"TOM DELONGE & TOM PETTY", an open letter by Cali Rodi
When I was nine years old, I picked up my first sky blue electric guitar and was mesmerized. If you looked at my Google search history the first 10 years of me playing guitar, it was 99% ultimate-guitar.com. Music was this all-consuming force in my life- I was learning new Taylor Swift songs the night they released, fronting rock bands after school, and playing for tips in my hometown country bars. All of these early experiences with music made me who I am. Then I started dating and my world changed (thank you stupid boys!!). Not only was I WRITING about the typical butterflies and teenage heartbreaks, but I was learning about a whole new soundtrack that I never knew existed. Boys I thought I loved were introducing me to everyone from Tom Delonge to Tom Petty, and it was like I was hearing music for the first time all over again.
After high school, I moved straight to Nashville to put my songwriting chops to the test. I heard that’s where the best lyricists went to hone their craft, so that’s what I did. After a year of living in Music City, one of my guitar heroes, Keith Urban, signed me to a publishing deal. I wrote songs for three years with his company while they gave me wings to fly. However, some collaborators tried to change me. Almost immediately I had so many male producers try and tell me who to be. “Sing more like Billie Eilish- don’t belt! Guitars aren’t cool in pop music-you should do bubblegum pop! With trap beats! Actually… wait! Be more like Julia Michaels - write about anxiety! You’re anxious right??” And the truth is I’m not an anxious person at all, but hearing all this MADE me anxious and up in my head. I felt so lost - like the music I was creating wasn’t exciting me anymore and it didn't even feel like me anymore. Then I started dating a notorious “bad boy” who re-introduced me to all the records I used to love- especially blink-182. I felt the same kind of cloud- parting “ah ha!” moment as I did when all those boys in high school were playing me their favorite records. I was rediscovering all the songs I loved- all the angst, the teeth, the GUITARS! It made me excited about music again! Even though that relationship (“relationship” is a loose term here) was short lived, those songs stayed with me when I moved to Los Angeles shortly after.
Now, I play loud and proud. I just released a stripped version of my latest single, “God Save The Queen,” where it’s just me playing that same sky blue Fender Stratocaster I picked up at nine years old. There’s hints of my emo Warped Tour days in my music. And I LOVE it. Sometimes you just need to go back to yourself. And sometimes you need to date stupid guys to get you there.