United We Jam- KYRIE B

Well hello hello, my beautiful friends. I’ve been busy busy busy, so I warrant so have you.

Neon Shields land has been wonderful. As you’ve likely heard from my comrades, we’ve been doing mostly marketing work and wiring stuff. I work primarily with Jessica and recently helped Paloma with one of the logos that will go on the shirts- a giant eagle, carrying the might of our flashlight and our shield- our promise!- in the other…. Alright, so one of my greatest passions in life if to draw and sketch, etc, etc, and the other happens to be classical tattoos (and classical music, but let’s not get into that right now….), so when we needed something snazzy, something kickass and jived with our style?

And so Steve the totally bad-ass Neon Shields Eagle was born.

This is Steve. Well, the unfinished Steve, I forgot to take another picture once this magnificent dude was finished. So magnificent, he couldn’t even fit onto one page.

Why am I discussing my hobbies and habits when there are lives to save and wires to be wired? What does this have to do with my title!? Be still, beating hearts of my audience- I shall tie it together presently…

We all know what it’s like to jam out. Rock on, head bob, ass kick, or spin around on the floor like you just don’t care. I’ll confess, I do more of a classic bass smashing head bob (Paul Simonon, my hero!). In times like this, where the going gets tough and the tough get going and really its hard to keep going and to motivate, I have some sage advice that propels myself (and by extension my project) through:

find your jam.

When I try to talk to people about this, I get the kind of stares these kids are giving Jack Black

Of course, what I’m talking about is not just in the musical sense either! (I’m the AC/DC, Sabbath, Motorhead, Clash screwball of the group).

Jam out to your hobby- heard of getting into the Zone? Damn straight that’s a kind of jam! You’re groovin’ and goin’ and rockin’ and rollin’ and doing your groove thang…. In moderation naturally. It’s easy to procrastinate. Use your jamming as a recharge zone- or learn to moderate your jamming zone so you can still work with all your business rolling- do it!

Keeping your headspace clear is the most critical thing about a project- long or short term. Good ways to do this? (If not captured in my wonderful wonderful AC/DC spinning Paul Brian .gif), if not explained particularly succintly in my rambling about grooving and gettin’ yo groove on-

Do what makes you calm and quiet in your head. For some people this is activity, for others this is nothing more than chilling out with a good book. In this project, as long running as it is and being pushed onwards by a team of seniors (yours truly. Us truly? You get the point), maintaining the focus and willpower to keep being creative, keep thinking of new things, resolving conflicts and issues in a functional, non combative role, get’s really really hard once that dreaded token senior title illness comes in (Senioritis Procrastinitus-Diabolicus), because you’re admitted to a college, you’ve got so much to do and then what?

There’s always going to be a ‘I could be doing this’ thought, which is why we, as a group in Neon Shields, happen to work together so splendidly. Sure, should anyone walk by during one of our conversations they’d be horrified, traumatized, or perhaps out of their depth (Adina and I can really get grooving once the topic of video games comes up), but this is our jam.

We jam out to: Assassin’s Creed, Bioshock Infinite, The Clash, the Cure, farming, cooking, dancing, eating, pacing, Dead Can Dance, you name it. Jamming out in class is how we’re productive. Find a way for yourself, if you can, to be able to do this. Find something you can just knock out of the goddamn park with people you can insult and get into a full on friendship groove with. We work well because we are willing to through propriety out the window, do what we love, condemn the consequences and do what we damn well want to get back into the groove.

As a bassist, you could imply that I’m always in the groove (you discovered the groove… I was born into it… shaped by it…), and you wouldn’t be wrong, but ultimately what I’m trying to say is we’re powerful ass-kicking tyrant creative forces because united we jam (and do our thang with glee).