Interview with Brandon McGrath

Please check the other two interviews on my blog with Brandon...... thanks!!!!  

1. So it seems that every time we interview, you're in a new band and I am broken up with a girl, or with a new girl. Are bands as much drama as chicks?
- I would venture to say that bands and bitches supply an equal but different type of drama. Either way there is always the good times and the bad, as with anything in life.

2. Reno has been burning up in flames, getting decimated by earthquakes and shootings, yet all of our friends are still here and want to move back, if they left; why is that?
-Because the Reno/Tahoe area is a fucking great place to live! Being an adult in this town is different and fun, granted there is sometimes not alot to do, because we are a smaller town than SF or the like, but i enjoy my relaxation as much as i enjoy the playtime and there is plenty of both in our great city.  

3. Who is in your new band and how does this differ from all the rest? And can I just stand there and bob my head to the music, or will it evoke uncontrolled old-man mosh (and subsequent broken hips)?
-The new band is called Deadpool, named after the comic book character we all love/loved. It consists of Me(vocals), CJ Wintch(Beats/BackingVocs), Buck Feero(bass), Cole Hamel(Gitfiddle), and Joel Bedolla(stringmedleys). It is fun melodic HC with some inter-weavings of several different genres of music, and we are writing whatever sounds good and fun to us and what we think our "fans" will enjoy. There are a couple parts that i think might bring out the oldmanmosh in you my good friend!  

4. Did the interwebz ruin the underground, or is it a way to find what is cool, new, creative and original first? Shit, at least tattoos still hurt.......
-Accessibility, or a lack thereof, is what made the “underground” interesting and fun to be a part of. As soon as the Internet revolutionized the way people market themselves and whatever they were selling, it made everything accessible and lost the intrinsic value of having to know something or someone involved, and learning of it word of mouth. Now anyone can just point and click their way through life. People then, and now, were quick to adopt trends and styles based on whatever they googled that day and that is why we are constantly surrounded by posers, sellouts, dweebs, and fakes these days. Sometimes I wish the Internet would just die; but then I realize I need a new pair of shoes and have to go to Zappos because they have more color-ways and a dope selection son!  

5. I asked you this in your first interview - I wondered what you would be doing in 10 years! Well, its been five, how has life changed? Besides getting sexier as you age?
-Running 2 businesses, 2 dogs/kids, practically married because I have been with the same girl for so long. If anything has changed it has been for the better though. I am 30 years old now and have done and seen a lot, but there is still so much that I want to accomplish and do before I leave this earth. I crossfit as much as I can, and I am being diligent, finally, about getting back in shape. Things are looking up my friend.  

6. What is the answer to our global energy crisis? Or is there one?
-Nuclear, solar, wind, geothermal and proper responsible regulation and usage of these types of energy could run our whole country if properly implemented with sound infrastructure. Our government and people are however still hooked on oil because the transition to these alternative fuels, and methods of energy production, are not being facilitated by the main energy companies of America and the world. Like they say we vote with our dollars and unless the proletariat gets unlazy all of a sudden, and quits using oil/coal, then nothing will change. Such is life.  

7. The Constitution has 27 amendments, which one is the most important?
-I would have to say the first, of course, because it outlines our basic rights as citizens and protects us against a tyrannical government. After that the reconstruction amendments 13,14,15 are the most important by far; ending slavery, allowing everyone to vote, due process, citizenship, all the good stuff that makes our nation a great place to be from.  

8. How do I tell someone that I gave you a foot massage and that Im not gay..... AT ALL? Is it as difficult as telling someone you LIKE to rollerblade?
-You just tell them, and then if they talk shit you know they are insecure in their sexuality and probably not good people anyway! Foot massage bros for life!

9. I don't really get angry anymore, I've learned to channel it in different ways, therefore I have been pretty successful in the game of life lately; does anger drive you?
-I love anger sometimes, it has its places, although few and far between as we grow older. Rationality and a cool head are almost always the high road. Channeling anger is still using anger in my opinion, and in-fact, channeling it is what separates the mature and tactful from the irrational and ignorant.

10. Who runs Barter Town?
-You know who, MASTER BLASTER!!!  

11. And now, the ubiquitous straightedge question - how has it changed in Reno, or it is just like it always was?
-So different, so contrived, and bordering on meaningless sometimes when I see the current face of people involved with straightedge. My answer to your earlier question about the Internet applies to this a lot. I wish it was how it used to be, however I have the pride of knowing I was a part of it when it wasn’t cool and wasn’t defaced by shitty people. If you don’t know the lyrics to “the discipline” by Earth Crisis, you’re not straightedge bro! hahah  

12. People are people, but why do you think so many that we know have a heightened sense of entitlement? Where the fuck did that come from?
-This town breeds that in people, hence the term “reno famous.” Most people with that attitude are going nowhere fast and the people that deserve to have that chip on their shoulder usually are the ones who don’t even know the definition of entitlement. I’m here to party and chew bubble gum, and Francona stole all my double bubble so I guess it’s party time.

13. Dude, I asked you this last time also - have you had your defining day?
-I can definitely say I have grown as a man in this world a little bit every day, however, I still feel like there is something out there that I haven’t accomplished yet that will be my defining moment/day.  

14. Finally, give propers to those you want and Ill tag the shit outta them on this post and in my blog. And see you for the fights this weekend!!!!
-Big ups to my brother Jess Brown on his way to being a Nurse and doing big things best friends are hard to come by and I am proud that you are one of them. My good friends that I have known for years and consider brothers: Clifton Kump, Adam Krause, Troy Elizares, Rob Thompson, Allan Llaguno, Matthew Baker, Jose Galvan, Nate Weatherbee, The Wintch Brothers(Brad,CJ,Scotty), Matt “Tiny” Lowe, Elzo, Layne Kolbet, and a few I may have forgotten but will always be there for if ever needed. I love you all and hope the coming years bring us all prosperity, fortitude, and health. My SD family: Nicky Smalls, Gary Kindle, Chris Martin, Conan Dunn, Christian Morales, Marcellous “Brian Georgia Bulldog” Freeman, All the Barwest homies, the Victory MMA homies, and everyone that I have a good time with when I am in that town. Thank you all for the laughs and random fun we all have had, you are all the reason why I love that city. To my new Band mates CJ Wintch, Joel Bedolla, Cole Hamel, and Buck Feero, I am stoked to be doing music with you guys and if we stay diligent and have fun we will accomplish a lot with this project. Don’t hesitate to change things up or pass on criticism, because from it may come greatness! Haha. To my Crossfit Family: Thank you all for pushing me and encouraging me to strive for improvement every wod. It means the world to me, please believe! Adam Crull, Chris king, Ty Jones, and the rest of the gang at CFI. Much love to my sister Julie McGrath for being an amazing sister and someone I am proud to be not only a brother, but best friends with. Europe was unforgettable and thanks for putting up with me for 3 weeks straight! Moms, Barbara McGrath, you are beautiful and stronger than you give yourself credit for. Please take this year to start to realize your potential and do things that you have always wanted to do, but never got around to, because you doubted yourself or had an excuse not too. Me and Julie love you tons and really love to see you happy and well. Valerie Foley, I love you and always will. I hope this year is great for us and that you can progress even more to becoming the happy, beautiful girl that I have the privilege to see. No one understands you like I do and I hope you realize that, whatever problems, whatever you need, I got you, nothing else matters unless you let it matter. I'm sure there is other people I would like to mention however I don’t want to take up your whole blog so I will leave you with this. If a man is measured by the company he keeps, then they're gonna need a bigger tape measure, because the one that they use doesn’t measure into the echelon of awesomeness that me and my friends have attained!

No regrets

I rarely write on here anymore. It seems that my pursuit of the status and dollar that I used to despise so much has caught me in its clutches; it this the life we choose as we get older? Whats the reasoning behind it? Why do we ALL become what we despise so much? When do we take a step back and realize that we are, in fact, all that we hated.

I think it is that we hate the unattainable; I might have realized this because I've had so many damn convos about this subject lately, that maybe its just a light that needed to be shone on me. Its weird how the universe works, because these "moments of clarity" seem to come just at the right time.

I write a lot about missed opportunities and getting older and basically just regretting the things I DID NOT do. Well, as I get older still, I learn that it was for a bigger plan, that maybe I can make a mark in a different way and influence people with my perceived mistakes. Its a weird reality, but a reality that I see more and more everyday, at least for my life. Maybe writing and publishing these random writings is part of the plan?

I guess the point of this is to understand that the only thing you can count on is yourself and to do YOUR thing, day-in and day-out, peoples opinions be damned. That's not to say you should discount everything everybody says, as the special people around you have your back, but really, just do your thing and learn, every day.

Maybe there are no missed opportunities...... there certainly are no regrets........