No Dragons Press

Episode 38: “Trust Is a Funny Thing”

Show Notes for Episode 38

These are the show notes from No Dragons Press: Episode 38!

Hey, everyone! I’m recording this on April 23, 2017. I hope you’ve been enjoying April! At least in the Twin Cities, where I live, it’s been a really beautiful weekend to be outside.

If you got out there and marched for science, thank you, I salute you, that’s completely amazing, you are amazing. If you went out to support a local record store for Record Store Day 2017, thank you for that, I hope you found what you were looking for. Whatever you did to celebrate this week, I hope you had a great time.

Well, I know I talked for a thousand years last time, so what do you know, I’m just gonna go for it. I hope you enjoy episode 38, Trust Is a Funny Thing.

Hey, thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed chapter 38! Take care.

No Dragons Press

Episode 37: “Reactions and Decisions”

Show Notes for Episode 37

OK, remember how I said I’d get another episode up right away for you? Psyyyych. Sorry.

I haven’t had the most regular of work weeks, and I really apologize for that. But I think I have a pretty good excuse, and if you follow me on Instagram, you know exactly what I’m about to talk about.

Guys, I need to tell you about ASIA. The band, not the country. DO NOT skip ahead to the chapter, I have some real things to say, and I promise it’s a way better story than you think.

If you’ve been listening for a while, you remember my friend Lisa, who is generally my partner in crime for these epic musical road trips we like to take. (You may recognize her from such things as our recent Rick Wakeman cape campaign.) So, we took some time off last week from real life to go on a bit of a road trip to Madison Wisconsin for the ASIA show.

(It was also a Journey show—I mean, they were headlining—but I honestly completely forgot about that until I got there and saw my ticket.)

Many of you probably know ASIA because of songs like, I dunno, “Heat of the Moment” is probably the most recognizable. But seriously you guys, I’ll add links in the show notes to a couple songs that will legit blow your mind, so definitely check that out, and you can go ahead and let me know when you have your a-ha moment with ASIA. You totally will.

In the meantime, here’s a quick assignment: go and listen to “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes,” like right now, really give it a listen it is one of the most gorgeous and heartbreaking things ever.

I will literally post a link on my Twitter account @nodragonspress right now because that’s how much I want you to go do this. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

So. Classic ASIA lineup: Geoff Downes and Steve Howe from Yes, Carl Palmer from Emerson Lake and Palmer, and John Wetton from King Crimson. (Do you see why this was such an incredible opportunity?)

So there were some lineup changes over the years, but for several years now ASIA has pretty much been the classic lineup, minus Steve Howe, the guitar player. I mean, he’s around and stuff, he’s just doing the Yes thing right now. Totally fine, he can do what he wants, the guitar player right now is a younger guy like my age called Sam Coulson. Just shreds, really fun to watch. Anyone who has a problem with him not being Steve Howe has to go through me first, because…I don’t know.

So, John Wetton the singer—this is so fucking sad—John Wetton, singer and bass player, died just a couple months ago, and they had this whole tour with Journey set up and everything. (I keep forgetting this was actually a Journey tour…) So Billy Sherwood kind of took over for him on a temporary basis that you know, turned into the rest of the tour, and here we are. And he is fucking awesome.

First of all, the guy is an incredible player, and this sounds really weird to say but he just channels John Wetton so well, it’s hard to imagine anyone else filling this role in this band so perfectly right now. So Billy Sherwood has also been a part of the Yes family of musicians for a really long time, and he’s the bass player of Yes right now, as Chris Squire’s replacement after he passed away gosh, I guess almost two years ago? Oh my god.

Anyway, Billy Sherwood, really incredible player, go look something up, anything, guitar, bass, it doesn’t even matter, dude’s a beast.

So! My friend and I decided to sit way up in the nosebleeds so we could splurge on the meet and greets, because that’s just the kind of people we are. Yeah. That’s where this is headed. So suddenly there we were standing around with fucking ASIA, we brought a few records to get signed and you know, and they were all just so lovely and kind and gracious.

So, on top of this frankly ridiculous experience of meeting these amazing musicians who have all been important to me at various points during their own careers, it really meant a lot to have an opportunity to express my gratitude. I mean, who the fuck am I, right, but I don’t know, I think if something really matters, it’s important to express gratitude for it when you have an opportunity.

So, I’ll get into the chapter in just another minute—man, I really need to finish my logo for that progressive rock podcast so I can start it already—but first I just want to say: if there’s something you appreciate, some style of music or band, or book series, any type of art—embrace the fuck out of that appreciation. Nobody gets to tell you how much you’re allowed to feel about it.

I mean that’s the whole point of art, right? If it doesn’t kick you in the face and make you feel all the feelings and become a part of you, then what’s the fucking point?

I don’t know exactly what I’m trying to say here, other than if you feel like you need to hide behind some layer of pretend irony for people to be OK with something that’s legitimately important to you, or if you feel like somehow your appreciation is any less valid than anyone else’s, fuck that shit.

And if you don’t have someone in your life who you can share all that enthusiasm with, go and find other people who also love that that thing, and connect with them about it. Maybe you’ll find them in record stores or bookstores or shows or wherever, but find them and make connections about the obscure shit that means everything to you, and celebrate that shit together. Because being with other people who love the same thing, knowing that you’re right there with people that thing is speaking to just as loudly—that’s everything. That’s fucking church.

And I know it can feel really weird, especially with everything going on right now, to take these opportunities to celebrate. Look, life is a celebration. Music is a celebration. And you have to let yourself take the time to notice and celebrate those connections and experiences now, while we’re all here together. I am giving you permission to put as much value on those experiences as you want, because life is too short to pretend those things don’t matter.

This is the maid speaking, by the way.

Seriously guys, thank you for sticking with me, and you know, until I get that prog rock podcast off the ground, if you’re interested in checking out any of the bands I’ve been talking about, check out my Instagram account at @nodragonspress, it’s basically me sharing pictures and short videos of everything I listen to. That’s a great place to start for now. And if you have any musical recommendations for me based on what you know I like, definitely let me know!

AND NOW, the chapter! Last time, in chapter 36, we ended with a bit of a “holy fuck” moment for Addie, and we’re about to pick right back up on that. If you’re new to the podcast and you haven’t been following the story, now would be a really great time to stop listening and jump back to episode one, and welcome! And for those of you all caught up with the story, thanks so much for listening, I hope you enjoy episode 37: “Reactions and Decisions.”