not one but two firsts. It was both the first time I placed wired airbuds into my ears as well as the first time listening to a song my mysteriously cool new high school friend produced. Both firsts would later become rituals, but this was the initiation. The dueling melodies and punchy rhythm of his 3-minute 8-bit chiptune blew me away... but that's not what blew my mind. Enthralled by the music, I casually asked how long it took him to write it. My mind secretly calculated that it might have just taken the previous evening. To be honest, I don't remember the exact amount of time he told me. He might have said weeks, or even months. But it was much longer than a day, and once something reaches limit an invisible expectation, it becomes so powerful that nothing beyond it can even add to its magnitude in any meaningful way. The song blew me away. But the time it took to create it blew my mind... This song, something so short, so brief, and ephemeral took an exponentially longer time to create. What was he doing for that amount of time and why was it worth it? I had to know, and the only way was to create music of my own. It wasn't my first love, but making music would be the strongest and most passionate. It's here that I blend symphonic orchestras, electronica, and neo-soul.... extending the initiation.