Thank You
We were headed out for the first walk of the morning. He does this thing where he gets so excited wagging his little tail it makes his entire body swing back and forth. Then he slightly lowers to the ground and gives out this adorable little squeal of contentment — like he’s just so happy he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He typically does some version of this the moment I come out to say good morning and it melts my heart every time.
Today we were already outside, and his sister was already dragging him by the ear trying to convince him to go play with her. He looked up at me and something about his eyes made me realize he was saying thank you. Not just for the walk but for everything. For his family, for the love, for the anticipation of the day we would spend together, for his life as a whole. His joie de vivre was contagious and in a wave I was inspired by the feeling of connectedness. They ran off and my mind wandered to the moments in my life that someone had inspired this feeling in me.
Interestingly enough, I was completely alone in the first few moments that came to mind. Something artistic was pouring out and the people responsible for making that moment possible were being deeply thanked without even knowing it. There have been several moments throughout my career when a song came together or and idea was first born, when the happiness of my success was overwhelming. Perhaps the most moving of them all was the moment that I had finally mastered my first track and knew it was ready to set the standard for my debut release.
In that this-grin-is-unmoveable moment one man came to mind and I felt connected to a point of profound gratitude — very likely, similar to what Max felt on our morning walk. From beginning to present he has given me unparalleled feedback and support for this particular process. Among other things, he taught me the foundation of what a track should have if I wanted to love it. Clarity, balance, and above all, “it needs to sound good loud.”
He discretely told me some of the best plugins to invest in, gave me tips for how the human ear could be cleverly manipulated into perceiving greater amplitude, taught me about self-sufficiency in a dark and competitive business, demonstrated how to merge knowledge of music theory and piano composition into the world of House music, and above all he never stopped reminding me how supported I was. He helped me understand that no matter what it looked like from an outside perspective, if I was following the right path in my mind the world at large would forever look different to me.
He is one of innumerable others who have made moments like this possible. It is such a big feeling, and it is so hard to find words that adequately express the depth of my thanks, I rarely even try. I live my life the way I do, teach the way I do, because of what they have all done for me. I could spend the rest of my life paying it forward and it wouldn’t be enough. So the least I can do is say it here. Thank you.