The Obligatory Bio Post
So this is for anybody reading this (IS anybody reading this??) that doesn’t know me, or doesn’t know me well, or does know me but would like a refresher, or does know me well, but just enjoys being retold shit they already know…
First the stupid shit: my name is Jason, I’m from Detroit (alright, technically a western suburb). I graduated from Michigan State a few years back with a music performance degree. This is usually the point where people ask, “Oh yeah? What do you play?” Admit it, you were wondering, weren’t you? Well, my first instrument was guitar, the first couple bands I played in I played bass, but I studied clarinet and bass clarinet in uni. I also do a lot of sax playing, can noodle on flute, have basic piano skills, can keep a beat on drums, some harmonica, banjo, mandolin, didgeridoo, and I’m working on bagpipes. I also write some electronic music. This is usually the point where I’m asked, “What kind of music do you play?” And I always respond, “Whatever.” Seriously, it’s the truth. It depends on what instrument I’m playing, where I’m playing, with whom… how much it pays… I’m a gig whore, with a very wide taste in music, and just like to play. I’ve been in bands ranging from metal to acoustic indie rock to funk jazz, I do symphony gigs, classical chamber music, avante garde chamber music, theater orchestras, techno and experimental electronic music, I have some hip-hop projects, I teach privately, and I also do recording engineering… Gig Whore. Unfortunately, however, this is a very difficult field to be at all lucrative in, at least initially. So I currently have a day job, working in a lab, breaking plastic… I stretch it, bend it, smack it with hammers, drop heavy shit on it, burn it, melt it, light it on fire… No… it’s really not exciting, I’ve just learned to make it sound that way so I can at least delude myself into thinking so at times. Being in Detroit, my company (or, at least my site) primarily develops and sells plastic to the major auto manufacturers, which goes to bumpers and dashboards and all that. It’s not exciting at all. So, my current plan is to go to grad school this coming fall in Amsterdam to study bass clarinet at quite possibly the best place in the world to do so, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Will this help me get a job? Probably not, but it will certainly improve my skills so that I can have a better idea of what direction to go, as well as get me more contacts and experience. And, if nothing else, I get to live in Amsterdam for 2 years…. not a very bad worse case scenario, if you ask me.
And here’s my plug for my current project, Exchange Bureau (also on Myspace). It’s a jazz/funk/soul/techno/house/groove/jam kinda thing. Nu-jazz? Acid jazz? Something like that… I’m playing horns- usually bari sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, or some various electronics, and also do the recording engineering.
So, my main reason for even starting this blog was for travel purposes, so I guess I should discuss Jason the Traveller. I started out young… I went to Alaska when I was only a couple months old for my uncle’s wedding… and I did a fair amount of travel during my younger days. It helped that I have a fairly small family, and they’re spread out all over the country, so in order to see anyone, travelling had to be done. We always did the couple week family pack-up-the-minivan-with-a-pop-up-camper-in-tow vacation every summer, too. I come from a very well educated and outdoors-oriented family, so we were always going to historical places and national parks and all that. And I did the whole Boy Scout thing for a bit, so I got to go camping a lot. I always enjoyed it as a kid, but didn’t really fully appreciate it until I was older. I mean, I’ve been to about 40 of the 50 states, including Alaska twice, as well as most of the southern Canadian provinces, and have seen most all of the major parks and important American sites… all before I was in high school. So I guess I was pretty fortunate in that respect. My first time out of the country (being from Detroit, Canada doesn’t count) was when I was 12 and I asked my grandma to take me to London. Low and behold, for Easter that year she did. Thanks Grandma! The experience was much different then that it would be now, as you can imagine… but I still remember it and had a great time. In fact, I even still have the journal I kept from it… long before the internet and blogging… maybe some day I’ll post from it.
My travelling slowed quite a bit once I became busy with high school, and during the early years of uni I was too poor and hadn’t yet discovered the wonders of budget travel. What kicked it back in, though, was when a friend organized a group of us, 8 total, to go to Amsterdam for about a week and a half while in uni. As soon as I got off the plane, it hit me, and I was hooked. The Bug bit hard. I remembered how much I loved going somewhere new, and experiencing the new people, cultures, languages, food… everything. It was only a couple days into that trip that I realized travel was going to regain a more central role and decided I’d do an extended backpacking trip through Europe…. which, due to various circumstances, hasn’t happened yet. But no matter, I’ve made it back to various European locations a few times since then for some more short term travels, and have been revisiting, and trying new, destinations within the US. Long term travel will happen soon, it’s inevitable, I just have to wait for the right time… and it’ll certainly be more than just Europe now. But moving to A’dam will certainly help tide me over for a bit, and give me easier access for seeing more of the continent while there.
Next on the agenda is Peru, which I leave for in a day as of this writing. I’ll be hiking the Inca Trail with a couple friends. Woo! It’s gonna be the shit, and I’ll do my best to keep updates.
Tags: Introduction, Travel
nerokerr1
I’m reading your blog…and I don’t know you all that well as of yet…so that was very informative. Just so you know…