07/07/2026
It usually happens after someone has worked with me enough.
They learn about my "secret life," and eventually the question comes out:
"How do you make time for everything you do? And how are you not completely burnt out?"
Excellent question.
My "secret life" of touring with Hamilton's finest, Arkells, has been a decade now. Before I tucked myself away in Tiny, I played in a handful of bands and projects, usually gigging 8–10 nights a month.
I was never a full-time musician by definition, but I've been a professional musician since 1997. I dropped out of jazz school... twice... because going on tour seemed like the better education.
Music was my first burnout.
I learned the hardest ways before I learned the hard way. Which is to say, I just kept walking uphill until something eventually made sense.
So... back to the question.
My first joke is always, "I don't have children."
People laugh. It seems to make the math work in their heads.
The real answer is that I don't actually do everything.
I miss emails. I miss deadlines. I forget to text people back. I disappear. My laundry sits too long. Sometimes I don't eat until 4 o'clock.
But I do live my life the way I want to.
Today I woke up at 5 a.m. after about two hours of sleep, drove myself to the airport, flew five hours to Vancouver, caught up on three hours of taxes on the plane, checked into the hotel, realized I hadn't eaten in twelve hours, inhaled some food, played my horn for an hour, jumped back in a van, drove another half hour, did soundcheck...
..and now I'm writing this.
To me, that doesn't actually feel like a lot.
I'm more used to days like this than I am to quiet ones.
I chose this.
The better answer—the one I actually want to talk about—isn't how I fit everything in.
It's how I regulate my nervous system while all of this is happening.
That's a much longer rant for another day.
For now, I'll leave you with this:
Go live your fu***ng life.
Go outside.
Go somewhere.
Go make mistakes.
Go broke if you have to.
Go build the weird thing.
Be stubborn. Be curious. Be real.
Build days that feel like yours.
We don't know how many of them we get.