I remember ringing in 2000 very clearly. I was home still living with my parents on Long Island and was in my senior year at the University. Stage, my band of brothers since I was 14, (without knowing at the time) was very close to signing with Madonna’s Maverick Records. Still I felt failed, lost and empty. Like many, I actually did believe in the possibility that the world would end that very night. Not from computer malfunctions and the loss of technology causing riots and chaos, but from something beyond — aliens, monsters, tidal waves or maybe just waking up from the dream that we thought was life.

I have such a deep respect for professional athletes. I am actually writing this blog at the breakfast table here in Aspen with revered Olympic field hockey player, Taeka Takema. My friend, who I will be headed down the mountain with today, won the silver medal for Holland in the Athens Olympics, and is on break before the world championships begin. We are trading war stories from the road and realizing the similarities and the differences in what we do.

The life of a Rockstar! – If you like sleeping in a van, grocery shopping at gas stations, not knowing where or when home is anymore, then this is the life you want (if you will work for free and can tune a guitar email me. This past year I played over 200 shows and pretty much travelled to or at least through every state in this country. The only way now that I can appreciate where I am is by the people …..

I write this one to you from Aspen, Colorado, where I am celebrating life and the New Year. I started snowboarding when I was about 14. Up until then, I was skiing since I was very young, but made the transition when the sport was still quite new. I remember being looked down upon on the mountains. It was like a mountain racism towards this new sport that the old-school did not quite approve of or understand. Since then, we have seen it become very much an equal and it is even an event in the Olympics.

According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day. This means that in a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years staring at a television. There was a time when I completely stopped watching TV in my life. I thought it was the drug to make us all passive and easily brainwashed.

I am taking 3 long and deep breaths. As slow as I can, I am cleansing all I know around me so I can focus on exactly where I am. I hear a curious crowd turn from chatting to cheering because they know what it means when the lights go down. One more breath–I open my eyes, grab my guitar, and walk onto the stage. This is where I belong. To many, these are the levels of “Rock Band” or “Guitar Hero” but for me it is very real. From the early age of 14, I have been on countless stages.

When I was a kid I remember the day Mark Foo died. This revolutionary big wave surfer never came up after riding his wave in. It was as if this liquid mountain was his chariot to the world beyond. He was riding in his passion and will always live on in the hall of greats. As a kid I grew up surfing on the east end of Long Island. Montauk is the place that I consider my birthplace–where I learned who I was. Spiritual is how I felt the day I heard Mark Foo died doing what he loved. I didn’t think about his beliefs, his status, or his bank account. I thought about a man who was in one moment living out his purpose and then the next literally ceased to exist. He was a hero to me and that is because fear could not follow him where he was going. I like the idea of living without that fear.

I remember the first time I truly connected with rock music. Cameron Crowe’s soundtrack for his film “Singles” (clip below) came out and it featured songs from Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains and more. It became my bible and the very next day I formed my band Stage. I was 13 or 14 at the time and from that early age I saw the power of film and music. Having songs go hand and hand with a visual had me so inspired.

I made a video for this song (Right Now) in the beginning of 2009. With my band and the help of the NYU cheerleading squad, I made an early little viral video as I was still putting the finishing touches on my upcoming album, 11:59. This song really inspired the idea behind the album. What does it mean? Simply, it means to live in the moment. Since we were young we have heard this romantic idea of carpe diem, seize the day… but do we truly ever stop and think about what that moment is to us ?

As challenging a year as this has been, we here at KSPACE.TV proudly celebrate what was achieved this year and feel optimistic and energized by what’s to come. It’s been a banner year for great musical and sports moments and we cherish these and the spirit of artists and athletes as they carry us over into the new year. One such artist who lives, breathes and celebrates this positive and awesome spirit is our December special guest artist Ryan Star who joins us over the next couple weeks with his ‘09 roundups and what’s to come in his world …..