As it happens, I am trying to start a band. This not the first time I have tried to achieve this feat. On my 19th birthday (my first year of university) my dear mother bought an acoustic guitar. Previous to this my musical history was all of: "Mum I don't want to go to piano lessons" and "Yes ma'am, I swear I have been practicing".
This decision that mum made to buy a guitar was a decision that changed my life forever. I initially wanted a guitar because of how easy "guitar guys" pulled at Uni. My high school life in regards to music was non-existent. This doesn't just include playing an instrument, but my desire to be influenced by good music was questionable. I had never heard of Radiohead, Rage against the Machine scared me, and Kurt Cobain was a guy who died and sent my sister into depression.
Through University I locked myself in my room and at times and became a recluse because I had this absolute need to play guitar properly. I had never had an attachment to anything quite like this before. I went from being an over muscled rugby guy, to someone who didn't care much for sports anymore. This was not overly effective for my studies (particularly because I was studying sport science), however my guitar playing skills increased in a short amount of time. By the time I went home to visit, I was playing 'Tears in Heaven' in full and dabbling in 'Stairway to Heaven'.
Satisfaction was a long way away though. I couldn't sing and I wanted to play guitar solo's like Richie Sambora. I guess I just plugged away over the next couple years sitting there at night in front of my computer screen, learning how to read tabs and all the "classics" on Ultimate-Guitar.com. After a while this process turns monotonous and the peaks and troughs with motivation and skill level were synonymous. The times I couldn't afford strings could be some of the most depressing times but I look back and I realise that these forced breaks were actually helping me improve.
I can still remember the few first times I stumbled across a jam - it was one of the most liberating experiences. The first time, my friends and I got drunk and ended up at a party that had a guitar and drum set up. I turned the guitar up (actually I got someone to do it for me because I had never played an electric guitar) and smashed out "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi and screamed it into a microphone whilst my friend played the drums. This is not the part where I went "hey I want to be a rock star" or "hey I can actually sing". I was actually pretty terrible but enjoyed the 3 minutes of the spotlight I had so much that I turned into a guitar hog for the night. I can't stand people at parties (otherwise known as doosh bags) who turn off the music when the vibe isn't right to let everybody listen to them. But that was me.
The second time I remember jamming with someone was a magnificent experience. Me and some boys were part of an all day drinking session and a guy who was renowned as an excellent guitar player and he had just purchased a $5000 custom acoustic guitar. He sat down and asked if anyone knew how to play the chords Am and F. I sheepishly admitted I could and he showed me how to play an open F, which was an amazing sound for me. I played those two chords in succession over and over (which was just about my capabilty) whilst I watched him shred playing scales and licks like a true hero. I woke up and decided that I needed to do whatever that guy could do. I practiced and practiced and got to a point where I could play scales and make up a solo to the Kooks "Ooh La".
This brings me to why I have started this blog. In my final year of Uni one of my closest childhood friends, Brodie purchased a set of drums. Brodie was an established musician who's guitar playing capability exceeded mine to an astonishing level. His heavy blues background was something that intrigued me and his ability to hear a song an play it straight away was Robert Johnson-esque. However, Brodie wanted to play drums and he wanted to start a band, and I guess it seemed right that I play with him.
Our original set up was laughable (and I guess people laughed alot - but so did we). He set up his drums in his pool room and I set up my "amp" and taped a "microphone" to his pool table. I would sit down on a box and screech into the microphone with my amplifier turned to 10 whilst Brodie would play the drums so hard that sweat would be dripping in places I didn't know it could drip from. It was fun. It was the most fun I had ever had. Friends would come around and listen to our arrangements of "Nothing Else Matters", "Wonderwall" and "Iris". Our group of friends were lovers of music but were amused that two of their mates were playing music. I think at times they may have been envious though.
We both loved what we were doing so much that we started our quest to "start a band". In my eyes I figured we had a band. Brodie - who could keep a level head whilst I would be 150 steps ahead of where we should be, knew we needed a bass player and a singer (as much as I wanted to sing I still couldn't hold a note). I was determined to sing however I thought it was an impossibility until Brodie's mum one day said, "you guys sound great, however it will better when you get a real singer". I agreed but deep down I knew from that moment on I would be singing, so I stubbornly practiced obsessively and surprise surprise, I could sing. Not well but I could sing.
We found a bass player "Smart" through my girlfriend at a time who actually had never played bass and didn't want to play bass but was a good guitarist. A much better guitarist than me but I couldn't sing and play bass at the same time.
This was the first of many mistakes I made whilst creating a band including, getting a drummer 6 years younger than us (oh yeah Brodie moved to lead guitar because he couldn't keep in time on drums when we recorded) who didn't suit our style or sound. We recorded too early, we gigged to early, we wrote a vast array of songs before we had a sound ( I didn't quite know what this "sound" thing was or how important it was), our musical influences were very limited and all in all we thought we were a better band than we actually were.
After getting to a point where we opened for a band that peaked in the 80's at the top of the pops, and gaining a manager we thought we were on the way. It all came crumbling down. Bassist quits and rejoins after much persuasion. Brodie went away. Drummer not allowed to play at various clubs because he was 17. Then all of a sudden I realized I hated being in the band and it wasn't fun and we were practicing less and less and I decide to book a ticket overseas. Drummer quits, I quit. Band finished.
So, if you have got to this point of the blog you are about to realize the purpose of it. I have decided to start a new band. The gumtree advert below is the first actual step I have taken. I have been away from my homeland for over 12 months now and have just returned back to London from 3 and a half months of traveling Europe. Along the way I had an abundance of musical epiphany's and am now living with my new artist girlfriend who is supporting my desire to be in a successful band. So, this blog will trace the steps I take in searching for new band mates, ideas and sounds.
So far I have met with a guy named Jordan, who walked into the cafe sat down ordered a coffee and then told me he doesn't play an instrument but "he might be able to sing - maybe". After my initial shock and thoughts of "why are you here then??" he told me about his ability to make samples on his computer and we went back to my place and listened to all our influences and discussed ideas. He left with me an open mind, something that I don't think I had in my previous band escapades.
By following this blog you are going to get a first hand account of what it is like trying to start a band. It is an exciting time with success or FUTURE DUST around the corner.
"No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn" - Jim Morrison
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