The man who studied sound

It was my first day in Paris, the start of what I would soon realize was going to be the most important trip of my life.

I was at a Paris Fashion Week event my friend Valentin was co-hosting, and I was wholly unprepared for what was about to happen.

When I arrived, I said hi to Val, a few of the other friends in my Paris crew (mostly members of Val’s team for Unlockt & Exposed), and soon found someone I was looking for - Pierre.

Before I tell you what happened, I have to first tell you that Pierre and I have what I would call a special bond. We’ve shared crazy nights together in Paris (here you’ll find a video of us opening a wine bottle at ~2am from a previous trip), and long days in LA bouncing between locations like the Chateau Marmot & my friend Ben from Wombo’s.. uh.. castle, in Culver City, lol.

And I also think you should know, Pierre recently became the youngest ever creative lead at a major Paris “fashion house”, The Kooples, at just 25 years old. With zero ego, and all the humility in the world, he informed me that the entire design team, and the entire marketing department, reported to him. Below are some photos from the tour he gave me.

Pierre ruffling through clothes hung on racks in his office:

Pierre’s desk:

Pierre showing me The Kooples’ HQ “showroom”:

So, now that you have context, imagine this:

Actually, wait, I’ll do one better. Just watch this video I recorded that night.

Alright, so now, imagine Pierre seated alone at a table, near where the bridge starts and the party ends, looking bored as hell, staring at his phone.

I yelled from a distance, using all that was in me, so he could hopefully hear me; “Pierre!”

It took 2 or 3 tries, and I watched his eyes bulge with joy and surprise as he realized I made it just in time for his party he was already bored at, even though it had just started.

He ran up to me, drunk as hell, and swiftly lifted my shirt and spat with all his might all over my stomach.

It was amazing, I had never experienced anything like it, and I laughed like hell. I later told him the story, and I wish you could see the look of surprise on his face that told me what he was about to say before he said it, he had no recollection of the event… lmfao..

Alright, we’re almost done setting the scene, first, please trust me, I need you watch this video.

That night, the energy was unlike anything I had ever experienced, I’ll just say, it was electric. Trust me, watch this one.

About an hour or so later, I’m hanging with Val outside the bar that’s behind me at the start of of the first video, where every is getting their drinks, more or less as far from the noise as you could get without leaving the party.

He introduced me to his friend, who told me that he held a high-up position at Rimowa (the luggage company), but he doesn’t specify that he leads this team on his socials or LinkedIn, so I’ll leave out that detail.

I’ll never forget the way he looked at me as he said, “Sound, is very important”. He let out the words so confidently that I was suddenly on the edge of my seat, in my mind.

He soon told me that he studied sound in a class of 20 people at a school in Paris.

That was all I needed to hear for the concept to reverberate through every corner of my brain for the last ~80 days.

I mean… it’s such a simple concept. It’s one you almost want to ignore at first glance it’s so simple. But I just couldn’t.

Within days, sighing in a Pret A Manger on about hour 30 of what was about to be a long day – because it was still just morning – became an incredible learning experience for me.

Within seconds of performing my sigh, which I may have held in before recently waking up I believe we live in a simulation — observer effect, Drake equation, the ancient concept of Mya, ‘a hand in the bush’ as Ozzy says it became something else entirely…

I looked insane, I was acting insane, I mean, at hour 30 you just kind of… become a bit insane. Every takes requires more effort, every annoyance depletes more willpower, and agitation… let’s just say… happens about every 10 seconds..

The sigh was how I communicated I was relaxing. It was how I signaled I’m not a nervous wreck (aka insane and/or homeless person). And I would soon realize the swipe across the room I did with my eyes after it was actually me wielding the weapon of sight we all posses to get the people to stop staring at me and my tote bag havin’ ass.

After two weeks in Paris, I did a week each in Belgrade (Serbia), Ibiza (Spain), London, Helsinki (Finland), Lisbon & Cascais (Portugal), and then finally London again before concluding my roughly 6-week “Euro-summer” adventure.

I couldn’t go one conversation without noticing what someone’s tone, word choice, & pace likely meant about where they at were at in their life.

It was a like a veil had suddenly been lifted and I could now see everyone’s true character, confidence, and either hubris or deep sadness.

It changed me forever, and I hope it does the same to you.