I witnessed the AIDS epidemic first hand in Los Angeles. A lot of us did. We lost a lot of friends. We were members of the LGBT community but after AIDS, we became even more isolated from society. It was a very painful and lonely time for all of us. We were Outcasts. I am also an avid gamer. I played the very first ever video games at the time they came out. I played every single MMORPG, Alpha tested and Beta Tested MANY of them. The World ofWarcraft was one such game. I made friends during the Alpha test, most of them LGBTQIA, and added even more in Beta. The Day WoW launched, we had more than 500 members in our guild. Eventually, we had over 10,000. We were "The Spreading Taint." Our guilds have been featured many times in various TV Shows. The episode in South Park, is my all time favorite. That is where I met many LIFE long friends. One of them, Mitchell Way, I got really close with. One night while we were raiding together, he told me he had to go, he had a Band Rehearsal. I was like, NO WAY! He said yep. I told him I wrote music for Wind Bands and Wind Ensembles. He didn't believe me. LOL. He believes me now. All of us in those guilds were seeking others like ourselves. We were people that were shunned, hated discriminated against and most of all, we were hurting. We found solace inside that guild. We found peace, laughter, comrades and most of all, we found ourselves. I wrote this music for Mitch, whom I love dearly. I wrote it for all those who don't yet have their own tribe. For all of my World of Warcraft guildies & friends: "FOR THE HORDE!II
