“Before I bought this place, I worked as a CNC Machinist for 20 years and played music. My old company went corporate and it just rocked the boat for everybody. The whole situation was like a double-edged sword. I felt I was being pushed out, but at the same time I wanted to leave. Looking back now, maybe it was the push I needed.
I bought Midtown Music amid the pandemic in July of 2020. The owner essentially had this business functioning in a rhythm of his own. He knew all the moving parts well. When I bought it, I was kind of just dropped in the middle of it all and told to start running.
Going from being a drummer and machinist to running a music store was interesting. I had to quickly learn all the different instruments and things that apply to business in order to keep it going.
There are some aspects of business you plan for, and others you just don’t. There have been tough spots I’ve had to work through where I’ve definitely gotten extremely nervous. But you take it one step at a time.
It can be stressful, but I love the benefits it gives me. The whole thing has completely flipped my life upside down from the 10 and a half hour shifts I used to work. Going home at the end of the day is completely different. I even get to wake up and see my kids off before they go to school.
In a couple of years, after I get into a rhythm and my life falls into place, it will feel like night and day. I keep at this because music is important to me. It’s always been a way for me to express myself, to connect with others, to travel and grow.
As a younger musician, I was fascinated by this idea of being famous and traveling the world, which would still be nice to do, but through the years I’ve still used music to release and decompress everything I’ve gone through in life. In the same way a wrestler works out to expel his energy, I do that with music.”
— Daniel Aldrich, Owner and Operator of Midtown Music in Biddeford
