Why Music? - Part 1

If you've read this blog even infrequently over the years, you probably know I grew up in South Carolina, started trying to make movies for a living around 2008 and moved to Los Angeles, where I put a heavy emphasis on writing. This led to writing books and then I started feeling a pull into music, which is most of what this website is about.

Some time ago, I was at a wedding and one of my relatives told me, "I understood the whole movie thing, but I just don't get why you got into music. Why music?" I didn't really know what to say or how to explain all of the things that had led me there, especially in a brief conversation on the way out of a wedding reception. There had been several events that brought me to the point of making music production my main focus, and so I'll write them here, partly for anyone wondering (which is probably much of my family!), but also partly for me, to recollect, remember and write down for future reference.

My first instrument - the viola. This is from recording some ambient sounds on the Whisp EP, which I produced.

Music began for me in fifth grade. I had made friends with a kid (who I think was named Chris, if I remember correctly) who played violin in our little fifth grade orchestra. Wanting to hang out with him more, I asked if I could also play. Renting violins is expensive, though, and who knows if it was something that would have stuck with me, which is when my mom remembered that my aunt had played the viola (different from a violin, but still would have got me in the orchestra) when she was younger, and so we looked to see if the instrument was still buried somewhere in my grandparents attic. Pretty soon I was carting a full-sized viola in a tattered case that was over a decade old to school, and learning how to read music in the alto clef (which is almost never used for most instruments).

This viola turned into such a blessing, and I have to thank God for how things transpired. After fifth grade I was set to go to our local middle school, which had a terrible reputation. In fact, I learned later that my parents started looking for houses in another part of town around that time, one of the reasons being the poor middle school my sister and I would inevitably go to. Now, there was an art school in town that was pretty desired, but you had to audition to get in. I had been good at visual arts (drawing, painting, etc.) at that point, and so my plan was to audition for their art program. Since I was now playing the viola, I was also able to audition for their orchestra as well. Guess which program accepted me and which didn't? Part of the reason for this was because not a lot of kids played the viola (I was one of two in that sixth grade class), which gave me a huge edge. Had I played the violin, with only one year of experience, I almost definitely would not have gotten in. 

So there is miracle number one, which got me into a school that not only increased my music skills, but led me to some friends who also resulted in a life-changing faith in Jesus.

Me and the flying-V, probably about 2002

A few years later, my uncle gave me my first guitar, a radical flying-V that my dad and I refinished. It looked awesome, but sounded terrible. But when your favorite music is punk, ska and hardcore, the sound of the pickups doesn't always matter that much, does it?

Of course, my best friends and I started a punk band, Minus the Standard (as in, we could never meet up to God's standard of perfection, and so thanks be to God for making a way for us to still know Him through Jesus). We weren't really all that good -- only really practicing a handful of times per year -- but it was so fun to write songs, most of which were about faith (this was the first song I can remember writing start-to-finish, which I'm still pretty proud of -- "Fair" by MTS). Towards the end of high school, we got a little more serious, playing our first shows and recording an album, The Fruit of Four Years.

Minus the Standard · The Fruit of Four Years

As graduation got closer and music became more important to me, I started wondering if I could ever have some sort of career in it. I remember telling a coworker back then that my favorite thing about music was that every one of us has thousands of lyrics buried in our minds that can be recalled with just a few chords, and so if you wanted to share an idea you really cared about, there probably wasn't a better way than writing a song. And being someone who cared deeply about his faith, as well as relating that faith to other facets of life (along with telling a good joke or two to keep things lighthearted), I thought making music could be the way to go.

But as college came, I found myself more into filmmaking with opportunities showing up in that field, and so that became my focus. Still, one of the reasons I loved making movies was that I could also make music for the movies, which I did! 

Lots of times!

Years went by, college ended and I moved to Los Angeles to try my hand at making movies, still writing songs all along the way (here is one from around that time). I played in a couple bands, as well as volunteered on church worship teams. It was at a church in Los Angeles (where one of my volunteer jobs was as church lobby DJ!) where I encountered one of my first brushes with the prophetic, which starting swinging me back towards music...

We had a photoshoot night for a roommate who needed a headshot. Of course the guitar was included in case I ever needed a rad photo like this...

One Sunday our church at the time had brought in a speaker who was well versed in hearing from God in a prophetic way. He gave a short talk explaining what that was and how it had manifested itself in his life (I wish I could remember the guy's name, but I have no idea who he was), and then afterwards started looking around the room and prophesying over people. 

Some of it wasn't accurate (as anyone who practices prophesy will tell you -- you don't get it right every time), but a lot of it was. He spoke something over my then girlfriend (now wife) that really touched her heart, and then eventually landed on me. "You in the blue shirt...I've been avoiding you," he started with. After a little back and forth, he said, "I see the word 'music' over your head, does that mean anything to you?" It did, but at the time I was mainly focused on writing and filmmaking, and so I filed it away.

But as I left, I felt that God had given me a glimpse into something He had for me that was always in the back of my mind, but not something I had really shared. This began an increased interest in writing and producing music, which hasn't stopped since.

There is more to the story, and so if you're interested, I'll continue the story later, maybe on it's own page.

As always, thanks for reading!