I make no secret that friendship is very important to me. As an idea and with the ones I call my friends, friendship is vital. To use a line by Alex Chilton, without my friends I've got chaos. I think of friends as the kind of family you construct, not the family you're born into.
As I spend a few days off in Houston, I'm reminded of why I care so much about my friends. Friendship is a major topic in Post and I hope it gets across without forcing it down people's throats. I've found that no matter how hard a struggle is, having your friends back you up is a helping hand when you really need it. As routine as that sounds, it means way more than words when you have strong feelings about it.
Spending time with Chris and Tim Monday night, it was great to catch up with each other. I hadn't seen them in months, so there was plenty to talk about. Like getting together at Matt's wedding, it didn't really feel like "the good ol' days" - it felt more like better days in the present. Sure, I'd love to see these guys more often, but various factors (including the physical distance of four hours on my end) prevent such. In turn, we appreciate the time we have together, no matter how short they may seem.
This rather intense feeling of friendship comes from growing up without many close friends. Finding people that I could really relate to as high school ended and college began, I started to realize how strong the ties of friendship could be. At the time, I was listening to bands like H2O and Pennywise sing about friendship and brotherhood, so I was able to have a better understanding of what they were talking about. "My friends look out for me like family" indeed.
Though I wasn't planning on making friendship a big deal in Post, I couldn't help but come back to it. Many band stories involve four or five friends getting together to play music and seeing where it goes. Sometimes the band ends on a bad note or sometimes it ends like putting an old dog to sleep, but more often than not, the friendships are tested. Where they go after that and what they learned from it is vital.
Early into researching the Jawbox chapter, I came across this quote from J. Robbins in '98 in Positive Rage: "We wouldn't absolutely rule out working with a major again, but we love working with our friends." Just that one quote steered things in a different direction. I felt I should explore that more and see how someone could make a comment like that. The path to understanding this has been very rewarding, but I get the feeling that I'm just getting started.
As I spend a few days off in Houston, I'm reminded of why I care so much about my friends. Friendship is a major topic in Post and I hope it gets across without forcing it down people's throats. I've found that no matter how hard a struggle is, having your friends back you up is a helping hand when you really need it. As routine as that sounds, it means way more than words when you have strong feelings about it.
Spending time with Chris and Tim Monday night, it was great to catch up with each other. I hadn't seen them in months, so there was plenty to talk about. Like getting together at Matt's wedding, it didn't really feel like "the good ol' days" - it felt more like better days in the present. Sure, I'd love to see these guys more often, but various factors (including the physical distance of four hours on my end) prevent such. In turn, we appreciate the time we have together, no matter how short they may seem.
This rather intense feeling of friendship comes from growing up without many close friends. Finding people that I could really relate to as high school ended and college began, I started to realize how strong the ties of friendship could be. At the time, I was listening to bands like H2O and Pennywise sing about friendship and brotherhood, so I was able to have a better understanding of what they were talking about. "My friends look out for me like family" indeed.
Though I wasn't planning on making friendship a big deal in Post, I couldn't help but come back to it. Many band stories involve four or five friends getting together to play music and seeing where it goes. Sometimes the band ends on a bad note or sometimes it ends like putting an old dog to sleep, but more often than not, the friendships are tested. Where they go after that and what they learned from it is vital.
Early into researching the Jawbox chapter, I came across this quote from J. Robbins in '98 in Positive Rage: "We wouldn't absolutely rule out working with a major again, but we love working with our friends." Just that one quote steered things in a different direction. I felt I should explore that more and see how someone could make a comment like that. The path to understanding this has been very rewarding, but I get the feeling that I'm just getting started.
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