Bachelor Party...

"Should we start a fight?" - My Dad.

It has been one week since my bachelor party. It is insane how fast time flies. I wait our entire lives for some moments, and in an instant, they are over. It has already been a week, and I wish I could go back to last weekend and relive the entire experience. Spending time with my family and friends is a luxury, and I often forget how special it can be.

We got off our red-eye flight from LAX to Philadelphia and immediately were reinvigorated. The sweet scent of the trash-filled air, the grit of the Philadelphia TSA, and the gray, overcast weather connected us right back to our roots; we are home. Someone pushed past us as we made our way through the terminal. They yelled something along the lines of, “Get the fuck out of my way, you pussies!” Philadelphia is a beautiful place.

A Wawa trip and a nap later and we were ready to get onto the festivities that were planned for us by friends and family. Every time Jamie and I head back to our home state of Pennsylvania; we immediately split up to see our different groups of friends and family. It is pretty incredible that I don’t see her until we meet back up at the airport days later at the end of the trip. We live together. I see here every day, but when we get back home to see our parents, we just wave goodbye and do our own thing.

I woke up from my nap on my mom’s couch and immediately had a beer. I am on vacation. It is my bachelor party weekend. I plan on being at least buzzed the entire time. Since I do not really drink anymore, I had to spend the week leading up to my bachelor party doing shots every night to rebuild my tolerance. I chatted with my mom for a while over a 10 am brew and decided to make my way over to my dad’s house. For those of you who have no idea who my father is, let me give you a quick rundown. He believes he is a 21-year-old and he also believes it is the year 1986. He usually is shirtless and wearing ripped jeans or something he found on the side of the road. He will drink you under the table and steal your woman. Motley Crue and Talking Heads are usually what is listening too. He loves to wander the neighborhood with his metal detector and can’t be caught without a beer in his had no matter what time it is. So, you can see why I would want to hang out with him immediately. 

We spent the afternoon looking through his raised vegetable garden, playing frisbee, and taking down two 6-packs. The level of relaxation that we achieved was nothing short of incredible. I put my phone down and forgot about it. When was the last time you did that? I was fully immersed in the relaxation aided by the help of cheap American, canned beers. 

I passed out for a long sleep sometime in the early night. We had to be up early for golf with the entire bachelor crew the next morning. Some of the bachelor party had never golfed a day in their lives. If you think my dad has golf, owns an acceptable pair of golf pants (or any pants for that matter), or knows the etiquette of golf, you’d be dead wrong. He showed up in his best-ripped jeans shorts and a case of Narragansett - safely stowed in a soft cooler of ice. We were ready to hit the links.

It is safe to say we finished all the beer and almost got in a fight on the 11th hole. By the time we reach the 11th, we were all a little drunk and taking our time aiming our shots. The foursome behind us yelled something along the lines of, “Hurry the fuck up, you drunk fucks!” None of us were having it. We were all in good moods and no one was going to stop us. All of us yelled back all the obscenities we could remember and were willing to start a fight in the middle of the course. I mean really, why would you start a fight with a group of drunk, blue collar, Philadelphia working men celebrating a bachelor party? “Fuck you, you mother fucking, fuck! I’ll shove this golf club down your throat if you say another god damn word! It’s my son’s bachelor party!” My father yelled. “Should we wait and beat the shit out of them? I got time.” My father asked all of us. I am not going to lie, there was a bit of a pause from all of us but we opted to keep the good vibes going and moved along, but not before we flipped them all of and threw shit at them for the remainder of the game. They never said another word and put up with our antics for the rest of the game.

Over the weekend, my family and friends all went golfing, drank, talked shit, and had a blast. All of my closest friends live across the country now. It was great to see those who had flown in to celebrate our upcoming wedding. For some of us, we hadn’t been home together in years, and we picked up right where we left off. These relationships are special. It is rare to find people that genuinely care about you and want to celebrate what you are doing. It is even harder to find someone who will care about you for decades to come. It is times like these where you learn who is in it for the long haul with you, and who was there for a few short bus stops.

-YourFriendMatt

One Year in Santa Monica...

...and we moved...

I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead like a do every morning. The sound of plastic against skin of our deflating air mattress echoed through the barren apartment. I got up to lift the shades and let the warmth of the sun in. She stirred and sat up. I turned to look back to see the nothingness and sterile white walls of our new place as she said "Well, what do we do now?" The excitement of driving across country faded quickly and the realization had set in as I looked back through the window at a palm tree swaying in the cloudless blue sky. 

One year ago today we moved from Delaware County, PA to California.

Home Sweet Home...

We arrived late in the night. I took a deep breath as we made the final turn on our adventure across North America. I have been listening to the GPS for 5 days and now it was time to turn it off. Wild. A journey of a thousand miles (or 3,000 miles) begins with a single step. And we were on our last step. 

Our landlords were waiting on the curb with their 3 boys who, luckily for us, were eager to meet us and help move a few boxes. I can't help but admit there was a moment of complete terror pulling up to the address that was discussed on the phone a world behind us now. After all the searching we did on multiple real estate sites for living arrangements we found this place on Craigslist. I was praying it wasn't a scam. I had promised Jamie’s family I would take care of her, make sure she was safe and took her away with me. (And they also promised to kill me if I messed up in anyway…and they made sure to tell me multiple times, so I believe them). We had no back up plan. And now here we were. All the prep work of getting out truck ready for a cross-country trip, packing, parties, good bye's, teary nights over beers with friends, and all the help we had led to this moment. "Please, don't let this be a scam." I begged over and over again silently in my head as I shot Jamie a suave-confident smile as we pulled into our new driveway. "Thank you." Releasing with a sigh praising the spirits watching over us. It wasn't a scam. We are home. And there are 3 kids here to help us move in. "Thank you." 

Thanksgiving 2014 on the beach...

We have learned a lot about ourselves over the course of the last year. To pseudo-celebrate our year mark in Santa Monica Jamie and I took a walk to the first place we went the day we woke up in our new home this time last year, our local coffee shop. We reminisced about how we bought a bed from the first place we saw selling them. We discussed finding a Target and battling LA traffic to get there…and purchase things we never thought off…like a shower curtain…or ya know, towels…or light bulbs. 

I am Space Ranger 2...

Over the last year we have gone through a lot and accomplished a lot. Like this for example, our truck died a month into us getting settle. We were carless and broke in a new city. Luckily, we have awesome friends, Greg and Rick, who were willing to drive my car I left in Pennsylvania all the way out here so we didn’t have to buy another. Thanks guys! Jamie worked as a visual designer, floral designer and now works for a real estate broker. Go Jamie! I got promoted. We adopted a dog. We stayed in Joshua Tree, went to Disneyland for Christmas and then went again in the summer (why not!), we have hosted her family twice and had more people stay over than I can count…and we loved every single one of you who came out to stay with us! We made it to San Diego, we have hiked all over the Santa Monica mountains in Malibu, I started this blog, we flew home twice for weddings and to play on the radio 104.5 with my friends, we have watched my nephew grow up and learn to walk over FaceTime, I made it to vegas to make a short film, I saw the Phillies beat the piss out of the Dodgers in their own stadium, we made it to Catalina (not for a wine mixer), and made some incredible, lifelong new friends.

Love...

It’s been a hell of a year and I look forward on what’s to come. I am truly blessed and lucky. Thank you everyone who has been apart of our lives, especially over this last year. And thank you to anyone who has supported us in any way during these crazy times. We love and thank you for everything.

See you soon!

-YourFriendMatt

Ol' Trusty...Part One...

"Dude, this could be her last ride. It's only right we take her." I said to Chris convincing him to take the dilapitated band van to our most recent show.

Throughout the years music has taken me across the nation and back. I consider these some of the most formative years of my life. When you are 1,400 miles from home, have no money, everything you own is broken or smelly you learn a thing or two. Since my friends and I started playing music we have destroyed every one of my mom's cars, most of my friend's parents cars, every one of our own cars, vans bought strictly for the band (old or new) and now we have a hand-me-down 2005 Ford FreeStar.

The band van is a beautiful thing. It's your safe house. Office. Board Room. Mobile home. Sales force..makeshift acoustic performance stage...salvation and worst nightmare. I've learned more about  auto repair on the side of the highway...at night...in a state I've never been too...with 18-wheelers whizzing by...underage...in the snow...than I ever will in a driveway. All in all seeing new things from a bench seat in a busted van was one of my favorite parts of the journey.

Up until this point of my life preforming has been something I have always done. I have had a chance to play with some great musicians in Los Angeles since my move but haven't hit a stage in a few months. When my old band got a call from the biggest rock radio stations in Philadelphia to preform live we all went for it. I landed in Philadelphia the day before the show and we ran through our normal setlist, caught up and went home to get a good night sleep.

We gathered on the day of the show at Chris' house to get a plan together. We needed to figure out how we were going to get our equipment to the show. Take separate cars? No, that is lame. Then it dawned on us (well at least me) that the old band van was still sitting out front.

Side-note: A quick back story on this van: It was Chris' families van for years. It has carted him and his siblings to countless karate and basketball tournaments. As the years progressed the air conditioning eventually gave up resulting in too many summer adventures with both sliding doors open...including a trip all the way to Outer Banks, NC from Swedesboro, NJ with the doors open. I know the van has been in at least one accident on the highway and after that they gave it to Chris...who never fixed the headlight. Why bother? Something is also wrong with the battery connection so we had to carry around a little wrench to undo the positive connection to the battery everywhere we went. We would show up to work, pop the hood and unhook the battery...besides all that...this van is a gem and we wouldn't have it any other way. One more thing, it looks like this on the inside...

"Dude! Let's take the van!" I screech cracking an ice cold Pabst. "I don't know man, I haven't started her in months." Chris says turning to me. "Dude, this could be her last ride. It's only right we take her. Who knows when we will do this again!" Sipping and spitting beer everywhere. Chris shrugs with a half-assed sigh and we make our way outside to check out the van.

She sits on the street waiting for us to come check her out. She hasn’t been moved in months and there is a layer of yellow and brown dust pollen covering her exterior. One of the tires is just about flat but we know we can make it to the gas station to fill it back up. As we peer in the back tinted windows we see our previous filth from the last ride…and its disgusting…just the way we like it. “Let’s pop the hood and connect the battery!” Chris yells getting more energized remembering all the good times we have had in this beauty.

There was a zap of blue electric that shocked us as we reattached the positive connection to the battery. “Yes!” We belted with a second wind of excitement. This was a good sign and we both knew it. Chris ripped open the driver side door ready with his keys and turned the ignition. She turned over with a sputter, pop - and finally roared like a dying old bird…our dying old bird. “Well boys I guess we know how we're are getting to the show! Let’s start packing!”

We packed, drank the last of our beers and decided it was time to head to Philadelphia. Half of our band had to drive separate due to obligations after the show and work the next morning. This was no big deal - Chris and I found it poetic. We had started a lot of bands together and worked on more music than either of us could remember. We had no idea when we would get the chance to drive to preform together again so it made sense to us that the rock gods aligned the stars this way. It was like we were 17 again.

To be continued...

YourFriendMatt

Record Store Day 2014...

...First timer in Los Angeles...

Record Store Day has come a long way from its start in 2008. I missed the first year but have proudly been participating and watching its progression (and Black Friday-eske lines grow) since 2009. This will be my first year celebrating music with strangers in a new city, Los Angeles. I am originally from Philadelphia but I look forward to meeting new friends, enthusiastically discussing releases of some of our favorite music...and quickly trying to get everything on my wish list before they do. I remember the year Jimmy Eat World put out their classic Bleed America on vinyl and getting the last copy right before the singer of Hawthorne Heights...what was he even doing there? Aren't they from Ohio? Anyway, it's a time for community, excitement and fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what this town has to offer. LA you have a lot to live up to against Repo Records in Philadelphia! 

Top 5 Picks: 

Ray Parker Jr.- Ghostbusters  (glow in the dark vinyl)

Creedence Clearwater Revival- The 1969 Singles

Haim- Forever

Mae- Destination: Beautiful

Skrillex- Recess (just cause it's on tape) 

YourFriendMatt...com

I didn't go to school, I don't have a literature, journalism, or any other degree...or any piece of paper that qualifies me to write. But this is a blog. And most importantly my blog...so I can kinda do what I want. Like use words like "kinda" instead of "kind of." Please feel free to comment about how I misuse most words, punctuations, make ridiculous claims that can't be backed by any facts, curse to much, and can't spell. 

That being said and now that we have the proper expectations set...

I am Matt, a guy who values honesty, family, and friendship. During my 26 years on this planet I have built a positive lifestyle by surrounding myself with the best people I could find. This will be a place where I write down ideas, share stories and thoughts, display music and films I have written with my friends. I am a guy who likes to journal and write...If you are down with that then this is the place for you. I don't like taking life too seriously and try to laugh and smile as much as possible. 

I recently moved to Santa Monica to break out of my comfort zones and see what else the world has to offer. I love everyone at home in Philadelphia. They are my rock, support, and family. If all goes to hell I can make one call and have a safe place to stay there. Knowing that I wanted to take a shot and stand on my own two legs (3,000 miles away) to see what the hell I am capable of...plus the weather is nice here...Philadelphia is currently covered in 8 inches of snow.

Share the love, smile, and be positive.

YourFriendMatt