Monday, Monday.
It's Monday morning. I woke up early this morning, around 6am, and, as I usually do, went for a walk. A glass of water and a morning walk is my favourite way to start the day. Where I live, there are lots of great options for walking. Sometimes I just walk around the neighbourhood and check out the houses and parks. Sometimes I head up to Queen Elizabeth Park, keeping an eye out for coyotes and old Chinese people doing their morning Tai Chi. Other times I head down to False Creek and stroll along the seawall, catching the reflection of the morning sun in the windows of the tall buildings across the water, day-dreaming while checking out the sailboats.
Then I get home, put on some coffee and make a smoothie. My favourite mix in the morning is banana and mixed berries with a splash of almond milk, protein powder, fresh squeezed lemon juice and diced up ginger. Yum.
Then I start work.
But not today.
Friday was my last day on the job. Over the weekend I finished up the last bit of paperwork I needed to do (expense reports), and once I hit the 'send' button on that final email, I was done.
I have no idea what I will be doing next, but I do have a few ideas. This morning, when I sat down at my desk and opened up my laptop, I started thinking about all the different jobs I have done over the years. It's quite a lot. So, while I sipped my morning coffee, I wrote out a list. I'm pretty sure I missed a few, but this is what I came up with:
Pharmacy Bicycle Delivery Boy -- This was my high school job, after school a couple of days a week, riding my bike, taking elderly people their medications.
Dishwasher -- Also in high school, I got a job as a dishwasher in a restaurant. On my first night, the chef (known for his temper) threw a hot frying pan across the room into the sink where I was washing dishes. I walked out.
Jean store -- A teenager selling jeans to other teenagers in a mall. Barf.
Arcade Attendant -- When I was attending Ryerson University, I got a part-time job working in the university's arcade. I spent most of my time playing Star Trek TNG Pinball. The guy who managed the arcade was later arrested for inappropriate behaviour related to his spanking fetish. All the employees were questioned and a psychologist was sent in to talk to everyone. This is actually a rather interesting / humorous story. Remind me to tell it another time.
Busboy -- This job would prove to be a major turning point in my life. Through a friend of a friend, I got a job as a bus boy at a busy craft beer pub in downtown Toronto. It was one of the originals. I kicked ass and ended up working there for years, bussing, waiting tables, bartending, and eventually managing. Amazing staff. It was a magical time and place.
Magazine Publisher / Editor -- Somewhere in there I started up my own little hip-hop magazine, which I ran for three years. I've got lots of stories about this…
Freelance Music Journalist / Columnist -- So, doing my 'zine got me really excited about writing about hip-hop. At the time (mid 90s - early 00s) the scene was exploding, and there was so much ground to cover. I ended up writing a short-lived column in a Toronto hip-hop magazine (another story for later) and a long-term column in a magazine I'm sure you've heard of called Vice. Lots of stories there. I'll get to it. I also freelanced (reviews, interviews) for a bunch of other music magazines (Urb, Spin, etc.) in Canada and the USA.
Concert Promoter -- I had no idea what I was doing, but there were a lot of amazing artists, putting out brilliant albums, who local promoters were ignoring. So, I started to promote a few concerts. Some legendary moments followed. I also co-founded the longest-running weekly hip-hop night in Toronto. Those were beautiful times.
Publicist -- Then I quit everything, moved to LA for a summer, slept on a friend's couch, and worked under the table for a music publicist out there. That was fun.
A&R Rep -- Back in Toronto, I worked as an A&R Rep for Universal Music. This was a crazy job. The interview process took months and anyone who was anyone in Toronto's music scene was interviewing for the gig. Somehow, I managed to be one of the two guys chosen. What an experience it was at that place! Oh, and no, I don't want to hear your demo.
Prop Department -- Somewhere in there my buddy Derek hooked me up doing a couple of commercials with his crew, working in the prop department. I remember working on an IKEA Christmas commercial where we were up on ladders in a blizzard stringing Christmas lights.
Bartending -- I burnt out on the music business and felt like I needed to spend some time working on my own music. For years I had been killing it in front of crowds at freestyle nights, and people kept asking me if I was going to put out any of my own music. I decided to write some songs and record an album. In order to do so, I had to quit the music business and go back to bartending. My song "Woodwork" is about this. I'll post the link below.
Television Host -- A few things happened that led me to move to Montreal. One, I wanted to record music with my buddy Tim, who was producing amazing beats. We would eventually call ourselves OK Cobra. Two, I fell in love with a beautiful singer in Montreal, who shared a little of her magic with me. Three, I got offered a gig as co-host of a local entertainment television show. So, I quit everything, and moved to Montreal. The show was fun. Times were at times tough for me in that town, but we got our first album out of the deal. I wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe one thing.
Aviation Company -- I worked at an aviation company doing data entry and paperwork and stuff like that. It was pretty cool. They paid good money and I could go in whenever I wanted. Sometimes I'd just go in at night, bring a sandwich and a couple bottles of beer, put on BBC Radio and hammer out several hours of paperwork. I was really into BBC Radio at the time. I was working on my British accent. I've lost it a bit, but for a while there I had it down.
Cook -- I worked at a restaurant in Montreal owned by Sam Roberts' brother. The irony that just a year before I was an A&R guy at the label that just signed Sam Roberts, and then a year later I'm making minimum wage and being treated like shit at his brother's restaurant. Life is funny. It was my choice though. I had it pretty good and chose to leave because of an undeniable urge to make art. I've never really been to concerned with the "status" of whatever job I'm doing. I've had some really "cool" ones, like A&R or music columnist, but none of that's really ever meant anything to me. Or, more accurately, when I realized that the status of a job did mean something to me, I would leave, seeking depth over surface values, truth over ego.
Drug Dealer -- Okay, okay, this one I don't know if I can really talk about, but there was a time in my life when I was living in Montreal and I could not pay rent or buy groceries, and a guy I knew was involved in some stuff, and threw me a lifeline. I never was in the same room with any drugs. I worked a pager and a cell phone and that was it. I'm not proud of it, I wouldn't do it again, and it was only for a very short period of time. I was desperate. I was hungry. Oh man, I do have some crazy stories from this experience, but I think I've got to keep them all to myself!
Bartending -- So, back to this (do you see a theme here?). I moved back to Ontario, worked at one terrible place (with some amazing people) for a few months, and then joined an awesome spot called the Alex P. Keaton, recently opened up by a couple of friends of mine from high school. I was here for a few years, some of the best times of my life, a real golden era.
Rapper -- So, we self-produced a CD, then signed to an indie label who re-released it, shot a couple of videos, and toured a lot. Fun times. Across Canada, into the states a bit, and to Europe a few times. So fun. Many stories to come.
Acting -- During this whole time I was exploring acting as well, did a couple of short films in Montreal, and then a few more back in Ontario. Sparked a love that I still need to pursue. I remember one moment, I was laying on the ground, fake blood pouring out of my mouth after I'd just been beaten up, freezing my ass off in a light jacket as the ground was still frozen, and the director asked me "It's freezing, are you okay down there?" and I thought to myself "Oh yeah, this is for me!"
Bartending -- More bartending, while being a musician / artist / actor vagabond, I spent a few years bartending my way around Ontario in between albums and tours. London, Toronto, and a couple of small towns: Bayfield, Tobermory. So good. Many friends. Sunsets and bicycle rides. Then more bartending once I moved to BC.
Nanny -- When i moved to Vancouver I spent a few months working as a nanny for my twin nieces. This was magic. Learned how to change diapers, feed babies, and spent lots of time going for walks and playing in the park. The most magical time in my life. I also recorded two albums during this time. Both of which have been collecting dust for a few years. I'm still working on getting them out. Soon I hope.
Territory Manager (Beer Rep) -- And then my most recent gig, as a Territory Manager for a beer company. This is the job I just finished on Friday.
So, wow, yeah, that's quite the list. I know I'm forgetting some stuff too. I'm not sure what any of this means. Some of seems deliberate, some of it most certainly is not.
One thing I've learned through all this -- different jobs, different places -- is that people really are all the same in the most basic ways. We all have to eat, sleep, shit, drink water. And we all have our own story. I've got friends who are rap stars and famous actors and friends who are investment bankers or teachers or bartenders or starving artists or tradespeople or students. I've got friends who are rich and friends who are poor and I love the fact that I love them all equally, and they've all got great stories to tell, and they all need those stories to be heard, and i love to be the one to hear them. And share them. Which I will continue to do.
Sorry this was a bit of a long post today, but yeah, like I said, it was a bit of a long list.
Happy Monday,
Ryan
Here's a link that song that I told you about, "Woodwork," which is dedicated to all the member of the "creative class" who are working in restaurants to fund their next project: http://okcobra.bandcamp.com/track/woodwork
P.S. Do you have any fun / interesting work stories ? What would you say was your best and worst work experience ? Did you always know exactly what you wanted to do or did you bounce around a little bit and fall into different things ?
stormborns
vaporwave