Thread: my history with the bass guitar.
I was 14, raging at life, listening to nu-metal. Watched KoRn DVDs and got obsessed with Fieldy's bass playing. My dad raised me on Motown and Deep Purple. I wanted to be a bass player.
Parents gave me an ultimatum: "If we buy you a bass, you go to extracurricular music school until you graduate." Fine. Got a four string J&D with a rosewood fretboard and a 120 Eden Nemesis amp.
Started a band. Diluted Insight. We were 15, playing metalcore. Demos are on archive.org at your own risk. Band died when the drummer decided to chase girls.
2013: started Seedna with Z. Bought a five string Peavey at a flea market. Got mastering credit on their debut "Tindalos." Then went darker. Crust punk meets black metal. Bought a vintage Crumar Stringman for mellotron vibes and a six string Warwick Corvette I never learned to play properly. Had members of Visio Mortis playing with us. But I lost focus. Became an obtuse band leader and producer instead of a bass player. Rehearsed together less than 5 times.
Moved to Portugal. Sold everything. Eventually the itch came back. Bought an Ibanez Promethean practice amp and an Ibanez SR300E. Back to four strings. Just me and my bass. My best times with this instrument are yet to come.
Thread: my history with the bass guitar.
I was 14, raging at life, listening to nu-metal. Watched KoRn DVDs and got obsessed with Fieldy's bass playing. My dad raised me on Motown and Deep Purple. I wanted to be a bass player.
Parents gave me an ultimatum: "If we buy you a bass, you go to extracurricular music school until you graduate." Fine. Got a four string J&D with a rosewood fretboard and a 120 Eden Nemesis amp.
Started a band. Diluted Insight. We were 15, playing metalcore. Demos are on archive.org at your own risk. Band died when the drummer decided to chase girls.
2013: started Seedna with Z. Bought a five string Peavey at a flea market. Got mastering credit on their debut "Tindalos." Then went darker. Crust punk meets black metal. Bought a vintage Crumar Stringman for mellotron vibes and a six string Warwick Corvette I never learned to play properly. Had members of Visio Mortis playing with us. But I lost focus. Became an obtuse band leader and producer instead of a bass player. Rehearsed together less than 5 times.
Moved to Portugal. Sold everything. Eventually the itch came back. Bought an Ibanez Promethean practice amp and an Ibanez SR300E. Back to four strings. Just me and my bass. My best times with this instrument are yet to come.
Yes, I meditate. I understand people who think it's pretentious or who tried it once and it didn't stick. For me, it was my dad's self-help books with highlighted passages about meditation.
Started with Headspace, then Sam Harris's Waking Up app on a "scholarship" (free trial for people who can't justify 90 EUR). No longer using either.
What it does for me: mental clarity, emotional resilience, fewer intense negative emotions, greater focus, better sleep, better memory. I'm not perfect about it. I dip out during tough periods. But I know it helps.
If you want to start: try Medito (meditofoundation.org). Non-profit, fully free, no subscription tiers. Clean, honest tool. The foundation's mission is making meditation accessible to everyone regardless of income.
So this is the movement I'd spent years waiting for.
Met Margarida online in a Facebook group for fans of niche rock music. Wrote to her, she found my message seven months later in her spam box. We started talking, then calling. She sent me a book and a love letter. She flew to Gothenburg, we had a Heineken at Mr.Chu's, took the train to Lidkoping, and we've been together ever since.
Getting her law credentials transferred to Sweden was nearly impossible. But I'd forged a career as a web developer and I've been fluent in English since school. So I'm moving to Portugal.
Took 1.5 years of intense studying to face the international market. Second interview: a recruiter named Tereza offered me a Senior WordPress Developer position. I aced the technical interview with two German gentlemen.
In three weeks I packed, sold, and threw away every belonging until it all fit in an XL trolley and a blue 80L backpack. Flew to Lisbon. Not going back this time. New chapter.