For most Americans, 2001 will always be remembered as what happened on September 11th. While that’s true for me as well, the fall of 2001 was an incredible time for me that I revisit in my memory time and time again due to an album. Freshman year was fantastic. I was involved in some great organizations and met some really great friends. Headed into sophomore year was gearing up to be quite fantastic. I was the head of the film committee for ACE (Association for Campus Entertainment), was the praise and worship leader for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (IV), and had an on-campus apartment with my roommate from the year before and two other guys. It was going to be a great year.
The summer before was great, I spent the summer working the early shift at Target. Working in the back room pulling inventory wasn’t exactly what I wanted to come back to, but it was work. My brother and I would stay up late watching Conan, and then playing Playstation/N64 games until the reruns of older Conan episodes came up in the wee hours of the morning. Those were fantastic times. His friend Steven also let us borrow a few of his CDs to listen to and/or copy. One of those just happened to be “No Name Face” by Lifehouse. I listened to that album a few times over that summer (along with Weezer’s Green Album….still my pick as their best), and thought it was pretty decent, particularly "Hanging by a Moment". Eventually I would identify the entire fall semester with that album.
I was able to move in early due to working with ACE, so having an apartment on campus to myself for almost a week before 90% of the rest of the students moved in was awesome. When people moved in and started joining ACE and IV, there was hardly a time that I would walk around campus without seeing someone I knew. It was a good time, although it wasn’t without its hitches. I broke up with my girlfriend most unfairly. She was very timid and at the time I was not. We would never fight, but when we went places, it didn’t seem as if we were together. It’s probably the most jerk thing I’ve ever done, and I probably should have handled it better. I remember listening to a song from the album called “Simon,” where he talks about self-worth and how you should hold your head high. I didn’t feel like holding my head high, but I knew I had to. A few weeks later I met a girl whom two years from then I would end up dating for just around 4 years…but that’s another story. Like I said, it was a crazy time as well!
Classes began in full swing and I met some really great guys in my computer science classes. I met Mike, who I found out was from Wilson, which is 15 minutes away from Rocky Mount, so we became friends pretty quickly, and remain friends to this day…and every time I talk to him he still asks me when I’m moving back. We had our new student outreach for IV and I met Allen. We both shared a love for music and while I was able to play guitar, Allen could only write lyrics and hum what he wanted the melody to be. We sat down one evening in his suite room and I threw some chords together to a song of his called “Wheel of the Potter.” I had no real clue what I wanted it to sound like, and neither did he, but I took one of the Lifehouse songs called “Somewhere In Between” and rearranged the chords and put his words to it. With the “Lifehouse Remix Song” put down we reached out to our bass player for IV; a younger guy named Ian who was completely on board. We got together at Ian’s house (he was a Wilmington native and lived at home) in his garage, and our band “Better Luck Next Time” was born. We wrote a few other songs that fall, and Allen and I still play them today when we get the chance.
One Tuesday morning Sarah (my girlfriend at the time) called me at 8 in the morning, which was strange since my Tuesday classes were not until after lunch. She told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center and that they were covering it on the news. I thought that was odd, and since I was already awake I might as well get up and check it out. I got out of the shower and got dressed just in time to see the second plane hit the WTC. It was unbelievable to say the least. I woke my roommate Dan up and we sat and watched in horror as the events unfolded. I left to go get something to eat and walking to the Hawk’s Nest all I saw were people on phones and crying. The university union had closed circuit TVs all over the place broadcasting campus news. On that day they were all on CNN and every TV had no fewer than two dozen students crowded around them. It seemed as if the whole world had stopped. We were confused, sad, angry, and lost. As anyone can tell you, things were never the same after that.
After that, we tried to return to normal. Midnight Madness came and ACE put on a heck of a show. We had American Gladiators style jousting, Surf 107.5 was giving away CDs and swag, we had t-shirts and contests, it was a lot of fun.
Shortly thereafter, the air became cool. UNCW is a fantastic place in the spring, summer, and fall; but for me I always liked it in the winter. While not overly cold, there was always a chill that kept most people inside. The campus looked even more spread out with fewer people around, and it just seemed more serene. I always found it quite peaceful, and when I go back in the winters, it’s a lot of fun to walk around a semi-deserted campus. I know, I’m weird….I’m okay with it. I have great memories of walking to class in my pea coat (I loved that coat!) and my headphones on, listening to No Name Face. Every time I hear “Breathing” from that album (a song that I still think is one of the most beautiful songs ever written) I can see the leafless trees and people bundled up while headed to and from class.
Right around Christmas I was approached by Shannon from Campus Services about an outdoor Christmas program they were having. They would have music and theater skits, all on the amphitheater in the commons for students and public to attend. She asked if the IV praise band would be interested in performing, and after a brief discussion we agreed. I learned and coordinated up to play “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” as done by the Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLaughlin, and it was met with an incredible reception.
I’ve always been able to make a connection to music in my memory. Whenever I hear a song it sticks with me and I associate it with a time. I guess that’s why whenever I listen to songs from “No Name Face,” I’m sent back to that year…and sent back to the feelings and emotions I had around that time. I remember sitting on my bed with books strewn out in front of me, with the blinds open so I could see where the apartment next to me had their Christmas lights on the patio glowing brightly against the darkness. All the while I had the album playing softly in the background while I studied. My wall was covered in the fliers advertising the movies that we showed on campus, my new pea coat hanging on the back of the door, lightly brushing up against my guitar that was always within an arm’s reach. The soft glow of the computer monitor while it played “Cling and Clatter” and “Quasimodo” before settling into the quiet ballad “Everything” illuminated the room with that extra little bit of light and lift that I needed to press on through the nights of studying.
With all the craziness of college; trying to find my place and make my mark, figuring out relationships, and understanding who I was and who I wanted to be, music was a common theme for me. Many times it felt like the song “Sick Cycle Carousel” where he says: “when will this end, it goes on and on. Over and over and over again. Keep spinning around, I know that it won’t stop until I step down from this for good.”
Whenever that album comes over my iPod I can close my eyes and remember what it was like at the time, and every time I do I want to go back there...more than anything.
