early in my musical career, if you can call it that, i met and fell deeply for a wonderful man we will name "Spooky". his lyrical intensity and musical genius made my skin crawl in a way that would make college girls scream in orgasmic ecstacy. we quickly became friends in the richmond music scene. he was a collaborator, an engeneering tool and a truely endless friend.
"Spooky" took locoal music to the next level on all fronts, his insight was a blessing, a gift. his need to push the standard was a kick in perverbial dick piece, he made me the person that i am today. his name god given name, which i am am not at liberty to express, is a name sake that the world will long to know.
our band played numerous shows with his band at the time which was named "Pheonix Thorn", had a 1 to 1 running in the 1st annual "painted red: battle of the bands". we placed 2nd. did we cry like cowardly little bitches, no! we bowed down to the incredible might that played before us. we were awestruck by the musical perfection, dedication and might that he COMMANDED from his bandmates. we were instantly tied intoo the local scene and we bounced ideas off of each other to better the RVA (Ricmond, Virginia) scene.
the band that i was apart of did mutiple sessions to be ready to go into the recording studio, The Sound Of Music, in downtown Richmond with his help. he pushed us to be the best possible band we could be.
we, the 6 of us, went into the proffesional studio to record out first full length album with the ass-kicking backing of "Spooky" and we laid down several track we had decided were the best in which we had at the time. we were scared out of out wits and minds, we were children in the domain of adults. with that expressed we pressed on through quarells, disagreements and undder failure. "Spooky" came to our rescue, and saved us from the the cliche downfall that would have comsumed other bands with the firey hate of a thousand firey suns. he said: "dude, take it one track at a time make it as beautiful and emotional as possible, because if you don't, people won't know the problems you ALL have known."
my life was changed for the better after he said that seemingly simple phrase. "Spooky" took the stressful moment and made it a message that WE ALL had to convey the world. Thank whatever God was guiding him. a prophetic idea that was spoken whether or not he knew it at the time.
months later we were silver-plater, hand given the show of a life-time: OPEN FOR BREAKING BENJAMIN. the 6 of of us: steve, charlie, justin, andrew, eddie & myself were lobbed the chance to open for a NATIONAL headlinging act. a dream only realized amongst the dumbest of local acts. we took it like drunken pre-teen boys at the chance of getting laid for the first time.
we were litterally stapling books together for out "debut" cd in a booth at Canal Club 3 hours before the show began. it was our IT tech Adam, Tracy Coker (mother of charlie & steve - guitar and bass), myself, Kim Harrison, steve's at the time, girlfriend, Alicia, justin, eddie, charlie and etc. we worked liked asian shoe makers to get the cd's ready for a show 14 days to follow.
the show went off without a hitch. we demolished The Canal Club with about 150 local followers and all the people who came, strickly, religiously, to see BREAKING BENJAMIN. we played our 20 minute set, broke down and went abour our business. suddenly some semi-druken guy comes running up to our merch table and said as loud as fuck: "oh my god, you guys were fucking awesome, do you have a cd?!" given the circumstances "Mama Steve" said "well, we do but we're not selling until November 'such and such'. this guy about shit bricks and replyed with "i will pay you whatever BREAKING BENJAMIN is offering just to have this cd, you guys were incredile!!!"
we, as local artists, had no choice but to "price match" with BREAKING BENJAMIN...fucking stupid.
so we sold 30 cd's for $12 a piece, given the fact that we only wanted $10. fuck coperate america.
"Spooky" was there and reveled in the beauty of a local act getting more credit than a douche-soaked national act.
So, from this cynical asshole, i wish the best for my fellow vocalist, musician, and downright decible charged human being, a life of wonderment and delight.
Thank You, **** "Spooky" *********
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