no really come all...every last one of you....
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
and it begins
I originally had a brillant blog written about the effect that internet has on society, comparing it to the common use of eletricity but my internet crashed......and I lost it.....
so instead I have decided to answer a question that I get asked a lot: How I ended up in the Widows.
The story actually begins sometime in I believe 2004 after I had just graduated from Ithaca College in upstate New York. I was asked to play drums by my friend Josh for a band that would be playing a party in a neighbouring town of Cortland. It sounded like a fun gig, playing mostly covers of songs that I loved to play with a few originals mixed in. The front man for this band was none other than the bearded wonder himself Mr. Mike Miller.
I knew before I took the gig that I would have to borrow drums as mine were set up semi permanently in a recording studio in the Ithaca Commons. It was always a pain to get them out of the third floor studio (no elevator, had to lug them up and down the fire escape) so Josh and Miller arranged that I would be borrowing drums from some guy named Mazochi, who would also be opening for us at the party.
When I got to the party and heard Mazochi play he completely blew me away; he reminded me of Dylan, but though I like Dylan, Mazochi seemed to have something even more special. There is a word for this in Bali; it is called Taksu. Basically it's something that great artists exibit when they perform, its what westerners call having "it".
so instead I have decided to answer a question that I get asked a lot: How I ended up in the Widows.
The story actually begins sometime in I believe 2004 after I had just graduated from Ithaca College in upstate New York. I was asked to play drums by my friend Josh for a band that would be playing a party in a neighbouring town of Cortland. It sounded like a fun gig, playing mostly covers of songs that I loved to play with a few originals mixed in. The front man for this band was none other than the bearded wonder himself Mr. Mike Miller.
I knew before I took the gig that I would have to borrow drums as mine were set up semi permanently in a recording studio in the Ithaca Commons. It was always a pain to get them out of the third floor studio (no elevator, had to lug them up and down the fire escape) so Josh and Miller arranged that I would be borrowing drums from some guy named Mazochi, who would also be opening for us at the party.
When I got to the party and heard Mazochi play he completely blew me away; he reminded me of Dylan, but though I like Dylan, Mazochi seemed to have something even more special. There is a word for this in Bali; it is called Taksu. Basically it's something that great artists exibit when they perform, its what westerners call having "it".
The Balinese believe that the God and His manifestations have the same aptitude for dance and music as do mortals, and so during temple ceremonies, especially in the remoter villages, spirits, god and deified ancestors enter the bodies of worshippers who become momentarily possessed by these spirits (trance). These spirits then proceed to dance and sometimes to sing with an unearthly voice through the medium of the person who they have possessed. Not that I think Mazochi is pocessed or anything like that...he is just really special.
I thought to myself that I would really like to play music with him someday but was a little intimidated so I just played the set with Miller without saying a word about it, figuring I wouldn't see this guy again until he was wicked famous.
Fast foward to the summer of 2006.
I had just graduated from California Institute of the Arts that spring and had very recently for multiple reasons left my day job at the CALARTS library. I was doing a few isolated recording sessions, and trying to get things going with two bands: Bent But Not Broken, and The Eves.
Josh had just moved out to LA and moved onto the Ranch with Mazochi, Miller, and Tedd, and invited me to hang out one day. He mentioned that Mazochi was looking to start a band type situation rather than it being a solo thing and that if I would be interested to come up to the ranch sometime to jam and see how it went. Josh did kinda warn me though that Mazochi was picky but I figured I had nothing to lose with no job so I went up and jammed with the guys.
Things were working out well, I was going out there multiple times a week and we were getting stronger and stronger as a band when in October I got into a bad car accident (this is an event for another post, however I think the fact that Miller, Tedd and Josh were there that night just adds to the interest of this story).
A month after that I was hospitalized due to complications from the accident. I hadn't really talked much to the guys and figured that since I couldn't play and didn't know when I would be able to play again that they would just find another drummer. I remember lying in my hospital bed, the doctors were discussing having to do surguery, removing leg tissue and the possiblity of having my leg amputated, being higher then hell on Morpine and Vicodin when I got a call from Mazochi telling me that whenever I got better the band would be ready and they would wait. I knew then that this was something special...and that these guys were special.
A few months later I recovered enough to begin to play again. And we have been going strong ever since.
These guys have become my best friends and I look back to that first night that I met Mazochi and I am amazed at how things came together. I am still blown away by his music and his work ethic, but more importantly what a good person he is and what a good friend he has become. I am so lucky to have these guys in my life.
These guys have become my best friends and I look back to that first night that I met Mazochi and I am amazed at how things came together. I am still blown away by his music and his work ethic, but more importantly what a good person he is and what a good friend he has become. I am so lucky to have these guys in my life.
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