Speaking with my doctor about all the different projects I’m involved in right now made me realize even more the incredible privilege of having such an extensive and multidisciplinary HQ compound, to benefit from the efficiency of its logistical flexibility whenever we want to do something. I can be listening to our latest band sessions in the main studio while Jeff is recording his weekly The Club video in studio B, Ben is working in the editing room, Moose is playing dulcimer or drums in the live room and Isabel is preparing the online store packages for the next morning pickup… This was the vision I had when we decided to entirely commit our lives to our art and collective endeavors; freedom, latitude, self-sufficiency, and enough space to keep on expanding at the same pace as our creative minds.

If proximity is one thing, it’s the synchronization of it all that makes the whole difference at the end of the day, especially as most of everything we do will be managed by the rest of the team members soon after. It needs to be “us”, artistically and culturally, with no artificial flavors added. We remain pretty hands-on with everything related to art and communication, no matter how complex and elaborated of an operation we have to deal with when, like now, we have so many projects going on, from my massive upcoming music project about to be released, the final coloration on the movie associated with it, different visual designs for vinyls and merch, the upcoming tour, The Club’s new package conception, along with the writing of my next “band” album, and on, and on, and on. And I’m not even talking about our vinyl pressing plant located in the industrial part of the city or our hotels in Tangier, all pieces of the same beating heart that has been growing from our fierce dedication to making the best of every tiny opportunity we see in the distance and our relentless determination to work on whatever was up for grabs – for the last 15 years or so.

Having been raised in an economically underprivileged context, I’ve learned quite young that there’s no such thing as luck in life. So when we first decided to commit ourselves to our artistic vision, I wanted independence… But it comes with a steep price to pay when you don’t have the money or resources to start your journey. What you have is you, your friends, and your big plans – which is awesome. Well, yes, if you do have the firm and unwavering purposefulness needed to activate your resolution to keep pressing on and the courage to acknowledge that without grit, it will only be another seasonal phase of your general life journey. Except for Moose, who had other upbringing problems of his own, our respective families had it pretty rough financially, the reason why I’m grateful we could understand the economy of unnecessary needs and comprehend the low-cost benefits associated with living as a collective unit. No wonder why we had to borrow one another’s t-shirts when we started having interviews once we realized that we were always wearing the same thing. We didn’t have the luxury of owning several items of the same back then.

Some reporters used to say that our humble beginnings must have been really tough, but it actually couldn’t be further from the truth, especially compared to Michael Gira, who had to eat canned dog food, or Philip Glass who had to keep on taxi-driving the very day after playing full-house concerts at the legendary Carnegie Hall two nights in a row. Those are a few of the thousands of examples I could write about… This is life and how much you want to actualize the very one “thing” that has been vibrating in your soul for as long as you can remember… That’s the reason I can positively say that I’m still grinding for my vision to bloom beyond its present “spring” season, as the more significant the dream, the greater the preparation has to be…

Life, life, life…! Or should I say Lite Brite, Lite Brite, as everyone around me has been singing since they read my post about it!