January 20, 2008 - 11:15 a.m.
Sunday's were special.
We would meet up at the studio early in the morning. Dave & I would get there, then Chad would stagger in, shades on, wearing his black and gold New Orleans Saints hat.
Joon would follow soon after, pushing his bike along side of him with his backpack full of chocolate dough nuts and chocolate milk. It had to be Purity brand milk. Nothing but the best in the south. Chad would pop in Three-Six Mafia on Johnny's recording rig, and the conversation would get started. Usually something about someone from the past that one of them ran into at the local Walmart. Or a girl that had the unfortunate run in on one of our "inside" jokes.
Joon would eventually get behind his drum kit and do warm up rolls and set his gear accordingly. Chad would have to replace a broken string from the night before, and Dave would set the knobs on his amp.
Meanwhile, I would be in the hallway leading to the bathroom doing warm up growls and yells. I would walk up and down the hall while they were in the practice space, singing and yelling whatever song that popped in my head.
Getting everything together took a little bit, but I always knew when it was time to get my ass back in the room and pick up the mic.
The things that happened next would be pure magic. I don't know how it happened or why, it just did. Joon would rock out a beat, Dave would follow suit, then Chad. I would have stacks of writings in front of me, trying to find something that would go along with what I was hearing. Mashing up different verses and different choruses to make it sound like I had just wrote it.
We would be at it for a few hours or so, and all the while, Johnny would somehow sneak in, undetected, and try to capture the moments. We would take a break, drink a beer or Sun Drop, and eat some peanuts while Johnny ran through the cuts we just kicked out. Finding bits of the "magic" to use in a final product of a song. We would take the pieces, and formulate them into something special.
Towards the late afternoon, we would have other members from bands we shared the practice space with, come in, drink a beer, and hear what we were doing. Before I knew it, the couch would be full of people and kids from the other practice rooms, hanging out, watching us. There were times when we would have to lock the doors to the room in order to get anything done. We liked everyone hanging out watching, but it's hard to completely get your artistic side out when eyes are peering at you.
By the end of the evening, we were all worn out and needed food to bring us back around.
That would be a typical Sunday (or Saturday) for the Bad Seedz. Those days, are sadly gone. I was thinking about them earlier and wanted to somehow, document them. I never could have thought back then, that these days weren't going to last forever. We were on top of our game and nothing seemed like it could or would stop it, and nothing or no one could, but us. And ultimately that was the case. We destroyed the best creative outlet we had.
In 2004, we all got back together for another run and to see if we still had it. And in the 4 years we were split up, we came back and picked up where we left off. And it sounded the same. We didn't lose the magic we created before. But we did lose the comradeship we had. Joon had distanced himself too far from us, and it didn't feel the same.
Chad and Dave still keep their musical brotherhood together. I've drifted away and its been my fault. They have been trying to get me to play, but I sink into myself and come up with one too many excuses.
No one has heard from Joon in almost a year.
I honestly believe the Seedz are not done. I've been carrying the torch since we started back in 1999, and I continue to do so today. I think our time with Joon is done. It's going to be a long time before those bridges are rebuilt and wounds have healed.
Where theres a will, theres a way.
Keep the faith.
