I have an incredibly active imagination. Some might say it is over-active, and while I don't think it is, I wouldn't argue with them over that point.
As far back as my memory serves me this has been the case. It used to infuriate my father to no end. I could be sitting off, by myself, and still be waging intergalactic war against the most recent aliens that dared to attack us. Explosions, space ships, laser fire (yeah, I know lasers are silent!), and the ominous enemy all had their own sound effects. And I could stay busy in my mind for hours.
I would often lay awake at night in my bed, lights off, just imagining. The current fantasy depended much on the age I was. Some nights I was a Jedi, vanquishing the evil in the galaxy. Other nights I was showing the Hardy Boys just how slow they were and where they went wrong in their investigation. Wolverine and I were brothers in 'arms' some nights, our adamantium claws at the ready. Some nights that one really cute girl had a crush on me (instead of the other way around).
I have grown and matured. Now that really cute girl not only has a crush on my, but agreed to be my wife! And the Hardy Boys aren't quite as prominent. I still will have wild dreams of being a Jedi and defeating Darth Vader every now and then. Some of my fantasies have faded, others have changed with me. But there is one constant, secret dream I have.
I want to be in a band.
My guitar skills are impeccable, and my vocal range is amazing. At least in my fantasies. In reality my air guitar skills far outshine my real guitar skills (though those aren't entirely absent). In real life I am a bass. A bass that can sing most tenor parts in a pinch, but a bass nonetheless (with some experience singing in numerous venues). And there just aren't that many bands fronted by basses.
But that hasn't diminished the desire. I want to be a guitarist and vocalist for a rock band. I have the name already picked out, ready to go at a moment's notice. We might be a hard sell to a label because, of course, we wouldn't fit into any nice, tidy genre. Unless you want to consider progressive as a sort of meta-genre. The music would range from soaring acoustic passages to bludgeoning electric guitar riffs that crush stones. Time signatures would vary wildly, often even in the same song, and no one would ever be able to guess what was coming next.
Lyrically we would be intelligent, thought provoking, poetic, and sometimes poignant. All while avoiding falling into the realm of incomprehensible. We would maximize the power of the internet to get our names out there, and our skill and style would do the rest.
I get excited just thinking about it.
Then I remember: it is just a dream. But it is a dream I haven't let go of.