Some of my earliest/fondest memories of music are as follows:
Sitting by the boombox in my bedroom and recording songs off the radio; "Goodbye" by Spice Girls is one I remember vividly because it was right after Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) left the group and yours truly was DEVASTATED. Riding my bike around the neighborhood listening to Backstreet Boys' Millennium, listening to classic rock from the backseat of my dad's car on Saturday mornings, and laying in a hammock at Disney World listening to All Killer No Filler by Sum 41 then seeing them live six months later at the Agora with No Use For A Name, Authority Zero, and The Starting Line.
For as long as I can remember, the music is the only place that I've truly belonged. I struggled with making friends at a young age and dealt with being bullied and mistreated for most of middle and high school. But in the moments where I've felt the most alone and misunderstood, the music has always carried me and I think it only really makes sense that I was called to share my love story with music through my lens. Capturing the music that moves me and the people I love who create that music is how I've learned to interact and communicate with the world around me. The title of this post pays homage to the book of the same title, written by Michael Azerrad which you can read more about here. It's on my never-ending TBR list because the title pulls at my very sentimental heart strings and reflects how I feel about the bands I work with on a deeper level, like my boys in Fuzz Aldrin. Hayden, David, Zack, Tom and Liam have embraced me as their own, inviting me into their lives and letting me quietly take it all in and capture the moments they might not realize are happening. They trust me with telling their story and in turn, I've shared many of my own. They have unknowingly picked up pieces of me through hugs, melodies, choruses, inside jokes, and everything in-between. With them, I feel I belong.
So boys, from the bottom of my heart, I'm so grateful that y'all believe in me as much as I do you. Boys, never stop chasing those dreams. Never grow up.
Fuzz Aldrin
April 16, 2022
Thunderbird Music Cafe
Pittsburgh