Note: This post was originally a lot longer, but thanks to that stupid new Xanga editor it’s now gone. Their Undo/Redo controls are horrible – I won’t be using it again any time soon…
Geez, it’s been a really long time since I’ve posted here. Sorry about that. These last two weeks have been pretty crazy to say the least. It bothers me too because the perception is that I don’t post because I don’t have much to talk about. That’s quite the contrary. There have been so many times in these last few weeks when I thought or experienced something and said "Oh, I should write about this" but don’t have the time for it. I need to get better about making time. There are some really neat reflections or things that happen and if I don’t capture them here they’re just going to get lost.
I’ll try to recollect some of my experiences from the last few weeks in my next few postings, but for now I’d like to reflect on a really neat experience last night.
In my 13 years as a drummer, I’ve been in a lot of bands and have done a lot of projects. I’ve ranged from going mainstream rock to alternative to ska to jam/funk to old-funk to heavy metal to hip-hop to covers to ???? All throughout this time I’ve had my steady gig in church choirs to keep my skills from going completely dull, but for the last few months I’ve really been yearning to get back into the groove and jam out with some people. A few weeks back I decided to put up a posting on Craigslist and see if anyone would be interested. I actually got quite a few responses – so many that I got overwhelmed and left it alone for a few weeks, letting things get busy. But after some time I made some follow-ups and got a really good response from this Greeley-based band that was looking for a drummer.
On paper this looked like the perfect situation in many ways. While I really enjoy the song-writing and band-forming experience, I really am not at a place in my like or have the time to sit around and listen to guitarists write songs, play some random covers and watch a band come together. However, this was a well-established band that has already released an album, toured and done all of that cool stuff, simply looking for a replacement drummer. I liked the idea of walking into an established musical structure. So I decided to try it out…
After rescheduling our first rehearsal for over a month, we finally nailed down that I would go over and practice with them on Monday. As I started packing up my drum set on Monday I began having all of these thoughts of doubt in my head, asking myself whether I wanted to deal with the "musician mindset" again, what these guys were going to be weird, what if I didn’t fit their style, what if I just sucked and they’re going to kick my ass, what if I’m the one that’s head and shoulders above them. As I was driving to Greeley these thoughts began accumulating and I was really questioning whether this would be worth it. It didn’t help that I had misinterpreted the directions and showed up there 30 minutes later than I said I was (some guys waiting an hour for me).
I got such an amazing shock when I got there – just crazy coincidences.
First off, my "rock star" personality premonitions couldn’t be more off. Not only were these guys down to earth, but they were also awesome down-to-earth people! It was even crazier to find out that I went to high school with 3 of the 4 of them, although I didn’t know them back when I was in school. It still shows what a small world it is!
What made things even better was that we all came from the same place musically. They are all Christians and actually the band started off as a Worship band, then grew beyond Praise and Worship (which is a good thing because I can’t stand P&W outside of church), into a more mainstream rock band with positive messages. The music is very edgy but yet is pretty inspiring. This was exactly what I was looking for in music, it couldn’t be more on!
The music itself is amazing. It’s very diverse, utilizes a lot of great harmonies and has a lot of energy. They were really pleased with my playing (which was awesome because I didn’t think I did that well). I think there’s a lot of challenging stuff as far as the drums go, and I think there’s a lot I can offer with my style of drumming. I was very happy when they invited me back next week, and am anxious to see where this will go.
Overall I was reminded of the importance of approaching a situation with an open mind, and the pleasant surprises that are in store for you.