It’s been a very busy, very productive semester. It seems my path is finally getting clear now and my future is growing more certain, with direction from my teachers and friends and the discovery of a niche I like that corresponds to my abilities, while here at Berklee. A lot of the fuel for my focus has come from a very unexpected source. I was never originally a fan of John Mayer, but when he came back to Berklee (Fall ’97, Spring ’98,) his clinic surprised and impressed me. Continue reading ""Feeling the BIRN...""

There’s a line in the movie, Tropic Thunder, when Robert Downey Jr.’s character, Kirk Lazarus retorts, "I know what dude I am. I’m the dude disguised as a dude, playing another dude.", when co-star, Al Pacino, warns, “Pump your brakes, kid…” I guess he was referencing the Will Smith / Snoop Dog song of the same name, or the Kanye West/Paul Wall “Drive Slow” lyric, but right now that idea is rattling around in my head. It’s time to ‘pump my brakes’, slow down, and get the lay of the land. Things are about to seriously change and I don’t want to go hurtling off a cliff. Continue reading ""Crunch Time""

by Matt Baamonde. Matt Baamonde After a well-deserved summer vacation, everyone is finally gearing up for the fall, possibly my next-to-last semester at Berklee. The summer has been rejuvenating, mostly due to the knowledge that all of my hard work... Continue reading "Summertime Blues"

It always feels great at the end of a hard year to sit down and watch baseball with my family, after sleeping in and enjoying the beautiful summer weather. My second year at Berklee has reached its conclusion and I’m finally settling back down at home and relaxing, but also preparing myself for the next, and possibly final, year to come. Looking back, this year was much more eventful and exciting than I could have ever imagined, coming out of my first year. For starters, I was notified on the final day of the school year that I won a Berklee Achievement Scholarship, which is a major financial relief for me. That, combined with winning the 2008 Peter Kaleta Scholarship Award, I feel like my resume has greatly improved, while finances have gotten somewhat less stressful, since I’m looking at less debt from student loans... Continue reading "Summer Break Begins!"

Two months in and this semester has officially been one of the most fun and exciting semesters thus far. It seems as if all the hard work I’ve been putting in has finally begun to pay off. To start with, my band is preparing to play two new shows. One will be broadcast live on TV on Friday, April 4th, and the other, which still needs to be confirmed, will take place at the end of the month, where we should be opening for a very well known band at another college... Continue reading "When Things Pick Up"