So if you happened to glance at my “about” section you may have seen that I frequently listen to southeast asian music, with today being no exception on the way to work. However today was different in that instead of putting my iPhone on shuffle to sample a few of the 6,000+ songs that I have, I specifically went straight for one artist: Royal Pirates. I first came across this group in college when I randomly downloaded their album simply because it had cool cover. I’ve learned over the years that if anything in music draws my attention (artists appearance, friends recommendation, artwork, current chart toper, etc.) to always give it at least one complete play through before potentially deleting it and finalizing my opinion. Some of my favorite artists to this day I initially hated their music and it was only after relistening to a track for a “second take” that I liked them so much. Examples: Na Palm, Lil Dicky, Macklemore, ZICO and Machine Gun Kelly. For me though Royal Pirates required no such second take to instantly appreciate their music, even if I couldn’t understand 95% of what was being said: they were energetic, they expressed a positive vide and most importantly they had that special “hook” that stuck in my head all day demanding to be played again.

I only have ~8 songs from them but I have honestly played those 8 tracks more times over than most groups with 20+ songs in my library by a significant amount. It was of course with great sadness I read online that James Lee, one of the 3 original members, withdrew yesterday from the group due to a non-healing wrist injury that he’s had been battling for the past 2 years. He posted this yesterday:

It really hits home when you think that someone gave everything he could to an injury for TWO YEARS and not only came up short and is unable to simply play his guitar again but potentially compromised his future health in the process. When I read things like this I immediately consider the “what if” scenarios. While I don’t technically require the use of my hands like a musician does, what if? Car accidents happen every day. I see patients daily that are permanently maimed to some extend by an accident no one could envision happening. But instead of paralyzing us in fear of the future unknown it should keep us humble of every good day behind us and every great day to come 🙂 I obviously wish James the absolute best going forward and thank him and his group for their music. (As a bonus I’m also attaching an interview they did last year.) Enjoy:

Original post: Allkpop

Image Credit: [1, 2]