this is the nobska lighthouse on cape cod in woods hole, ma. 3 years ago, i wrote a song about a youthful night of women, wine, and an awesome life experience. i wasn't sure what to name it. phil, the bass player in my band at the time, suggested we call it "nobska."

3 years later, i looked at this beach and lighthouse for the first time. it was as if someone took every memory from that night i had written about and wrapped it up in a beautiful package bordering the ocean in woods hole. i was absolutely taken aback.

sometimes, i feel as if my artistic effort was never appreciated. we didn't sell enough CDs... we didn't reach enough people... we didn't get any radio play... we failed more than we succeeded. but it's places and moments like these that remind me why i made music: to enjoy it with the people i felt most creative with. we were a solid band with heavy messages about love, sex, revolution, and emotion... but i now realize i don't give a fuck that no one listened.

if they had, maybe they would have learned something.

i know i did by writing these songs.

(11.)

this is a lost entry i just dug up from my vacation to maui.
(p.s. i burned the notebook)

i just came back from a sick vacation.

i was on the beach, with a bottle and a notebook by my side, chillin out and thinking and writing. it felt awesome. maybe my random thoughts will become songs, and maybe i'll burn that notebook.

yellow bandana twist.

we were twisted like the clouds
just fools up on our backs
the music in the sky
make me feel a little bit...

black ink is moving past
this god damned sun at last
and i can't pass on this, just a pacifist
wishing war upon us all
and then i fall...

dance.
blue and red and freedom...
stand.
with me in the pouring rain...
in tennessee,
the world was free, and it hit me like this
(doing that)
yellow bandana twist.

emotion love and now
pulling strings that i can't see
inspired coming down
the music loud...

writing. (listening).

so the lost art of the written word is a good place to start when thinking about what needs to be done with this revolution of mine.

why is it that our attention spans have shrunk so much?

i'll try to keep this short, but it's the rushing, speeding, blinding way our minds have been trained to work for the last fifty years. everything is done at light speed, with no regard for enjoyment or a deliberate hand.

it is with this in mind that i have decided to do a little bit more writing. i'm manipulating perceptions: people cannot continue to think that living their lives at a million miles an hour will lead to more accomplishment. in reality it will lead to less creativity, more complacency, less personality, and more performance-enhancers and quick-fixes.

more than likely, i am shouting out into an empty abyss... my words echoing off other sound waves and becoming more and more easy to ignore. i'm used to that. i spent three years writing emotional, important, and insightful lyrics... only to have my musical career reduced to performing in front of hundreds of blacked-out college students more interested in where their beer was than what the revolution was about.

that's ok.

none of us like where authority, liability, and litigation has taken us. the generations before us have laid the framework of a society where a job poorly (but quickly) done, is more desirable than art or creativity.

forty years ago, this wasn't the case.

at least people knew how to listen. i hope our generation remembers how important that is.

life & music.

should i keep playing? i'm thinking the writing can never stop, but i'm wondering what message i will be able to send musically. will i touch ANYONE, or am i destined to be party/club/empty-room background music. do i want to live as an artist in that space? we'll see how the next year or so goes, but i'd like to try with one more band to start this revolution.

i'm in a unique position in the advertising world to touch lives. i can change brand perceptions and influence purchasers... but my real talent lies in connecting someone with that magical feeling of comfort. i remember the first time i saw a jordan brand commercial. it was about the work that went into the development of michael's career. since that day, i have gravitated towards the jordan brand... because it represents the character, performance standards, and class of the man portrayed in that spot.

check it out:



advertising has evolved. like music, there are new rules, new opportunities, etc. my former band, the project, was able to touch many lives all around the world with our music. we developed contacts we could have never dreamed and got positive feedback about our message from all sorts of different kinds of people. technology is making it so that every brand has the opportunity to open up lines of dialogue with their peers, friends, and general consumers. hopefully, my new gig at digitas will open doors and allow me to be involved in such amazing conversation. i want to take advantage of these new lines of dialogue and start a revolution.

changing things for the better... ridding the world of annoying ads, and providing a fresh change of pace.

this is my manifesto. this is my charge:

to change the world through music, advertising, & revolution.

----------------------------

in the headphones:
love & music - the project

for now, i leave you all with a song from what is probably my band's final ep. it's about my two favorite things... its about a moment when the blood rushes to your heart, you forget about the world, and you're stoned on a few things that are bigger than yourself. i think my new job, my new life, and my new goals all fall into this "bigger than" category. however, that's alright... as long as my goals are revolution, change, and impact.

wish me luck.

writing.

so i've been writing.

keeping a journal of my shit. whenever something worth talking about hits the journal, i'll throw it up here.

i'm still waiting...