May 29th, 2023 Like a person, The Next Step isn’t and never was all good or all bad. And it was never a boy band. But it made me who I am today. Before I get to how, however, let’s talk about the stuff that never got made (or got made and then buried somewhereContinue reading “The History of The Next Step, Part VI: Unreleased Work, Legacy, and The Future”
Tag Archives: Minnesota
The History of The Next Step, Part V: Honesty & Happiness
May 24th, 2023 At the start of Love & Fear, I apologize for falling asleep; at the beginning of Honesty & Happiness, I (unapologetically) crack open a cold beer (literally) and proceed to black and then pass the f— out. Honesty & Happiness is the angriest, sharpest, and saddest Next Step record, and it tookContinue reading “The History of The Next Step, Part V: Honesty & Happiness”
The History of The Next Step, Part IV: Love & Fear
May 23rd, 2023 “I’m sorry that I fell asleep…” So starts Love & Fear, the most ambitious and audacious Next Step album. It’s also the longest and the one that sounds the biggest, because I was trying everything, everywhere, all at once. The sixteen-track LP came out on September 26th, 2006, and was my secondContinue reading “The History of The Next Step, Part IV: Love & Fear”
The History of The Next Step, Part III: Something Old, Something New…
May 22nd, 2023 By 2005, I was fully writing, performing, and recording music, but had still only released two EPs. My next step (pun absolutely intended) was a full-length record. There was a number of false starts (and I’ll be covering the things that didn’t happen in the last part). But the spark here wasContinue reading “The History of The Next Step, Part III: Something Old, Something New…”
Platform of Pain
May 19th, 2023 If you would have told me when I was a kid that I would eventually build my life on hurt, I would have told you that you say really weird things to kids. But you would have been right. I was having a recorded conversation with a friend earlier this week (forContinue reading “Platform of Pain”
The History of The Next Step, Part II: Tangled Cords, No Fear Of Failure, and Recording at Pachyderm Studio
May 11th, 2023 Now that we had a name and had performed an original song, it was time to record an EP (a short album which is typically 2-5 songs in length). By this time, personal computers were becoming more common in homes; we got our first PC when I was in high school. IContinue reading “The History of The Next Step, Part II: Tangled Cords, No Fear Of Failure, and Recording at Pachyderm Studio”
The History of The Next Step, Part I: The Beginning, The Idea and The Name
May 8th, 2023 The Next Step was supposed to be a boy band. I mean this in no uncertain terms. I have loved a lot of music over the years, but at that point in my life, high school in the late 90’s/early 00’s, I was obsessed with two flavors: emo/indie rock, and boy bands.Continue reading “The History of The Next Step, Part I: The Beginning, The Idea and The Name”
The Art Crawl is Coming!
May 7th, 2023 Hi, all! I’ve been under the weather since Tuesday (and have been officially voiceless since Thursday, which people around me don’t seem to have a problem with, weirdly), but I wanted to make sure I shared a schedule for next weekend’s Downtown Lakeville Art Crawl! I’ll be at Labyrinth Puzzle Rooms thatContinue reading “The Art Crawl is Coming!”
SKP 2023: The Next Step
May 3rd, 2023 “You’re so colorful the way you use the words you knowI thought I’d start this song with a compliment” Happy May! May is both my favorite month of the year and has become, recently, the most difficult (Mother’s Day and my mom’s birthday happen this month, and she isn’t here to celebrateContinue reading “SKP 2023: The Next Step”
tragic/miracle
May 1st, 2023 Normal people wake up in their normal beds on the morning of their birthday and they post the cutest pic they can find of themselves on the internet to announce that they are a year older, a whole three-hundred-and-sixty-five-days wiser. I stayed up until midnight to post this photo of me I’veContinue reading “tragic/miracle”
The Den 