Journal 16 (November 13th, 2025)

BACK TO MY ROOTS PART 2

Hey (Insert Name)!

David here, and this is part 2 of our recurring series where I share the story of how I found my way into music. In part 1 I talked about how my childhood shaped everything I do now, from singing Bollywood songs in the car with my mom 🎶 to discovering American pop on the radio, to joining choir and every school musical I could get into. If you missed that one, you can go back a few journals and read it! If you already caught up, welcome to part 2.

First Love and Heartbreak 💔

I always wanted to write songs, even back in high school, but I was terrified of trying and never satisfied with anything I made. It felt like my skills never matched my taste and I had no idea where to begin. That all changed during my first year of college.

About three weeks into my first semester, I went through my first heartbreak. I was living with two people I had never met, surviving on a suitcase with twelve outfits that were all a little too old, and sleeping under a comforter I accidentally burned in the dryer during week one 😅. One night, I came home from a party, still a little buzzed, and could not handle the empty silence in the room. I picked up my guitar, started strumming, and wrote what became my first song ever. Looking back, it was terrible, but it was the first time I had ever taken my pain and put it into music.

Music got me through that heartbreak, and heartbreak gave me the push to finally start writing. Funny how pain has a way of forcing growth if you know how to channel it. After that night, I kept writing and playing guitar after class. I downloaded a pirated copy of Ableton Live 9 onto my laptop, bought a cheap interface, and started experimenting with recording. I even began going to open mics, and that is how I ended up joining my first band.

My First Band 🎸

I remember exactly how I met my first bandmate. It was a Sunday in early 2016. I had just turned 19 and was heading to an open mic at The Bitter End in NYC. I was sitting on the Staten Island bus wearing a blue leather jacket, a flannel button down, skinny jeans, vans, and holding my guitar case.

(A Selfie from around that time)

The bus stopped, and a guy my age got on with his own guitar. He sat across from me. Our eyes met.

“Nice guitar,” I said.

“Thanks, same to you,” he replied.

We laughed and started talking. He had gone to a music high school in the city and grew up playing in bands with his twin brother. We showed each other songs we were working on and really clicked. Up until then, I had met people at open mics but had never really worked with other musicians. He invited me to a jam session because he was building a new band after his old bandmates left for college. I showed up, we jammed, and a few days later I officially joined as the vocalist.

Looking back at old recordings, I am honestly amazed at how talented everyone was. They had insanely good musicianship and I grew so much working with them. They introduced me to rock, alt rock, and punk. This point in my life is when I discovered Nirvana, The Foo Fighters, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, and more 🎧. Those jam sessions built my songwriting chops and sharpened my sense of melody. I am really grateful I got to be in that band, even though we eventually went our separate ways.

Here’s a photo of our practice space (in my bandmates house basement)

We used to jam every Saturday together.

You can listen to some of the songs from that band down below.

I do not want to make this too long, so I will stop here for now.

Thanks so much for being here 🙌

David

PS: Next time, we will talk about the second band I joined right before meeting Hunter 👀