When I’ve Got the Music, I’ve Got a Place to Go

July 30th, 2006

Once upon a time, I was a musician. Wait, that’s not how this story should begin. One thing I’m sure 99.9% of you don’t know about me is that I used to play drums. Not only did I play drums… Music, whether I was playing it or listening to it, was a huge part of my life. It surrounded everything I did. As things change and people grow up and apart, I sort of did the same with music. While I still spend 8-10 hours of my day listening, I haven’t picked up my sticks or a guitar in nearly 2 years. Ridiculous, I know. Tonight I spent 3 hours getting my hands back in shape and I must admit, it feels fucking great!

I’ve recently re-established a link with a couple guys I played in a band with on 2 separate occasions. The first being the better of the 2. We had a lot in common as far as musical preferences and direction went. We wrote some solid tunes that I still enjoy listening to, to this day. But we butted heads on a couple levels and things just didn’t work out. As people grow and change, we seemed to have found a medium that we’re all happy with. More than happy with, actually. I’m the youngest of the 3 at 26 and we are most definitely not in this to make money or fame. I worked at a music television station for 5 years and have several friends in bands. I know how things work and I realize that can’t happen – and really, I wouldn’t want that anyway. Afterall, I turned down a couple opportunities that could have resulted in either without batting an eye. Simply not my bag. It’s cool that we can all play music together and have the same mind set with the same ultimate goal – to make music we love and to have fun doing it. No pressure. No bullshit. Just rock.

It really does feel good to be playing again. It’s hard to believe after so many years, that I just stopped one day. I never thought that would happen, but it did and I let it go on for far too long. It’s almost like re-establishing a relationship with an old friend you haven’t seen in years.

I’ll leave off with a few songs we (myself and the guys I’m playing with now, minus the bassist) recorded in our rehearsal space back in 2003. It’s not for everyone – very raw and gritty and the recording is pretty weak, but you’ll get the idea of what we’re up to. These are songs I really love and still enjoy playing.