconds of Summer
5) 3000 Miles- Emblem3
6) Ghost- Hollywood Ending
7) You Will Not Be Forgotten- Keaton Stromberg (of Emblem3)
8) The Memory- Mayday Parade
9) Letting Go- Mayday Parade
10) Wasted- MKTO
11) Once in a Lifetime- One Direction
12) Infinity- One Direction
13) Broken Home- 5 Seconds of Summer
14) The Only Reason- 5 Seconds of Summer
15) Hello- Emblem3 cover

This has actually helped me out a lot. It's dumb, it's cheesy, it's a waste of time to put together a depressing playlist. It really does help though! Take it from a professional in the area of mental breakdowns! :) 

Open Letter to One Direction

Dear One Direction,
5 years, 3 months, and 17 days ago the five of you were put in to a group. At the time you didn't have any clue how that moment would change your lives. You didn't know that that moment would change the lives of thousands of people, including my own. You walked in completely clueless, with no idea what you were doing. You walked out with more knowledge and life experience than most people will ever get. The 5 of you were more than happy to share it all with hundreds of people you've never met. You guys were and still are an inspiration, friends to many, family to others, and a constant comfort for thousands. One Direction kept going after losing the X-Factor. You became the biggest band on the planet. You kept going after losing family, friends, and eventually your freedom. You literally gave up everything to give your fans everything they ever needed or wanted.
I'm the fan that never saw you in person. I didn't spend hours trying to gain your attention. I listened to your music instead and realized that I already had your attention. I didn't pay attention to the amount of awards you won. I paid attention to all the good you did in the world. By finding meaning and inspiration in the band and in your individuality, I was able to find a little light during a dark time in my life. Ever since then One Direction has been a constant in my life. I was always able to escape with a song or a video. I gained the false impression that you would always be together, always be there. Now I'm saying thank you, good-bye, and letting go.
Thank you for being an escape. I know you still will be. This isn't really good-bye either. You promised to never really leave us. Your music will always be there no matter what. That will be there whether you're together or apart. The meaning in the music and behind the band will still exist. I will still have an escape. It will just be nothing new. Thank you for 5 years of new music, videos, concerts, interviews, and other random means of escape for me and many others. Thank you for giving me a huge family of people that feel similar to the way I do, that understand and relate. Thank you for giving up your lives to make me feel better about my own. Thank you for giving me hope. Most importantly, thank you for helping me find happiness again. Thank you for helping me become me. Thank you for being there when no one else was. This isn't good-bye. It's more like see you later. But I am letting go and moving on. Thank you!
You loved the time you were together. Now enjoy the time you have apart. Take the break that you all so well deserve. Just make sure that you don't forget about us because there is no way that we will ever be able to forget about you.
Love,
The Directioners