Happy happy, joy joy!...

A close friend once asked me, "Jeremy, what makes you happy?" And at first I responded by naming off friend's names, I talked about family and was about to keep going when she stopped me and said, "No Jeremy, I asked WHAT makes you happy, not WHO makes you happy. You can't always put all of your happiness into people. People are human. People let you down. I'm your close friend and even I am possible of letting you down." This really struck me. Never before had I realized I was basing most of my happiness on people. I began really evaluating my life right at that second and searching for an answer to give her, and the answer was so obvious. Without much hesitation, I said, "Drums and music." I had never been more certain about anything in my life before (well...besides putting my faith and trust in Jesus). After saying that, I began realizing more and more that that statement was true. Whenever I talk to someone about playing the drums, creating music, or even just talking about a band I like, I get so excited and happy. Whenever I am in a bad mood, my drums are always there for me. Whenever I'm bored and feel lonely, I can put on a cd and just rock out. Now don't get me wrong, there are still a lot of people that make me happy and ultimately my joy comes from God, but I strongly feel that we should all have something we do that we can find some happiness in. So now I'm going to ask you like my friend asked me...what makes you happy?

The future freaks me out...

Lately I've been thinking about my future. More specifically, what I want to do when I finally graduate. I graduate from JSCC in May and then plan on transferring to Union. I'm not entirely sure how long I'll be at Union, but while I'm there, I plan on continuing to major in Business Administration but also minor in Music. Part of me also wants to somehow get involved with Marketing, but we'll see how that goes. I know without a doubt that I want to do something in the Music Business. I realize it is a hard industry to get into and work for, but I am pretty determined to get into it. In the beginning, I wanted to be a musician. I will always be a musician, that will never change, but it is a lot harder to get into the business as a musician. This is where the "thinking about my future" comes into play. There are a few things I've been thinking about (some that may seem outside my capacity of actually doing...but I still think about it nonetheless). The possibilities include: getting a job at an existing label, starting a venue, or even starting my own label. I think it would both be fun and challenging to start my own label. I don't know, I've actually been giving that one a lot of thought. I realize there is a lot of work that goes into making a label, but it is something I kind of actually want to do. I need to network. I need to find people that would want to do this with me. People that are good with marketing, accounting, recording, and...of course...musicians/bands. Jackson doesn't seem like the type of town that could give me all that I need (as in musicians...I mean...I'm sure there are good bands around here...just not the types that would fit the label I have in mind). So I would obviously have to go out and find musicians and maybe even (most likely) relocate (move) again. BUT this wouldn't happen for a while now. I may even want to try to work for a label first, learn exactly how everything works, and then start my own. I don't know, all I DO know is that I want to work in the Music Business, and just the thought of starting a label excites and scares me. So yeah, just something I've been thinking about for...er...a few months now?

The Danger Toxic Fumes...

As a person, I love listening to music. As a musician, I love performing music. Lately I have been playing music with my friends Rhett and Kyle and Kyle's uncle Kenneth. We call ourselves "The Danger Toxic Fumes" and we have a lot of fun creating music together. The style of music we play is blues/classic rock and before meeting these guys, I never really played these two styles. I mean, don't get me wrong, I've played blues music before, just never voluntarily. In college it was something I HAD to do as a music major. The groups I played with in college seemed to have the same mentality, which didn't make it much fun to play. But these guys are different. These guys LOVE to play this stuff, and now so do I. It is so much more fun to play music with guys that have a passion for what they are playing. When someone is forced to play something they don't enjoy, then it shows. I know that may seem like an obvious statement...but it is true. Back in Minneapolis I was in a rock band, and I loved every minute of it. (Yes, even some of the creative arguments we might have had...it was all part of the process). I enjoyed playing shows and bringing joy to people just by simply hitting a drum. I've never been one to want any honors or accolades for my playing, just seeing a smile on someone's face and watching them enjoying themselves has always been enough for me. The Danger Toxic Fumes hasn't played a gig yet (we really want to though) and right now we are just having a lot of fun getting together and creating music, which is what it should always be about.