The End of Short Wave
When I found myself in Chicago a month later the idea of working with sessions for a dying/dead band did not appeal to me. Instead I set to work on new material.
Brian Welesko was the only person I knew in Chicago, and we spent a lot of time hanging out there. We played countless games of Risk!, went record shopping at Reckless Records, and watched and re-watched our favorite movies. One night, as we were walking somewhere downtown I waxed poetic for the 'Phase One' version of Short Wave, and lamented that we hadn't taken it on tour. He encouraged me to follow that passion. If that's where my heart was, I should follow it. Believe it or not, it was good advice, even if things didn't work out the way I imagined, Brian encouraged me to listen to myself.
For spring break both Briand and I went back to Rhode Island. There we cut one last 'Short Wave' demo, which was called 'Corporatized,' in my home studio at my parents house.
Corporatized (March 2006 demo)
The last Short Wave song (sort-of), written while in Chicago, it was my response to the shock of being, for the first time, so far away from my family and friends for an extended period of time. This version of the song was never released, but it was re-recorded with Green Bean as 'Something to Mourn,' later in 2006.
Brian Welesko and I recorded this demo at my home studio at my parents house while we were both in town for spring break. I had recently invested in a Fostex E-16 (A 1/2" 16-track tape recorder), which I'd planned to use to 'finish' the Short Wave album.
Fin
Of course, the Short Wave LP never materialized.
Shorly after making the 'Corporatized' demo recording the machine broke down and I had no clue how to fix it.*
Erin and I split up while I was still at school in Chicago, punctuating the end of the band with heartache.
I decided not to continue at Columbia College and moved back to Rhode Island in May 2006. For the first time since 2000 I was without a band, without obligations to school, and there was nothing but possibility ahead.
*Note: Eleven years later I finally got it running, thanks to Brian Webb, and it got significant use in the late 2010s with Pixels and the Bendays