Living on the Upbeat
By Mike Fox

I’ve had one of those weeks folks. No. Strike that. I’ve had one of those lives. You know, where you’re personally wondering what exactly you did to incur the ill favor of God. I mean, you know what you did but you pretend like you didn’t do it. Anyway, I’m starting off topic. The last week or so I’ve been reminiscing the path I’ve traveled and have taken a step back or out of the present. It got me thinking about the musical path I’ve traveled and how with everything I’ve screwed up in my life, and I do mean everything, I came to find and play the style of music I know I was meant for. It may sound sappy but it’s about being therapeutic for me, not entertaining you.
My earliest musical memory begins in the 1980’s. Yes, I am a child of the eighties and proud of it. Marlin, our bass player, will vouch for my uncanny ability to name songs and artists from anything related to the decade. If I was smart I would have gone on VH1’s eighties Jeopardy. It’s all locked up in my noggin, trivia that will never get me money or fame.

9 years old. I discovered music with my best friend David. We were the best air rockers on Harvest Drive. It was unfortunate that the only two cassettes we owned at the time were “Kilroy Was Here” by Styx and some Air Supply album that, thank god, I don’t remember the name of. I can tell you it contained “I’m All Out of Love” so somebody get back to me on that one. If you can imagine a concert mixing Styx and Air Supply this was us. Man, we used everything we had for air playing. Whiffle ball bats for guitars. Boxes, cans and tables for drums and we even had a stuffed seal that if you turned him upside down and put your mouth on his butt, kind of looked like a saxophone. We soon started to amass quite the collection of cassettes. “Thriller”, the New Edition and best of all Wham’s “Make It Big” were added to our concert list. Yes, I began with only the best in musical taste.

Well, I guess my parents decided that I should take my lips off of the stuffed seal’s butt and actually learn to play a real instrument. God love them, they let me chose the drums. I took maybe three drum lessons and was done. They started me with private lessons in third grade but the instructor showed only 25% of the time and I was told that I had a weak left hand. Plus this guy had tattoos and wore leather, which for me at the time was scary. Now I don’t even talk to people unless they have a tattoo and wear leather. So they switched me to trumpet.
With a year of private lessons under my belt, when we started band in fourth grade I was a GOD. While others were buzzing, spitting and snarfing through their trumpets, I was already playing scales and “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” If there was a particularly hot little lady in the room I might whip out “ London Bridge” to impress. Yes, I was a musician in the making.

Musically the next five years were ho hum. Nothing much to tell, we’ll refer to these as the “Lost Years.”
Then I entered high school. At some point in ninth grade I heard an album by Maynard Ferguson and my life changed forever. Now I know you’re all thinking Maynard who? Well, this man is for the trumpet what Eddie Van Halen is for the guitar. This guy played screaming high notes that I had never heard before and never knew were possible on the trumpet. This guy was waaayyy over the top too, a real showman. He was in our area in tenth grade and the band organized a trip to see him. The finale to the show was when every horn-playing member of Maynard’s band picked up a trumpet and walked out into the audience to play screaming wicked high notes during the end of “Hey Jude.” Well, I was hooked. My life from that point on was all trumpet all the time.

It was at this time that I became friends with Fink’s Constant’s trumpet player Chad McCartney. (Yes, Chad and I have known each other for 17 years!) We were Band Nerds of the highest order. We would actually get together on weekends and play trumpet duets! Yes, between us we have a book full of “So, this one time at Band Camp” stories. I would play anything that involved the trumpet, jazz, classical, brass quintets, church music, civil war music (I grew up in Gettysburg), anything.

In the popular music world I began a love for the music of U2. I was drawn to them because I was into their message and was blown away by Bono’s lyrics. The “Unforgettable Fire” and “The Joshua Tree” will always be in my top five-album list of pop music. REM also caught my ear. I knew Michael Stipe was saying something meaningful, I just wasn’t always sure what it was. REM was also outside the box from a musical standpoint, which I admired.

Life goes on and I headed off to college to be a Music Education major. Huge life mistake #1, but that’s a story for another article. I was exposed to all kinds of great music and my playing improved quite a bit. I was into jazz because it was what I liked the most of what I had heard to that point. I also first discovered Blood, Sweat and Tears in college and began to get an idea of what horns could do in a more popular setting.

Then one day it happened. I liken this day to Superman finding the green crystal from Krypton or Spider-man getting bit by the radioactive spider. There was an ad for horn players wanted on the music bulletin board. I answered it expecting it to be for a rock band that wanted horns or some kind of a jazz project. This was not the case. The man on the other end explained to me he was looking for horns for a ska band. Well of course I had no clue what ska was and had barely heard of reggae other than the movie “Cool Runnins.” I said I was interested in hearing it so he sent me some stuff. The first thing I put in was “Dub 56” by the Toasters. My world was seriously changed, and my mind had been blown. It was lively music that made you want to move. The lyrics had social and political relevance. Best of all the horns absolutely drove the sound! There was room for improvisation all over the place. It was the best of rock, jazz and conscious music put together. I called Keith Barnes back and said I was in.

I played trumpet with NotchoMa for the next four years. I learned all about the gigging band life, bar life and the life of a musician. I loved it. Making money playing my horn and getting out in front of people was the life for me. I discovered Bob Marley and began to read about his life and the struggles of the tiny island of Jamaica. The struggle for racial equality and how reggae plays such a huge part in it fascinated me. Music can and has changed the world. I used to get serious stage fright all the time but playing ska seemed to put aside my inhibitions. Life was great but I soon felt the yearnings to do more. I wanted to write songs and sing the songs that I wrote. I wanted to play as much as possible which some of the others didn’t have the stomach for. It was time to move on. In 1999 I quit the group.

I knew I wanted to continue playing ska and reggae but I didn’t believe I could do it just being a trumpet player. I knew I could write songs and had built up about twenty of them. I wasn’t convinced I could sing either but I knew I wanted to give it a try.

During the next four months I also learned to play the guitar. Well, I shouldn’t say play exactly. I learned how to play the “Skank.” The skank is the constant upbeat in ska and reggae music, the chicken scratch part. You are the pulse of the music almost as an equal with the drummer. Now I had transformed myself into a singer/guitar player and was ready to form a band. Fink’s Constant was born and the rest is history. We’ve been going for almost six years now and show no signs of stopping. I’ve written over forty songs most of which have been recorded on four CD’s.
All of this is great, but on this road I’ve discovered a force in my life that keeps me going. “One good thing about music, when it hits, you feel no pain.” I understand what Bob means by that. With everything in life, the BS, the frustration, all I have to do is put on some ska and I feel better, relaxed. It like my brainwaves move against the grain just like the upbeat in ska/reggae. Since 1995 I’m proud to say I don’t think I’ve gone a day without listening to it’s sweet sound. To pick up my guitar and sing and play this music is an honor. I may never be a rich man, a successful man, a married man, a popular man or a father. I know that ska music is not the most popular style to be playing out in your local bars and clubs. We may never be on MTV or play in stadiums. If I die tomorrow my music might never be heard and will fade away in a months time. All of these things that people measure other people by mean very little to me. In my life I have always gone against the grain just like ska music. Even with all of this weighing down on me I have no doubt that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, what I was meant to do: Make Ska Music.

I’m not sure what possessed me to put this down on paper but I thank you for letting me reaffirm myself. I’m proud to say that my band Fink’s Constant will be releasing it’s fifth album this Friday night (Nov. 3rd) at Appalachian Brewing in Harrisburg. This is a double live CD and contains over two hours of music. I hope some of you can make it out, if not, catch us next time. Questions/comments Bigbubbashackle@yahoo.com.

Webmaster Note: Watch our Online Music Store to purchase FC’s new CD later this week.