Strange Perspectives Volume 1: the Memoirs of Mike Najarian (From the Band State Radio) PDF
Preview Strange Perspectives Volume 1: the Memoirs of Mike Najarian (From the Band State Radio)
ISBN: 9781623098360 2 To the reader who is about to step forth into these hallowed crypts of prose, I offer you a parting bit of advice: fear not! - for truth is the wildfire of humanity, destroying the aged pillars of hypocrisy and setting forth a fertile ground for the creation of a new and more vivid paradigm. Hemmingway, Salinger, Vonnegut, Najarian… all American writers. And it is from the fabric of this intensely wrought culture of ours that these pioneers of authenticity craft their deadly yet nurturing lens, through which fellow countrymen (and fellow earthlings!) may gander upon the landscape of this reality, in all its majesty and splendor. Can I vouch for the truth of what lies in these subsequent pages? I cannot know because I have read nothing of their contents. BUT, it is indubitable that this man, this Michael Najarian, this son, brother, “big” brother, musician, financial analyst, friend and now… author, carries with him no mitigation, no compromise in his fanatic obsession with relating the essence of all things, this “truth” we have discussed hitherto. I have witnessed it. And as the mind bears the refractory burden of this disambiguation, it perseveres and burns much like the haunting image of a cute, fluffy bunny being slaughtered on the kitchen linoleum; therefore, I have no doubts in the substance that lies ahead. Strange perspectives indeed fellow truthlings… So once again I say, fear not! -- for the man who moments after our first meeting made fun of me for speaking on the phone with my girlfriend at the time bears you no ill will -- he wishes only to cascade upon you the wisdom that only the truly deranged enjoy. Good luck and godspeed. 3 Chuck Fay Lebanon 1972 4 Strange Perspectives: Table of Contents Foreword by Chuck Fay America Edited by Carol Najarian 0. Intro 1. Australia I 2. Gym Rats 3. Mike Mills 4. Chadwick Stokes 5. Quincy Recycles 6. Cam Neely 7. Incubus in Germany 8. Campaign for Water 9. Steve DiRamio 10. Najarian Book of Love 11. Band Terrorists 12. Axe 13. Perry Farrell 5 14. Australia II 15. Slash 16. High School Satires 17. Jerry Cantrell 18. Wisdom Teeth 19. Chuck Fay 20. Origami Love 21. Wyc Grousbeck 22. Dad Jeans 23. David Matthews 24. Sybil Urmston Gallagher 25. Trading Stocks 26. Automatic Locks 27. Justin Baumann and Ryan Auster 28. About the Author: Family and Hometown. 29. About the Author: How I came to Music. 30. Epilogue 6 31. Pictures and Memorabilia 7 When thinking about writing a proper book I brainstormed a bunch of ideas on my own. Maybe I could write a novel, a fictional story that was creative and imaginative, that compelled people. Or I could write an autobiography, a story of my life, weaving a tale that spoke to people, that people could relate to. Or I could write a practical book, say on day trading, one of my true loves, and this could help people understand the complex beast that is our stock market, and maybe help them make some money. So I brought up the idea to my bandmate and close friend Chuck Fay. I said “Chuck I’m thinking about writing a book”. He said, “Oh”. Chuck is more of a listener, but a brilliant man all the same. Soon you will see why. So I told him about my ideas and he deliberated for a second. “I think people would buy a book I would write,” I said. He then said, “I have no doubt people would buy a book you would write. But it has to be on your unique take on the world. People would be amused by your analysis. For instance, day trading, that could be a chapter”. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. This way, as I may not be able to hold someone’s attention for a full book on day trading, or a novel, or an autobiography, maybe I would be able to share short snippets on what motivates me, or let’s face it, not even that, and hold someone’s attention for perhaps a small burst of time. Thus began my project. This compilation is entitled Strange Perspectives, as the thoughts and experiences you are about to witness are not strange to me, but have been deemed such by many others. I guess it’s now up to you to decide. And to let me know. Thanks in advance for your open mind and understanding. May this be an awakening experience for you all. 8 Australia: Take 1 It’s pretty bad when your testicle shows up on the internet from when you were in Australia. It’s even worse when you find out your testicle is on the internet from your Mother. It’s even worse than that when she calls you into the computer room out of nowhere and says, “Hey Michael, look at this,” in a nice, calm voice, and when you look at the computer screen there is a picture of you wearing pink ‘The Beautiful Girls’ panties, a ‘Cape Cod: Like No Place on Earth’ green mesh cut off shirt, eye black under your eyes, and have one testicle hanging out. “Well, that’s me singing in Australia Mom,” I said back to her just as calmly. “No, what’s that?” she said and pointed to the general area of my testicle. “Well, that’s my testicle Mom”. “And what’s it doing on the internet?”. “I don’t know, I didn’t put it there…”. “What are your kids going to think when they see this picture of you? It’s not cool to have this stuff floating around on the internet!”. “I guess we’ll just have to wait until I have kids and hope they don’t see it”. Laughter ensues from my end. “It’s not funny Michael! I’m serious. This isn’t cool!”. More laughter from my end. “There’s nothing we can do about it now Mom”. And then I left the room. Surprisingly, I wasn’t embarrassed, even in front of my Mother. In my mind, at that moment, the experience was worth it, and if the picture was seen by my kids, then so be it. And even now as I am writing this, I am still chuckling about that night. It brings a smile to my face every time I think about it. Oh, fond memories of exposing myself in Australia. Before you think I am this weird sex offender-esque freaky deeky dude, please give me a chance to explain myself. I’m sure you will come to the same 9 conclusion as me. And for the record, I had no intention to expose myself, I promise. I’m going to guess it was in the late Fall, early Winter in 2007 when we went to Australia for the first time. We had played with a band called The Beautiful Girls in the U.S. and then they invited us to play over in Australia to return the favor. This was an amazing tour. We got to take a two and a half week break from the harsh New England weather and enjoy the Australian easy living Summer for a bit. At this point we had become great friends with the guys in The Beautiful Girls (there are actually no girls in the band) and we had a great camaraderie going on for this entire tour. There were so many cool things that happened on this tour that I couldn’t even fit all of them in a single memoir. On top of that, some of my experiences have been sworn to secrecy. I will briefly touch on a few of my experiences that tour though just to build up to my infamous testicle showing. First off, on a work related note, I learned so much from my still good friend and The Beautiful Girls drummer Bruce Braybrooke. He taught me so much about professional drumming by the way he approached the art. When The Beautiful Girls came and played in the U.S., Brucie used my drum kit. When I told him he could move around my set up he replied, “Naw, I’ll just keep it as is, that looks great”. At first I was confused, no drummer had ever said this to me before. Most drummers are pretty anal about the way they set up their kit, and the angles at which they put their drums and cymbals. I told Brucie about my confusion and he said to me, “You are a professional, I am a professional. Professionals should be able to roll with the punches and be able to play any set up. That’s part of the fun of it anyway. Everyone 10
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