"I'm changing both my headlights and hoping for a 'Brighton' life"

I'm heading out of Brighton in a few days and it's quite bitter sweet I must say. We found an apartment down in Randolph, MA which is closer to work and in a very peaceful area which I'm sure will be lacking of siren noises and MBTA bus sounds at 7 am. I can confidently say, however, that even though I grew up in a place where you could hear the buzzing in your ear because it's so quiet, I'm not sure how much I'll enjoy all the silence. I have grown to love noise.

Brighton to me was not only a place where things were "happenin" but also the breeding ground for What To Keep & Let Go. Since its first conceptions, the album evolved, grew and fell apart in towns like Chester, VT and MA cities like Revere, Marblehead and Stoughton. It wasn't until landing myself in Brighton that the album was ready to come to life, to really grow up.

It was funny how it started. I remember within the first week or two I was playing guitar in my new Brighton apartment room and working on a song (for what I presumed would be on a future album or possibly even this one) called "When You Wake Up In The Morning". I remember it had a very energetic tempo that required me to play loud and really get into. Not a week later did we receive a visit from the landlord saying that we've been too loud (rather, I've been too loud..haha) and that we needed to quiet things down. I was so discouraged. I had had hopes that I was going to use this new place as a recording station for the album, seeing as how both Marblehead and Revere proved unsuccessful in getting the tracks down solid. Little did I realize that my failures to launch the project in other towns and the inability to record in my room would pave the road to where the album was supposed to go.

I was walking with my roommate Scott back from CVS or a diner or some other new place we were checking out and I found myself complaining to him that there was no way I was going to be able to record the album in the room. I remember his response exactly: "Why don't you just talk to Marcin and see if he can help you out." Marcin had just moved to a town nearby Brighton and he had lots of different music connections and so there was bound to be something he could do.

So I talked to Marcin. And he talked to Fat Dave (Dave Eastman). And then I talked to Marcin again about helping with bass for the songs. And he talked to Cullen about coming down to play an open mic with us one night. And after we played we talked. And talking lead to me having a producer, bassist and drummer all in the span of a couple of months. The album was ready to start working on. Enough talking. It was time to act.

The following months were the seeds to this fast growing project. After initial meetings with Dave in Weston and some early practice sessions with Marcin and Cullen and bringing on Chad soon after, it was becoming clear to me that this was finally going to be a reality. I had spent so many years thinking I was going to get What To Keep & Let Go completed on my own using my computer station and some borrowed instruments; never did I anticipate the depth and involvement that has been put into it. It's truly amazing how everything lined up so perfectly.

So Brighton will always hold a special place in my heart for many contributing elements in my life including new friends, a great girlfriend and a bigger stomach from all the good food. (we won't mention the half dozen parking tickets...) haha But I think deep down it will always be the place that turned things around for me and my music. I can safely say that it was here that kick started the project and it seemed like all the pieces just came together as if it was supposed to take 6 years to start it. When I look back, I realize that all my attempts at getting this project started were futile because the songs and the elements involved were simply not ready to grow up. The conditions weren't strong enough to bring it to life. It felt ready here.

Leaving will be hard. But the future looks Bright.