On May 17th, the first proof copies of Living the Scene: 2005–2023 – Flyers, Collages, and Stories from My Life in the Independent Music Scene finally arrived.

Holding this book in my hands for the first time was honestly surreal.

What started as an idea slowly became a massive archival project spanning nearly two decades of independent music culture, OFNR history, flyers, photographs, interviews, collages, memories, radio, live events, and the people who helped shape it all. While Connecticut is deeply rooted in these pages, the story stretches far beyond that through interviews and connections from around the world, including artists from the UK, Holland, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Australia, and more.

This book became more than just a memoir. It became an artifact.

An artifact of Connecticut music.
An artifact of independent music culture.
And of course, an artifact of OFNR itself.

The proof process is exactly that: a chance to catch the small things you become blind to after staring at a screen for months and months. There are still tweaks, edits, spacing adjustments, and final refinements to make. But that is the purpose of a proof copy. To finally experience the project physically and see what only becomes visible once it exists in the real world.

And honestly? It is awesome.

To finally flip through these pages. To feel the weight of it. To see the flyers, the photos, the stories, and the history collected in one place after all these years. After countless hours of writing, designing, scanning, organizing, editing, and rebuilding pages over and over again, it feels incredible to finally say:

It’s done.

Pre-order information is official, so keep it locked right here for updates, announcements, merch, release details, and upcoming information surrounding OFNR 20.