A Secret You Most Likely Didn't Know About Me

I have a secret.

Lots of people know I love creating music, that I grew up in Claremont, and that in High School I had a ridiculous haircut.

What very few people know about me, however, is that I love to build things. There’s something about the smell of freshly cut wood and the light touch that layer of sawdust on your skin brings…

It settles the mind.

It calms the soul.

Every little anxiety seems to drop off the edge of the world when I’m carefully crafting something useful or meaningful.

Maybe it’s the sweet escape the heart and mind experience when they allow the hands to take over. Damn, is there a lesson here?

…

[self-realization moment]

Anyway, I’ve got a “secret workshop”; a collection of tools hidden in the garage like that I break out when we need a new coffee table, workbench, or am feeling inspired by a new DIY project.

This hobby started in Jr High, when I took every single woodworking shop class available each year. The hobby grew into set-building for High School theater, to building and renovating houses in college.

Needless to say, this is a trade that holds a special place in my heart.

The best part of having little secrets like this is you get to surprise people every now and then.

“Where did you get this?”

“Wait, you built this?”

“This is beautiful!”

Isn’t that such a good feeling; surprising someone with something they weren’t expecting?

I recently had the pleasure of letting a video client know that I could design and build a set for an upcoming season of their Youtube show. They were shocked, surprised, and delighted.

So, for the past week and a half, filming and video editing have taken a bit of a back seat. After the design was approved, I began the construction of three 8 foot walls, 12-16 feet in length. We brought in a muralist to paint a picture of the client and his late father in their first wine shop together. Furniture, carpet, and accessories arrive over the next couple of days and by the end of this week, we’ll have filmed our first episode of Wine Talks with Paul K, Season 14.

There’s something incredible about using your hands to bring others joy, right?

I’m excited to share the finished product with you all! Head over to Instagram and follow @dragrproductions if you want to see what we did.