Music is an Unwavering Muse | SoulAnarchist.com

Music has been an unwavering muse:

Growing up, I was never good at anything. My self esteem wore the bruises… until I discovered music. It was the first time I became really good at something with just a bit of work. It changed the way I saw myself and the way I walked through the world.

During my highschool years, I enjoyed a lot of success playing trumpet. I had a music scholarship for college. While I certainly had a soft spot for baroque music and jazz, what I truly loved was rock music; teaching myself the bass guitar, I formed several bands over the years with my friends.

I promised myself that I’d return from my Mormon Mission and get the band back together again; vowing to myself that I would dedicate another two years to music ONLY – just to give it a fair chance to become what it may.

Upon returning home from my mission –

I married my 7th grade crush.

Got the band back together.

We started rehearsing, working, gigging.

She didn’t share my vision of a musical future.

I quit music to keep her happy.

Quitting music was like having a death in the family. I was left with a a massive, aching void. I’d tell you that this was one of the biggest regrets of my life, but I can’t say that….

I filled it with another pursuit that I’d been curious about, one that didn’t require me to coordinate with 4 other dudes for rehearsals….

Photography.

I was fortunate to have two great mentors along the way (Bracken Berger, I’m looking at you, brother). Somehow I took to it quickly. I fell in love with the art form, and before long, a hobby became a career.

Photography has blessed my life in ways I never could have imagined. It has opened doors for me, to my inner world, and taken me around the world – granting me experiences I never otherwise would have. Even more importantly, it changed the way I experience these short years we get on this planet:

"Taking pictures is savoring life intensely - every hundredth of a second."

Marc Riboud

My world is vastly more beautiful than I ever would have imagined as a young man – because of photography….

….because I turned my back on music.

While I’ve had a few musical stints in the intervening years, they were mere flirtations – none have come to full fruition.

Several years ago at my first Burning Man, I heard music pulsing in the desert. It spoke to me on a primal level. I didn’t know what it was called, I didn’t know how to find it when I got home – but I knew for certain that some day, I would immerse myself in that musical world and learn to DJ & produce it.

Progressive House music has ancient roots – every one of us descend from caveman ancestors who ritually gathered around fire – the only fantastical light source they had – and danced through the night to simple, pulsing rhythms, in celebration of the things that keep them alive.

That need, that fascination, that satisfaction of a simple beat that you can dance to – coupled with ethereal melodies, in the company of our tribe – is still in each of us.

Diving into this art form has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life – it’s been a marriage between my career as a visual artist – and my first love of music. I’ve fallen in love with curating imagery and music, pairing them together such that 2+2=5

I am forever grateful to the unwavering muse that is music – she has stood patiently while I found my way back.

If you’ve made it this far, and if any of this speaks to you –

Come follow my YouTube Channel – this is my playground, a place for me to meld music & imagery.