02/10/2005: "Diary of a Rockstar - 10-Feb-2005"

Well, things are hectic in this Wannab-Rockstar's life! I rushed home from my day-job yesterday, to do a little tidy up on the demo-DVD, and then ran off to a tryout with a new band. I'd bumped into a bass player, Eric, on Craigslist while back, and after chatting it sounded like I would be a good fit for what they are trying to put together with the Guitarist, Dave, and drummer.

The jam was at Dave's place, which is down in the rural part of Almaden Valley, just north of Calero reservoir. Just turn right at the cows! He's got a great little setup in his garage, complete with neon guitar-clocks and oil-lamp projectors. Neat stuff! We chatted for a bit, and then launched into a couple of Doors songs - Roadhouse Blues and Love Me Two Times I think. And for the first go at performing anything together, I thought we did a fantastic job! The groove was definitely there... The evening continued, with people throwing out ideas for songs, and everyone just jammin' and having a go. I had an absolute ball, it took me straight back to Alistair in Wonderland days, especially when the drummer (who is from Amsterdam) proclaimed his love for all things Led-Zep - just like Gildas back in the old days.

(The story of how we met Gildas, and how he became the drummer for Alistair in Wonderland, is worth a mention here. We were struggling to put something together, with Bass, two guitars, and me on vocals - I don't even think I had a PA or mics at this stage. A friend-of-a-friend said he knew a drummer, and brought him over to "take a look". They walked in just as we were murdering a Led-Zep song - it may even have been "Dazed and Confused", I'm not sure. I was still a novice singer, and Robert Plant I ain't! Never the less, Gildas walked into the room, listened for two minutes, and then walked straight back out again - to his car, where he proceeded to unload his drum kit, and jam along with us. From that point on, we never looked back...)

So, the conclusion at the end of the Jam was basically "Lets do it"! A lot of potential there, I can definitely see us having a performable set in a very short time... It was great to give my voice a good solid workout, and I had a healthy glow in my throat by the end.

After the jam, I headed home, and finished off the busy work of the DVD - burning the DVDs, printing labels, that sort of thing. This morning it went off with UPS, so they should have it tomorrow. Lets hope someone actually watches it! I'll post a link to a web-version tomorrow...

My manager has been heavily pushing the audition in Seattle over the LA one. So, I took a look around, and found a pretty decent air-miles flight up there (15000 miles) - which has the advantage of being refundable should I decide not to use it. Cars are dirt cheap, and I've got a few friends up that way, so it may work out... I've just got to get ready in time!