Matt and Stephon had called me in the morning and let me know their plane was landing at three. They were two of my original band members. They hadn't fallen as far or as hard as I had, but they had struggled to put it behind them, too. They drank a beer now and then, but our drink- and drug-induced coma days were far away.

I loved these guys.

We ate a light meal and played music in my room until seven. I gave them a few riffs of what I was working on and they picked up ...