Ages since I’ve blogged…
6 months have gone by and the world has been a blur as I continued my duties of chief strategist for a Fortune 500 company. Gone were the worry-free summer days of Warped Tour following my favorite band, Madina Lake, and traveling more-or-less, worry-free with my favorite companion, my daughter Erica. School started and we got caught up in the grind of life. Yes, we did see Madina Lake several more times in the tri-state area and several times in Chicago but with the daylight shortening and the list of things we abandoned during the summer to go to Warped, all caught up with us! My mother, a native Japanese, always told me that balance is the key to life and so mom, I’m a bit lop-sided with regard to keeping up with “all things that interest me and Erica” but I endeavor to do a better job of keeping myself in stride!
The coolest, handmade necklace of my favorite band Madina Lake! Ask me and I’ll tell how you can order one!
Back again…
Wow, I can’t believe summer ended and school began… I have traveled to 4 countries, been all over the US, and am now suffering from jet lag, time zone confusion, and motion sickness all bundled up!
I flew from New York to the last Warped Tour date since I had business in Southern California - it was so bittersweet seeing the bands (and friends) that I have seen over the past 2.5 months on the last day. I was happy for them that it would be over but sad that their familiar faces would become a blur once reality set in and everyone went back to their “normal lives”. The one constant that I have is I am fortunate to keep in touch with one band in particular, who I dearly love, and know that I will see them in September, October, and November - bought my tickets already!
The music business, with whom I am acquainted with on the periphery, is a funny one. It provides the lifestyle of celebrity for those who crave it, it provides a medium for artistic expression (for those who really write and play music), and it gives a world stage upon which to watch the lives (and livelihoods) of many navigate their lives. Sort of a Peyton Place (I am dating myself here) or Hills (OK now I’m up-to-date) soap opera…
What I have personally witnessed is what Sports Illustrated blared on their weekend shows, “personal victory and the agony of defeat”…some do very well and others just keep themselves afloat. I haven’t quite put my finger on the “tipping point” but know that it’s a complicated maze of interactions between agents, labels, band members, and crew and one hopes that radio stations, PR people, magazine staff, and others who are on the landscape, “Minkus - where are you”, will check ‘em out…
All I have to say is that now that I am in one place, I feel good to have been a part of Warped Tour in a very small way and I am looking forward to next year, already…
Took a chance and it paid off!
These past two weeks have been wild. I took two weeks of vacation off - never once have I done that… but since everyone else was out of the office I had to work some… What I realized is that my business is an honor to have and that if I wanted to let some things just “slide” I’d pay for it someway down the road so I didn’t. I made it happen on all fronts - vacation for my daughter Erica….answers for those working who had to make decisions on how to move forward….and even kept up with the bills and house maintenance. Wow, it was mind blowing but I got it done! Just had to keep my nose to the grindstone - what a cliche…
But here’s the real deal… I got to know my favorite band better not necessarily by asking them lots of questions but by just being around them, “hanging out”, and just listening and observing. They’re really a bunch of nice, young guys who have insecurities like the rest of us but I felt so good that they didn’t feel they had to be “on” or “entertain us” - the personas just dropped and they were just really “usual” guys. That’s what I liked the most - is that there was no command performance, only a bunch of people just talking about regular stuff.
I am feeling good that I reached out and accepted their invitation - normally I decline because I don’t just “hang out” but I feel good that I did. Gone are the days where I hole up in my electronic castle and stay insulated from the rest of the world. Hello world…here I am!
Signing at the Madina Lake tent at Warped Tour. Love those guys, love their music, love everything Madina Lake - can’t imagine why the USA does not love them as much as the UK… These guys are the deal - girls are you listening?
This is the bus shot from the same Kerrang! magazine featuring Jamie Pham. I think Warped Tour is about playing for 30 minutes a day and spending the rest of the day, just “hanging out”. I give these guys alot of credit - held hostage by a bus and a bus driver that just drives them from point A to B. Tough on the body, the spirit, and the hygiene - I hear that they don’t bathe or shower for days at a time… must be awfully smelly on that bus!
The Madina Lake foursome, Nathan, Dan, Matthew, and Mateo! Wow, can’t believe Mateo made it out to a signing… Phoenix Warped. It was the hottest day of my life that I can remember - I wanted one picture with all of the ML guys. I asked them not to touch me since I was so sweaty and they were such gentlemen! Gorgeous is the term that keeps popping into my head! I love those guys and their music - can’t get enough of them!
Partying on the ML Bus in Hartford, CT
The Madina Lake guys officially annointed me “like a Madina Mom” when citing who was partying on the Madina Lake bus at Warped Tour, Hartford, CT. Jamie Pham, the absolutepunk.net dude who is traveling on the Madina Lake bus, posted in his blog that he was in Kerrang! magazine. I checked it out and low and behold… I see part of my face in that picture, too! It was crazy - Nathan was running in and about the bus - truly running! Dan had drank a few so he was engrossed in deep, serious conversation to whomever was close enough to hear him. The ladies of the evening were trying to see who could sandwich themselves into the galley kitchen just off the bathroom with anything that wore pants, and then there was me! I was innocently drinking water and being polite - given I am not the ‘hang out’ kind of person but was enjoying the bus invitation. Oh, and I forgot, shortly after this picture by Matthew for his Kerrang! blog was taken, Mateo decided that he would provide “hug” lessons so we all could perform group hugs to check everyone’s hygiene. Definitely a deciding vote as to who had to hit the showers before bus call!
Well, as I am getting the hang of how to use this website, which was my initial intention, I have to direct anyone who stumbles across this blog and redirect you to my angel (really the devil in disguise) Nathan who is the real star of Madina Lake. No he does not have LSD - lead singer’s disease. Just a truly nice, funny, and charming young man who happens to be the frontman of Madina Lake. Check him out at madinaswan.tumblr.com
My very best to you Madina Lake! I hope you achieve all of dreams, real and otherwise!
