From The Desk Of Garrison Starr: Spinning At Up Dog Fitness

Not long before the major-label landscape collapsed in a heap, only to morph into a crud formation of reissue-happy conglomerates, Garrison Starr signed with Geffen. It was 1997, and if ignorance truly is bliss, the 22-year-old singer/songwriter from Hernando, Miss., couldn’t have been happier. Those 15 years feel like a lifetime ago for an older, wiser, slightly more cynical Starr, who’s busy promoting her sixth full-length effort, the self-released, fan-funded Amateur (Radtown Music). It took her some time to come to terms with her sexuality (and others’ opinions of it), and it’s taken her even longer to get comfortable with her creative self. To that end, the angsty-yet-optimistic, stylistically diverse Amateur is a coming out of sorts. Starr will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with her.

Starr: A couple years ago now, I met a friend of a friend who is a personal trainer. We were at a game night, and she offered to help me with my fitness routine. She kind of adopted me and our mutual friend, really wanting us to get in rock-star shape. After a few sessions, my friend fell off the wagon, but I stayed committed! We were working at a gym in Santa Monica: Equinox. I drove 45 minutes there and back from Laurel Canyon three days a week for eight months!!! Busted my fucking ass. I will tell you that those workouts were the hardest challenges of my life. I’m serious. And they taught me so much about myself: what I could handle that I thought I couldn’t … Anyway, the whole point of this story is that one day as we were walking up the stairs to start the daily torture, a dude stopped me and asked (very excitedly, I might add), “Are you Garrison Starr?!?!” I thought, “What the fuck?” It turns out he’s been a huge fan of my music for awhile, and he’s a spinning instructor. He reached out to me on Facebook, inviting me to his class for free anytime. His name is Adam Goldstein, and we’ve been friends ever since. I’ve been going to his classes at Up Dog Fitness on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood now for more than a year. I can’t explain quickly how much I’ve grown from the intensity of those rides, but suffice to say, I feel so lucky to be a part and to have found some exercise that challenges and inspires me in all areas of my life.

Video after the jump.