Title: It's Time to Say Good-Bye
As the days turn to weeks, and the weeks into months, I have found myself
searching to find my place in life, in this very place and time.
Unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion that my place is no longer as
a member of Amber Pacific.
It saddends me to think about all that I will be giving up: seeing the
country, working and spending time with friends, making music and seeing
it in movies, TV shows, and videogames; but most importantly, it is, and
always will be hard to cope with not being able to see all of you. I have
said it before and I will say it again, that everyone who has supported
the band and I personally throughout the years is not only a fan, but a
friend. I appreciate all of the hugs, the cheers, and the heartfelt
stories of appreciation. It is still hard to believe that we went from a
small band who couldn't even get our friends to come to shows back in 2003
to becoming a band who could headline the 2006 and 2007 Warped Tour at the
Gorge, in Seattle, in front of 20,000 people who are singing our songs.
I would like to take this time to encourage all of you to never give up on
your dreams. Now this may sound hypocritical, seeing as how I'm leaving
the music industry, but my dream lives on. That dream and lifelong passion
is to help the youth of America and to leave this world a better place. I
was never perfect, as none of us are, but I hope that my time in front of
the microphone was able to have a positive impact on your lives, whether
it be through the good times or the bad. I think Batman said it best when
he said, "It's not who you are on the inside, but what you do that defines
you." With that in mind, I'm now going to shift my efforts to going back
to school and pursuing a career in public education as a principal, in
hopes that I can better prepare future generations for what lies ahead.
So for those of you who have serious passions and hopes for your future,
don't be afraid to reach for the stars, as I'm still reaching for mine,
but have found a different one to try and grab on to.
Again, I appreciate all of you who have supported Amber Pacific and I hope
that my continued efforts to know all of you on a personal level
throughout my travels at all of our shows was successful. I would like to
take this time to say that my run with Amber Pacific never would of been
possible without the love and support of: my mom and dad; brother TJ; the
amazing guys and musicians who helped make Amber Pacific including Will,
Dango, Greg, Justin, Joe, Ben, Rick, Brad, and Scott; our producer and
friend Martin Feveryear; our original manager David Tresko; our current
manager Mike Bachta; Louis Posen and all of the great people at Hopeless
Records; former booking agents Eric Tobin, Jamie Kelso; current booking
agent Mike Mori; and the rest of my family and friends who have truly
been there from the very beginning. Thank you to all of you for believing
in me as the voice of Amber Pacific and allowing me to spend the last few
years doing something that I never thought possible, resulting in what
will go down as some of the greatest years of my life.