Perhaps an introduction.

Well, you can read my info if you want. I just feel odd rushing head-first into my first real blog without introducing myself.

My name's Rob, I'm a 20 year old student studying Music at Bangor University. I love to sing, and the more you get to know me the more you'll realise I actually think of little else.

So many people are like "I love singing so much blah blah blah", you see those wannabes on the likes of X Factor and Britain's Got Talent singing their shoulda-woulda-couldas as if they're the next Mariah Carey. I'm not that sort of person. I try to stay grounded, I know my own limits as much as I know my own strengths. I'm perhaps hyper-critical of myself but I need to be to improve. Yes, I do love singing, the feeling I get when I'm on a stage is indescribable, the adrenaline and the atmosphere is amazing. But at the end of the day, if people don't love you singing, there's not much point. I guess that's what I'm trying to work out as a student; whether I'm actually good enough to make some form of career out of this. It's just a very expensive way of making a decision!

I'm so torn in what I want to do. I'd always wanted to be a recording artist (well, since I started to think I was any good), and I loved musical theatre. But then I came to university and a whole new world was opened up to me; opera. Landing a leading role within my first 3 weeks of uni threw me head-first into something I'd  never even considered. For a long time I was quite sure, I want to be an opera singer, I want to do a postgrad at one of the opera schools and get onto that stage. Then, recently, at an open mic night, I got a feeling whilst singing a bit of blues and jazz (a last minute thing) that I'd almost forgotten. I haven't had such a rush from peforming in a long time, I was actually able to let go, sing in a way that felt true to MYSELF. And thus I'm torn.

Opera's hard.. I'd need a firm grasp of at least 3 languages to do well in it. But, if I'm good enough to do well in it, it's so much more secure. In popular music you can be there one day and off the radar the next. In musical theatre you've peaked by 30 and are no longer cast. In opera your peak doesn't come UNTIL your 30s. It's a lot to consider, though I know singing is "my call" if you will, I can't imagine doing anything else.

I guess at 20 I'm at a prime time for deciding which direction I want to go in. A few things are for sure - I want to be performing, I want to be singing. After my degree's over I want to move to London and be in the middle of it, get myself on the scene. After that, who knows. I just hope it's good. Afterall, my mantra is "dream big, or live small". You don't get anywhere without dreams.

I love a huge array of music, and I think a thousand truths can be spoken via music. Classically, composers such as Wagner, Debussy, Verdi, Faure, Duparc, Schumann and Schubert float my boat as it were. When it comes to classical performers I'm biased towards singers. Diana Damrau, Bryn Terfel, Simon Keenlyside etc tend to blow me away somewhat. When it comes to pop, this is where my sexuality just SHINES through. I love Leona Lewis, (old) Whitney Houston, (old) Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, but also acts like Florence and the Machine (who I backed at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Bangor.. woopa!), Dido, Annie Lennox, Adele, Alicia Keys and Blondie. Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra and other big bang singers have a big influence on me (depending on what I sing) and I'm partial to a bit of rock now and then. My tastes are pretty diverse really but I suppose that's needed to be a well-rounded musician.

Anyway, I hope that's given you a good feel for who I am, if you bothered to read it. From now on the ranting will begin, I promise :)