3.7 Andy "A Glimpse Towards My Wildest Dreams"

Musicians have always had the dreams of playing in a band and traveling to perform in front of others.  Since I was very young, I've always dreamed about being a musician and accomplishing the same things. Two years ago, that goal became my reality.  I worked towards my goals of playing guitar and joining a band since I was 16 years old.  After years of playing guitar in my bedroom and dreaming about playing the music I love in front of people, that dream came true two years ago on the day we first embarked on our own tour.

When my band went on our first independent tour, we packed our gear in a Ford Econoline van and traveled to Chicago, New York City, and Milwaukee.  On the first day of the tour, we opened up for bands that we looked up to and are currently signed to larger independent labels.  About two years prior to the tour, I remember picking up a record from a band at a punk rock record store in Minneapolis.  The lyrics resonated with me deeply because they dealt with mental health struggles, self-improvement, and working towards becoming the person you wanted to be.  I remember having evenings of sitting in my driveway while looking at the stars and listening to the band as I wished I could do what they did some day.  Two years later, my own band opened up for them on the first day of our tour and they loved seeing us play.  

The day we left on that tour will be one that I will always remember.  I'll never forget waking up early and meeting my band mates in Minneapolis before we embarked.  To this day, I still remember by best friend telling me, "We did it, Andy.  We finally did it." After hearing my best friend tell me this, I looked at my phone and saw the amount of miles we drove away from home and almost started to cry.  I could not believe that my childhood dreams were coming true and it all felt too surreal to comprehend in the moment.  There was also a conflicted feeling inside of me because I was in shock that it was all happening.  I almost became depressed on the second day of our tour, because after my dream was accomplished, I could only stop and think, "Now what?" Not only that, but there was an inner conflict about feeling naive about the struggle and expense of touring as a musician.  It is a very tiring and risky business to be working in, and it settled in that doing this would be much more difficult than I anticipated. 

Our van was packed so tight and we became so much closer as friends after the tour was over.  The day we left, we were forced to talk more as friends and not just band mates.  There will always be incredibly nostalgic and memorable moments because I gained a true sense of accomplishing the things I always dreamed of in my teenage years.  Whether or not we are a popular band, that day meant the world to me because it left a mark in me that I accomplished something because I worked hard and focused on it until it became my reality.  Whether or not you are a musician or want to be one, I learned that day that you can accomplish your goals if you put in every ounce of your dedicated energy and passion.  Even though an independent tour is not like being famous or popular as a band, it's still a huge goal that took many years or preparation and dedication to get there.  If you stop wishing and take more action on your goals, you can achieve it as long as you have the will to fight for it.

Before my band accomplished this goal, we had all met by chance when starting the band.  After spontaneously running into someone at a guitar lesson, who is now my best friend, we bonded over our similar tastes in music and longing to play in a band.  We teamed up to start a band by recording demos, finding a drummer, lead guitarist, and vocalist.  After lots of practice, small gigs, and promoting, we became a band.  After about a year of playing local gigs, we gained attraction from nearby punk bands and punk rock social media publishers and got some small recognition in the community.

At the end of that day, we played our first show of the tour in Chicago in front of about 60 people and opened up for a band we looked up to.  That first day of our tour reminded us that we were all in this as a team.  Whether it was budgeting our money for food and gas, driving the van, giving directions, etc...we become much closer as friends and learned some great lessons as working musicians.