02/09/2005: "Diary of a rockstar - 09-Feb-05"

Well, it is just three weeks until the Rockstar auditions in LA, so I thought I would start to keep a log of my progress. Now, this is a reality show that I will be auditioning for, so I really have no idea what sort of things they will be looking for. I'm hoping that I will be different enough to the majority of applicants, so I will stand out enough to get through the first audition...

- My first priority was to get back in shape and work off a little of the Christmas flab. That has been going well, I've been excercising and running 4-5 times a week. When I started, I was taking 9:00 minutes to run 1 mile, and I'm already down to 8:15. Still no world-record, but this is Rock'n'Roll, not athletics! Being a Rockstar is actually hard work, and rocking out through an entire gig is very tiring - there's nothing worse than starting to pant towards the end of a hard-rock song! As a Rockstar is the centre of attention, a little muscle tone definately doesn't hurt either...

- I've been working on a Demo video to send down to the Producers. If by any chance they pick my video out of the thousands they must receive, then I'll get a free-pass to skip the lines at the auditions - otherwise, its lining up on a first-come/first-served basis. I finished the first full edit last night - late last night. I had already written a little script, and pulled in some photos and old Alistair In Wonderland footage, and recorded the Voice-Over stuff. Last night I finished filming the interview part, and then videoed me singing a couple of Karaoke songs. The sound mix on these wasn't great, so in the end I cut most of the singing part. I made a few fixes this morning, and I hope I should be ready to burn the DVD's tonight. I already made up a demo-CD of Alistair in Wonderland audio tracks (including my one and only complete composition, "Tree Dreaming"), complete with labels, so once the DVDs are ready, its off to UPS for an overnight trip to LA. Do you think I should stick a twenty in the envelope to help my chances?

- Next up is to work on an audition piece. There audition details are pretty slim, but they do say you are allowed to bring an accompanist (with their own instruments). Problem is, I don't think I have time to get something together along that route. So, I picked up a bunch of Karaoke CD's, and I will practice with those, and be ready to either sing along to a CD in the audition - or sing it Accapella if necessary. I'm not even sure if they'll have Mics and PAs available, and I'm certainly not luggin my Amp and speakers around! I'd love to audition with "Tree Dreaming", but that means singing over my own vocals - which may not be that bad an idea...

- Finally, it will be time for a road-trip to LA. Auditions are on the 25th of February, a Friday, at the Whiskey A-go-go. That means taking a day off work and driving down Thursday night - probably straight to the line-up. Anyone who happens to be down LA way and wants to come along for moral support, feel free!