I have to admit, I can often come up with crazy ideas that I rarely follow-up on. Not because I don’t care enough, or don’t believe in myself, but rather my brain operates 100 miles an hour and before I get the chance to follow through on something, I am onto the next big thing.
Last year however, I started doing things differently and taking risks that probably would NEVER have happened otherwise.
I went back to music writing after thinking I wouldn’t and launched a music website that’s geared towards covering up and coming bands from the NY music scene. (S/N you’re reading it now!)
I launched a video series called “Scenes from Backstage” that is more of a talk show format featuring bands in the NYC music landscape that are unsigned and DIY.
In the most recent episode of “Scenes From Backstage,” we sat down with Brooklyn’s own Fat Heaven. Photo by: Mere Stern
Side note on that….I actually hated being on camera in college in my production classes, and now you can’t tell me nothing!
And having the website and music series landed me my first official press credential for the Mondo music and tech summit last fall.
I was on a roll and even went as far to get a necklace made with the word “Fearless” on it to remind myself never to back down.
So you can imagine the crazy idea that came to mind when it was announced that the Vans Warped Tour would be ending it’s cross-country run in 2018.
For me, Warped tour always meant copious amounts of bands that I had fallen in love with thanks to Fuse in the early to mid 2000s, and crazy adventures with some of my friends.
It was also my coming up in the sense that it was my first concert as an 18-year-old the summer before my freshmen year of college began.
I had gone to 5 warped tours and 2018 would be my final one.
With warped ending, I had a chat with my producer and friend that seemed crazy to even me.
It was something along the lines of “Hey would it be crazy to email Kevin Lyman, the Warped founder and try to get our friends on warped for local dates?”
And the answer was no!
So with that being said, my confidence was upped and I went for it.
So the Monday after Thanksgiving, I emailed Kevin Lyman, introduced myself as a music writer and music host essentially and gave him a list of bands from our scene he should consider for the NJ and NY warped dates rolling through town next July.
I had successfully slipped into his emails, not his DMs.
I had put it out there, he had responded right away and now was the waiting game.
And if you know me in real life, I am a very IMPATIENT person when it comes to things I am passionate about.
Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long for a response from a man who has created such a community over the past 24 years…
Scenes From The Underground 