|
Part 1. "THE EARLY EIGHTIES" Longwood, FL. USA
O.k. where do I begin? Well, I was born in seventy-four, but
lets skip to the early eighties when my favorite game was playing, Rock Star. Of course, I always found that I was playing
it alone! I did the cute little imaginary microphone thing while, I found myself constantly lip-syncing to ABBA and Men at
Work Albums. Other bands I lip-synced to were Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Jay Geils Band (Centerfold of course!), and various
bands off the, Goofy Greats Album. My friends and family were becoming accustomed to my constant and somewhat elaborate shows
that went on in my bedroom on almost a daily basis. Everything from puppet shows to haunted houses, which I must say probably
scared me more than anyone else who entered them! As I got more daring I began to climb up on my brothers bed, which faced
the window at the front of the house. I would raise the blinds (my stage curtain), and open the window. The bed became
my stage! While blaring Joan Jett's, "I Love Rock-n-Roll" on my brothers stereo, any passing neighbor became my audience.
As an amateur Actor/Rock Star, which is what I thought I was, I actually thought, at the time, that people were watching me
saying to themselves, "Wow, a star!" Yeah, looking back, I believe they were probably saying, "Um, I wish that little kid
would shut up!"
Part 2. "THE MID EIGHTIES" Mentone, AL. USA
Now growing up in church I was subject to the, "Singing-Of-Hymns",
which is when I learned the valuable lesson that you had to not only sing in a certain octave range, but you also had to sing
in tune! I remember several people in the church choir, whose names will go unmentioned, that MADE me realize that not everyone
can sing! One guy's voice sounded as though he had a large mass of mucus stuck in his throat when he sung, another lady sung
entirely through her nose, while yet another lady sung not only out-of-tune, but also the loudest! I decided at this point
that I would begin to practice singing to better what I loved to do. I hit that horrible stage of puberty when the voice changes
and everyone sounds like a calf being born in the middle of a muddy pasture. I got through it, and continued to practice,
until one day I discovered girls. This is the time in my life when I just all together stopped singing. I was absolutely terrified
of embarrassing myself in front of girls. Singing and Acting went on the back burner, as far as doing it in front of anyone.
Part 3. "THE LATE EIGHTIES" Mentone, AL. USA
At some point I decided that I wanted to follow in my cousins
footsteps and be an Actor, and follow in my brothers footsteps and be a musician. I guess its important to mention that my
cousin is Ed Harris, who starred in such movies as: The Rock, Needful Things, The Truman Show, and Milk Money. I wanted to
be in the spotlight so I could express myself and entertain. I loved the thought of making people laugh or smile. Thats when
I decided it was time to start doing something. In eighty-nine I formed Reality Productions, which would be a sort-of company/hobby.
It would be the name of my very own company, which would produce independent films, music, and a management company. Right
then I decided that I would produce all my own projects considering I didnt have the money to pay someone else to do it.
Part 4. "THE EARLY NINETIES" Deltona, FL. USA
After the move back to Florida during the dreaded High School
years, I joined a rap/R&B group called, "The Lover Boys". What was I thinking? I looked and sounded ridiculous with my
Southern Accent trying to rap! Lets move on, shall we? Right out of high school I formed, "Life In General" a band that would
be a solo project from ninety-two until I found band mates in ninety-five. At first I was playing one of those cheap drug
store keyboards and singing songs while recording them open-aired through a microphone. Then my brother helped me out by studio
recording my stuff. Wow, I cant believe how good that CRAP I was playing sounded! I guess he felt sorry for me, because he
ended up giving me a job playing various back-up instruments in his band. Mostly I was a fancy roadie who got to play instruments
too! This went on and off for several years even during my Life In General gigs. There was a slight contradiction however
as my brothers band was Goth/Industrial, and Life In General was New Wave/Progressive! In ninety-five I met a group of guys
at a church I was visiting who wanted to form a band. So we did it, "U-Turn Positive", was a Christian Boy Band. Now, I must
say, I have nothing against Christian Bands or even Boy Bands for that matter. But, it just wasnt my ball of wax! The band
broke up just under a month of forming. One of the guys named, Travis and I hit it off. We both were interested in the same
type of music, so I invited him and his girlfriend to join Life In General. She would sing back up as a soprano, and he would
sing back up as a bass. We had several gigs, and did some heavy-duty recording. It was great, and we were beginning to make
a name for ourselves in the Deltona, Orange City, and DeLand area. But they got married and that was the end of that! Then
later, they got divorced, so I gained back Travis but not her. It was time to start practicing again. Travis and I had to
completely start fresh and learn how to gain a new sound with just the two of us.
Part. 5 "THE MID NINETIES" Orange City, FL. USA
Life In General was basically a band that sung "Anything Box"
and "Erasure" covers mixed with a few songs I wrote. Travis and I began to look for other people to join us in the hopes that
we could make something unique. We had a few hopefuls, but nothing serious. As time went on, we practiced less and less, until
we both pretty much just gave up and started partying instead of building up the band. On and off until the late nineties
we did some stuff together but I was beginning to lean towards going solo again. I began to rethink what it was I wanted Life
In General to be. Then it happened! I discovered through a group of friends that Life In General was already a band out of
California who were signed! Dang! My "Life In General" became, "LIG".
Part. 6 "THE LATE NINETIES" Orange City, FL. USA
LIG was to change drastically in the blink of an eye. I couldnt
figure out what to do, so I went one hundred percent solo and tried to discover what it was I wanted to sing about. I started
thinking of songs in my head about my childhood. I dabbled in it a little, but did nothing about it at the time. Reality
Productions was also now a management company for Models and Actors. At this time I started making a
lot of D.J. Mixes with my turntables and basically did only that until two thousand and two. It was time to retire LIG for
good.
Part. 7 "THE EARLY PART OF THE NEW MILLINIUM" DeLand, FL. USA
The year was two thousand and two. Since the late nineties I
had been though the absolute worse in life. I also was dealing with extreme Anxiety Attacks. But I got through it, and in
the process got back into music with a new band, a new style, and a new name. It was to be called, "anxiety". I chose to label
it that as a way to conquer the problem I had. You may have all noticed I chose to spell the bands name with a lower case
"a", to symbolize my control over the sickness I conquered. So, I had a new outlook and it was time to start writing, recording,
and practicing. Since then I have written and recorded three albums consisting of songs that truly mean something to me. My
side project also called, "anxiety" is the story of my childhood growing up in Northeast Alabama. It's made up of songs sung
in a comedic tone about the way life was when I lived there. Trust me, recording the album, "I love you all", really helped
me to cope with the abuse I took as a youngster growing up. Well, thats the history of anxiety, I hope you didnt start nodding
off while reading it! Enjoy the rest of the website, and hey listen, I dont have a record deal, nor am I trying right now,
so please feel free to go buy stuff from the purchase page. I'm trying to move out of my present dishwasher cardboard box,
into a little something more roomier like a refrigerator box! Enjoy. I love you all. -Brad
 |
|
|
|
anxiety
So deciding to do a side project was a big step for me. If the family life,
music, and working weren't enough, now it was time to open up a whole new can of worms! If I had known it was going to consume
so much of my time, I would have probably waited a few more years to start on it. I started writing songs about my experiences
growing up and also about the people that impacted my growing up. The problem was they didn't fit with the style of my other,
some-what serious, songs. I realized calling it, "anxiety" was also going to be hard, considering that I was trying to push
along my feature presentation stuff. I didn't want to confuse the two, but anxiety is my band's name, and I'm both bands.
(continued below)
|
|
|
|
Growing up in Northeast Alabama was to say the least scary at times. My
family and I moved there from the suburbs of Florida. I get there and it's this extremely rural place. In middle and high
school I was picked on continuously. I wouldn't wear tight jeans with big belt buckles! I didn't play football, and I listened
to New Wave and Progressive music. Finally in tenth grade I moved to another high school in the next town over, about twenty
miles away. The town was considerably larger and the kids were a little bit more accepting. I guess it was the fact that they
had cable tv to subject them to modern times. Soon I began making a name for my self as, "that guy who made people laugh from
Florida". I started making friends, mostly other kids from out of state, that all seem to like me. I begun to get a reputation
as someone who would do anything to get a laugh. That's not always a good thing! I'm not proud of everything I did. Once I
mooned the school librarian, landing me in two weeks of Saturday school! Then one time I brought my pet chicken, Maybelle
to school on a leash, but for some reason no one protested that! I played soccer which earned me attention from girls. Finally
I was starting to fit in, then we moved back to Florida. Bam, just like that. It was time to start all over. So, basically
not all of my growing up years were bad, just some of the people from my growing up years were. But they did make an impact
on my life, so it has to come out! Hence the birth of the album, "I love you all".
|
