READERS NOTE: I WROTE THIS FOR ESSAY WRITING AND I GOT A C ON IT.
TRAVIS FYFE
Most people change when they enter high school because of their classes or
some teacher that influences them. Entering high school, I changed because I
learned something about myself, but I didn't learn it from a class or
teacher. I learned it from seven guys in my band.
Uncle Meat was formed when I was in sixth grade by four eighth graders who
I had never heard of and would not hear of until I was a freshman in high
school. All through middle school my musical spectrum was between concert
band and jazz. I knew next to nothing about rap, ensembles, ska, and the
classics. The summer before my freshman year changed all that when I
attended a music school at New Hampshire College. Before the summer on one
of the last days of eight grade I was walking home alone and saw Greg
Fowler. Now, I was in no way close minded but the sight of this massive boy
with a bouncing gait that seemed to send him rocketing into the air, and his
jacket brandishing the slogan "tractor in my balls" quite frankly, scared
me. My eyes widened behind my thick glasses as he began to explain to me
that his band Uncle Meat was looking for a horn section, and he had heard me
play. I was so scared that I gave no definite answer and said that I would
ask my parents. That night at dinner I mentioned nothing.
That summer the curious musician in me came to life, and that fall I became
a proud member of Uncle Meat. At my first practice in Uncle Meat's drummer's
overcrowded room I was the only horn. I had to learn the bands already
extensive repertoire. The drummer ,Jake, was soon dismissed from Uncle
Meat's roster because of an increasingly inherent drug problem. I was at
odds with myself. Jake was a senior and the first person that had befriended
me when I entered high school. Having only been in the band for a short
while I really didn't have any problems with him. The decision had been a
long time coming I found out later and I realized that it was definitely for
the best. Uncle Meat soon replaced Jake with Colin Myer a far better
drummer, and also added Jeremy on tenor sax. With Colin as our drummer we
pushed ahead musically, produced many songs, played shows, and gained local
popularity. One of the shows Uncle Meat played was put on by Souhegon High
School. There were eight other bands and Uncle Meat. Uncle Meat took the
stage and pounded out song after song of roaring horn lines and bass beats.
At the end of Uncle Meat's set we closed with Uncle Meat's "Lums". The song
is very emotional but at the end the band traditionally goes into fits of
noise and destruction. We contort ourselves, break TVS, scream, cry, and
throw people off the stage. After the show I was washing off my make up in
the Souhegon boy's bathroom and two kids in Souhegon jackets pushed me from
be hind and yelled,
I was powerless against these two behemoths and backed farther between the
two sinks. "What the hell was that junk you were playing on stage? Are you
stupid? What the hell do you think you're doing?"
The smaller one had started to inch closer to me and looked as if he was
getting ready to punch me as the other one continued to swear. Just then
Jeremy burst out of the stall and slammed the two kids from behind. The
taller one went sprawling on the floor but the other one recoiled quickly
and turned around to face Jeremy. Jeremy grabbed his face and screamed.
"He's doing what he loves to do."
He was right, that's what I loved to do. I loved to be on the stage. I
loved the lights. I Loved the music scene. Most of all I loved my friends.
During this time I also was feeling the difference between middle school and
high school. I was having a really hard time in school as far as my classes
were going, and my two best friends from middle school were dating upper
class men so I really couldn't hang out with them, let alone talk to them
about my problems. After the show at Souhegon, I really started to become
closer to my friends in Uncle Meat.
Colin Uncle Meats drummer left and was replaced by Josh. During this time
Eric started on trombone. I had really started to drift away from my old
friends and it seemed like everyone else was on a different road than me,
and headed in a different direction. I became massively depressed during
this time, and again my friends in Uncle Meat helped me out. Tragically
Uncle Meat lost our third drummer Josh also to a drug problem. Pat Boutwell
replaced Josh and we practiced more than ever.
It was on those hot nights in Pats loft that I found the answer to my
problems; my release and my salvation. I found it in my music and, I made
that music with Uncle Meat. I could take all of my hate and fear and put
them through my trumpet. I started playing in a new more mature way that a
person can only explain when they feel their emotions taking another form.
In Pats loft on those nights we created a painting of swirling and moving
colors. A painting composed of the finest medium, emotions.
I matured through those days with Uncle Meat as a musician and as s person.
I learned to accept my new friends and old friends in a different way. When
I entered high school I though for sure that I would be lost in a sea of
GPA's, locker numbers, and midterms, but instead I found myself and my real
friends. And I also found the thing that I can always due that will always
make me happy, my music, and my freinds.
ESSAY WRITING
November 7, 1996
"What the hell are you doing in my school you freak! Go back to that hole of
a town where you live !"