Hi Friends,
I'll be expanding on the who and why of my life in the coming days/weeks. I always like when artists allow people in a little, and while difficult, it's important. First The Story .... then The Message (coming soon). That way, there is no question as to what you're getting yourself into and our relationship can be that much healthier.
I grew up playing music, piano, to start. I hated piano, and I credit my mom with forcing me to keep at it. All those god damn recitals, playing boring classical music (no offense) and working on posture and finger positioning. Awful. Later moved to drums in high school, and this was when the passion really kicked in. Drums are my true love, my first and primary instrument. It's probably why most of my shit actually sounds decent - rhythm section really makes a "band" sound pro. However, the narcissist in me always wanted to be up front. I was always jealous of the singers, and wanted that role. So, I taught myself how to play guitar and started playing piano again. Also, singing. Oh singing - the hardest instrument to get right and the most obvious when you don't.
I'm self taught (save a few vocal lessons, 2 guitar lessons and a single drum lesson to be exact) and so far it's not fully worth bragging about. For you fellow belters out there, you know the struggle. My voice is slowly expanding and getting better - you'll hear it in this new round of songs. My falsetto is getting higher, brighter, lighter and more clear. My breath control is sloooooowly improving. My vibrato slowly coming under my control and not just showing up at random times.... "oh, hello!"
This next round of songs will have an intentionally external viewpoint. Not so much "woe is me" and much more "woe is the world." It's no less dark, just much bigger in scope. I'm also trying to sprinkle glimmers of hope throughout my work, as well as my writing - as simple despair is too easy. It's not what we need right now. We need to look each other in the eye. We need to take credit. We need to get off our fat asses and start to move the needle.
Love you all. Tell someone you know that everything is going to be alright. Even if we don't believe it, the more we say it out loud, the more we'll start drifting towards that end.
- Nick