I’ve been working out of my home office now for about three years or so, and as much as I love it, sometimes I miss getting up and going to work at an actual work place. But before you put me in a straight jacket and throw away the key for thinking I am crazy, please let me specify.

I have never had a 9-5 office job and I hope I will never have to. I have always worked two jobs since I turned 16. I worked some pretty shitty jobs let me tell you. I worked at an Italian restaurant making pizza and washing dishes, I worked at Zayre’s Dept store, which was actually pretty fun and my worst job ever was working a Red Wing’s work boots store for a boss who had so much ear hair it was like he had a tiny jungle in his ears.

During those bad jobs, my back up job if you will was always in a music store. It wasn’t one of those big box chain stores that truly made me sick to my stomach. I worked part time in an indie CD store, three different once over a period of about ten years. One was in a mall, so that kind of sucked, but it was still fun. The best one was the last store I worked at. It was on a college campus with about 35 years to its credit. It sadly had to shut down and that’s when I started doing Innocent Words full time.

Working in those CD stores were the best. There was something to be said for walking in there and since it wasn’t corporate, it wasn’t all stuffy. It was a bit dirty and a bit dark, but it was cool. I was one of the managers at the last store I worked at and I got to do all the promo displays. That was so much fun to build displays with posters, flats, stickers and anything I wanted to add.  I put some of my displays in contests the labels were holding. This was to entice you to make a big bad ass display to promote their new band. It was pretty fruitful, I won some skate decks from some punk bands and once I won an acoustic guitar autographed by some emo band I can’t even remember. I later traded that acoustic guitar for a Marshall amplifier for my electric guitar.

The thing about working in a CD store was it felt like a community, a family. There were very little rules except show up on time, help the customers and don’t steal. I miss interacting with the regular customers who would ask what I was listening to or what I thought about a certain release. I miss the vinyl heads, those crazy people who collected records. I never knew how insane collecting records can be. Those people are like Trekies, they are so dedicated and I love it. I also miss this one guy who always bought jazz CDs and helped me get into the genre and love Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon and so many more.

I made so many friends just by working at indie CD stores, some who I still talk to today. You don’t get that much anymore since everything has gone digital or on line. People think I am crazy for saying this, but I actually miss the smell of a CD store or the smell of new CDs in the shrink wrap or when you pop open a vinyl record and that distinct smell tickles your nose.

I still collect music, not as seriously as I used to when I worked in a CD store because owning a magazine you just get flooded with promo’s, which mostly are in slip paper cases or digital streams. I know the record companies are trying to save money with these, but it’s just not the same. I find our writers like the actual art work and liner notes. When I was a kid and I would always get a new piece of music weather it was vinyl, cassette or CD I would love breaking that plastic seal, pulling out the inner art work and read every inch of the liner notes. I would recognize names in the “thank yous” because I read so many liner notes I knew who was who.

The longer I continue to publish Innocent Words Magazine, I think the more nostalgic I get for the old days. Looking back I did like the discipline of getting up at a certain time and going to work. I haven’t used an alarm clock in so long, I don’t even know if I own one. But the funny thing about that is, since I work in music and from home people assume I sleep in really late. But in actuality I am up and working before nine every day. There is always something to do and I don’t want to let anyone down i.e. writers, readers, labels, bands, etc.

So I will continue to get up every day, walk my 16 steps of a work commute every day in my PJs, crack open the cellophane of promo CD, take a deep breath and enjoy its familiar scent and get to work.

This blog is dedicated to my friend Brad Elvis for the inspiration.