I think it's pretty common for kids to start bands in high school. What can be less common though, is people continuing on with that pursuit once they've graduated and entered into “the real world”. It's understandable, considering how difficult it can be to make any sort of living from music, but there are some who decide to plug away regardless, money be damned.

I've been in bands since I was 15, and after my first live performance, I was hooked for life. I think a lot of people's first shows are usually pretty underwhelming, playing for a small group of friends or family, but I happened to luck out on mine when a local church that was known for being very modern decided to put on a punk and metal battle of the bands, to appeal to the youth.

My band at the time had only been functional for a few months with maybe four original songs under our belts, but we entered anyway. I don't know what kind of promotion they put into the show, but we ended up playing for about 700 people that night. For a first show, that's sort of like being thrown into the water before learning how to swim, and even though we didn't win, just playing to that many people was enough to become instantly addicted to the rush. Also, church pews got destroyed and several people broke their arms, and that's just good ol' fashioned punk rock.

Since then, I've essentially just been chasing the high of that first night, but as you get older, life starts getting in the way. I still have a band, The Human Comedy, back home in Moncton, New Brunswick, but being 11 hours out of province makes it difficult to keep it going. Despite that however, packing it in has never really felt like an option. We recorded a four track EP over the summer, and the current plan is to push it around online, collect some (hopefully) positive reviews, and possibly find ourselves a home on an independent label.

My current journey is an ongoing attempt to balance the responsibilities of a twenty-something student, while still chipping away at that seemingly unattainable dream. “Famous” is a word that truly makes me cringe, and I think it's a term that confuses what any artist should be shooting for: to be able to live off of the thing you love the most.

DAVID HADDAD

David Haddad is an aspiring writer and musician who has been playing in bands since the age of fifteen. As a second year Professional Writing student at Algonquin College, David attempts to balance school while maintaining his band, The Human Comedy, in Moncton, NB.

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