In which I talk to my Rock Star Crush

Josh Freese is a fucking rock star.  And I mean that in every sense of the word.  He's literally a rock star: drummer for The Vandals, Devo, NIN, A Perfect Circle, and Weezer (to name a few), and he's probably drummed on your favourite albums (and you had no idea - sad).  But he's also a rock star in the sense that he is totally cool and awesome.

I've been a fan of Josh since I saw the Vandals play SF when I was young and impressionable – an amazing, cute drummer in one of my favourite bands?!  Love.  I followed his career and was able to catch him drumming with some of my other favourite artists.

So, when he ended up standing right behind me at Weezer's Memories tour this past winter, I kinda freaked out.  I tried to wordlessly communicate to Boyfriend that Josh Freese was standing right behind us.  He didn't get what I was saying and when I finally got the nerve to talk to him (and I'm sure it would have been an amazing line like, "Hey, You're Josh Freese.") he was gone.  I kicked myself for not seizing the opportunity.  So, the next night, same theater, same seats, he's there again!  Just as I gathered my confidence and turned around, he left.  TWICE!  Twice I missed my chance.

I went home that night and, because I'm a nerd, I Tweeted at him (@joshfreese) – and he replied! – but I felt so lame for missing my chance to talk to someone I've been a fan of for such a long time. 

And, of course, I wouldn't shut up about it.  When we were playing Rockband, Boyfriend started drumming more like Josh's style, and I was like, "If you think that by drumming more like Josh Freese you'll get me to love you more, well, that's where you're right." I was kidding. Kind of. 

So, for Christmas Boyfriend bought me a package deal from Josh Freese's website that included a 5 min phone call.  I couldn't believe he would do that for me!  But I kinda forgot about it because time passed and I didn't get a call.  Then this week I started to get these missed calls from a blocked number.  I wasn't getting voicemails, so I figured it was a scam or something. Then the other night I got a voicemail: some noises from a kid and in the background I could hear, "tell them who your Daddy is" followed by "It's Josh Freese. You aren't answering your phone." So, when I got the blocked call today, I answered. . .

I TALKED TO JOSH FREESE ON THE PHONE FOR LIKE 15 MINS!

I kind of panicked when I found out he would be calling me because I had no idea what to talk about.  I shouldn't have worried.  He was the easiest person in the world to talk to, like an old friend you're catching up with, except he name drops famous people the way I talk about my family and co-workers. . .

Topics we covered:

• Brazilian Waxing*
• The Weather in SF vs LA
• The Weezer Memories Tour (and my just missing him)
• The Warfield: Good Venue
• Learning Final Cut Express
• iMovie '06 vs iMovie '08**

The best part was the editing conversations... He casually said something like he was just hanging out and Trent [Reznor of Nine Inch Nails] told him to upgrade to the new iLife... I told him how I was certified in FCP - he asked me an editing question.  The conversion ended with him saying that he has my number now and next time he's in SF and needs editing help (he was trying to figure out when Weezer was playing here again)... I nearly died.

This was seriously the coolest thing to happen to me in a while.  Boyfriend is the most amazing person in the universe for setting this up for me (despite my crush).  And I can't believe how cool of a person Josh is for taking time out of his day to call a fan.


*I was on my way to get a Brazilian Wax when Josh called... turns out it's a good ice breaker to just throw an over-share into a conversation with a famous person you are nervous about talking to...
**this is the point where it was suddenly like giving Josh Freese a One to One in Final Cut Express...