Monday, June 24, 2013

On Glendale Folk and Future Projects

          "Keep yourself a clear head. Take on as many influences as you possibly can. Don’t be tunnel-visioned about (your media). You can definitely have your favorite. There were times of course where it was the metal only sound in my life and it’s important you feel part of something when you’re that age and dress your music. Don’t ever lose that. You can grow up and mature but you don’t ever have to stop being passionate about your music. You can still be a metal dude and take on John Coltrane and Ice Cube. That’s what I say– keep your listening practices diverse. Probably half of the other music I listen to is in other languages or people that invent their own instruments because that is purity."
 
-Jason Newsted
(Via 98KUPD Interview)

           I've had trouble sleeping at night. I'm starting to realize that I'm running out of all those "big, trigger-pulling, car-related decisions". The body components are awaiting paint, the engine upgrades are in the works -- I'm no longer schlepping around in the middle of the night reading through old PVW and Eurotuner mags, nor am I on the community forums or arguing aesthetic principles with friends. Nope, it's becoming clear: I'm starting to see a new project on the horizon. Ok, I guess I've never been much for sleep in the first place, but until now it seems like the reasons were much more justifiable.
           For the past couple of months, I've been staying with the family in Glendale -back in Glendale, where I grew up- where you're more likely to meet people who like muscle cars as much as JDM; who hate the thought of European imports, and compare everything to 1/4 mile times or land speed records. It's a wonderful place to visit.
           But I admit, I've run into a couple of these people from time to time. The only problem is (as much as the land speed record thing), they're starting to seem less interested in the cars themselves and more about the way the car looks -- more about the culture that surrounds it, rather than the car itself.
           I'm not knocking their choice in style, mind you -- my wheels are just as wide and the tires are just as stretched. But I'm confused, these are people with clean looking dropped cars that always seem to want to trade in for something different. Not only that, but they know very little about the Civic, or Fox body in general. Worse still, they seem disconnected from the vehicles -- it's not a project, it's not something that got them through college, not something they scraped their knuckles on, or could reveal every little imperfection if asked.


          I guess that's what's so confusing: the fact that their cars resemble that of someone who spent the time, who did their homework and produced something remarkable, but their knowledge of wheels and tires and fitment is so limited. Where's the sense of passion? Where are the stories of when you locked your keys in it,  I ask, why even own the car if you're only going to put the façade of the culture before it?

I tell them of RC's Garage, of complete rebuilds. They seem more interested in other things.

Maybe it's simply Phoenix's lack of car culture, or maybe it's the fact that these people are just tempting me to buy into JDM.

-Either way, I don't know nearly as much as the next person. My friends would practically argue over owner's manuals and I could barely pay attention half the time. But I try to never lose that curiosity -- that desire to see something pieced together that simply works - hell, I could spend countless hours droning on and on about how and why I think it works.

We'll see where this takes me.