New Year Filler

You gotta have an art form you really respect. Be it playing football as a receiver, hitting baseballs, reading poetry, surfing big waves or painting, you need to witness this art form in person. Watch the people you respect most do the thing they do in person. Get that feeling in your abdomen, the feeling of greatness happening right in front of you. Get inspired by someone who does something so much better than you ever will, it gives us all something to shoot for.

For me, that art form is hitting the drums hard and loud, in perfect unison with people playing guitars and singing, loudly. For me, the embodiment of this art form is the Melvins. The fact that so many people disagree with me is simply fuel for the fire. For me, going to the show last night was an experience that will inspire me for weeks, leave the sounds in my head, or maybe longer. The Melvins added a second drummer and bassist from Big Business. Together, these two drummers traded energy and synchronously destroyed The Roseland in Portland, Oregon, in front of hundreds.

I’ll never be that good at drumming, but the energy they sent through the crowd had us sweating and jamming up in the balcony. People had their shirts off up there, the heat welled up from the pit below. It’s inspiring to see people doing something so well, in front of so many people who are expecting so much. Every time I see the Melvins, my high expectations are exceeded. I am surprised and delighted. This is inspiration to work harder at being better. Have the confidence and balls to know what you’re good at and do it better than anyone else.