Brett Newski - It's Hard To Be A Person CD

At age 13, Newski's dad "The Vin Man" suggested NEWSKI get a job at Mcdonald’s in order to buy his first guitar. Newski was uncertain because his hands were still tiny and square, like goat hooves. But after seeing Barenaked Ladies to a sold out Milwaukee Amphitheater, Newski felt the fire and walked down to fill out an application at the nearest Mcdonalds. He was hired.

At $5.15 an hour, it took a bit to acquire the guitar, but he did, and became obsessed by learning BNL and Better than Ezra songs. Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page became Newski's first musical hero.

Last year, Newski uncovered old notebooks of song ideas from two decades ago while still in high school, including early lyrical ideas for the "coming of age" tune "I Should've Listened to Ferris Bueller" which is now the lead track to "It's Hard to be a Person: the Soundtrack to the book." (The book is a collection of Newski’s quirky illustrations making fun of his own anxiety and depression, offering hacks and ideas to feel better in your brain.)

While Newski and his collaborator Spatola were finishing the song, Newski reached out to Steven Page to see if he would guest-vocal on the track. Page replied within 10 minutes and had vocal parts done within 48 hours.