I recently sat down with my old Fair bandmates, Erick Newbill, Nick Barber, and Joey Sanchez on Church Jams Now, and the conversation left me with a strange mix of nostalgia and awareness of the current moment.

I’ve been really lucky. I’ve managed to have so many amazing opportunities to do what I love, with people I love, despite racking up my share of personal baggage and working in a field that is significantly impacted by a constantly and exponentially narrowing culture.

Wasn’t 2006 a strange time?

YouTube was brand new. The dopamine drive of MySpace still felt pretty innocuous. Capitol Hill felt like a haven for artists and musicians. Bands like Deathcab for Cutie, Band of Horses, Jimmy Eat World, and The Shins were on top, but the torch of independent music still had a flicker. It still felt worth pursuing. We had no idea how much was going to change. How creativity was going to change. (Let me be clear, here, it’s still worth pursuing. More on that later?)

At the time, I was producing a lot of records and had this really fucking dumb idea that I wanted to be in a band again. When we dove into making The Best Worst-Case Scenario, we just wanted to make a good record. We just wanted to make some music together. For the sound of it. For the hell of it. And, if I’m being completely honest, to help me finish out a less-than-ideal solo record contract. And when we were done, it was great. It was so much closer to that unattainable “it” thing that you search for your whole life than anything I thought I’d ever do.

I used to love taking credit for my ideas and compositions, but the more time that passes I’m really fully convinced we’re just here to unearth it. And at the end of the day, 2006 or 2026, that’s still our job. But I have to say, 20 years later, I’m still really fucking proud of this record.

I dropped a link to the Church Jams Now conversation, where we share stories about making the album, talk about Ryan Clark’s incredible artwork, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Recording Package in 2007 (and lost to Tool’s 10,000 Days, if you were wondering), and just generally conduct some band banter.

I’ve also included a handful of photos from the sessions at my old Capitol Hill studio, the Compound, and of course, a link to the album.

Hope you enjoy.

I view Lockstep as a digital intentional community.
We don’t live near each other
But we do life together.

At the top of our partner agreement, it says:

“Lockstep exists to increase beauty and cooperation in the world by raising the consciousness of organizations, collectives, and groups. We improve environments, conditions, relationships, and efficiency to cultivate the flow of inspiration, wisdom, and economic stability. Lockstep methods are designed to help collectives and individuals self-govern and evolve.”

Why am I telling you all this?
I want to set the stage for how we’ll be running this Substack going forward.
Aaron and I will both be sharing thoughts, pictures, videos, audio clips, and podcasts.
And because cooking is an artform we’ll be sharing what he’s making in the kitchen!

I’m here to share the things *I think* are special about Sprinkle.
Share what I admire about him. What I respect.
Aaron Sprinkle is one of those people
that naturally models living a life full of beauty and art and love
He has a lot to offer the world
And some of it can be shared just from observing him live his life.
He’s one of those people who is easy to look up to
In the way he’s 100% himself all the time
In the way he values and loves the people around him
In the way he is constantly learning
In the way he pours his whole heart into all of the art he creates. Aaron will be here to read comments and connect.

Emery and As Cities Burn are both Lockstep clients.
Aaron is the music producer, mixer, and art director for both upcoming album cycles.
For his Substack, I’ll be sharing a lot of As Cities Burn and Emery content
They are his two biggest art creations right now.

I’ll be sharing some VM and snippets of calls between him and our team as we do life together.
So I have a lot to work from and I hope to capture a fraction of what he has to offer
To share it with you all.

Stay tuned.

For now, here’s a few clips from our first call together as the four partners of Lockstep, on April 13th, 2026.

Every year around my birthday I think about Gene.

Gene “Eugene” Andrusco was an amazing musician, songwriter, record producer, singer and all-around human. He created and helped shape extraordinary music that was formative and inspirational to me. Besides all of the tremendous records he produced, I loved his band, Adam Again. I have very fond memories of riding the Poor Old Lu van, listening to their albums Homeboys and Dig. His meaningful songwriting and the vulnerability of his voice stood out in that crowd of early 90’s alternative Christian music.

Gene had a studio in Huntington Beach called The Green Room where Poor Old Lu recorded our first album. It was there I got to meet him for the first time but really didn’t get the chance to KNOW him on a deeper level. He was working on another album by a band called The Waiting and we were alternating sessions passing each other coming in and out of the control room. A short few years later I had the opportunity to produce an album for Bloomsday at The Green Room. Later that same year, my band Poor Old Lu flew him up to Seattle to mix our album, A Picture of the 8th Wonder. It was during those times I discovered his gentle nature and generosity.

On my birthday in March of 2000 I got a phone call with the sad news that Gene had passed. I remember feeling like it was the end of an era and I struggled with processing my grief. Gene had a very profound effect on me. The time I spent listening to the music he created and gleaning from his personality will always be part of who I am. I know there are a lot of people around me that were much closer to Gene on a more personal level but I’m grateful for the time with him and to learn from him.

This year on my birthday I want to celebrate his life and music by releasing a cover of his song Worldwide from the album Dig by Adam Again. This song was so impactful on not only myself but my brother so we decided that Blank Books should record it. The message from this song is still as poignant today as it was when Gene wrote it in the ‘90s.

You can find it here:

Please let me know what you think!