Changing Worlds


by Brain Freeman, Dueling Minds, 04.01.01

Almost every good book is a combination of well honed devices the author uses to pull you into the story. Through a blend of strong storytelling, description, and characterization, you find yourself becoming apart of the world unfolding on the printed page. Whether it's a novel filled with vampires or a series of books about a gunslinger on an epic quest, the author makes you believe that those characters are real. They are your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and lovers. And if the author has truly succeeded, the story and those characters will remain with you long after you've put the book back on the shelf.

For Mitch Alden, some characters do come alive. And they have more stories to tell. But not on paper. Not in a book.

"It all started when I finished Anne Rice's 'Vampire Armand'," Mitch explains as we sit in the apartment he shares with his wife of almost seven years, Dylan Kinsella-Alden. This room is tucked away in the back of a New England farmhouse that feels like it was pulled straight out of a painting. The interior has a beautiful and rustic feel to it. There are exposed beams, a sleeping loft, and as Mitch likes to say, "lots of cool energy." The woods that surround the home go on forever in the distance. There's even an old cemetery adjacent to the property. When you meet Mitch and he shows you around for the first time, you can tell this place suits him nicely.

He continues talking about the night that changed his musical life forever. "I've been a fan of Anne Rice for years. After I finished 'Vampire Armand' I picked up the guitar. I wrote yet another silly song about love and destiny and then I threw it out." Mitch laughs and gives a sly grin. "At about 3:00 a.m., I got a brainstorm. If I wanted to write about interesting experiences, it's all in the books I read. I flew out of bed, picked up the guitar and placed myself in the role of the book's main character. I wrote a killer song about vampires and perspectives from their eyes. A new door was open to me."

Yet finding that new door wasn't easy for Mitch. Over the past decade he's played with a variety of bands and written countless songs. His passion for music has taken him across the country and back, but his musical transcendence actually began over 17 years ago.

"I started playing guitar in 1984," Mitch explains. "I was mostly figuring out Rush and AC/DC tunes. I embarked on the songwriting journey just after my first serious relationship breakup. I'm sure that has inspired many a songwriter to journey down this path. Though the song was horrible, it made me feel really good."

His first band, On Air, was started as an acoustic duo in Albany, New York. Mitch founded the group when he graduated college. "It was either go work on Wall Street or become a songwriter. I pissed my folks off and became a songwriter." He laughs. "We played the New England circuit for a while and soon wanted something more. I figured a move out west would be the next step. On Air had played the New England ski towns a bit and we heard how great the western ski town circuit was."

The man who would later create a "faith in people" approach to spreading his music knew what the cross pollination at the western ski towns could mean for On Air. "I figured since there are so many visitors there, I could sell them my music and they would then take it home with them."

Without hesitation, Mitch decided he would go west. John Soule, an Indiana newspaperman, first told people to do the exact same thing way back in 1851. Thousands of people took this advice when Soule wrote it in his column, packing up everything they owned and heading to the land of opportunity that awaited them on the other side of the Mississippi River. A hundred and forty years later, this advice was again being heeded by Mitch. And he wasn't alone.

But before he left town, there was work left to do. Mitch knew that he needed to press a record before heading out.

"So I put a full band together, an eight piece acoustic act, and we recorded Time to Moove," Mitch says, pulling the CD off a nearby rack. "The players were so psyched with the product that we ended up moving out as a band instead of as a duo."

Starting in 1993 Mitch and the band spent their time getting paid to travel around ski towns and play original music to "lots of really neat people." The perks of life in Colorado included free skiing, free food, and musical freedom. But like all good things, it had to come to an end. Musical differences split up the band, but that wasn't the end of Mitch's musical journal. Not even close.

"A good friend of mine who I jammed with a bit in college found out On Air had broken up. Coincidentally, he just got signed to an independent label under the Berkley School of Music. With nowhere to go, I figured I'd give it a shot."

So back east Mitch traveled to meet up with the band, 7 Acres. In the fall of 1996, Mitch's career would take less pleasant turn. "The next four years were a combination hell and great learning experience. Since I was joining an already existing band, I really didn't have much of the hand in the songwriting at first. I was just along for the ride, supplying good vibes, acoustic guitars, and harmonies."

As often happens in the world of music, changes were coming. The rest of the band dispersed for other ventures, leaving Mitch and the band's motivator. At the same time Mitch was reunited with a few friends he went to high school with who had worked themselves up the record industry food chain.

"It turns out several of them were really interested in this act," Mitch explains. "When me and my partner decided to collaborate to write more music for the record companies, we hit a very strong disagreement." Like many up and coming musicians, his partner wanted to write songs the record companies wanted to hear while Mitch still wanted to write, "what my heart wanted to feel."

Around summer of 1999, Mitch knew he needed a change. The partnership came to an end.

This was a major turning point for Mitch and his music. He hadn't been writing much over the last two years, but he had been reading. When he finished "The Vampire Armand" and decided to write a song from the vampire's point of view, everything changed.

"I now had the opportunity of a lifetime open to me," Mitch says. "More over, the songs started to flow and flow and flow." The next tune he wrote was inspired by Ram Daas's "Be Here Now." Paulo Coelho's "The Fifth Mountain" inspired "I Take It As It Comes," one of the live tracks off Mitch's latest CD by his band, NOW is NOW. But the big breakthrough was yet to come.

Mitch holds up a paperback book. Any Stephen King fan would recognize it immediately. "About a month later, my wife started reading the Dark Tower series for the first time. When she went to sleep, and I couldn't, I started thumbing through it." The Gunslinger by Stephen King inspired Mitch like no novel ever had before. "It opened my mind to the fact that there are possible other worlds beyond the dimensions we live, and that we might just cross paths with someone from one of those worlds." He paused for a moment, thumbs through the book again like he did on the fateful night. "It's such an intense scene, when Jake falls. I couldn't think about any other scene." "Other Worlds" was written about six hours later. It has gone on to achieve critical acclaim all over the world and a kind of cult status within the Stephen King fan community on the Internet.

Within two months, Mitch's lease was up and he knew he needed another change. He and his wife, Dylan, had friends in Maine. They had always loved visiting there, so the move north came naturally. And that's how Mitch ended up with the rustic apartment in the hundred and fifty-year-old farm house. He likes it a lot, adding, "We plan to stick around for a while."

So for now Mitch is going to keep on doing what he loves: writing songs and performing them live. The fans of NOW is NOW are very vocal in their love for his music, and people from all over the world have been downloading the tracks from NOW is NOW's debut CD at www.NOW-is-NOW.com, the band's official website. He's been selling copies of their first CD using his "faith in people approach" where anyone can request the CD and sample it. If they like what they hear, they should send a check in the mail. If they don't, they can just return it, no questions asked.

So while Mitch is scheduling shows all over New England, his music is spreading like wildfire all over the planet. What else could a person want out of life?

"My goal is to bring the musical world honest pop/rock, untarnished by the record industry, and to live each day bringing a cool musical vibe to the world."

I think Roland The Gunslinger would approve.