Mobile Story

Here is the youtube direct link: https://youtu.be/7y3Wo764O9o

Script:

Last Sunday my band was able to head down to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to play a show.  We put out a short demo recording online in late January of this year.  The demo got some retweets and shares and general promotion from some of our friends in different areas.  Our first day went pretty well and we got over 2,200 listens.  An old friend of mine whom I met when two bands we had previously been in played together in 2008 heard the demo and contacted us.  Since he had slowed down with playing music as much himself he has become a promoter for a lot of under ground punk bands playing in Philadelphia.  When he contacted us he told us he had the perfect show for us to come down and play.  We would be playing with an up and coming band from Florida whom we all were fans of already.  They would be on tour with another band from North Carolina and rounding out the show would be a band from Long Island and a band that we knew from Buffalo.  Being an independent, underground, part time band can be a pain.  We ran into issues with what vehicle to take, would the show be back lined, what gear to bring and our drummer was rear ended totaling his car on Friday night which cut our last chance to practice before we played locally Saturday and in Philadelphia on Sunday.  Here’s what the trip looked like for myself, the other guitarist and bassist who rode down together.  

Overall, I thought that the trip went pretty well for us, except that I forgot my guitar because I was so focused on filming and had to borrow one.  The main point is just how easy it is to create something, to start a band and do it if you have the will to make it happen.  One of the ways that has existed in our community is the zine.  A zine is a self produced, irregularly published independent publication which generally covers some sort of art or music or writing, although it can be about anything.  These were definitely a predecessor to the blog.  At this show I was able to finally talk to a guy who really influenced me, who went from a point zine to the digital.  When I was in high school I had went to a show saw his zine.  He asked if I wanted one, when I told him I didn’t have any money on me, he gave it to me for free.  When I read his zine, besides just interviewing bands, it had an introduction about how he got interested in music and started the zine.  This really resonated with me and showed me how accessible it was.  Fast forward 15 years, I follow his band photography on instagram and read his zine, now available as a digital .pdf file instead of in print.  I was really excited to see him repost our demo on his account and say how much he liked it.  From there, I sent him a message about how 15 years before he gave me one of those turning point moments that ultimately lead to my pursuit of creative projects in general.  At the show we linked up to talk and connect over sharing our stories.  Expressing yourself, connecting with others and creating a community is what makes projects like this special.  Thanks for checking it out.