So you want to know more about me, eh? I always put these things off and say I’ll do them later, but then I never come back to them. Well, not this time. I’m making myself sit down and talk about *dunh dunh dunh* … myself.
Let’s go back… way back…
I started playing hooky from school when I was five. Sometimes I faked sick, but sometimes it wasn’t so fake. School made me ill. It didn’t promote thinking. Neither do most jobs, and I can’t handle it. I’ve tried, I really have, but I’ve never succeeded at it. On one such “sick” day, I was staying with my Grandma, and I told her I couldn’t wait to retire. She laughed and laughed, but I didn’t see what was so funny about my statement. I was eight by that point, and I knew what I wanted: my life.
Like most people, when it comes to my origins, there’s not much to say, and at the same time, there’s too much to say. I grew up in the small town of Buckley, WA, about an hour outside of Seattle. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, one learns to play in the rain, and that’s what I did all through my childhood. Until you’ve crawled through a “mud puddle” with only your nose and up exposed, in the dark of night (5 PM), during what might as well be a squall, just to tag someone else “it”… the point is, the weather’s crap here, but it didn’t stop me from growing up outside and exploring the woods and rivers all over the area. But it also made art in its various forms interesting, and I have to wonder if Washington’s annual nine months of rainy and overcast weather is responsible for the many talented musicians that grow up here. A person needs a little escapism, you know? So growing up, that’s just what I did: I became an escape artist.
When I was about 10 I found some Star Wars figures in an antique store and recognized that they belonged with some hand-me-down toys I had (my brothers were a decade older than me). I don’t know if it’s normal for a 10 year old to have a sense of nostalgia, but that combined with the awe created by Lucas’ movies was totally engrossing to me.
It’s strange to think, but in the 90s kids weren’t into Star Wars. It wasn’t the “cool” thing, but nevertheless, I started convincing my classmates to bring in their hand-me-down Star Wars toys. They didn’t want them, but they did want cash, and I knew what I was getting was more valuable both intrinsically and monetarily. My teacher was a little concerned about me conducting business at such an early age, haha.
When I was 12, I discovered comic books. I loved them. I still do. Very much. And I also found Star Trek and numerous other nerdy things, always loving a good story. But one of the things that changed my life the most was my new found love of music. It started with my brother’s tape collection, and with the age gap between us, I found myself rocking out to stuff like AC/DC and Guns n’ Roses, following the times back to bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, and all the while listening to stuff from the 90s.
When I was 15 or so, I got a job. Disposable income was what I had, more CDs than anyone I knew at the time was what I got. Then I got a guitar. I learned to rock… not necessarily well at first, haha, but I could play LOUD. The rest is history as they say. A weird, path-winding history that’ll I’ll talk about some other time. But that’s where I come from, and it’s part of where I’m going.
Brian
