Diary of a Band: Odessa Stair.

I started this band because I had to. It wasn’t out of boredom or some get-rich-and-famous scheme. I’m never bored, and somehow I don’t see my music getting played on iPod commercials. Odessa Stair came to me very suddenly and has demanded my attention ever since.

I was laid off from my job on October 1, 2008. I received a nice severance package and I hated working there anyway, so I was eager for a new start. Of course, when I began searching for a new job, I realized that I was merely one of thousands of people in the same boat - people with more experience, people who went to schools that didn’t have a horse in their faculty, people who didn’t put “fuck” in their cover letters. I hadn’t received so many rejections since my eighth grade dance.

I was quickly disillusioned; this was not how I was going to find my calling. I also figured that no matter what “exciting career path” I took on, it’d still just be me sitting in front of a desk. I spent less time seeking employment and more time playing guitar. It was a nice way to distract myself from the grim job market. For the first time ever, I was writing songs. I was playing guitar for hours on end, often forgetting meals, which is a great way to cut down on grocery costs.

I was up late one night and reading about how bands like Hüsker Dü and the Butthole Surfers just hopped in a van and played music wherever they could. That’s when I felt it. It was this feeling of desperation that I had never felt before. It was no longer Playing music is fun, but Playing music is the only thing that matters. I stayed up until sunrise conceptualizing my dream band. It didn’t have a name yet, but it would be fast and wild and beautiful. This would be my life from now on. I had to find some musicians.

I sure do reek of pretension, don’t I? But look at it this way: in another year, I’ll either be living on my sister’s couch earning minimum wage, or I’ll be riding in a van through the United States. I’ll be hungry, poor, and probably developing scurvy, but I’ll be beaming from the kickass show we did in some Wisconsin basement for a fistful of Quaaludes. Good thing I’m great at making decisions.

Next week we’ll talk about band members. Who came? Who stayed? Who was too high to show up for practice?

~Steve