I started lurking here toward the end of college after a friend gave me one of those life-changing mixtapes (yeah OK, CD-R) that had a recording of "Billiard Player Song" from a WNUR broadcast in 2000.
Joined and started posting maybe 5? 6? years later.
Have learned so much, laughed aloud a lot, and I'm truly grateful.

I'm here because of SKWM. Spent the first few years of the millennium mostly lurking on the old message board, and then when many of the regulars decamped to the PRF I followed the crowd and spent the next decade-plus mostly lurking here. I am deeply ambivalent about talking to / arguing with strangers on the internet (or IRL, for that matter), I have little to contribute compared to most folks here, and the forum's culture during its heyday was like a mosh pit: fun to watch, but nothing I was tempted to participate in. But over the years I learned sooooooo much about music and all kinds of other stuff, and came to feel like a taker not a maker.

The tipping point came in 2018 when every major aspect of my life had gone sideways, I'd spent the last year listening to a steady diet of Neurosis and Converge with a black metal garnish, and I thought I might finally be too far gone for "humanist" music or just rock in general. Then I clicked on the Tropical Fuck Storm thread; it changed my life and inspired a highly uncharacteristic bout of logorrhea. Probably should've stopped there, but I kept going -- especially during the 2020 primary, when I was shocked to find that talking about "politics" on here was both cathartic and enlightening. I checked out for a few months post-Bernie and during the George Floyd Rebellion, but here I am again talking to strangers on the internet.

Thanks, PRF, for being the only social media I've ever had any use for. I'm bummed about what was lost but very glad the forum has risen from the ashes.

Joined in 2004 while I was living in Taiwan. Briefly lived in Chicago a few years later and hung out with some folks in person. Untold hours posting and reading stuff here over the years.

Don't remember how I learned of the forum. Probably sniffing around to see what the studio looked like.

Don't know how long I lurked before actually signing up - September 2003.

I have not read the whole thread but suffice to say "welcome newbies" and "welcome back old friends". My story is boring and i prefer to let it leak out in dribs and drabs rather than lay it out in detail all in one place. Been posting since 2005 on and off. Am old. Saw Big Black, Rapeman. Played in a shitty band in Boston in the 90s.

Just popped in to say the NYC contingent is sadly lacking from the new version of the PRF. Where is John Boombats? Jodi/burun? Justin foley? my people, i miss you.

to the newbies - once this COVID bullshit dies down - go to a PRF event, preferably in Chicago, but if you can't, then if somebody does one in your city, attend. You will be uncomfortable for 5 minutes until you realize that you are surrounded by friends you haven't met yet. I was only able to go to one Chicago event, but I went to the NYC one as well, and it was so fucking great. These are some of the finest people walking the planet, and you should take any opportunity to hang with them in the meat.

Oh and if you are in Chicago, bug the EA folks for a tour. It is so worth it. As a former musician/band member and lifetime audiophile and music nut, there is nothing like the full recording studio experience.

MBG out.

Hi,

I'm a spaniard (born and raised in cold north Spain, now living in hot and humid Ibiza where my wife comes from). Many moons ago I started typing cool noisy band names on google and ended up here. By Here I mean the old forum. Never registered.

"Tar's appreciation thread" was the first thing , probably.

And that's it.

I joined the old forum way back when. I was getting into audio engineering, reading Tape Op, loving Albini interviews and then came across the studio website. I asked some EA focused questions ("if I just know which model Steve uses, and where he points it I can make records that sound just as good"....... not quite), and had some discussions with nice folks in the tech room, but it wasn't long before I was wasting hours of my week trying to change Clocker Bob's mind, or just reading all of the wit and intelligence circulating around the forum from all of the other folks.

I had a weird reverse thing, where some local Denver guys playing music were some of my new friends in real life and I later found out they had been on here forever. My band did the PRF barbecue thing in 2019 with a bunch of out-of-towners I hadn't been familiar with (Conan Neutron, Sewing Needle, The Gary among many others) ... oh and I think a year or two before that we did a gig with Police Teeth.

Anyhow, this community has been great for interaction with people I can learn from whether it's about post rock, bourbon, bicycle maintenance, or Polish film. I've been finding myself checking this board more often than the standard social media sites lately, I think because of these quality folks.

Looking for dick lics

pics. no matter now. I'm gonna be known as the dicks guy

Been here for a while. Usually elsewhere these days.