What's The Plan, Stan?
I hate to be presumptuous about time. I've posted updates on my Facebook before reminding us that tomorrow is not promised, Death has it's own schedule. We can't let that stop us from living, and part of living involves plans and dreams...
I think as a country we've been in a dark period. Political discourse has been the norm ever since we elected our 44th President back in 2008. The irony is that I don't think I've ever been more hopeful as I was after that, and now I think I'm probably the most disappointed I've ever been in our country. A lot of people could argue that I shouldn't let politics affect me in such a way, but it is what it is. It matters. The toughest parts of my youth were under Reagan and Bush. The best parts of my adult life were under Clinton, and everything since then have been a struggle under Bush Jr. I know, I know, this is coming off as a political blog, but it's not, trust me.
Making things a little more personal, I've been in a holding pattern for a number of years now... While I love my hometown, I've seen what life away from Duval can be like through my own experiences (in NY) and the experiences of my friends (Alyssa in NY, Rob Roy in LA, Daisey and Batsauce in Europe), and my own goal has been to go back out into the world. If you ever set foot in NYC and see what that city has to offer, you can never forget it. It's the character of the place itself. I've been watching "How To Make It In America" and I can't lie, every episode makes me miss NY that much more.
I assume that everyone who reads my blog has read it before, that's a poor assumption on my part. I should remind folks of my history. A few years back (2003) I met a guy in the county that later became my good friend... he was an artist, had a development deal with Epic and I produced a few tracks for him. He was managed by a woman who was managing Memphis Bleek at the time and was living in Brooklyn. He invited me up, I dragged myself and my huge Triton Classic on a Greydawg and took up residence in the Bronx.
I ended up living in a studio on the corner of 165th and Washington. If you know this part of town, you know, this is the real gully borough... Duval prepared me for it, trust me. These guys was the truest definition of underground. The two guys who owned the studio (I remember Barry, can't recall his brother's name, but he was the realest. Made sure I never went anywhere without money of my own in my pocket if I put in work) were not rich, they were some guys who came into some money and decided to invest it in a recording studio. Nobody ever considered that they might need to fix some of the stuff if it ever broke down, so when the hard drive crashed on the Yamaha AW1600 and they found out that servicing it would cost $350 and lose them a couple days of studio bookings, you should have seen the look on their faces when I said "If you buy the new drive, I'll put it in and we won't lose any days of bookings." GetoGeek saved the day, I became Mega the computer guy.
Being a part of their team felt good, because those of you who have experience being in charge of anything know that the leader has a bullseye trained on his head at all times. Stepping down and being an essential part of something was educational and liberating. If I had previous knowledge of what I was stepping into, I would have been better prepared to take advantage of the opportunities a metropolis like New York has to offer. I'd like another crack at the Big Apple.
So without going too far into the War Story Chest, I plan to make the road my home in 2012. I got a group of insanely talented friends in North Carolina (shouts to Mr. Invisible and N'DANGR Species) I want to make some music with them. I plan to do everything with Native Instruments products, so I hope we can even get their attention. Much of this is spurred by the announcement of Google Music, which I think is a watershed moment in digital music, especially if you are an artist in this day and age.
I don't want to go into the whole Mayan Calendar thing, but 2012 seems like the year we all need to be getting on with whatever it is we want to get done. I'd hate to remind you... but tomorrow ain't promised. In fact, it ain't even inferred.
-ere'bodee's favorite mega, blogninja
"Tomorrow is NOT promised."
I think as a country we've been in a dark period. Political discourse has been the norm ever since we elected our 44th President back in 2008. The irony is that I don't think I've ever been more hopeful as I was after that, and now I think I'm probably the most disappointed I've ever been in our country. A lot of people could argue that I shouldn't let politics affect me in such a way, but it is what it is. It matters. The toughest parts of my youth were under Reagan and Bush. The best parts of my adult life were under Clinton, and everything since then have been a struggle under Bush Jr. I know, I know, this is coming off as a political blog, but it's not, trust me.
Making things a little more personal, I've been in a holding pattern for a number of years now... While I love my hometown, I've seen what life away from Duval can be like through my own experiences (in NY) and the experiences of my friends (Alyssa in NY, Rob Roy in LA, Daisey and Batsauce in Europe), and my own goal has been to go back out into the world. If you ever set foot in NYC and see what that city has to offer, you can never forget it. It's the character of the place itself. I've been watching "How To Make It In America" and I can't lie, every episode makes me miss NY that much more.
I assume that everyone who reads my blog has read it before, that's a poor assumption on my part. I should remind folks of my history. A few years back (2003) I met a guy in the county that later became my good friend... he was an artist, had a development deal with Epic and I produced a few tracks for him. He was managed by a woman who was managing Memphis Bleek at the time and was living in Brooklyn. He invited me up, I dragged myself and my huge Triton Classic on a Greydawg and took up residence in the Bronx.
I ended up living in a studio on the corner of 165th and Washington. If you know this part of town, you know, this is the real gully borough... Duval prepared me for it, trust me. These guys was the truest definition of underground. The two guys who owned the studio (I remember Barry, can't recall his brother's name, but he was the realest. Made sure I never went anywhere without money of my own in my pocket if I put in work) were not rich, they were some guys who came into some money and decided to invest it in a recording studio. Nobody ever considered that they might need to fix some of the stuff if it ever broke down, so when the hard drive crashed on the Yamaha AW1600 and they found out that servicing it would cost $350 and lose them a couple days of studio bookings, you should have seen the look on their faces when I said "If you buy the new drive, I'll put it in and we won't lose any days of bookings." GetoGeek saved the day, I became Mega the computer guy.
Being a part of their team felt good, because those of you who have experience being in charge of anything know that the leader has a bullseye trained on his head at all times. Stepping down and being an essential part of something was educational and liberating. If I had previous knowledge of what I was stepping into, I would have been better prepared to take advantage of the opportunities a metropolis like New York has to offer. I'd like another crack at the Big Apple.
So without going too far into the War Story Chest, I plan to make the road my home in 2012. I got a group of insanely talented friends in North Carolina (shouts to Mr. Invisible and N'DANGR Species) I want to make some music with them. I plan to do everything with Native Instruments products, so I hope we can even get their attention. Much of this is spurred by the announcement of Google Music, which I think is a watershed moment in digital music, especially if you are an artist in this day and age.
I don't want to go into the whole Mayan Calendar thing, but 2012 seems like the year we all need to be getting on with whatever it is we want to get done. I'd hate to remind you... but tomorrow ain't promised. In fact, it ain't even inferred.
-ere'bodee's favorite mega, blogninja
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