Well, Hi. My Name is "Jumbah" John Cowley. I was born and raised on Metal and spent most of my youth hanging around Alternative spaces and falling in love with the communities that welcomed me. You can read more about my journey through Alt Spaces and how For Those Unscene came about in our websites "About" section.
This is to give you a general idea of who I am as a person, so you'll understand my bias in writing a bit better.
I'm an Millennial, but barely. Depending on who you ask I'm at the very, very end of Millennials or the very, very beginning of Gen Z. Millennial feels more correct for me. I remember watching the SpongeBob premier so, I'd say I fit more the older of the two options there. I spent the majority of my childhood growing up in El Paso Texas or Chaparral NM. My family moved to North Carolina when I was either...10 or 11. I honestly don't remember the year and neither did my mom when I asked her so, take a guess, it was either during the housing crash or right before.
More reflective of my writing here, I was raised on a mix of Meat Loaf, Metallica, Conway Twitty, Marty Robbins, and David Allen Coe. My father, being born and raised in El Paso Tx, was the influence that gave me my love of Classic western and Outlaw Country. My mother, being a metal head from LA in the 80s, gave me my love of all things Thrash. Through an, admittedly weird, combination of those two people came me.
My first concert was Sick Puppies in 2010. Tri-Polar had just come out, and they were touring to promote that album. I had a MASSIVE Crush on Emma and for my birthday my mom bought me and her tickets. I immediately fell in love with going to shows. The X's on he back of my hands, the wrist band so I can reenter. The buzz and energy of the crowd. The crowd singing along to the songs over the PA system while we watched the set up. As someone who had felt out of place since leaving my home and moving across the country, this was the first time I felt like I wasn't an outsider, like I was welcome and belonged.
Thrash will always be my first love of music. Pantera will forever hold a special place in my heart. But as I grew as a person and explored the scene and the genres that my parents didn't know I formed my own thoughts and preferences. I'm more of a Hardcore person now adays. Kublai Khan features heavily on my playlists. I developed a massive appreciation for industrial and Goth-Metal, but Meat Loaf is still my #1 on Spotify wrapped every year (top 1% listener three years running.)
This is all standard, tame and boring, but it lets you know who I am, what preferences I have, and should humanize me a little bit before I drop a controversial opinion on you...
Ghost, is not good. I do not enjoy their music. I have seen them live twice, they are boring on stage, and I think lyrically, they're very mid. Now, my opinions are mine alone. I know they're, obviously, a popular band with a huge following. I don't think anyone is wrong for enjoying Ghost. I encourage you to love the things you love, and to spend little attention on those you don't. But I need you to know who I am, and I can never be a Ghost Fan.
John Cowley
I grew up in Alternative spaces. While cutting my Teeth in concert photography I noticed a small local band pulled a larger crowd of what I would soon call Unscene. I talked to the band, and my eyes were open to how important representation is to Unscene communities so I decided to do everything I can to make it easier for anyone Unscene to find representation.
More from John Cowley →