#doomriders

Doomriders - Darkness Come Alive (Deathwish, 2009)

Every Record I Own - Day 333: Doomriders Darkness Comes Alive

One of the great things about getting older is that you feel more confident in who you are and what you like. You’re less susceptible to peer pressure and more eager to cultivate interests regardless of whether or not they’re generally deemed “cool.” But the downside to getting older is that everyone is on the same journey to independence, and you slowly find old friends branching off to explore their own paths. Every year I get older, I recognize fewer faces at shows and find fewer of my friends making music. And that makes me a little sad.

I first met Nate Newton on the first Botch east coast tour in ‘96 when we played with his band Jesuit in a garage in Norfolk, Virginia. Two years later, Botch and Jesuit would go on to tour together, and then eventually Nate wound up playing in Converge, Old Man Gloom, and Doomriders. I don’t talk to Nate all that frequently, but I value our friendship, and I particularly value that he’s still at it---making great music, skateboarding, and being an irreverent, quick-witted wise-ass. I want my friends to foster their idiosyncrasies and hobbies, but I also want them to keep being badass individuals. Nate Newton found that balance.