1 - Tell us how your project(s) were started.
We started Orange Island about three years ago. It started off as just a couple of kids (me and my cousin, Bren) looking for something to do on Friday and Saturday nights while still in high school. We just started playing some cover songs down in my basement, found a bass player and finally started writing our own songs. We then got our singer, Dave, to come down and give singing a shot and there you go. We were born. It's really not an interesting story, it was just some dudes fucking around and then cashing in some favors.
2 - What does music, in it's entirety, mean to you?
That's a pretty serious question. Music means everything. It's a soundtrack to everyday life, it puts grace and beauty into the most mundane of acts and situations, it's familiarity, it's personal history, it's something that puts you in a specific time and a specific place. It's raw passion, it's genius, it's a mind-fuck, it's honest, it's happiness, it's anger, it's melancholy, it's a story, it's a vehicle, it's a connection, it's sacred and it means the world to me. Music inspires people to be inspired and to inspire. It's a constant cycle of expression and understanding.
3 - What does art, in it's entirety, mean to you?'
I guess you could take my previous answer and apply it here as well. I'll add though that art is everything in which expression is performed, and there's something utterly important in expressing one's ideas, one's sense of beauty, and one's values. It's someone looking at the world and filtering out the bullshit that everyone else sees and expressing this vision so that others will be able to relate and connect. And some people use different methods as their filter and as their vehicle. There's painting, there's film, there's writing, there's music etc. And I think that they are all an integral part of self-growth and self-awareness. Not only creating art but experiencing art. Art adds meaning to a life that is otherwise bland and meaningless, in my opinion.
4 - Who is your favorite author, and why?
Shit, man, that's a hard one. I don't know if I have a favorite author. I just try and read as many different things as I can. I'm on, like, a classic literature kick right now. Reading short stories from Poe, Hemmingway, Hawthorne, Checkhov, Faulkner and the gang. I'm also way into Raymond Carver and his simplicity. And, as of late, I've been reading a lot from the beat generation writers like Kerouc and Bukowski. and these dudes are probably my favorite - just because I love the idea of people hanging out getting drunk, doing drugs and just talking about life and trying to experience as much of everything the world has to offer all at once. I think we can all relate to that shit.
5 - As your best friend, describe yourself.
Chuck is always there for me whenever I need him. I know without a doubt that all that i have to do is call and he'd be there. He listens with his eyes and with his ears, with intensity that I don't get from many other people. He gives some pretty kick-ass advice and i trust him because I trust the way he lives his life and the way he treats everyone around him. I can listen to him and know that he has a complete grasp on what he's talking about because he has experienced shit that I haven't. He's fun to party with. He makes me laugh. Sometimes he talks too much when he's drunk.
6 - As your worst enemy, describe yourself.
He thinks he's better than me. He constantly needs to be the center of attention and it's bullshit. He talks too much. He's had everything way too easy. He doesn't know anything about pain and about struggle. He falls in love way too much. He's phony to anyone and everyone. He's an asshole. He's constantly trying to impress his beliefs and values on me. He thinks he knows everything.
7 - If your persona were immortalized as a cartoon character, who would it be?
I'm going to go with Charlie Brown on this one. I'm not really too sure why. Just seems the most appropriate.
8 - Do you think there are conspiracies against the "everyday person"?
I'm not really sure what that exactly means. Do I think that there's some sort of force or something trying to keep us all down? Is that the question? I don't really believe in conspiracies, and I guess I don't really believe that there is an "everyday person." Everyone has got their own shit going on, no matter how mundane their existence might seem, there's always some hidden passions and shit under the surface. And the only conspiracy keeping them down is their own fear. (Patrick Swayze in Donnie Darko? Maybe) you know what I mean though. I know you do.
9 - What do you do with your spare or free time?
I don't really have much free time. I'm a full-time college student, majoring in film so I watch a lot of movies. I work at a nursing home part-time and I'm in a full-time band. So, basically, in my free time, I do homework, I read, I write, I practice, I watch t.v, I eat, I drink, I hang with my family and try and hang with as many of my best friends as humanly possible.
10 - Please give us your interpretation of "the meaning of life".
The meaning of life? Intersting. I got some weird views on the meaning of life to tell you the truth. I strongly believe that this life is a constant question and a test and once you answer the question and pass the test...you die. And in death you find a final satisfaction and a final peace. Life is an unquenchable thirst. A thirst for knowledge, and once we are no longer thirsty...we are dead. The meaning of life? It's just finding out how to die. There's a certain security in death. Not necessarily Heaven but it's a place where everyone "gets it." Wouldn't that be a paradise? A place where everyone has learned all they could about life and people and themselves? So, yea. there you go.
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