New Band, Meetup No. 1

So, we met up and the initial line-up was decided as follows:

Jo: Vocals
Ken (yes, ME!): Guitar
Bo: Guitar
Rich: Bass
Jonathan: Drums

There were no arguments or major discussions about who should play what. The line-up was pretty much representative of what each person wanted to do! That never happens, right? We're also all pretty much in synch about where we want to come from, initially: classic rock, AC/DC feel, loud but not too complex.

Let's run down a brief bio (as I remember it) of each member...

Jo. Rock chick. Really good look. Great personality. Seemingly fearless. Jo's been playing guitar in a punk band for the past 6 years but they've never stretched past three chords per song and they often didn't make it through a set without forgetting what they were doing. Good experience gigging. Good contacts for getting gigs. She's not leaving her other band, but their drummer has run off somewhere for a year so she's looking for a side project. She also wants to hang up her axe and stretch her lungs a bit behind the mic. Influences: Guns and that whole LA scene, hair metal and a bit of glam. Oh, and I just have to mention that Jo's main axe is a Squier "Hello Kitty" Strat. Lookie, lookie...



...pretty kitty!

Me... well, you know about me. I'm actually more than happy to go down the route of doing 3 minute songs that sound good 'n' rockin'. I got the impression that I was being pitched slightly towards lead rather then rhythm, but if the opposite turns out to be the case then so be it. As long as I'm playing guitar, I'm happy.

Bo. Bo's the youngest of the group. He's in his early twenties where the rest of us span the 30's age bracket. Very enthusiastic. Very keen to get going and get up onstage. His musical first love seems to be Jimi. Ain't nothing wrong with a bit o' Jimi. Bo's never been in a band before, but has performed in front of about 300 people, supporting a mate of his. It must have gone okay, I guess! He has a very 'can do' attitude, which is great.

Rich. The organiser and primarily a guitarist but the first to put his hand up and volunteer to play bass. He's played in 'bands' made up of friends but none of them have got to the gigging stage. Rich seemed very pragmatic and focused on what we needed to do... that's a good thing! He made sure we put together a preliminary covers list which we plan to whittle down so that we have something positive to work on when we get together 'for real'. Tentative first practice is set for 2 weeks' time with an interim meetup for a few beers. Once Jo's typed up the list and circulated, I'll post it here. Ultimately, we'll aim for originals, but to feel each other out we'll shoot for common ground initially.

Last, but not least, Jonathan. When Jonathan first told his story I was slightly hesitant about whether he was going to be the weak link. He only started playing drums at the start of 2008 because of a bet. A mate of his bet him £100 (roughly $180) that he wouldn't be able to get in a band and play at a festival. I forget the timescale for the wager, but I think it was 2 years. I may be wrong... maybe it's by the end of this year! Sound familiar? Anyway, I did the maths and realised that it meant he'd only been banging skins for 9 months. Throughout the evening, though, I became convinced that he knew what he was doing and remembered that the drummer from the metal band I'd jammed with only had a year's experience and she was great. Besides, anyone with the balls to join a band after less than a year playing is okay in my books.

So, that's the line-up. Song list to follow. Will anything come of this? Too early to tell, but it's a foot on the ladder.

Update: Provisional song list...

Wild Thing - the Troggs
Rock 'n' Roll Star - Oasis
Stay With Me - The Faces
Down Down, Deeper & Down - The Quo
Lola - The Kinks
Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran
I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges
Every Breath You Take - The Police

Sounding better to me already than Metallica stuff. The list is to be perused and whittled down to a handful for us to attempt to murder in a couple of weeks!