My Life As a Musician

I like to think I've been a musician my whole life.

One of my earliest memories about music was when I was just before starting kindergarten. My mom and dad had a huge stereo system in our living room that was off limits to me and my brother, Cody. As a kid, I was more of a rule breaker than rule follower at home, so naturally I ventured into the territory I was forbidden. I remember finding dozens and dozens of records and tapes, but what caught my eye was a small box of CDs. I found one with a black and white picture of a man's face and decided I would attempt to listen to it. I have always had a knack for figuring out technology, even at a young age, and I managed to start playing the CD. I had jacked the volume way up and the first thing I remember was this massive wave of sound rushing into my head. Scrambling to turn it down, I fumbled with the controls. Then, I started to listen. I remember falling in love with how it sounded. Not the words, but how the combination of notes, rhythms and sounds layered on top of each other to create a new, more interesting sound. Turns out, it was Elton John's self titled album playing "Your Song."

I remember bugging my mom about wanting to play piano from a very young age. My grandma had an old upright at her house and every time I'd visit, the first words out of my mouth were, "Can I play the piano?" I never really knew what I was doing, but I knew I loved the sounds the instrument made each time I pressed the keys. I loved the sensation of the white ivory under my fingers, having the power to create a smooth, rich sound by merely striking the keys downward. I was fascinated by the ability to control the volume of the sound by striking harder or softer. I eventually began to teach myself basic theory, note names, where they're located on the keyboard and scales. I so clearly remember my aunt teaching me proper form, "Hold your hands like you're holding a bubble, but don't pop it!" Soon after, I began piano lessons.

While quitting piano is one of my greatest regrets in life, I have to admit, I've never really like people telling me what to do and how to do it. Eventually I got to a point where I knew pretty much everything I needed to know in order to be successful at the piano. All I needed was practice. So I quit and begged my mom to buy me a violin so I could be in the orchestra at school. No matter how much I pleaded my mom reiterated her nightmarish past with the violin, listening to her sister practice as a youngster, screeching away. She insisted I wait one more year for band.

My mom played clarinet when she was in school, so naturally, so did I. It turned out, my cousin Mike had an old trumpet he used to play when he was in school, and since money was always tight growing up, I became a trumpeter. Before I even got my hands on the thing, I was at a sleep over at my friend, Sonya's house and her dad was a trumpet player. We found his old trumpet and all of us had a go at trying to make a sound. I was the only one who could get a noise out of it. I remember as soon as I heard the the warm buzz out of the other end of the bell, I just wanted to hear more. Then I got my own.

In band, I picked up on the trumpet very quickly. I memorized notes, scales, and whole pieces of music. I loved to play, night and day, for hours. But after my first year, I hit that point again where I got burnt out. I felt like I knew everything (ha!). I wanted to switch to french horn. Even at that age, I knew the french horn was in higher demand and I could probably get a lot further with a career in music as a french horn player. But my mom insisted I stick with the trumpet. And so did my music instructors. From Mr. Bradley's constant encouragement, Mrs. Carpenter's pushing me to be more confident and Mr. Rine's belief in me, I fell back in love with the trumpet.

In eighth grade, I moved from the middle school band to the junior high. I can't remember if we had auditions that first year, but I so clearly remember the first day of band. The new band teacher was Mr. Rine, and he scared the crap out of me. Actually, I was the first kid to get in trouble in his class for whispering something to my buddy Riley. I was embarrassed and made my mind up that I didn't like Mr. Rine. As the year progressed, I started to notice Mr. Rine's genuine interest in bettering me as a trumpet player. He would answer my questions, spend time with me to get rhythms right and if he couldn't help, would get me the help I needed. At the end of the year, he encouraged me to try out for jazz band. I was nervous and I just assumed I wasn't good enough, but I knew I didn't really have much to lose. I auditioned and Mr. Rine placed me as the second trumpet player for the jazz band. That next year in jazz band literally changed my life as a musician.

Jazz totally redefined what I thought was possible as a musician. I found the rhythms intoxicating, the scales delightful and the improv a challenge. I fell in love, harder than I've even fallen before. I started listening to jazz musicians every waking moment. I bought album after album of Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Count Basie and Louie Armstrong. I learned as much as I could as fast as I could. I ate it up like it was a big bowl of chocolate pudding. And I never looked back.

It so happens, the same time I fell in love with jazz, I took a particular liking to Mr. Rine. I suspected he also had a fondness for me, though I never knew for sure. He had me playing in the top bands at the junior high, gave me solos I never thought I deserved, and put me in full orchestra. When the year began to end, I couldn't help but feel sad to leave the next year. And auditions were coming up. I don't think auditions ever become easier as a musician. I've been to a million auditions, and every single one is as hard as the one I had at the end of ninth grade for jazz band at the high school.

I remember every moment of that audition. I remember sitting in the practice room at the high school, a strange foreign place with a hobbled piano and broken music stands. I remember staring at the sheet music, "Blues In Hoss Flat," trying so hard to get each rhythm right. I remember frantically studying blues scales. One by one, each of us in that practice room were called into the band room. 4 people left. 3 people. 2. Then just me.

Funny, I don't actually remember what the hell I did during the audition. It was sort of like blacking out, because I have no memory of what happened during those 10 minutes until Mr. DePalatis said, "So I think you'll be the lead next year." Wait, what?? I wanted to blurt out, "Do you know who you're talking to? I'm just a freshman! I don't know what I'm doing!" But I just smiled, said thank you and left.

Now I know that was one of the most important moments in my career as a musician. Mr. DePalatis taking a chance on a freshman, a kid he maybe only heard place a few times before, to be the lead in a band full of upper classmen with years more experience than me. That first year playing lead transformed me from a shy, timid band member into a confident leader of the band. I think I owe all of my musical maturity to that man.

When high school ended, I was faced with a choice: to continue with trumpet or not? I chose not. I never regret my decision, but often I miss playing with a band. I've found that when I'm not playing the trumpet, it's impossible for me to survive without some form of music making. I've replaced my first love, the trumpet, with the challenge of learning the guitar.

No matter what the instrument or how well I can play, who I'm with, where I am, I'll always have the need and urge to be a musician. Music is perfect. And the world is perfect when I'm playing.

Sasquatch!

So it's been almost a week (nix that, I started to write this post back then, but now it's already June!) since the Sasquatch! music festival over at the Gorge and I am just now getting to writing about it? Yeah, sounds like me. If I had to describe in one word what that festival was to me = nirvana (not the band). Not only did I get the opportunity to hear over twenty amazing bands, but it was extremely relaxing and I spent it with one of my best friends, Gwen. So here's the rundown of who/what we saw:

Saturday

First up was Fleet Foxes. I had never heard of these guys, but I generally enjoyed what I heard. They looked like a ragamuffin bunch complete with bushy beards and flannel shirts. Despite their lumberjack appearance, their music was very much steeped in Greatful Dead harmonies and acoustics. I'd like to get these guys' EP and am excited to see where they go in the future. Did I mention they are local?

Then we deviated from the main stage to go check out the comedy tent. I guess this was the first year they tried out comedy (and I have a sneaking suspicion it's due to the wildly growing success of the comedy venues at Bumbershoot). It was somewhat disappointing seeing as these performers came highly recommended. I don't actually remember names except for Tim Medows (one of my all time SNL heroes) because why remember names of crappy performers? Anywho, we only stayed there for like an hour and then ventured back to the main stage.

Beirut was next. Now, I had actually heard of these guys and even had one of their singles from iTunes free downloads they have every week. I didn't really remember them, but was excited to see them because I have heard so many good things about their music. And their music WAS good. It was a very interesting combination of instruments, trumpets, euphonium, violin, all added to the standard rock set up complete with guitars, bass and drum set. It sounded very fresh and heavily influenced by Europe (the name give you a hint?). I really enjoyed them and that probably has something to do with my extreme nerd-dom when it comes to any sort of wind instrument!

Still at the main stage, we saw Ozomatli and The New Pornographers. I wasn't especially impressed by either as you may be able to tell by my lumping of them both into this very short and insignificant paragraph.

M.I.A. next. I can't say I have heard of her before Sasquatch! but judging by the massive amount of people singing along, she's popular with some demographic. Her music is very dance oriented, with strong bass/techno beats. A lot of use of sound effects. The accompanying video was "trippy" to say the least. I especially enjoyed the song "Paper Planes" also one of her most popular. Her shining moment on stage though was definitely when she brought at least 100 audience members on stage to dance. It was quite a sight! I'm sure there was massive amounts of drug induced trance dancing going on, but we were far enough away to be unable to tell.

Then Modest Mouse. Of course I have heard of them, but have never really payed much attention to them. They were good, but not amazing. Gwen tells me they were a lot harder than they are on their album. I sorta liked the intensity they had on stage which leads me to believe that I might not like them so much on their record.

Last up was R.E.M. who I was wildly excited for but did not stay to watch. Why in the world did we leave? The answer is as follows:

1. It was POURING rain. Cold rain. Cold, wet, rain.
   
2. We had no jackets. Just what we wore earlier in the day.
3. The sound system SUCKED. It was so quiet, there was no point in staying

So we searched for the car that we couldn't remember where we parked it for about 20 min. Jumped in, blasted the heat and headed back to Sunland.

Sunday

Sunday started with a band called 65DaysOfStatic. Yes, all smashed together like that. These guys were really hardcore, which I don't usually like all that much, but they had some real interesting composition going on. I could tell these guys know music. They didn't sing really at all either which left more of an opportunity to actually hear their music which I enjoyed more than I expected upon first inspection.

Then The Blue Scholars. Little known fact, I am pretty into the hip-hop scene. Especially the local hip-hop of Seattle. The Blue Scholars are the best example of where Northwest hip-hop is going. They are fresh, innovative, and not to mention from UW. I have seen these guys a total of 3 times and they only get better. It's just two dudes, rapping about life in Seattle, going to school, and troubles they face. It's amazing stuff to say the least. Also, in their song "The Ave" they mention the street where I lived in Lander, cool huh? At least I think so...

We saw a number of other bands that day, The Cold War Kids, Tegan & Sara, The Presidents of the United States (local), Michael Franti & Spearhead. All good stuff, just not anything spectacular I need to let you know about.

Then Death Cab. HUGE crowd. Okay music. I like them and all, but I don't think they are that good on stage.

The best of the night, in my opinion, The Cure. These guys are beastly! They played straight for 2.5 hours! They just kept going. Their music is good, they are relatively fun to watch, and their guitarist just shreds it up there. Not to mention has creepy face painting that makes it so much better. It was definitely fun to watch, but man was I tired when we rolled into our campsite well past midnight.

Monday

Started with Matt Costa, but I'm not going to lie, I definitely fell asleep for most of his set, not because it was bad, it was quite good, but just because it was sunny and I was still tired.

Then The Hives. I have heard of them but haven't actually heard them. They are a band from Sweden and very good. They have a nice punk sound that reminds me of The Clash and The Ramones. I loved the lead singer, charismatic and funny. Good stuff.

Then Built to Spill. Never heard of them. Not bad, not great. Also slept for some of this one.

From then on it was pretty amazing, starting with Rodrigo Y Gabriella. Now, I have been a fan of these two for some time. I think I was introduced to them by Matt and Holly to begin with. Basically, it's these two siblings (at least that's what I thought) who just rock the acoustic guitar. Not only did they play good stuff from their album, but covered a other popular tunes as well. I especially loved their rendition of "Wish You Where Here" by Pink Floyd, partly because I actually know how to play it, but also because Rodrigo used a beer bottle to play slide for the solo. It was epic.

Then Flight of the Conchords. Also introduced to me by Matt and Holly. These guys are HILARIOUS! Unfortunately, I haven't seen much of the show, but I do have their first EP. So, I didn't know the words to most of their stuff, but it was still so funny! Some woman actually threw her bra on stage and there was a blow up doll crowd surfing! They were very very good.

Then was The Mars Volta. I had heard these guys are crazy, which they are. They are like some kind of thrash/progressive/jazz band. The lead singer is so energetic, throwing stuff around, actually chucking a symbol into the crowd. Their songs were long and interesting, but at times, a bit monotonous. Overall, very interesting to listen to.

Last and MOST AMAZING was The Flaming Lips. I have no idea how I have never heard of any of their stuff, but it is so good! I am pretty sure I have been converted into a life-long fan. I had also heard these guys' live shows are amazing, but they absolutely blew me away. First off, all the lights go out and a UFO is descending from the top of the stage and out comes the band members. Finally the lead, Wayne Coyne, comes out of the top enclosed in a giant plastic bubble! He then proceeds to jump on top of the crowd and surf the tops all the way back on to stage. It was the greatest thing I have ever seen. They continued with more theatrics and amazingness all though out. They had giant balloons, streamers, aliens, naked people, videos, astronauts, you name it. It was so amazing. I highly recommend going to one of their shows before they stop touring. It will change your life! I looked over and Gwen was actually in tears at one point. We both agree, that show immediately became the best we have ever been to, hands down.

So that's the run down of the Sasquatch! music festival. A lot went on there, a lot of interesting things to say the least. But for me, the best part was the music. Seeing these great artists play in such a beautiful surrounding, there is no other venue I love more. I can't wait for next year, hopefully some of you will join!