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Twentynine Palms, California
Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command and Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center
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Lance Cpl. Alexander L. Rood, food service specialist, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, native of Sacramento, Calif., was 15 years old when he played his first show for a crowd of 200 people. He draws inspiration from bands such as Danzig, Blink-182 and The Doors. (Official Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Medina Ayala-Lo/Released)

Photo by Lance Cpl. Medina Ayala-Lo

What I've Learned: Alexander L. Rood

9 Mar 2015 | Lance Cpl. Medina Ayala-Lo Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms

I grew up playing music and I’ve been playing for nine years.
I play the trombone, clarinet and the bass. I started when I was in fifth grade and I learned on my own mostly by just messing around with the instruments.

I started taking band class and I liked it. Eventually, I just talked to a couple of friends and we started a band. Soon enough, we started playing shows and making money.

I’ve been in three different bands. The first band I was in, was for about a year and a half. The last one, for about three years.
We had a van and we would drive to play our shows. Other than playing shows and the internet, we had a demo that we handed out and that’s how we got the word out about our music.

My favorite instrument to play is the bass. I like the way it sounds.

I like music that provokes feeling and sometimes it’s nice to listen to music without words. Music without words provokes a lot more feeling than music with words.

I’ve been in the Marine Corps for about a year and a half. The reason I joined the Marine Corps is because I wanted to get away from home and do something different. If I was going to join the military, I was going to go all out.

My grandfather and my cousin were in the Marine Corps.
I like the structure the military has to offer and the different types of people I’ve met.

I can say I learned structure and discipline while in the band and I can now apply it to other aspects of life.

Being here makes you realize how small the world is. There are so many people from different backgrounds and I never thought they would be interested in the same things as me. Discovering stuff like that is always really cool.

I hate speaking in front of people but I can get on stage and play music in front of a crowd. It’s just different when I’m playing music.

We played metal music in our band and we wrote our own songs.

Metal is my favorite genre of music. Sometimes it’s just nice to zone out. There are times when I’m in a good mood and other times when I’m frustrated. For me, the music I listen to depends on how I’m feeling.

I have two younger brothers and a younger sister. My family has been supportive of my love for music. I would like to start playing regularly again.

I’m also really into cars. I learned about cars through friends, but a lot of it was self-taught.

The car I have now is my third one. I like working on it because there’s always something new. Sometimes it is frustrating, sometimes it is really fun.

The structure that I learned from being in a band before the Marine Corps has definitely helped me. I am more willing to do the things I don’t want to do, when I know I have to do them.
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms