Hi there fam,

Like all of you I am just floored and saddened beyond belief. My name is Chronic Freeze and I was an engineer at Paisley from 1988-1996. I just HAD to come on the board and offer each and every one of you my condolences on the passing of Prince. You, the fans, were so important to Prince. I can't even imagine how you all are coping with the news. Ive been in tears and the only thing that has helped soothe the pain has been reading all my old co-workers memories and seeing their pictures on our facebook group. This is surely a day I thought would never come.

Prince was my mentor. He was an incredible person to work for. He was very demanding of us. He demanded perfection and attention to detail. He worked tirelessly and we needed to keep up with him. I would not be the person I am today if I had not learned these important life lessons from him.

Although it was extremely hard work there were many moments of outright fun. When he learned that I hadnt heard the Black album, he had me rush down to the vault to get the master tapes so he could play it for myself and Femi (another engineer). We spent the next few hours listening to it on those amazing Westlake speakers at Paisley and got a running commentary from the creator of it himself. Sometimes he just felt like playing guitar so he would have us grab his favorite James Brown video and patch the audio up to the console so he could play along. What a treat it was to just sit and watch him play! One of my favorite moments was being in the studio for one of the most amazing auditions I have ever witnessed, the audition of Rosie Gaines! Levi had brought her out as they were old friends and the second she opened her mouth we were all floored. Im getting shivers just thinking about that day. My other favorite moment was jamming on bass with Prince on drums and his dad playing piano. All right, the only reason I got to play the bass was because Kim Bassinger (she played Vicky Vale in the Batman movie and hung out at the studio for a while) didnt want to, but little did Prince know that I had studied bass at Berklee and I was able to hold my own (barely, lol!!!)

There were some crazy times as well. We were at Record Plant LA in 1994 when the big earthquake hit. I remember how humbled he was when we witnessed all of LA and Hollywood coming together to help each other out. I was also in the studio when he decided to change his name to an unpronouncable symbol. That made for some "interesting" converstion. Then, of course, there was the time he accidentally found and listened to a cassette tape of me doing a karaoke version of "Kiss" His reaction was priceless and the story is best left for another time.

Anyways, thank you for letting me share with you. Its the only way I can cope right now. I was just going to post something on facebook but it felt far better to share with all of you, his biggest fans. I am so sorry for your loss, our loss. Its up to all of us now to keep him alive. Prince, if you are listening.. Thank you. You have touched so many souls. We are all stronger and our faith is unbroken because of everything you have taught us. Rest easy gentle soul.

CF

That must have been an amazing experience. Thanks for telling us your story. It's

beautiful to hear all these positive stories about him.

[Edited 4/22/16 13:13pm]

Awesome stories!

Thankyou , wonderful time for you with Prince that will always be with you.

Thank you for your memories, Chronic. I still have saved the 'Q&A' that you did here some years ago! I wish you and all the other Paisley Park veterans the best in this difficult time.

This was beautiful to read! Thank you so much for sharing. We need so many more stories like this to help us through this sorrowful time. He was just a beautiful man that has touched so many lives.

Thanks

Thanks for sharing - I remember your name on the credits from that era.

For me personally, that 1992-1995 NPG era was the most special as a Prince fan, probably in part because it's when I first saw him perform, but also because the whole band had an amazing energy, and his live performances seemed totally free to play whatever he wanted. There was no need to be tied to the hits, so the setlists were constantly changing, and that band seemed to be able to take any song and re-arrange it on a moment's notice. From a musical perspective, his chemistry with Sonny was on another level at times.

Out of curiousity, do you know if he kept soundboard masters from all the one-off shows, like the summer 1995 shows at Paisley Park? I've always held out hope all the shows from summer would get a proper release someday beyond the release of Days of Wild from Crystal Ball (which I always thought was one of the weaker performances of that song too).

Thanks Chronic, great to read such fond memories and I very much appreciate you sharing. I remember your tales told here in the past, always a pleasure to read.

Thank you so much.

So nice to hear from you again on this board, Chronic Freeze. Thank you so much for sharing some of your experiences during this mutual time of grief. You remind us that there are happy memories as well as sad. Take care.

Thank you Chronic Freeze for your very special message. Your insight into our hero and your experiences gives a lot of comfort at this time and a little smile - those must have been crazy fun days.

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I like the fact that Prince was excited to play you the Black album! We were always lead to believe he was ashamed of it and didn't want it heard. I think it's an ass-kickin' seriously funky album - an album to certainly be proud of.

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As for Rosie, that is such a great story, she is a mindblowing amazing talent. I've missed her voice so much on later albums.

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Thank you again for sharing with us your special memories.

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[Edited 4/22/16 13:54pm]

Thank you Chronic for sharing. It sounds like a wonderful experience, and it's nice to hear about the day-to-day Prince.

Thank you so much, Chronic for thinking of us and sharing your personal moments. You've always been a great friend to the org, I remember you taking the time to answer so many of our questions some years back. That was so nice of you and taking the time to come here today is like a great big collective hug to us all. Thank you so much!

Thank-you ChronicFreeze. I remember about 5 years back you came and told us some wonderful things, then after, when I saw your name on a cd leaflet, it made the engineering part all mean something.

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Thank-you for coming to share our pain in the darkest hours of being a Prince fan. We also never believed this day would come because Prince spoke so powerfully through the Universal language of Music he felt immortal. His spirit and music is but it hurts so much knowing he is sleeping and will not wake up again. It's special to know he played with his Dad way back then, knowing that he dedicated this recent tour to his father.

Thank you so much! Prince surrounded himself only with the best of the best in the business but also the best by heart so to read. Hope you will share more stories with us within time, it will keep him and the org alive.

thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing. Talking does help cope with heavy emotions. It's not easy, but now is the time to be united and loving.

thanks for sharing these heartwarming stories chronic freeze. it's anecdotes like these that show us time and again what a wonderful person P was

Thank you, CF !

We needed this. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing your memories with us and for your words!

Thanks, knowing we are not the only ones who LOVE him and feeling like this just make things easier.

Thank you...

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing with us freeze. This is extremely difficult for all of us.