Sometimes

Life is bigger than our selfish hearts...
We get so caught up thinking about ourselves, and how everything has to benefit our wants and needs. Sometimes you have to take a step back and realize that life doesn't revolve around you. Yeah I know we've all heard that line from a teacher or our parents, but it's so true. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your time and lend a helping hand to your peers who may be in a successful position that God prepared them to be in. Not everyone can have the platform at once, yet everyone wants a piece of the spotlight. I find us humans to be very selfish in lots of ways; it's unfortunate, but on the bright side, some of us have learned to examine our hearts and lives more thoroughly. I've always had a set of goals to accomplish, I dream bigger than anyone I know, literally. But there's a time for those dreams to become reality, and while we may think that our lives are on pause; their not, because we can always extend an open hand to help the ones we love around us with their dreams, while God is building ours. This applies to every human being, or it once has at some point in their life; we just fail to realize it sometimes because we're so caught up in ourselves. Everyone has dreams, everyone wants to be somebody, but are your dreams unselfish? Do your dreams benefit the lives of those around you spiritually? Sure we can dream about fortune, but if you receive fortune, will you give it back to the world? Dreams/goals should be way bigger than money, they should be about changing the world in ways that other people can't. I'm personally guilty of being selfish numerous times throughout the course of my life; I just finally grew wise and asked God to make me as humble as possible for those around me. I have no doubt in my mind about my dreams coming true now that my vision is clear, but for now I'll be helping the ones around me who need my support until my time comes. Sometimes, you must play the background.

Moment

You ever drown in your thoughts and fear for your future? Do you ever just sit there and think, "What

if I don't succeed?" Have you ever just sat and thought about who you'll be in the next 10 years?

Well… I have, and I still do. I'm 20 years old now, and I have a solid plan on what it is that I 

specifically want to do with my life. The only problem is that life slows down pretty often. I find myself 

moping around school or at home, thinking about how difficult life's obstacles are. It seems that there 

are more slow depressing times than happy productive times. I mean hey, it might just be me who feels 

this way; but all I can say is that I'm tired of this feeling. As an artist, I personally get held back from 

displaying my art due to financial issues and other small reasons. I was happy when I first enrolled into 

The Art Institute. I felt like I finally landed in the place that I needed to be, and I started meeting the 

people that I needed in my life. That stuff is awesome and I thank God for every single moment, but for 

some reason I continuously seek progression. What I mean by "Seek Progression" is, that I feel as if my 

life needs to keep sprouting. I love meeting new people that are moving in the same direction as myself, 

and I really love when a moment of opportunity lands in my lap, buuuuuuuuuuut lets highlight that 

word MOMENT. (I literally highlighted it.) You see, great moments land on our laps and they tend to 

paint this picture of hope and progression for our futures. But as soon as we think things are going to 

completely change for the better, the door shuts in our faces or it kinda closes but someone puts the little  

chain lock thingy on it, and when you try to open the door you discovered it's unlocked; you absorb a 

MOMENT of happiness, but the little chain lock thingy stops you from coming inside and you only get 

a tiny little peek of what's inside. Gosh, that is absolutely the worst… Luckily I never really give up, 

but I'll be honest and tell you that I often feel like it. I have 4 years of college to complete, and all this 

school does is stuff my face in a hot bowl of debt. The only choice that I have in my mind, is to 

succeed. I don't want to be a filthy rich dude or anything like that, I just want to be able to live 

comfortably and spread a great message to the world through my art. I mean honestly I live to please 

God through my talents, but it gets under my skin when I feel pushed away from completing my set of 

goals in life. Just to inform you, I want to be an independent music artist working in the big studios, and 

I plan on literally changing the world. I can't make this happen without a loyal team of engineers and 

producers, along with a great manager, agent and a team of lawyers. I'm already recording music with 

my band in the big studios at school, cool, but there's a gap that needs to be filled in, in order to make 

an impact on the world, and it all comes from not having specific resources. I don't blame God or 

anyone else for the setbacks in my life, I'm honestly happy at the end of the day; but I'm tired of not 

being able to wrap my hands around my future. I watch my mother wake up and go to work every 

single day, and she's not doing what she wants to do in life. My mom takes care of my siblings and I, 

my father isn't around, and as a man I feel obligated to lend out the helping hand that she needs. I mean 

sure, I take the kids to school, I grocery shop, I go to school, I clean the house, etc… But… I want to 

get them out of a 2 bedroom apartment, I want to travel the world with them, I want to introduce them 

to a comfortable lifestyle; but I can't because I haven't even been introduced to any of those things. I'm 

where I am for a reason, and I hope that God knows that I know these things; I just feel… Stuck

Monday

So yeah what's up guys. I took somewhat of a break from this blog to fully figure out what it is that I need to do to be successful as an artist on the business side of the music. Came down to me enrolling into The Art Institute of California (Santa Monica Campus) for the simple fact that I just needed to follow my passion. Ever feel like you just didn't belong at school? Well same here. I actually didn't even graduate high school, not ashamed at all because I got my G.E.D and moved on. I started attending El Camino Community College majoring in Business of Administration, but that just wasn't for me.. Ahhhh (Sigh) the struggle between transitioning from a teenager into a real man. SO long story short, I checked out music colleges online, did my research and decided to enroll into The Art Institute. Pretty cool here, actually I freakin' love it! This is the only time I've actually put my full effort into school and just learning overall. A-lot of the students here aren't serious about obtaining the knowledge this College offers though, you can just see it on their faces, they walk around like zombies forgetting that tuition here is basically $100,000 YIKES RIGHT!? So stupid...
But in between my times of networking with new business associates, performing at clubs and art galleries and reading music business books; I decided to come together with my buddy Nehi Thompson who happens to be the dopest musician I've ever met. We've been going to church together for years and not too long ago we decided to come together on a song; surprisingly it came out amazing so we got the idea of creating a band. We now have a 9 member band! (3 back up singers, 1 Back up Guitarists, 1 Bass player, Drummer,  Key Player, Nehi & Myself)
We came up with the name "Etheria Tree." We rehearse in Venice at our art facility known as "Pieces" you can visit the site at Www.CreativePieces.Org
But anyways, our new music is honestly really great; the people tell us all the time and at the end of the day you guys are who we do it for. Music is so powerful, your words are so powerful, your message is POWERFUL. Music these days doesn't have much importance behind it's message, and that's simply the Artist's fault. We focus on throwing messages out into our music, we want you to be able to feel and relate to the emotions we paint with our voices and instruments. It isn't about my daily issues and what we go through, it's about what you guys go through as human beings living on Earth and how we relate to those emotions/problems, and simply painting a vivid picture of that with sound! You guys understand? It's about reaching people and giving them a solution on those emotions and daily issues they deal with. Whether we've been through that exact same issue or not, we all can relate to PAIN, JOY, EXCITEMENT, LONELINESS, BITTERNESS, ANGER, etc.. We're here to give the world medicine with sound, we know that it's possible. We're highly aware of the fact that not everyone will enjoy our music, but so many people WILL and already DO; which is amazing because we're nothing but a bunch of sinful teens who simply love music and people. As a Christian I truly am starting to realize and understand what it means to really love people unconditionally just as God loves all of us. Everyone has a gift; use it but don't use it to brag, use it as medicine for the people; make them smile and let them brag about you. That's all I have to say for the day though guys; be on the look out for our new material and upcoming shows. - Rex Grimy