About Last Night...

As I lay awake last night, staring at my bedroom ceiling, my head buzzed with so much stuff it was hard to sleep.

Yesterday was my first experience of a number of things: playing with a real live band, learning to play a song in one session, being in a practice room, experiencing band inter-personnel dynamics... many, many things. I had planned on waiting a few days before blogging about it, as I felt I should organise my thoughts and feelings, but I figure that the more I get out now, the more I'll remember to talk about.

First off, I have to thank Axe Victim for arranging the opportunity for me to jam with "The Sociables". It was a most unexpected, most welcome surprise. My 'band cherry' was broken last night, much earlier in The Project than I expected, but not before time. For those in the London area, his main band "Magic Ship" are performing songs from their debut album on Friday 6th June. Details of the gig and links to their MySpace page can be found on his blog.

So, I turned up at the studio yesterday evening excited but tired (see previous post!). I was nervous that I'd be playing in front of strangers and using someone else's kit. I should also have been nervous that I'd be called on to play rhythm guitar a) standing up and b) on electric, both of which were outside my experience. I've only just let Red Dog out of his kennel again recently, so I'm rusty on the electric. Playing lead whilst on my feet feels natural. Strumming does not.

We'd pre-arranged that we'd jam on "Melissa" by The Allman Brothers, a song which I'm very familiar with, though it's been a long time (as in years) since I've attempted playing it. By the end of the evening we'd managed to hammer out a decent "Melissa" as well as grooving on some of Axe's original material.

If I go into too much detail this blog entry's likely to rival "War & Peace" on the word count front, so I'm going to try to crystallise what I got out of Band Day into bullet points.

In no particular order:

1) Be in control of your sound. Know your guitar. Know your amp. Know how to kick in volume when you need it. Know which switch position you want to use. If you're comfortable with all these aspects then you're not going to worry about them.

2) Keep spare picks in left hand pocket, or at least handy. When playing, the right hand pocket is hard to get at.

3) Finding people to play with isn't the only hurdle. Finding the right people is also hugely important.

4) You gotta give the drummer one. He's totally the backbone of the group. I was fretting about remembering when to switch between chord progressions so that I didn't get out of step with everyone else. Turns out the drummer gives you hints as to when chord changes are coming up! Never knew that! Playing for real it suddenly became blindingly obvious! The band's a team, after all, I suppose. Once you realise that the guys around you are helping out you can concentrate more on sounding good.

5) Barre chords standing up! 'E' forms? Easy. 'A' Forms... not so easy. I found myself constantly screwing up until Axe called for a time-out and we practiced 'A' progressions. I realised that if I pull my right elbow in towards my body the guitar fingerboard angles up, giving me line of sight on the chord. I'm sure that once I'm grooved on playing rhythm on the electric this'll be less of an issue. I need to spend more time on this aspect of playing!

6) Practice rooms are cool. Sorry, but I thought that was worth mentioning. This morning I checked to see whether there are any local to me. Turns out there's one just up the road! Score! If I want I can go there and MAKE NOISE, either solo or with others. It sounds stupid, but I'd never really considered that a possibility before. The one local to us will even loan you a huge amp for £1 an hour. Hmmm...

7) Right now I suck on electric. My fingers have completely forgotten what they're doing. But... electric is exciting. It's what rock's about. I need to get back into playing Red. As an aside, the Epiphone Les Paul that I borrowed from Axe was actually a totally decent guitar. It didn't feel precisely like Red, but it was definitely a relative. I wasn't 100% plugged into it, but that may have been the situation as much as anything.

8) Today at work I feel like Clark Kent. That's a good thing. I'm glad I got a taste of what it's like to wear my underpants on the outside. God, I hope that makes sense to someone!

9) When I look for a full-time band, it needs to have focus and direction. It needs to know what it's about. Without clarity it'll be hard to get 'a sound'.

10) Digital recording and PODs. I'd heard the term 'POD' used on guitar forums but never really knew what one is. Last night Axe was talking about how the band records 'live' in the studio using PODs for everything except the drums. Turns out a POD is a digital device which is effectively an amp modeller with an output for digital recording. If you use PODs rather than micing amps you can independently record everyone playing together in a room, using headphones to hear the other players. That way you get the whole song in one take before overdubs and mixing. It also means that you can experiment to get the exact sound you want at home, bring your POD to the studio and you're good to go.

11) I'm ready to form a band, but I still have a long way to go before I'm going to sound good. Having said that, I could comfortably join/form a pub band right now, learn 5 or 6 numbers and get out there.

12) I'm more interested in making original music than doing covers. The creative process is where it's at, rather than slavishly trying to reproduce someone else's sound.

13) I *can* drink one beer and still play. Used to be that any alcohol would throw things out.

14) I was comfortable in the studio. That's actually a biggie for me.

15) is an extension of 14... Mood lighting actually really helps. Bringing the light level down lets you relax into the music more.

16) You need someone to be in charge. Bands should not be ruled by a committee. You need a leader otherwise you don't move forwards.

17) You need a plan as to what you're doing in the studio. Even a 7 to 11pm slot is not really a long time when you're trying to work something out.

18) You need to PLAY LOUD to cut through the drums. Towards the end of the session I was trying (and failing) to up the volume when soloing (see item 1)

19) If your fingertips are turning purple it probably explains why your fingers aren't going where they should anymore!

20) Keep a towel handy. Things can get sweaty and you could fall off your guitar and hurt yourself.

21) The band does not mix the tracks, a mixer does. This is probably obvious to most, but as a DIY home recorder, it was something of a revelation to me. Do I sound naive or what?

Last but not least...

22) Trains stop running early in the suburbs! Know your exit routes!!!

I'm sure I'll remember more stuff that I wanted to say over the coming days and weeks, but for now I'll leave it at that. As we packed away our instruments last night, I suddenly became self-conscious about how well or how badly I'd played, having not really thought about it all evening. At times I felt like I was starting to find my feet then at times I counted more bum notes than good 'uns. As we all shook hands and went our separate ways I wondered what the other guys were thinking, whether they would want to meet up again or whether it was the musical equivalent of a one night stand. I don't think I'll be disappointed if it turns out to be the latter, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be up for Round 2.

Irrespective, I had a great time and learned so much, both about my own strengths and shortcomings and about what it meant to play within the context of a band. What's clear is that I need to revamp my action plan over the next few weeks based on yesterday's experience. I'll admit that recently I've questioned whether The Project is truly viable. Last night I had my faith restored. 252 days 10 hours 45 minutes left on the ticker. That's just over 8 months, including all summer. I think we're in with a chance.