Tag: Pearl Jam

Meaning of Life — Sonic Distance Finds Purpose and Hope on “Everything Outward” Album

Sonic Distance’s Connor Parent at The Blind Pig in August 2025. Photo taken from Sonic Distance’s Facebook page.

In eighth grade, Connor Parent had an epiphany.

The singer-songwriter and guitarist sat down at a middle school lunchroom table with friend Elliot Walker and pulled out his composition notebook.

“I said, ‘All right, we’re gonna make an album, and it’s gonna be called Everything Outward,’” said Parent, who hails from Walled Lake, Michigan. “It really just came to me.”

Parent spent the next eight years writing and recording 15 tracks for what would become his debut album, Everything Outward, under the artist moniker Sonic Distance.

“I started writing at the age of 14, going through high school, even a bit of college,” he said. “Those are the ages when your mind expands, and you’re learning a lot about the world. I’m still learning a lot, and I feel like I do have more to say.”

What resulted is an introspective alt-rock album that explores the quest for finding one’s purpose and understanding the world around us.

“When it comes to this collection of songs, the sequencing is very intentional. It tells the story from start to finish of a character who starts out angry at the world. The track, ‘Fire Trail,’ takes a spooky, haunting turn to the album,” Parent said.

“It has these mood swings to it, and then it goes into a silly [section] with ‘Chicken Fight,’ ‘Avenue,’ and ‘Jet Lag.’ Then, you get into the introspective meat of the album with the last three songs. It has this personal resolution at the end. A lot of it is fictitious, but a lot of it did come from [real life].”

I recently spoke with Parent about the inspiration behind Everything Outward.

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Origin Story — Studying Popular Music and Preparing for The Stratton Setlist

At age 5 with my first record player, a Fisher-Price Change-A-Record Music Box Record Player

Editor’s Note: This is the first installment in a multipart series celebrating the 10th anniversary of The Stratton Setlist.

I never planned to be a music journalist, but I’ve been unknowingly training for it my whole life.

My parents and older brother, Steve, served as my coaches, offering me different educational resources along the way—ranging from albums, TV shows, and magazines to concerts and festivals.

Those resources helped shape my love of music, a desire to acquire more music knowledge, an obsession with live music and physical media, and an uncanny ability to remember all kinds of music facts and trivia. It was that lifetime of training that quietly prepared me to eventually seek a profession that combined my passion for music with writing.

Now, nearly 45 years later and a decade into running my own music blog, here’s how it all started.

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Second Chances – Youssef Salloum Goes from Beirut to ‘Believe’ on New Random Ties EP

Random Ties’ Youssef Salloum performs in metro Detroit. Photo courtesy of Random Ties

Youssef Salloum believes the best things in life aren’t planned.

The Random Ties vocalist-guitarist elegantly weaves a lifetime of chance encounters and unexpected lessons into a new introspective, grungy debut EP, Believe, with bandmate KD Murray (drums).

“Believe is inspired by the roller coaster ride we go through touching on subjects, such a losing a loved one, difficulties in starting a family, struggling with faith and moving on. All the songs were written with a high-energy, feel-good vibe and a dynamic sound topped with an honest message,” Salloum said.

Originally from Beirut, Salloum spent more than two decades making Believe an alt rock-fueled reality after putting music aside for different careers, personal relationships and international moves. The EP thoughtfully represents a renewed self-commitment to creativity, motivation and persistence in a disconnected world of musical uncertainty.

“The song ‘Believe’ says ‘There was a time I lost a dream.’ It’s never too late, and no matter how hard it feels, things get better if you hang in there long enough. At the time, I had made the decision to see how I was going to make a living while having music as a hobby instead of a career. My intention was to be a musician, but at the end of the day, when you look at what’s going on around you, there was no internet, and there was no social media,” said Salloum, who returned to Ann Arbor in November 2018.

Through Random Ties, Salloum poetically chronicles his international musical journey through six heartfelt alt rock anthems. Together, those profound Believe tracks represent a highly relatable narrative about overcoming personal struggles regardless of age, geography or culture.

Week 39 to Why

One of those struggles includes eagerly awaiting the birth of a child after overcoming years of infertility on the Pearl Jam-tinged “Week 39.” Now a father, Salloum poignantly addresses the anxiety-induced anticipation of son Liam’s arrival during his wife’s 39th week of pregnancy.

Piercing, distorted electric guitars, pulsating drums, rhythmic cymbal taps and humming bass entice Liam leave the womb as Salloum throatily beckons, “Son, this song is all for you/All I have is all for you/Son, this song is about you/All I am is all I am for you.”

“Those last few weeks of anxiety were more than all the previous nine months put together. You want him to be safe more than anything else in life and then suddenly Liam was born and in our arms. It was a special time because it wasn’t easy for us to get pregnant, and it was the most powerful moment in our lives,” Salloum said.

Continue reading “Second Chances – Youssef Salloum Goes from Beirut to ‘Believe’ on New Random Ties EP” →