BEWARE OF DARKNESS

I'm three record cycles into my career now, and all three times I’ve been told that I needed a new bio, and every time I set out to write one, I wonder who the fuck reads them, and if they even matter.

I’ve spent nights agonizing over questions like, “Who am I?”, “What's my story?” and, simply, "Why?"

Isn't a bio just a list of not-so-humble bragging?

“Hey, here's a tally of all my accomplishments during my brief time on earth; a this-is-why-you-should-care-about-my-life list?"

What if my bio is a work in progress, and I'm still trying to figure it out?

I could say I spent a “dead decade” lost to a crippling and debilitating depression, but still managed to croak out 2 records, a top five hit at rock, and toured the world while thankfully not becoming a statistic for male suicides aged 18-26. 

It could be said that everything about the "Bloodlines" release, from the writing, to recording, to the subject matter and release is a "welcome back to life" celebration. Or I could just say that the song features members of The Smashing Pumpkins and The Killers, and leave it at that

I could say I’m a Scorpio, raised in Santa Barbara, and on some days I love Wings more than the Beatles.

Yoga was the one thing that kept me together during my depression, and I fell in love with it so deeply that I completed a 200-hour yoga training last year. I could say I love Fraggle Rock, I do TM meditation, and that I have been on a whirlwind spiritual path throughout my entire 20s.

Looking back, it’s clear that writing a bio while suffering from depression is a paradoxical task. You don’t think you deserve your next breath, yet you are being asked to sell your good qualities to the world, and when you look in the mirror you see none.

All this could be said if anyone reads bios but they usually don't.

Every week I get an email from the Troubadour, always overflowing with band bios, and like a total sucker, I read through every one of them, with their grandiose stories of “So-and-so is the second coming of __( insert music genre here)” and then I think, "Man, these are stupid." 

So, If you've read this, Congrats. You're a sucker like me. And apparently bios still do mean something to someone.