Fast Forward FireFighter!

Next show is June 28 at Roulette in Brooklyn, NYC

Hey! My Dronechoir performance is happening soon on Saturday, June 28th at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217!

INFORMATION — TICKETS

This event is supported, in part, by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and represents a real milestone in my creative career. You can watch it live at home using the YouTube link below, but it’s best experienced in person, so please come out if you’re able.

Since my last newsletter, I’ve been a bit busy. I performed at Long Play Festival with Buke and Gase. Aron was interviewed by his sweetie, Daonne Huff, about that experience, but for my part, I remember peering into the darkened audience as we walked onstage noting that it looked quite sparse, and I thought “Yeah, that tracks… it’s a festival and we’re too weird, obscure, not jazz/classical/whatever, not young, not not not.”

That thought process tore a hole in my chest, but then I closed my eyes, put my head down and dove into our well-rehearsed dark mechanical memory of the first song. As its final notes rang out I looked up again and was shocked to see what seemed like a VERY full audience… where did all these people come from? Oh my gosh they need more chairs. It was packed! Wow, and it seemed like they…could it be (?!?) the whole audience KNEW OUR MUSIC?! Ohhhhh kaaaaaaayyyyy thennnn! My gosh that just felt really freaking good.

The sorry-for-myself hole zipped itself right up. They clapped along to “Revel in Contempt” with me, and happened to be baller clappers. Ha! I don’t see Aron often because we both have jobbbbs, but I’m going to see him tonight and ask him if he wants to play more. I do! I always do. (Post-script: we sort of talked about it. it’s a big YES. Join our Scholars Alliance to be the first to know when and where!)

So far this Substack has mostly been about my journey to become a volunteer firefighter. If you’re just tuning in catch up with these links.

pt 1: from Freak to Firefighter

pt 2: Paperwork! Gear! Hound Dog Heros

If the latest installment of my firefighting journey has a soundtrack maybe it’s “Arson’s Request” which John Niekrasz, my Buke & Gase bandmade Aron Sanchez, and I created some years back. I say “fire” in it a bunch. Not sure what else I’m saying, but it seems appropriate? Listen here…

Anyway, for the last eight weeks, I’ve been immersed in the blended Basic Exterior Firefighting Operations class, both ITB (which works for either “In the Book” or “In the Box” as there was plenty of both) and IRL (skills trainings, test takings, certificate receivings).

The book I was tasked with gulping down was something like 1,400 pages and jam-packed with details about anything and (almost) everything one may encounter as a Fire Fighter, from fire dynamics (how come it hot?) to hose lays (we do like a flat lay in the bed), fire extinguishers (there’s a variety! check if yours is up-to-date and full!), ropes/knots, ground ladders, and my personal favorite: forcible entry. I can break a door open. Huff n Puff!

At the beginning of class we were split into groups and I think I seriously lucked out with mine - Team ALPHA! Together we cover Canaan, Ghent, Hudson, Greenport and Old Chatham and have commonalities in animal husbandry, motorcycles, contracting, tree work and climbing. And firefighting. We run the gamut from queer to tech bro, and despite being quite new at firefighting each of us seemed to already hold a tight grasp on what we’re getting ourselves into. On top of my stellar team, I was surprised to learn that many people in the blended class were not conservative-leaning, and in fact dramatically so. Several folks in the class work from home, were recent Covid transplants from the city, or just wanting to get more involved in their communities.

Team ALPHA was no stranger to progressive swagger, and I became comfortable openly discussing the politics of our different departments.

Team ALPHA! I’m the blurry one, as usual.

I missed our Ladders Skill day due to the aforementioned Buke and Gase performance and was sent up to Rensselaer County’s Training Center to complete it, where I quickly learned that Columbia County’s Fire Department (my county) is waaaay more liberal than most counties. It was immediately made clear to me that libs are ‘tards during our introductions, where you introduce yourself by saying what fire district you hail from. Hence “I’m Greenport” and they sez ah where’s that? and I sez “We’re the horseshoe that hugs Hudson” and they scoff back Ha! better than bein IN Hudson! Yeeeechh!

Listen, it’s possible I was overthinking it, but hear me when I say their tone was less than pleasant. Hudson is well known as a progressive, liberal city, and my take-away from that encounter is that they think Hudson is a stinky, icky place that they wouldn’t be caught dead in.

Anyway! I got through those two nights of skills training unscathed and stronger in my conviction to stick to it, if only to be an artist in a working-class environment to prove that artists don’t all be dumb. I finished the training literature in its entirety, then came back to my progressive-leaning Columbia County classmates to make it through our final written and hands-on skills testing. (Omg I nearly lost my footing during my hose test but I maintained control and passed! Woot!) After receiving our certificates, one of our training instructors made a short speech to all of us which included a comment that stuck out to me, perhaps because he drove it home with repetition: “Don’t let politics run you out. Remember why you’re here, why you’re doing this. Don’t let the politics of your departments run you out.”

Hm.

I get the feeling that those politics might get run out by us.

Now, I’m sure not all of the folks in this class are Progressive or Liberal, so let’s not make asses of ourselves assuming such, but let’s be real. Each one of these people put in over 38 hours of hard work, plus countless hours of reading and quiz-taking, to learn the incredibly important life-saving skills and information needed to not be a dipshit when fighting fires. Our instructors were thorough, direct, and challenged us to retain the information we were taught. Despite whatever political leaning, each person pictured above is taking actionable steps to care for their community, and many —most! — will be putting their life at risk to do so. We all got along! We laughed and supported each other! It honestly doesn’t matter to me how they vote. What matters to me is that when shit gets hot, they have my back, and I have theirs.

Last thing: June 14th was Flag Day—which, if you live in Hudson, is a big deal. There’s a huge parade, fantastic (and very close) fireworks at the waterfront, a carnival, and neighborhood grill parties.

I really wanted to march with my Fire Department in the parade—it’s such a visible and proud moment. But I also felt conflicted. In my opinion, the government is abusing its power by deploying the National Guard and Marines against CITIZENS who are peacefully exercising their Constitutional right to protest the mistreatment of our immigrant community—regardless of their legal status.

That made it hard for me to take part in a community celebration. My department carries a massive, street-wide American flag. I love my country and I support its people, but I don’t support its current leadership.

I was deeply torn with how to show my support for my country. I wanted to protest its actions, but it seemed like simply not showing up to the parade wouldn’t be much of a protest, on its own.

I DID end up marching. I carried a portion of the flag, and though I disliked the optics and felt awkward and outnumbered, it was a much more positive experience than I’d expected, seeing all the different community members who were both in the parade and on the sides, cheering.

I then went immediately to a fantastic drag show at a nearby dairy farm. It felt right (and fun!) to support the diversity in my community.

How do YOU show up for your country in a way that doesn’t compromise your belief system? When my FD station recites the Pledge of Allegiance, I stand, but I do not say the words, because I don’t believe that “God” should be one of them. And I believe I’m showing up when I volunteer my health and time to fight fires and help members of my community. These are small hints at a larger picture, and it matters. Will my sustained efforts to stand strong behind my beliefs make a difference in how humans are treated throughout our county, country, world?

Stay tuned for more…

For the deep heads you can hear four songs from the Buke and Gase reunion (?!?) gig on Bandcamp if you join our Scholars Alliance subscription thingie.