I grew up in the 90s in a small hockey obsessed mining town called Kirkland Lake in Northern Ontario that developed a small scene of teenage punk bands that intertwined with other local punk scenes in Northern Ontario. I started in a band called Understatement where I played bass and took over vocals at the end of the band’s 2 year life. I briefly played bass for local band The Subverts in 1994. (yes I know there are a few bands with this name) The Subverts were the final incarnation of the first Kirkland Lake punk rock band to record an album. They also helped form the IOLB (Imperial Order of Low Budget) a school club which allowed us to use our school’s name and assets to put on local punk rock shows. (Thank you Mrs. Rumble). Despite these events occurring before my involvement they changed my life forever.
I went on to play in local bands Cragmatic Pope and Swank at the height of the scene’s popularity from 1995-1997 recording two albums with Cragmatic Pope and one with Swank. Afterwards, I formed The Deefons who I played with from 1997-1999 and recorded two albums with them.
At the end of the decade the kids grew up, got married, moved away and moved on. So did I. The era came to a close.
I moved to North Bay stopped playing in bands and went to college. I uploaded a couple songs to this new fangled Internet thing and allowed the negative feedback I got to eat at me. I quit playing and writing altogether. When my relationship of 6 years fell apart, I entered another. I was encouraged to write and play once again. I wrote some new songs and had some basement jams with my Deefons bandmates YeTI and Ty, but it never got back off the ground. We were all getting older, settling down, and building our families so time became scarce. 5 years later my relationship collapsed and I was devastated. My only focus now being the children. I focused on raising my younger son who had been diagnosed with Fragile X Syndrome and making sure I was a persistent presence in my older son’s life who was living with his mother in Kirkland Lake. During the times when I had my children I was a full person, when I didn’t have them I was lost.
It was during these “lost times” where I would, despite my best efforts to not explore my pain through music, what I can only describe as “vomit up” songs which became Reset The World. I would record immediately with whatever instruments and cables were available in an effort to purge the songs and move on. If the recordings sound raw and affected it’s because they are. I recorded the songs as quickly as possible to prevent myself from spending time tinkering with the songs; an activity which I equated to emotional torture at the time. This act; however, would allow me zero emotional distance from what I was doing. I also refused to attempt multiple takes because I simply couldn’t handle it at the time. Fast forward and I’m currently with an awesome girl for the last 5 years, we’ve built a family and the pain associated with these songs feels like a distant memory.
In 2008 I had a big “fuck it” moment and uploaded a bunch of songs from one of my old bands The Deefons and some of the acoustic stuff to the then IAC and more in 2009. I made a friend in University who became my collaborator in The Sky Hits The Ground and began writing and playing again when my life would allow. I created a couple of stations and have been here adding music on and off since then.
My influences are 90s alternative, shoegaze, grunge, and several varieties of punk rock. I have a soft spot for thrash and hair metal but you won’t hear that in my music. Specific bands that have influenced me are Nirvana, The Ramones, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Descendents, The Cure, Pink Floyd, Sonic Youth, and Weezer to name a few. |
