Just another brick in the wall...
Alex (my drummer) and I have talked about what a great book we have in the making, when that time comes for a biographer to delve into the fumblings and flukes that occurred to culminate in The Free Press. Each of us has so many stories of woe, that it's a wonder no one's snapped them up already to make a touching and heartfelt afterschool special. How about the time when all of Alex's gear was stolen on our way up to play a show at the Kee to Bala? Or how about the time Len's car was towed DURING a gig at the Horseshoe and my lovely girlfriend (because NONE of us had money in our bank accounts) posted bail to get the vehicle out of jail. Or the memorable time last summer when Len & I walked half way across Toronto (from the studio to a show) carrying 3 guitars and a bag of gear because we had spent the last of our money on recording and lunch.
Well, I've got a new one to tack on. It was a low point in my life. The only reason I'm proud of the moment is because I was able to laugh at myself - I mean what else can you do when life just continues to kick you when you're down? Anyway, I've been applying for jobs the last two weeks, because I'm out of money and I've been sitting on my duff waaaaayyy too long in hopes that something would fall into my lap. It has not. So, I applied at places where I could work overnight shifts (this will minimize the rock and roll disruption and sleep is for babies anyway) - Zellers, Walmart, Dominion, Loblaws. It was at the last - Loblaws - where I was the most thoroughly demoralized I've been in a while. I stood there filling out an application and a 15 year old kid came up beside me and starting doing the same thing. In his defense, he didn't look to my paper for answers, he dug in and answered the question, 'Have you ever been convicted of a crime in Canada?' (thank God they only ask about Canada!) all by himself. But I had to stop and wonder. I knew that if we both got the job - despite my 4 years of University, 5 years at HMV, 2 years at the Hockey Hall of Fame and 1 year at Chapters and 15 more years of life experience - we would get paid exactly the same amount. And that's when I hurriedly finished the application, thanked the woman who gave me the application and walked out as briskly as I could before I dissolved into a fit of laughter. All in all, it's just another brick in the wall. And I still believe - right or wrong - that sooner, rather than later, The Free Press is going to kick that son of a bitch down.
posted by J.D. @ Tuesday, June 28, 2005
4 comments
4 Comments:
Hi me again.Soo you guys are gonna be on the show,that's great.I think one of the best aspects of the show is having musical groups perform and I think it's gonna be great to have a switch up from the usual hip hop they have.I watch your show whenever it gives soo there's no way I'll miss it August 5th.One question though, your great at acting and making music so which path will you be following,will you be going for a musical or acting career in the future.Okay well tell everybody in the band I said hi and I hope to check you guys out some day cause yes I live in Toronto.
I agree that the musical performances are a cool part about the show. It was fun to film those scenes (although we always look RIDICULOUS when we're dancing to the bands music!) Glad to hear your hooked on the show, too. There's lots and lots of SCANDAL coming up!!!
Hmmm. Acting or music? Tough call. I keep changing my mind about it - seriously, on a daily basis. But if I had to choose right now, I'm committed to the band. We all dumped quite a bit of time and money into making a record and getting pictures and a website and trying to make this thing happen. And so, I don't want to wreck the plans of three other guys. It's really, really hard though. I've had to turn down 3 acting jobs already because they would take me too far away for too long.
Of course, if Steven Spielberg knocked on my door and wanted me to do a movie, I think the guys would understand and give me a few months off. I guess I weigh each decision as it falls in my lap. So far the band keeps winning, because we're getting better and better at what we do. As much as I love acting, there's something even more fulfilling about doing something you wrote yourself. When I sing and play, it's my words and my music - not something a writer told me to say. So, in that sense it's more challenging and more rewarding. But I'll never quit acting. Never. I'll just try and make them both work and choose if I have to. I'm rambling here and I don't know if I've really answered your question. Maybe the answer is that I'll keep doing both until someone tells me to 'shut up'. Let's hope that doesn't happen! Talk to you later.
J.D.
Hey again.Well I can understand you heading towards the music thing because I mean if you write your own music then it's more of a personal thing.Now do the other members of your band just live off your gigs or do they have other jobs because if they do I think you should go for those acting jobs that are further away,I mean it's only gonna provide more money that you can put into your band and the more acting jobs you do the more you'll be know throughout the country which will only give more fame to the band.Now if your band members don't have other jobs then I guess you can't just leave then behind but either way look into it.
The other guys in the bands do all have jobs. But here's the kicker. They're jobs that they'd leave in a heartbeat if the band suddenly needed to go on tour for 2 months. And for me - if I had an acting job further away - it would be a lot tougher. Because the acting world is smaller than you'd think (at least in Canada). So if I REALLY pissed someone off by quitting a job last minute (or in the middle of rehearsals) then I'd probably have to kiss my acting career bye bye. So these days I run the job offers by the guys before I say yes. I don't think they're terribly happy that I want to take acting jobs, but they understand it's a part of the guy that's 1/4 of the monster that we call The Free Press. But all 4 of us agree with you. The more exposure and press I get - whether as an actor, or musician or hot dog vendor - the better it is for the band in the long run. Obviously film helps more than stage plays, but who's to say where the big break will happen. For now, I've sworn off out of town acting gigs until the end of the year. If I get something close to home, I'll happily take it. But I agreed to do a show in BC in January (it's a short stint- for 6 weeks) and hopefully the band will NEED a break by that time. If something bigger comes along for the band before that, I'll have to weigh my options again. There's been a lot of that lately! But more and more we keep getting excited about the whole thing instead of frustrated. And that - to me - says that we're all on the right track. However, if Metropia ends up filming again (they're still talking about season 3) then I'd happily do it. Are you enjoying season 2 so far?
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