As I entered his apartment, one thing became apparent: Larz was stuck in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. His whole apartment was riddled with Creed, Nickleback, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Third Eye Blind posters and memorabilia. His apartment walls and shelves were divided into sections for certain bands. As I scanned through his apartment I took notice of each shrine dedicated to its respective band. I’d never seen pictures of Scott Stapp, Chad Kroeger, and Kurt Cobain in the same room before, and I’m not gonna lie, it was startling.
You see, I first encountered Larz in front of a coffee shop handing out flyers for his upcoming show at that coffee shop. For years I had been in search of the next big thing, the next big musical act to come up through the ranks. I wanted to uncover a talent and help make someone's life a Cinderella story. I explained to Larz that I was a music journalist and that he was just what I was looking for. Larz nodded like he knew this was bound to happen and said "follow me."
Larz, a man of 34, was born by the name of Larry Reginald Flarbitz. However, since his 18th birthday he has been going by Larz. “I played football in high school, starting punter. But after a while, that lifestyle burnt me out. So decided to pursue a career in music,” he said, picking up his black “First Act” acoustic. “I’ve been doing this ever since and working at the shop.” Larz worked at a Corner Sub shop in west Cleveland, and has been working there since his senior year in high school.
Larz then began to strum, and I gestured for him to continue. He said “Here’s Wonderwall,” but the strangest thing happened in that moment. He played the song Jumper by Third Eye Blind. That was when I knew that Larz was different. Larz was an eccentric individual.
As the song ended, Larz reached into the breast pocket of his red and brown flannel and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He offered me one but I declined as he continued to strum his guitar. “I feel like life is an endless rainbow, but it just ends without the pot of gold at the end. Y’know?” I nodded, having no idea what he meant by it or how it applied to the situation at hand. He then continued to ramble off ambiguous analogies that would make no sense to the average human being as he played his - most definitely out of tune - guitar.
I asked him to play another song. He nodded and played Wonderwall by Oasis. It sounded all right. Nothing special. When I asked him to play another song, he began playing Jumper again. I interrupted and asked him if he knew any other songs, and he played Wonderwall. He didn’t know any other songs. I asked him if he wrote many songs, and Larz looked at me dumbfounded. Larz wanted to be a famous musician, but hasn’t written any songs. What good is a singer/songwriter without any songs? This day had been a terrible disappointment for me and I left immediately after I found out.
Besides his flannel, Larz wore a tie-dye shirt underneath, jean shorts, white calf-high socks, and steel toed work boots with toes so shiny, you could see your reflection. His hair had not been washed in at least 3 days, and he wore the most unkempt beard I’ve ever seen. Larz was a rebel. He denounced anything, person, or system that tried to tell him what to do. That’s why he lived the way he did, he explained. He didn’t to go to college, didn’t make a lot of money, didn’t want a family or a house of his own. He was content with living his life the way he wanted, and that was what he planned to do.
That was when I realized Larz resides in all of us. Everyone has this urge to go back and relive our glory days. The days when we didn’t have to worry about car payments, student loans, or careers. We could live for the sake of living and chase our dreams at our own pace. What separates us from Larz is that Larz had the guts to change his name and live the way he wanted. He was not going to be told how to live. I envy that in Larz. His impeccable ability to not care what anyone said was one I had never experienced. Since my day with Larz, I have not been able to get what he said out of my head. Sometimes I think to myself that I too should live like Larz, but then I am brought back to reality. I could never be him, I don't have the courage. However, I hope that one day we can live like the free spirits we are inside, like birds who fly north in the winter, like migrants whose only reason to keep walking is to chase the sunset, like Larz. Larz the Legend.
