For me, it started when I was about 13. That's when I picked up guitar. For it to make sense, I have to give a bit of backstory to tell you how I got where I was when I was 13. Without going into details, I was forced to leave my home and my auntie and uncle when I was 10. They were the people whom I had grown up with and love. But I was forced to leave Australia and come to America. My mother is a cold and somewhat uncaring woman who clearly resents me. Even before the move, I had always had a bit of a hard time getting along with others. But coming here, surrounded by strangers who only saw me as a "weird kid with a funny accent", needless to say I never made friends. Within the next 3 years, I began to learn about my mental and physical health issues.
So by the time I was 13 I had become bitter, lonely, depressed and suicidal. It got to the point I was less than a month from finally killing myself, and I heard a song I hadn't ever heard before. It was 'It's a Long Way to the Top if You Wanna Rock n Roll'. Something about it, it just... Spoke to me. I don't know how to describe it. But it made me curious about the band, AC/DC. I had heard them in passing before, but never paid close attention. But now I was listening. So I kept listening. And listening. And it sort of stirred something in me. Kind of like sparked a fire in me. I wanted to play music like that, rock n roll. You could say they gave me a reason to live. So I worked hard and bought a Gibson SG and practiced for hours a day trying to capture that feel. And since then, I know what I want to do. I want to mak that kind of music, maybe even affect someone like how they affected me.
Heh.. Sounds like I'm preaching AC/DC like they're some kind of gospel. In a way, they kind of are to me. Give me something to look up to, a reason to keep fighting.