www.gregg-smith.com

Bio: December, 22 1982 I was born in a Detroit, MIchigan hospital. Shortly thereafter I was whisked to an apartment in Warren, Michigan that my parents were renting. I have no recolection of this, of course. My memorable life begins in Eastpointe (né East Detroit), Michigan. This little blue collar suburb is where Kathy and Greg Smith decided to raise me. This is where we lived when I got my first Nintendo, my first bike, and my mom got her first and only divorce. I can't think of any special moment that was life defining that happened here. I was just a normal kid. I got in trouble for riding my bike in the street, smoked my first cigarette out of my mom's pack and had my first elementry school girlfriend. My father was a hi-lo driver for Chrysler and my mother a hair-stylist. 2 incomes during a time of relative wealth meant that I didn't want for much, but I also didn't go to private schools or on vacation every year. We lived, as best I can remember, a decent average life.

Except, my father was an abusive alcoholic and that condition terminated the marriage that so often is the benchmark of having a simple, boring, and sucessful life. At the age of seven, I was given the honor of being from a broken home. My father isn't any type of major factor in my life. I don't hold any hostility towards him, and as I age, I feel a pity for him. Regardless, the idea of a father, and growing up without the physical manifestation of it, has had an influence on me. During a grossly prolonged divorce and separation, the house in Eastpointe needed to be sold and mom and I ended up living in southwest Warren (8 and Dequindre) for one year.

Here, I got my ass beat pretty often and only had about 3 friends for the whole year. Chatterton middle school was not a pleasant place to be. There are many worse places to be, surely, but this was the closest to the famed Detroit public schools I would ever come. Living in Warren is where I discovered that I could hide things like cigarettes in a gutted walkman, where one of my 3 friend's father hid his roaches, and how to skip school effectively. During our stint in Warren, my mother met Pete Simon and was soon married. He was an older and well to do man, who, in my opinion, wanted to give the whole family thing one more go before dying.

We were soon found in a new home in the exploding community of Macomb, MI. Large houses were hidden by signs with names like "The Fairways", "FoxRun", and something like "Deer Creek Estates". Kids were given cars at the age of 16, there were no sidewalks and people were generally unpleasant. The first hour of the first day of my classes at Iroquois middle school a young man referred to African Americans as "coloreds" to me. I immediately became as counter culture as possible. Sure, I played football, but I also played bass guitar and was as active in contraband as any 13 year old could be.

So, my personality was beginning to form in the shadows of mini-mansions and the crawlspaces of the trailers in the park next to my folks detached condo. My grades were good and I managed to make some honest friends in a community of cookie cutter children. I found myself in the "ska" music scene and at shows when I wasn't at a football game. I was johnny football hero (not really) with 2 tone shoes.

As I entered Dakota High School, (Home of the Cougar and many Cougars) I found straight edge and went sober while still playing music and football. I had a job moving furniture around a showroom and even had a steady girlfriend. I, against my better wishes, had become the average white 16 year old male. When I turned 17, however, things got weird.

Pete passed away 12.23.99 from sudden death heart attack. This old lebanese man who taught me how to hold the 3 point stance and how to throw a punch died while one of my mediocre bands was practicing in the basement. To make a long story short (which isn't really the purpose of such a thing as this), I ended up with a mohawk, in a really decent band, and a burning desire to move out of the house. My childhood was over, I had seen life and death and most everything in between. Seen some of the best people in the world and went to school with most of the worst. My mom married a great guy named Kris, who unfortunately entered my life at the worst possible time. I entered Wayne State University and moved to the great city of Detroit shortly after, saving my sanity and that of my parents.

Wayne State and Detroit were the scalpel to the chisel which was the rest of my life. I carry very few friends with me anywhere, but I keep most of my Detroit friends. I still follow many of the losing Detroit sports teams and will very quickly come to blows with anybody who wishes to speak badly of this city to me. College is what high school should have been to me. I could have focused more, I could have worked harder and accomplished more, but my accomplishments out of the class room make up for a less than 4.0 GPA. I befriended many a professor and educator, tutored other students and mastered the 2 week long all nighter. My political views became more or less cemented.

This is when I begin to segue into recent history and have no need to chronicle it. This bio is a rough start, but I really want to get this webpage live and plan on making it a life long process, so check back every now and then and you'll see updates! g3