In Loving Memory have released a new music video for their single "Nomad" from their EP "Introspective" and to celebrate we asked Naveed Stone to tell us about the track. Here is the story:
In short, our song "Nomad" represents the immigrant struggle. I was born and raised in Queens, New York but my parents are immigrants from Bangladesh. Being a first-generation American is truly a unique experience, as I am the product of both American culture and traditional "old school" (for lack of a better term) Asian culture. For kids like me, we're basically told at a young age "Doctor. Engineer. Lawyer. Pick one and run with it". Education and stability are the things my culture values most, which makes sense when I have parents from a part of the world where those opportunities aren't as available. Because of this paradigm, kids from my demographic are almost never encouraged to pursue artistic careers. While my parents always supported me taking an interest in music as a teenager (they always bought me guitars and other gear when I wanted it), they understandably had reservations at the thought of me trying to pursue it as a career.
Fast forward to the beginning of 2017, my last semester of college as a mechanical engineering student. I'm preparing to finish school, land a full time job, while playing shows and writing what would become In Loving Memory's "Introspective" EP. I felt so much pressure to decide on a career path now that the real world was quickly headed my way (something that any fresh college graduate can relate to) so I had to really reflect on what I want my life to be. Do I want the stable and comfortable life that a career as an engineer would grant me? Or did I want to finally be serious and go all in to pursue my dream of becoming a musician. It was during one of those late nights that the line "I see a fork down in the road, and I can tell I won't find home either way I go" came to me. And that was how "Nomad" started.
The song goes on to talk about the difficulties of making those choices in life as the child of immigrants. We inherently have so much pressure and expectation on us (And that makes sense. Our parents didn't drop everything and move across the world so that we could mess up) and we want to do our best to make our families happy while also keeping our own happiness in mind. I knew when I wrote this song that this would be a powerful message to deliver to the kids out there who are just like me. Nobody in the music industry is singing about these issues, because nobody is really representing the minorities. I want to help change that. Especially in the world of pop, rock, and metal, I want to be a brown face that others can look up to and say "Wow he did it, that means I can do it too".
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!
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