Whatever by The GAZE

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In 2010, the Winslows stopped playing together, and I pondered the idea of starting another pop punk band. I had song ideas that were riff-oriented, and wouldn't work with other groups I was playing in. Jaclyn moved to town from chicago and came by, at the advice of her boyfriend Josh. She'd heard I was the guy to talk to if she wanted to play in a local band. So we jammed, and she played really fast, and it was awesome. We got Garrett to play bass. I wanted to write songs that were really dark, while also being poppy. For months, I wore gym shorts, and the Gaze practiced like every day. I thought we were going to get huge, but eventually Jaclyn moved back to Chicago and I got busy with other stuff. These songs were recorded and mixed on Wilson's laptop, with cubase. I always wanted to try to do a better mix, with more familiar software, or at least get it less 'loud'. We also always played the songs more fast than good. I guess there's something admirable about that.

The Diamond Rainbow by Super Famicom

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For most of the writing and recording of this album, I didn't have a working computer, countered with an excess of heavy music ideas. Some might say this album would have had more appeal, had it had less songs, and less songs that don't sound like the last eighty songs I'd recorded and released. Songwriters evolve, and that evolution happens within shorter time frames when you write as much as I. Too bad it took me so long to get good at drums, but what can you do? I didn't want anyone else playing on my album and trying to tell me how my songs should be played. The original tapes I put this release on were found in the dumpster of a thrift store. So punk. 

The Winslows 2009 Tour Demo

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The Winslows went on tour for a whole month, in two thousand nine. Before this tour, the only band tour I'd been on was with Lori Ann. We had a band fund, and a budget for eating meals on the road. We didn't have that with the Winslows, and I don't know what I expected. For those of you who don't know, being on tour with no money can be really bad for your self-respect. And for the sake of the team, and being fair, I kept going on band tours with no money. In fact, I owed it to the bands who were constantly helping me out a little bit with food, and what not. I owed more than my life was (fiscally) worth. On solo tours, I could at least sell a few cds and feed myself. With a band tour, it's often frowned upon to push your solo music onto people, making money for yourself instead of on behalf of your band of best friends. So I learned a few things on the Winslows tour.

As a band, we'd been finding our sound. The tour cd isn't 100% sick, but I think it's a definite step up from our tape. And I started to get an idea of what flavor of pop punk I wanted to make in the future.

Perilous by Super Famicom

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Following 2008's Wandering Floret Octology, it seemed prudent to make an especially great album, especially since I didn't have any deadlines. I could have spent the entire year doing nothing but writing my album, which is what I picture people doing when they say they spent an entire year on their album. It's not like they were going to work, or forming relationships. I, for one, had moved onto my back porch because the back porch so someone could rent my bedroom, then everyone at the house (especially me) could live more cheaply and more punkly. Musically, the Perilous album isn't much of a departure from what I was doing on the Wandering Florets. I got ghosted by the label that was supopsed to put out the cd... ghosted over a cd-r. Either way, I released it myself and then made some tapes.

The Winslows - Didn't Do That

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You probably wondering how, with no money, I was able to escape my hometown and move to Saint Augustine, a place I'd never been to before. Well, I was invited by my friend Evan who wanted to start a pop punk band with me. It seemed like a fine thing to do, especially since a lot of the solo shows people booked for me were not actually shows. They were just parties, and I was expected to beg people to watch me play and buy my cds. And I was duped into being the meme of the guy at the party with a guitar. With a band, you might expect the show to have a p.a. system, assuring you that you are indeed playing a show, and if not, your band will be loud enough to force people to pay attention. It all sounded good. So we got Matt Pius, the coolest guy in town, and taught him to play bass. At the time, I wasn't listening to much music that was punk or pop punk. I thought most of it was too bland, or bro-ish. Also, I didn't know what to write songs about that might represent the band as a group. None of these things mattered. We were the new band in town, and we were having fun, and everyone was having fun. The exported mix of this album doesn't sound like it did when I was mixing it in Sonor. The vocals came out way too loud, and it's too late to fix it. It was probably for the best, because after all, the vocals are usually really loud in popular music.

There was also a new label in town, The People's Republic of Rock and Roll, which our friend Jacob was running. Even though it was a tape and not a record, we were tapelabelmates with bands like The Fleshies, Underground Railroad to Candyland, Alligator, Tubers, Brainworms, and Future Virgins. So it was all pretty exciting for us and the kids who raged at our shows.

The Wandering Floret Part 8 by Super Famicom

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So yeah. I had my friend John Carling do the artwork for the Octology, and it was the only time I willingly let anyone do album art for me. After all, I was too busy writing and recording the eight albums. Despite all of my intentions, I wasn't very good at organizing my time and sticking to a schedule. But I had to focus on getting a job first. I couldn't owe my roommates money forever without prioritizing the search for work. Even then it was very easy for pretty much anyone to disrupt my recording and waste the rest of my day. Some might argue that it's not a waste to relax with your friends, but relaxing isn't that easy when you are neglecting the promises you've made to yourself. And part of why I chose to put so much of myself into my work was to prove that I had better things to do than entertain people by watching tv with them. Not all of us just want somebody to sit with us while we wait to die?

About the tracks: for part 8, I wanted to use my darker, more goth songs. It was my intention to go more goth with super famicom, and wear turtle necks, and use drum machines. Maybe I would get a little band of little keyboard players. There would be no future blues dads to decide what tones and beats my songs needed, because I couldn't be trusted to decide that, because I didn't Really know how to write music. There would not be a band to douchify Super Famicom, and slow my progress.

My dad drove me to staples to copy the covers for the Octology. When he came in, I was copying part 8, and I immediately flipped over the cover so he wouldn't see the tits on my album cover. It was an instinctual reaction, and somewhat regrettable. As a kid, I would have gotten in trouble for something like that. In fact, my parents would have taken my guitar and my computer, and anything I might have used to make cds. I never wanted to hide my work from my parents, but they've never acknowledged my achievements in music. It's as if, to them, I've never done anything but fail to finish college.

The Wandering Floret Part 7 by Super Famicom

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Of the Wandering Floret Albums, I put the least amount of thought into the theme of this one, having some of the Octology's shortest and weirdest songs. However, I don't think the likeability of my work is dependant on the amount of attention I put into it. In fact, I'm well aware of the patterns and formulas that can make a nerds-only piece of a crap into something as enjoyable as it is forgettable.

The Wandering Floret Part 6 by Super Famicom

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Most the songs for this album were recorded on my Nickelodeon boom box in the bathroom at 165 M. L. King Avenue in Saint Augustine. Our house never got an official name, which was probably for the best. I would have ended up hating it and feeling misrepresented by it, or something like that. Regarding the album, the songs are all romantic. You might like them.