2 years ago, when I graduated from SUNY Purchase, I had a choice to make; move to New York City, or upstate, to the town of Saratoga Springs.
Nearly everyone I knew was moving to the city. Although I love NYC, I didn’t want to live there as a recent graduate with a music degree, and a pile of college loans. I knew if I moved there, I would have much higher bills/rent and need a full time job while hustling to get gigs, write, market myself, practice, record etc.
Instead, I moved into my grandmother’s somewhat spacious attic in Saratoga with Mason, one of my best friends. (Thanks Gram and Uncle David for making this possible). We lived cheaply while adjusting to life after college, and did a handful of shows together. There was no rent, unlimited time to play music and think about what we wanted to do with our lives. Mason eventually moved out to pursue all sorts of cool opportunities back home.
I stayed, and slowly built up a repertoire to perform out. I played countless open mics, learned how to book gigs and had a part time job that helped pay bills. But most of all I had TIME, I could travel, write, study and develop systems and schedules that worked for me. I whittled my part-time job down to one day, until I had enough shows to quit.
Now 2 years later, I’m still at my grandmother’s, but I’m renting. (The “free family plan” was limited). Though most of my peers have their own place to live… I’m content. I’m putting almost all my financial effort into paying off my college loans, and within the next year I’ll be debt free and able to move into my own place as a full-time musician and begin planning tours. My main goal has been to eliminate the need for a boss at an unfulfilling 9-5 job.
If any of you reading this are graduating, you are entering a time in your life where you have very little responsibility to others. No family, no kids, no house, no huge bills. It seems like the best time to be HIGH RISK, travel, live as cheaply as possible, pursue something you enjoy until you get good enough so that people will pay you for your skill.
One of my favorite bands, Dawes has a song called “Quitter”
The lyrics really speak to what this post is about:
“Quit talking to God if your prayers don’t get answered
Or if you don’t exactly notice when they do
Quit taking the jobs that rob you of your powers
So you can buy more shit you don’t have time to use
Quit hanging around in this air conditioned town
Where your life is lived up hunched over your phone
You’re gonna have to quit everything, until you find one thing you won’t
Quit living in the past if all you end up doing
Is practicing apologies you won’t make
Quit filling up your glass if it’s mixing and churning
With the feelings you are trying to escape
Quit committing these sins and absolving them again
As if it matters when you do or when you don’t
You’re gonna have to quit everything, until you find one thing you won’t
Quit turning to words and putting pen on paper
If it feels like you’re just putting black on white
Quit telling these girls their ideas about forever
When you only plan to know them for a night
Quit wasting my time because pretty soon you’ll find
It’s the only thing of value that we own
You’re gonna have to quit everything, until you find one thing you won’t
Quit trying to act like the world breaks into facts
When life itself is swimming through your bones
You’re gonna have to quit everything, until you find one thing you won’t
You’re gonna have to quit everything, until you find one thing you won’t”
Speaking of music, I recently finished recording my album Wandering Man. It’s been two years in the making with my great friend and producer Nathan DeBrine. We’ve recorded in studios all over New York and Connecticut. Much of the recording happened in the dead of night when no one would be using the space, and we would sleep the next day. 20 hour sessions were pretty normal.
These past few years I have recorded sounds on my phone from all over the world. Nate and I are building samples from these sounds to create rhythms and soundscapes to help you feel as if you are on an adventure with me, through an Asian market, or busy street in Mexico. I hope to bring you on the journey of a Wandering Man, and share my stories of love and relationships.
The album is a 6 song EP and will be released December 1st. I’ll have CD’s and it will be available on all major streaming platforms! Currently we need to mix and master (finish the production), finish a music video and the album artwork/design for the CD.
Here are some shots from the upcoming music video “City Lights”
And some photos from a test shoot we did for the album. We will have one more photoshoot and use those finals for the CD.(still tossing around ideas!)
Recently I had an awesome interview with DJ Eva from WEXT Troy 97.7. Be on the lookout to hear songs off the album live and stories about traveling and the making of the record!
This summer I will play more shows than ever, around 70 solo gigs mostly in the Saratoga area! You can find the schedule by clicking SHOWS at the top of this page.
Here is my monthly video of an original song called Te Quiero Mucho, which in Spanish means I love you so much.
Thank you to my Dad for always supporting my projects, for filming Te Quiero Mucho and trying out all sorts of ideas for the album artwork. Thanks a TON to Mark Spitzer for all the time we’ve spent in a coffee shop stirring up ideas, and for working with me on the music video. Thanks to everyone at WEXT for having me on the show; Evania Osepa, Chris Wienk, and Andy Gregory. Thank you to my photographer Katie Dobies for the photos at WEXT, and all the other shows to come. And finally thank you to my Uncle David, and Grandmother for allowing me to stay in Saratoga.
On a side note, here are some great books I’ve recently read:
If you want to write– Brenda Ueland
The Hobbit– J.R.R Tolkien
A Man without a Country– Kurt Vonnegut
David and Goliath– Malcolm Gladwell
Blink- Malcolm Gladwell
The Bean Trees– Barbara Kingsolver
And currently I’m reading Our Daily Meds and learning a TON about big pharma. If you are wondering how the industry works, this is a great book to read.
Thanks for reading, see ya next month,
With love,
Loveday