right till the end

As I am currently grooving to the new Audio Bullys album, “Generation” [to be released September the 16th], for some reason, I think about my friends. Since childhood, I’ve had a few friends, never had one too many…

Two of my best friends have died. One of them literally, because of cancer at the age of 21… The other one woke up one morning and decided all he ever wanted was to become a monk. He changed his name, left his family and drove all the way up to Holy Mountain. I have only seen him once since then…

But I am a lucky bastard. I may have very few friends but all of them, well, they’re fucking extraordinary…

I met Thanassis K. while still in high school. We got through a lot of hard and funny times together. And it’s a fact that your school buddies are bonded with you in a very special way. We can share and swap almost everything [apart from girlfriends].

Marc French is eight years older than me. He was my boss and mentor at the early stages of my so called career. He’s an incredibly patient guy and knows things about me one could not even dare to imagine… He has managed to summarize my personality in one phrase. Of course I am not going to write it down…. Forget about it!!!

John Dokman served his military duty with me on the very same war ship. We were in close company every single day for 17 crazy months. Suffice to say, it was impossible not to keep in touch right after, so we made it official: I became his best man.

I have known YK for years but he seemed unreachable. However, situations occurred and by the autumn of 2003 we were hanging out on a daily basis. He is one of the most charismatic and cool people I have ever met. Needles to say that when we go out, women only have eyes for him…

There are also some other friends that I don’t get to see that often. Michael K., for example, one of the best drummers in the world under 40, is a great chap but his touring schedule and our working hours that never cross each other keep us from hooking up regularly.

All of them are guys. I don’t have female friends. I don’t think this can be done. There are women I respect, like and with whom I can have a good time, but I don’t exactly consider them friends. It doesn’t work this way. Not for me. I could explain why but that’s material for another post altogether.

The reason why I decided to write about my friends [there are a couple more but on a different level] is because today, when I woke up, I took a look around my flat, had a quick re-evaluation of my life and tried to remember all my hits and misses. As you may have guessed, there have been a few hits and lots of misses. Somehow, my biggest hit is that I have these friends with whom I can share my hits & misses, alli my bits and pieces. Hey, if someone has friends that good where he can depend on, he can’t be all that bad, can I? :-)

So, dear friends, let me say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I don’t know what I’d do without you…

Cheers!