This is my first attempt at a new project. Working title is "Gainesville Conversations". I am pretty much making this up as I go along.

You are going to see that here. I didn't come in with a theme in mind. This isn't an interview; this is me sharing a conversation I had. With luck, as I continue to do this, I will figure it out.

I met Wriq at Loosy's because it's a great spot to be. I've seen Wriq play in his band, Golf War, a few times, but this was my first time hanging out and talking with him.

We sat down, talked, drank (soda for me), and hung out for about two and a half hours. One thing became clear during that time. This man is very well known and also very well loved. If I remember right, at least 8 cars honked and waved to him, 4-5 people walked by and shouted out, or he shouted out to them. Before I left, we had 5 people stop by and sit down with us.We had a bit of a random conversation. The first thing we talked about was cameras. As a photographer, it's what stuck out to me most; also, it doesn't hurt that when you have a camera on a tripod it's kind of a natural talking point. He told me about how he got his start in photography with both analog photography and videography. Taking photos and videos of the local skateboard and music scene, using off-camera flashes, constantly hitting his face on the camera trying to get the shot. He told me a story about how his dad's friend would go to estate sales years ago and find Hasselblad cameras for dirt cheap. If your not into camera's a Hasselblad is kind of like the Ferrari of medium format cameras.

If you don't know, Wriq is the guitarist band called Golf War, and you should absolutely check them out. Eventually, some bandmates, including his brother, showed up, and our conversation shifted to music. We talked about a new song involving 7 putters, and I'm casting my vote for a song called 7 Putter Army. There was also talk about a band called "Opener" which was formed specifically to open for other bands. Then the idea of forming a band called "The Set up" where the whole 22 minutes would just be someone setting up the stage, and a band called "Intense" where they only plan, in tents. So eventually you would have a show with Opener starting the show, The Set up after that, and then Intense. All in all, it sounds like a pretty good show.

Eventually, everything settled down a bit and started getting slow, so I thanked everyone for the conversation and made my way out of there. I learned a lot about Wriq in those few hours. He is a jack of all trades, it seems like, a photographer, skater, cook, screen printer, bike mechanic, musician. I think Matt, who you will also see a photo of here, actually summed him up pretty well. "Wriq is quite possibly, outside of his evil twin, the most kindest, most thoughtful human, and also this is, my favorite things is, his positive mental attitude and also being optimistic". I don't think you can have a more positive review than that.

Wriq, thanks for the time and I look forward to seeing you and hearing you play again.