When the Prevailing Winds Change
A band winds down as a new life ramps up
My longest and most favorite musical project with longtime collaborator Aron Sanchez, Buke and Gase, is finally ending. We’ll be performing a few shows we’re calling our New York Farewell:
Wednesday April 15: Brooklyn, New York @ Public Records — TICKETS
Thursday April 16: Brooklyn, New York @ Public Records — WAIT LIST (SOLD OUT)
Saturday April 25: Hudson, New York @ The Half Moon (SOLD OUT)
Thank you for joining us as this long collaboration enters a “lull.” You can read my full statement about it here. This post may explain why some other activities might take priority for a little while…
Last summer was…a lot. I was working with kids at the Hudson Youth Bike Coop, volunteering at Experience Camps (a grief camp for kids who’ve lost someone dear), serving on the Hudson Conservation Advisory Council, and doing my physically demanding day job as a landscaper. Oh—and falling in love. Casual!
So naturally, I decided to top it all off in the fall by enrolling in an Interior Firefighting Operations (IFO) course.
Good news: I passed! Well, I passed the hardest part of it, the TOAC (Task Oriented Air Consumption) test, a highly physically demanding endurance and strength assessment I’ll describe in more detail in an upcoming post.
But—Complicating (and exciting) news: four days before that test, I learned I was…
…pregnant!
Now, I can barely fit into my already oversized bunkers1 — let alone the air-force suits my Buke & Gase bandmate Aron and I used to wear on tour:
After some very reasonable concern from friends and my thoughtful Sig-O, I made the reluctant decision to step back from IFO the following week and remain an exterior firefighter. Still useful! Slightly less likely to set myself on fire while growing a human. Maybe I’ll take pump or driver training next.
SO: Things are about to change.
If you’re interested in following my adventure as a 45-year-old having my first child, stay tuned. I have a feeling my focus is about to shift dramatically—from firefighting to motherhood (though I’ll keep training and showing up however I can).
And who knows—maybe the kid will be into firefighting too.
A quick musical catch-up:
I recently presented Dronechoir in Chatham, NY with 14 wonderful vocalists as part of The Dark, a festival organized by PS21, a presenter for performance art here in the Hudson Valley.
We performed to a packed room of concerned faces (after I asked everyone to stand for the duration of the performance…you know, just as we must endure winter). As reported by an audience member this “calmed and opened up as interactions occurred more often, and by the end they were all beaming with joy and singing along!”
Yessss, tear down that weird, awkward fourth wall!
One of my side-goals with Dronechoir is to soften the hard edges we encase ourselves in, and this time it felt especially palpable.
(You can read more about Dronechoir here on this newsletter.)
The best way to support my life as a creative and community worker is by subscribing to Buke & Gase’s Scholars Alliance on Bandcamp, or pledging to support this newsletter.
Live Recordings
Here’s the most pristine sounding Buke & Gase live recordings to tide you over ahead of the shows — Bandcamp | Listen Elsewhere
We also shared a video from it a week ago. The song “Bottom of the Barolo” is available exclusively on a Bandcamp-only “lost” album called Dry Daniel.
For those who have the resources to pay cash money to support my art, here’s another pair of live recordings available exclusively to members of our Scholars Alliance on Bandcamp.
Live at Long Play Festival, Brooklyn, NY - May 3, 2025
Live in Manchester, UK - March 4, 2019
Arone Dyer, Firefighter
Below are easy links to the earlier installments of my journey into firefighting.
Pt 1: from Freak to Firefighter: Training for the volunteer firefighting squad in a tiny upstate New York town
Pt 2: Paperwork! Gear! Hound Dog Heroes! Initiation (hazing?) in the volunteer fire fighter style
Pt 3: Fast Forward FireFighter! Learning to fight fires without losing my politics
Pt 4: Interior Complex: Eight weeks of interior fire fighting operations classes
Pt 5: (Hu)ManPower! ...and the search for community engagement: Finding new recruits.
In case this term is unfamiliar, in the firefighting context, bunkers (also known as Turnout Gear) refers to the protective ensemble worn by firefighters when responding to fires. It is designed to shield the firefighter from extreme heat, flames, smoke, and some hazardous materials, and is also referred to as firefighter’s PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). It includes a protective coat, protective pants, helmet, gloves, boots, and a heat resistant hood.
The term “bunker” comes from the idea that this gear creates a protective “bunker” around the firefighter, allowing them to work in most extreme fire conditions safely. It does NOT protect against ALL levels of heat, for example, in the case of a flashover, where temperatures can reach upwards of 1000-2000 degrees Fahrenheit within minutes, leading to unsurvivable conditions no matter what your protective clothing is!