Ambassador of Awesome, and lessons learned.

Busy busy busy.  That has been the tempo of things as of late.  2 years removed from only playing 3 shows in two years, and a year removed from 10 shows in a year, here we sit with over 20.  (I think it’s 23 but I lost count.)  In the process of playing these shows we’ve recorded and released our first CD, had it featured on the radio, and even made it onto Ultimate-Guitar.com.  Hell, we even were booked at one point to open for Kottonmouth Kings (their tour manager canned local acts,) the Misfits (I’ll get to that in a minute,) and (hed) P.E. (we’re still on that one!)  But one thing is for sure:  speaking for myself, I’ve learned some lessons.
Since A.D.D. afflicts a percentage of Americans, I’m going bullet point with this…

·Stay away from bull shit-  I’ve been fortunate enough to have played in a band of brothers who are open, honest, and talk to each other about band issues instead of everyone else first.  As I have come to notice, we apparently are a rarity in this area.  Not pointing out any one band or person, but it seems like drama can take precedence over what really matters: having fun & making music you enjoy.  Nothing worse than hearing about that before hearing how great a band was.  So keep it simple: fuck bill shit, play music
·Stay humble- If you’re not signed, hell even if you are, and are playing the same venues as some of the bands you may look down upon, just remember that you were once them.  Remember that you’re probably working a regular job and then coming home and putting your rock star outfit on just like they’re doing.  You don’t have to get along with them or be a fan of their music, but remember you started from where they’re at at one point.
·Think ahead- You know that Misfits show I mentioned earlier?  We’re not playing that because of two things.  The main reason I can address publicly. 
Ticket Sales
We couldn’t sell tickets.  We booked the show thinking it would be a slam dunk for us, but we forgot:  if fans aren’t interested, they won’t buy.  Sometimes believing so much in yourself can lead to let downs, but if you learn a lesson, it’s worth it.  Which is the perfect lead in to my next point
·EVERYTHING can be an accomplishment-  I live by this.  You didn’t poop your pants on stage for the first time?  Accomplishment.  You sold 1 CD?  Accomplishment. You sold 100 CDs?  You’re sharing the stage with a band you always hoped to play with?  You get my point.  Don’t overlook anything because you don’t think it’s significant.  If the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, than every little step taken in the right direction should be looked at positively.  Even a step in the wrong direction can be learned from.

I’m done with the points though.  I’m not putting myself on some blue blood style pedestal, but if I can help somebody think clearly than I feel an obligation to.  I’ll check in next week after the show with (hed) P.E. to let you know how living a dream goes.  Take it easy

The Prequel: Definition

As I said previously, I would come back eventually and give a introduction and back story.  Well, I have that opportunity now, so here it is.
The band started way back when (I don’t remember the year) when Chuck (our drummer) and Mike (lead guitar) started playing music together.  Different name but, that’s where it began.  Somewhere down the line they brought in a singer, who would later invite me to a practice to, as he said “try a rapping/singing thing.”  Innocent enough, right?
Well, the first few practices I attended I started writing to the guys originals.  The singer who originally invited me stopped coming to practice, and because of this, one night the guys asked me to try out a cover song.  That song was “Killing In The Name,” and we play it to this day.  A short time after I had taken the mantel of frontman, Kevin became our bassist thanks to the suggestion of a mutual friend.
A few years later, after I had moved away leading me to leave the band, moved back which lead to me being asked to come back as frontman, and a name change thanks to a failed side project of Chuck and I’s, we were known as E.N.V.Y.  But, we weren’t finished.  Fate, destiny, or sheer luck has a funny way of coming around…
A friend of mine from high school and I were talking about our rap projects one evening online, and after the discussion had moved over to band talks, he asked me if I knew anyone looking for a bassist or rhythm guitarist.  Funny he should mention that, because guess who needed a rhythm guitarist?
I would later find out that Casey wasn’t initially excited about the idea of being in a “rap rock” band, but the music drew him in.  He tried out, and the next week played his first gig with us.  And that is how we came together.  It took awhile for the collection to be complete some may say, but I think the timing was impeccable.  But, that’s only how we came together.
Growing together and becoming E.N.V.Y. are way different than meeting up, playing music together and having a sweet name.  It goes way deeper than that.  I may be getting into a little bit of a Behind The Music style introduction, but hear me out.
You can practice every week playing songs, but how you perform, how you act, and what you create are the things that really defines you.  And I feel that over, I’d say the past 2 years, we’ve really started to define ourselves. 
Call it rap rock, call it metal rap, call it power slop.  Maybe one of those fits.  Maybe it’s easier to just define us by our name.  Either way, these things are for sure:
We come in, rock the fuck out, thank everybody we can that evening, and enjoy ourselves the entire time.  I think that defines us quite nicely.

The Wonder Years

I’ll skip an introduction simply because if you’re reading this, you were sent here by me or the band in some way shape or form, and possibly know me.  Maybe I’ll go back in some Prequel style post one day and give a full introduction, but for now, I’ll just get into my story.

I started writing lyrics (or as the kids call it these days “rapping”) back in 98.  It started out of sheer boredom, when a friend and I were stuck in study hall.  Well, almost 15 years late, I’m still at it.  My friend lost interest after a year or so, but he’s a good guy and has found an interest in movies, so kudos to him.  But I digress.

We decided to try our hand at “rapping” for two simple reason: 1) Boredom & 2) Because we both liked ICP, and wanted to be like them.  Some may laugh at this, but in our teens that was our dream.  As I continued on my musical journey, becoming enthralled in everything lyrical, my listening habits changed a bit.  But, one thing I always had dreamed of was opening for bands I listened to (i.e. ICP, Twiztid, Kottonmouth Kings, Tech N9ne, etc.)

Fast forward to last year:  My band E.N.V.Y. celebrated 10 shows performed in one year.  For a band that had played 3 shows total in the 2 years prior, that was amazing.  Well, our goal for 2012 (and my goal since I handle a chunk of our bookings) was a simple one: double the shows.

As of writing this, we are booked for 23 into October.  Pretty damn fancy, if I may say so myself.  But what is even more amazing than that.  What sits right up there with the radio appearance we were able to make this year (that’s a dream too, but we had no clue that would happen, it came out of nowhere) is the fact that we have the honor and pleasure of opening up for not 1, but 2 National (probably somewhat international) acts.  One of them being the Misfits (that’s our lone October show) and….the Kottonmouth Kings.

Now, I’m going to be honest:  I can’t sit here and say that KMK was one of my greatest musical influences.  What I can say is that listening to their music takes me back to some of the funnest times I had during my “wonder years,” and I still enjoy listening.  But to be sitting here, typing this, and realizing that a dream I had when I was young; through hard work, dedication, determination, some musical style changes, and the creation and growth of our band E.N.V.Y.; has led to the realization of a dream.  Now that is beyond words.

I type these run on sentences and jumbling of thoughts to prove a point this evening.  It doesn’t matter who you are, where you are, who supports you or doesn’t support you, if you believe in something, it is possible to achieve it.  I say it’s possible, only because we have to be honest with ourselves:  it may not be possible for you to fly to Pluto without any assistance.  But again, I digress.

This an amazing accomplishment for us as a band, for myself as well.  It’s one of many this year.  But this one stuck out so much that I felt the need to type about it.  So if you’re reading this, I appreciate you sharing the moment.  We’ll catch up on some of the other great things later.