Spose

Spose will soon release a new album on a major label, Universal Republic. Happy Medium is not it. The answer to the question "Why?" is the subject of another story (conveniently found here).
Regardless, if the likes of "Pop Song" and "Can't Get There from Here" and "Into Spose" are major-label wrong, I don't want to hear what's major-label right.
The greatness of Spose is that he's exactly the guy who made "I'm Awesome" and so much more than that. He can revel in the ridiculous without being a clown. He's aggressive, passive-aggressive, silly, sarcastic, dead-serious, a chameleon, staying the same shape (a smirk) internally as his outside flutters through the veneers he layers on the window through which you view him.
Or, to quote "Into Spose," which features a magnificent guest turn on the chorus from Space Vs. Speed, "all the gangster rappers want me dead/The artsy rappers want me dead from a zombie plague." This song also contains the line, "shit, I must have jerked off Jesus, cuz I'm so blessed." That's the goods.
Ultimately, the irony of "I'm Awesome" only works if Spose, indeed, is awesome. Just imagine the ego necessary to pull this whole persona off. To self-identify as a weed smoker as tightly as a predicate nominative, to refer to yourself as Peter Sparker (you know, like the secret identity of the weed-smokin'est superhero?), to be the absolute best at self-denigration and self-slander (the remix of "I'm Awesome" here with Mac Lethal has even more verses in the same vein), and still manage to come off sounding smarter and more impressive than just about everyone else.
That kind of complete lack of self-doubt is contagious. Somehow, he's created for himself a secret identity in plain sight.
I wrote about the brilliance of "Pop Song" in the review of this year's GFAC 207 disc, but it needs restating. Not only does it have two choruses of impeccable quality, one Weezer rock, the other Dr. Luke dance hit. Not only does Spose elegantly walk the fine line between pompous high-minded dick and completely sympathetic and lovable tortured-artist-type. Not only is it just a blast to listen to. But it's also the truth.
Every fan you have that attracted the label in the first place loves you for what you are and you hear, "Spose, you're not fucking Rick Ross/We want something more like Ke$ha, 'Tik Tok' . . . Really Spose, would it be that cataclysmic/To make a couple songs for top 40 and rhythmic?"
Could anything be more depressing?
But does anyone in the real world care about this shit? Does it only play to music nerds like me? Is this the "substance" he claims to need in this album's title track? Or is it just more rapping about rapping, the empty, intellectually bankrupt crap that Spose is supposedly railing against?
Sometimes, it really doesn't matter. The way the sultry, gal-vocal "You can't get there from here" line is delivered in the midst of that song's chorus is the perfect capper to a track that's undeniably catchy, even if it's mostly just "look at me: I 'made it' from Maine. Isn't that crazy?" - Portland Phoenix

Ryan "Spose" Peters. Though you may not be familiar with his name, you're probably familiar with his current hit, "I'm Awesome"—a self-produced, self-deprecating rap song from his 2009 mixtape, We Smoked It All, that debuted at No. 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart last week and moved more than 33,000 digital downloads to land in the Top 30 on the iTunes Top Songs list. Unfortunately, that's probably just about all you know about the 24-year-old rapper from Wells, Maine—because despite the fact that he recently inked a deal with Universal Republic, Spose has taken the path less traveled when it comes to making his mark. His presence on rap blogs is essentially non-existent, he still lives in Maine, and, outside of a few local press clippings, he's gotten almost no national media attention. So VIBE.com caught up with Spose by phone (where the rapper was kicking it in the parking lot outside of a Taco Bell in his hometown, no less) to find out more about the man behind one of the fastest-growing songs in the country.


VIBE: You're at an interesting place in your career right now. You're a rapper with a huge hit song on your hands, but it feel likes a lot of people out there still have no idea who you really are. So let me start by asking this: Who the hell is Spose?
Spose: [Laughs] I've been a full-fledged independent artist since 2006. I've been grinding and doing live shows. I probably did 100 of them per year in Maine the last two years. But I have to be honest: To think a year ago that my song would be Top 30 on iTunes would have been bewildering. I didn’t plan for this. I mean, two months ago, I was delivering pizza and I had just gone back to college to get my English degree at Suffolk University in Boston.

How did you actually start rapping seriously in Maine? It definitely doesn't seem like the ideal place to launch a hip-hop career.
I was in a band in eighth grade in 2000 and they kicked me out because I was too bossy. So I had this dude from my hometown named DJ Food Stamp, who is now the house DJ for UndergroundHipHop.com, who kind of mentored me. He turned me on to a lot of stuff like Dilated People, Jurassic 5, early OutKast, and Jay-Z. I started trying to rhyme myself and I sucked. But I spent all of high school rhyming everyday and by the time I graduated, I had really found my voice as an MC.

Did you have a studio available to you during high school?
Nope. [Laughs] I recorded most of it right at my mom's house. I had a computer and a Radio Shack mic. It wasn't until my junior year of high school that I ended up recording my first song at a legit studio. I caught the bug and started working on my debut album, Preposterously Dank, which I released in 2007. And then I started touring.

Let's talk about "I'm Awesome." The first thing people recognize is the beat—the xylophone, the accordion, the drums. It's a strange combination. How did you come up with it?
I recorded that in my basement. I did the drums on an MPC and played the keyboard to incorporate the other sounds. I actually borrowed the keyboard from my grandfather. [Laughs] And I ended up only using intentionally corny instruments. It's a pan flute, an xylophone and an accordion. It doesn't get any cheesier than that.

The subject matter is pretty out there, too. The song is called "I'm Awesome" but you're basically making fun of yourself throughout the course of it. Outside of just being a white rapper, it's one of the things that's helped fuel comparisons to Eminem and Asher Roth.
Conceptually, the track was an experiment to see how far I could take it. Though it might not sound like it, the record was a well-thought-out idea on my behalf. It was intentional for me to self-deprecate myself and throw myself under the bus to see how far I could take it, but at the same time, I still wanted it to come across as entertaining and captivating.

How did it end up getting played on the local radio station?
It's funny. We don't have a rap station in Maine. There used to be one when I was growing up but it disappeared shortly after my first album dropped. So the first time I heard it was actually on a local show called Spinout on 94.3 WCYY, which is the rock station I grew up listening to. They'd never played a rap record, so I didn't even think there was a chance to be on a local show. But once they played it, people started calling in and reacting to it.

Did you think it would become as big as it has become?
Honestly, that cosign was as good as I thought I would do. My hope was that I could use that radio play in my bio and maybe get some shows in New Hampshire or even Boston and push myself as an independent musician, step-by-step. I never thought I was going to climb the ladder to the top, escalator-style, you know? [Laughs] - Vibe.com

Regardless of what people might think, Maine is actually the perfect place for unique hip hop.

Think about it…

The state is a bit secluded and strange. However, it's only an hour from Boston. There's a massive wooded area as well as mountains and beaches galore so there's no shortage of inspiration. Stephen King also calls it home and who's more prolific and creative than he is? Plus, you're not bothered by the same distractions that plague most "urban" artists in "urban areas". How many drive-bys and drug-deals-gone bad are going to happen in a state with such a huge moose population? Not many…

With that said, Wells Maine-native Spose has crafted his own brand of hip hop that's as groundbreaking as it is gargantuanly funny.

Spose fires off hilarious self-deprecating rhymes that are as punchy as they are poetic. He rips our Facebook obsession with a smile on debut single, "I'm Awesome," and he paints vivid lyrical pictures with each and every verse of his debut album The Audacity!. The songs bare an organic rock 'n' roll flava with live instrumentation and a genuine fire. Think Jay-Z meets Weezer and you've got Spose. He's Maine's Slim Shady, that's for sure…

Spose sat down with ARTISTdirect.com editor and Dolor author Rick Florino for an exclusive interview about The Audacity!, being timelessly funny in rap, why he steers clear of politics in music and so much more…

Even though you're rapping about a lot of current phenomena, there's still a timeless quality in the sense of humor that will allow it to hold up years from now.

You're right in a way. I think it'll translate in a few years even though a lot of the references are current. It's not so much about the in-the-moment references, because who knows if Twitter is going to be around in four years? Even if the content doesn't relate to what's happening ten years from now, it still captures a moment in time perfectly.

Did this perception just come organically in the studio or did you set out to make a record that completely broke from the hip hop norm?

I think it's a healthy mix of both. It absolutely comes naturally to me because I think one of my main skills outside of rapping—even if you're just talking to me and we're making jokes—is my awareness of what's relevant and irrelevant in pop culture and out of pop culture. I know there's no use making a reference to some political scandal that's going on right now because in three years no one's going to give a shit. I have an awareness of what's worth referencing and how to get the most out of a reference. I think that's one of my main skills as far as what my content is. I've know that for about eight years now as an MC that's what I want to do. It pretty much comes naturally to me, but it's intentional. It's not like I'm not consciously aware of it.

What's the story behind "I'm Awesome?" It sounds like there's something deeper there.

Thank you! As far as where the song came from, I've always had self-deprecating lyrics because I don't take myself that seriously. I've played hundreds of live shows and I know on stage that type of stuff gets a nice response. I knew that before "I'm Awesome." When I went to write it, I stuck to my skill of self-deprecation and tried to stay on the topic for the whole record. I came up with that hook in like five seconds and, from there, I just filled out the verses around it. I produced the beat to intentionally be corny as fuck [Laughs]. Your compliment and observation that there's something deeper is absolutely accurate. To hear someone say that is the greatest thing I can get out of this record because it is social commentary. It's about how reliant we are on this shit. I'm poking fun at stuff people find to be so fucking important, and it really isn't in the grand scheme of things. It's minutia—Twitter, Facebook, obsession with celebrity and not really taking any time to live your own life. Shit like that is the underlying message of the record but, on the surface, it's just hilarious.

It shows that hip hop can be smart without getting overly political or message-conscious.

Exactly! Here's my whole shtick as an MC. I want my shit to be entertaining the first time you hear it, so you're like, "Awe sweet!" Maybe, there's something you latch on to and you pick out a line. But, I want you to be 40 or 50 listens in and still pick something out. The rhymes are kind of dense. If I'm saying something political or this or that, I never want to be preachy. I think political hip hop, as great as it was for Public Enemy, really misses its mark 99 percent of the time. Even your best underground MCs totally miss their mark with these half-assed pleas to feed the hungry and watch out the illuminati and this shit [Laughs]. I don't feel like it's that effective. It's not something I would waste my time on really. If you have a lot of opinions, I feel like there's a time and place for it and it's not in hip hop that's supposed to be enjoyable. At least I'll let someone else say it [Laughs].

Do you feel like your songs come together more like rock songs?

Absolutely! I play guitar. I play keyboards and I produce as much of my stuff as I can. I do come from that rock background and I do love those records. We were sitting in a room where they had a gold plaque for Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt. I was wildin' out because that's like my favorite album! At the same time, I saw a plaque for the Radiohead album Kid A. That's another one of my favorite albums! I feel if I can approach hip hop with a rock background, the songs come together organically and there's more to them than just a fucking loop and some rhymes. At the same time, if you break it down, it's just beats and rhymes. I really want to satisfy both sides of my musical interest in that respect. I feel like I have a license to go all over the place with the record and show everything I'm capable of. I'm really excited to broaden people's scopes. It'll be nice to expand the spectrum of what people think. I just want to give people music that they can enjoy and have fun with that they've never heard before. I released an independent album in 2007 called Preposterously Dank, and I'm looking at The Audacity! as my follow-up. It's my second album, and I made the record I wanted to make. It's a real independent underground hip hop album on a major label.

If you were to compare The Audacity! to a movie, what would you compare it to?

That's a great question! As far as the music being visual, in my rhymes, I would always use a proper noun as opposed to something vague. That might sound kind of nerdy [Laughs]. Instead of saying, "Drugs," if I can reference a specific drug I'll do that. If I can say a specific person instead of "She," I will so I can paint a picture even further in someone's mind. The better image you can give them of what you're going for, it's less convoluted and it's less up to them to decide what you're talking about. I'm really specific on purpose. I don't know if I could compare the record to a movie but hopefully it's just the story of my life. It's an autobiography that's all over the place. It covers the beginning until now. It's hopefully just "Spose — The Audacity: The Movie!"

It's surprising more rap doesn't come out of Maine.

Maine is such a great incubator for hip hop because when you go to a hip hop show, for instance in Boston, there are a lot of people mean-mugging with attitude. They're not really open to new shit. In Maine, if you get up on stage and you rock it, you're going to get respect to the point where you have an opportunity to get better and better and excel. The environment is more open to people experimenting and trying new shit. It's a real supportive scene. Regardless of where you're from, as long as you're honest in your rhymes you deserve to be heard. Maine is peaceful. If you walk out of your house at 10:30 at night, you can't hear a single thing. There's a lot of mystery. It's a great place to go on vacation and a great place to go hide a body [Laughs].

Being up there, you could totally do a concept record next.

As soon as I get the room to make a concept record, I'm right there! I'm describing life in the best details I can.

—Rick Florino
05.03.10 - ArtistDirect

By Maura Johnston
May 2, 2010 10:45 AM ET
During the daylight hours of the two-day New Jersey parking-lot festival known as the Bamboozle, attendees wander around the Meadowlands grounds, scoring rides on the Ferris wheel, signed merch or a free hug. But the nighttime portion of the festival is all about the performances, and this year Saturday night's focus was on the slightly battered institution that is American pop music.

As the sun dipped below the Jersey horizon, the Maine-bred MC Spose, whose self-deprecating debut single "I'm Awesome" blipped into the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this spring, played a brief set to a small but frenetic crowd. Aided by a hypeman, he seemed almost like an homage to the early '90s, with overzealous posturing borrowed from the Beastie Boys and unabashed tales of slacking that brought to mind Green Day's "Longview."

The miscreant pop star Ke$ha — who is also playing Sunday's installment of the fest — performed a brief set during which she ran through most of her debut Animal with a fair amount of expletive-filled energy (and two extremely enthusiastic backup dancers). Problems with the mix rendered her hits "Your Love Is My Drug" and "Tik Tok" overly bass-heavy and a bit lost outside of their studio-crafted context.

Heavily hyped MC Drake, whose career path from Degrassi: The Next Generation to the pop-rap world was assisted by Lil Wayne, came out for a set that felt a little bit like a disjointed mixtape: The first half relied heavily on run-throughs of the verses he's added to hits like the steely-eyed Kanye West/Eminem/Lil Wayne collaboration "Forever" and the Young Money showcase "Bedrock." Drake took on the seductive pose of the latter song for most of his set, inviting a young woman from the crowd up on stage for a bit of flirtation during slow jams like "A Night Off." He also noted to the women in the crowd that he would make dinner, light candles, run a bath, and give a massage to whichever lady could cure him of his single-guy status.

Drake dedicated his set to his jailed mentor, asking the crowd to rap along with Weezy's verse on his track "I'm Goin' In" to get it replayed on Hot 97, which he claimed was Wayne's prison listening of choice. The crowd obliged him. Perhaps buoyed by that response, Drake couldn't stop performing, coming out for multiple encores. As a result, his set didn't finish until about 30 minutes after it was scheduled to end. While this sort of enthusiasm would have been appreciated at a show headlined by Drake, the tight scheduling of the evening meant that each one of his indulgences delayed the night-closing set by Paramore on an adjacent stage. (To his credit, he did apologize to his "homeboys in Paramore" at one point, although he then proceeded to play for another 15 minutes.)

Once Paramore did take the stage, however, they blew away any memories of ungracious co-headliners. Despite some technical problems early in the band's set, the crowd was enraptured, hanging on every word by spitfire frontwoman Hayley Williams. Williams played the role of grateful rock star to the hilt, commanding the crowd in sing-alongs and taking some time out to sincerely thank the audience for sticking with her and her band through a series of Bamboozles (the band first played the festival in 2005).

The flame-haired Williams is one of the very few young frontwomen in rock these days, and it was hard not to think that the heavily female crowd singing along with Paramore hits like "That's What You Get" and "crushcrushcrush" was not only enjoying the guitar-heavy pop, but happy to see one of their own commanding the spotlight. At the show's end, Williams invited a young woman from the audience onstage to sing the bridge of the band's big hit "Misery Business" — a hard task for any singer, let alone one plucked out of a crowd with no warm-up. But she matched Williams' octave-leaping, and as the two of them closed the show with a hug, it was as if the young role model was sending a message: rock's glass ceiling is ready to be shattered once again.



Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/paramore-drake-rock-into-the-night-at-new-jerseys-bamboozle-20100502#ixzz1cau7IVSr - Rolling Stone

While blowing up in a hurry is a musician's dream, when it actually happens, it can make for a bit of an awkward transition. Take Wells rapper Spose, who, after making a goofy, toy-keyboarded gem called "I'm Awesome," is suddenly known to most Mainers for his most unsightly qualities.

Spizzy Spose didn't exactly draw it up this way. His debut, "Preposterously Dank," had an impact, but in his own mind he was still flying below radar when he and Cam Groves put together their flashy, funny mixtape, "We Smoked It All."

But what Spose has that most melodramatic hacks don't is a razor wit and a fearlessness about turning his scathing eye on himself. That's why "I'm Awesome" works so well. It's a little pan-flute ditty -- and it can certainly wear on the brain after a million repetitions -- but as a spokesman inside a community that endures nine months of a dark winter, Spose is yukkin' it up, making his plight fun for all to observe.

Some of the topics covered, like addiction and depression, are deathly serious struggles for a lot of people in Maine. But with his mellifluous rhymes, Spose works the same material and gets folks giggling. That's how a script is flipped. Stream "I'm Awesome" at www.myspace.com/spizzyspose.

Talk about the response to "I'm Awesome."

A few of my songs had been played on the radio before, but none of them had caught fire like "I'm Awesome." WCYY started playing it, and things skyrocketed from there. It's been No. 1 on their Top 5 at 5 three times in the past week. Even the pop radio station, The Q (WJBQ), has been playing it a little bit. Ever since it's taken off, I've sold out of both the mixtape and my first album. People are really reacting to this song, and my fan base has gone bananas, kiwis and oranges. I don't even know what the average Spose fan looks like now that I've been exposed to this large of an audience -- an enthusiastic audience at that. I'm friggin' loving it.

When you were collecting rhymes for the verses, did you think the song would blow up like this?

Hell, no. I did not expect the song to blow up like this when I was writing the rhymes. I probably wouldn't have admitted to having back zits had I known every person in southern Maine was going to hear the record.

What is this tune about?

The song "I'm Awesome" is a fun, sarcastic record about how lame I really am. A lot of rap records are full of bragging. I wanted to completely flip that idea and do the opposite -- put my faults on full display. Another thing about rap is that everybody -- rappers, DJs, producers, etc. -- strive for credibility and to be seen as "skilled" at what they do. Being a rapper first and foremost, I'm no different. So even though I'm presenting my shortcomings, I'm doing it in a manner that proves I'm lyrically talented with dense wordplay and clever references. That was my aim with the track. So on the surface, it's a record about me being lame. Underneath, it was an attempt to prove I'm better than all these forgettable emcees.

When you "talk to yourself on your Facebook wall," what do you say?

Oh, all kinds of stuff. I mostly just fantasize on there about getting Rob Caldwell to sing the words to "I'm Awesome" in the official music video for the song. Get at me, Rob.

How did this track make it onto WCYY?

WCYY DJ Mark Curdo has supported me since I put out "Preposterously Dank" in 2007. The day I finished this record, I e-mailed it to Mark. The day our mixtape debuted at No. 1 on the Bull Moose charts, Mark played it for the program director at WCYY, and he really liked it and put it in rotation -- which was such an honor to me, having grown up listening to WCYY. Mark, Rob and Robin at CYY all started playing the record, calls started coming in, people reacted, and now its No. 1. Shout out to Ben Sawyer from Boombazi for introducing me to Mark Curdo years ago.

Talk about collaborating with DJ Foodstamp over the years. What does he contribute on "I'm Awesome?"

DJ Foodstamp is from Wells, like me. Growing up, he was always a source of both inspiration and admiration for me. Watching him DJ, knowing him personally and seeing his success with UndergroundHiphop.com really proved to me that good, high-quality hip-hop could come from anywhere -- not just New York or Los Angeles. Having him do the cuts on "I'm Awesome" gave me extra confidence in the record, because his stamp of approval, no pun intended, means the world to me. Whether playing live with Stamp, as we've done a lot in the past, or getting him on a record like "I'm Awesome," I'm always humbled and appreciative to work with a dude of such talent and professionalism.

Have you followed up on your mom's advice to get a gym membership and eat some vitamins?

No, dude, I have not. I just ate half a bag of Dove chocolates that my girlfriend left in her Christmas stocking. So I'm pretty much doing the opposite of that. Love you, ma!

How have different age groups responded to the mixtape, "We Smoked It All," with Cam Groves?

The response to "We Smoked It All," especially since "I'm Awesome" blew up, has been from people of all ages. I got 10-year-olds telling me to come play in their town. I got 50-year-old women adding me on Facebook because they think it's funny that I talked about Subway being expensive. I got family men telling me they listen to it in the car with their kids and they all love it. It's a trip, because ever since I released "Preposterously Dank" in 2007, my fan base has been primarily high school and college kids. This is a whole new world to me, and I'm anxious to see what it's like once I get out there with my band and start playing again (Feb. 27 at Empire Dine & Dance in Portland).

Is "the best rapper in Maine" a title that's worth anything to you?

I know it might seem foolish to some people outside of the hip-hop community, but yes, that title is worth a lot to me. To say no would be a huge disrespect to emcees I've grown up freestyling and writing with, kids I know who struggle every day to make their dream a reality -- friends of mine like the Educated Advocates from Waterville, my friends Luch & Eliza, my man JJ King, the multi-talented Mr. Harps, my friend Cam Groves, a lot of the emcees who rhyme every Wednesday at the Big Easy's open-mic night. I'm honored and humbled to be considered for that title.

When can we expect the follow-up to "Preposterously Dank?"

I'm hard at work on it right now, and it will be out before the end of 2010. It is my goal to not only please the fans of "Preposterously Dank" but to blow that album out of the water with my sophomore LP. Keep it bimpin!

Mike Olcott is a freelance writer who lives in Portland. - Portland Press Herald

Ryan "Spose" Peters hasn't been shot nine times and doesn't boast about his street rep.

Maine's reigning champion of hip-hop is "coming straight out of Wells" and is a true musician who doesn't pretend to be anything but himself. Spose is only 24 but has already been rapping for 10 years. In ninth grade, he formed a rap group with his current hype man/backup singer, Stiky-1.

"Him and I started a rap group ... not so much as a joke, but to see how we could do," says Spose, "Let's be realistic here; we were some 14-year-old white kids from the suburbs."

Since those early beginnings, Spose has worked on perfecting his skills and has toured around northern New England with a full live band. He has played shows in Boston, as well as New Hampshire. His favorite place to play, however, is Maine.

"The music scene is better in Maine," says Spose, "I know people want it."

Since he is self-promoted and managed, Spose also likes the flexibility offered by the smaller Maine scene, as well as the guaranteed attendance and what he calls incredibly positive response of the local crowds.

"I play places where I know we're gonna bring people out," says Spose, "I think we've fared very successfully in Maine."

He credits this success to the fun-loving atmosphere of his live shows. He praises his band, DJ and Stiky-1, for their ability to improvise on the spot.

"We bring it," says Spose, "Our shows are rooted in having a good time."

While fun is the ever-present theme in his music, Spose always keeps his music about who he is and where he comes from. He admires both Notorious B.I.G. and John Steinbeck for their ability to "put life into concise descriptions."

"What I strive for is to write good nonfiction in these rap songs," says Spose, "I don't think you can write good non-fiction if it's not based in fact and reality and what you know. My subject matter is my own life."

This genuinely local vibe is apparent in many of his song titles, such as "Wells Maine in the House." Local inside jokes about Maine litter his verses.

"We make fun, relatable rap music for people that don't really have a place in rap music," says Spose.

This accessible sound has worked with Maine listeners. He was voted "Maine's Best Hip-Hop Act" for 2008 and 2009. His new single, "I'm Awesome," has been featured on WJBQ's "Q It or Screw It" segment and has entered the rotation for play on WCYY.

His new album collaboration with Cam Groves, "We Smoked It All," can be found at all Bullmoose Music locations.

For the future, Spose has "seven billion goals and aspirations." Plans for the future include finishing up an English degree at Suffolk University in Boston and continuing to raise his newborn son.

His main goal is "to make enough money doing music, which is the thing I love, to survive," he says.

"I don't want to be a white dude rapping when I'm 40. ... That can't be my ultimate plan realistically," says Spose, "I need to diversify myself where I get to put my real skills into practice which, I believe, are marketing and promotions."

He plans to start with a group he is working with in Waterville named Educated Advocates.

"I'd really like to help promote them and build a brand for them and send them off on a national takeover, "says Spose, "I really would like to be involved with music from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed and make enough money doing it to pay my bills and put food on the table." - York County Coast Star