yeah, i know we actually wrote a "guide" for Koream but that was written from the trenches, right outta the cages, and not from the nostalgic (yet edifying) hindsight that comes from years and years of band drama, shady record deals, and misadventures on the touring road. i admire the irony of how that all worked out BUT the question still remains unanswered.
really, is it a matter of playing show after show after show at any venue you can get? practicing enough? social networking? shameless self-promotion? a combination of all of the above? or does it all come down to time and luck.
the real underlying question is probably whether there are shortcuts, to which im gonna guess the answer is NO.
so we wrapped up the show at Mr Ts Bowl last night, show number nine in the history of Monolidic. our first time at Mr Ts, the place was cool, i dug it, it's got atmosphere. it's in Highland Park, in the 1970s sometime, and i guess it used to be an old bowling alley because the now-abandoned lanes and vintage equipment are still there, hidden behind a partition of curtains. we met some of the friendly guys from the Dumps, a band on tour from Georgia that played that night, before we started setting up.
we were the openers and kicked things off about fifteen minutes earlier than planned since there were three other bands on the bill. a few stragglers in the audience, mostly members from the other bands. started a little shakey -- i still cant get over the initial anxiety as soon as i get on the stage. maybe it's nerves, maybe it's getting old and infirm. we had our first (or was it second?) false start -- the awkward moment at the start of a song when someone isnt ready or plays the wrong note and the performance crashes one beat in and everyone freezes and spins around and looks at each other sheepishly. it's never an auspicious beginning.
ouch. we took some other knocks, my confidence was a little shaken, but soldiered through the rest of the set. later, a couple of people said it didnt sound too terrible from the audience... so theres some consolation. of course, it's not all traumatic as long as you learn something -- placement is key. make sure the drumset is firmly anchored to the floor and isnt slipping around. dont stick the guitar amp in front of the kick drum and crank it up. make sure the bass amp puts out enough thump. youd think a lot of this stuff would be self-evident but it's like playing with fire: you dont really appreciate how bad it is until youve suffered third-degree burns over seventy percent of your body. but thats cool, no problem, slap on some aloe-vera and throw yourself back in.
thanks to everyone who came out, thanks to the nice guys at Mr Ts Bowl for the opportunity to play, and thanks to the other bands: Million Kids, The Dumps, and Antigone. good luck on the road back home.
in any case, it's back to practice! Monolidic marches on. venceremos.
most likely at some point in your Internet life youve seen the Youtube clip of a metallized cover of Pachelbels "Canon in D" by That Asian Dude in the Cap:
apparently, the clip attained enough popular critical mass to warrant a write-up in the Los Angeles Times: "He's no rock star, but a video 'god.'" the shredder extraordinaire is soft-spoken 23-year-old Lim Jeonghyun from South Korea. as of this post, the clip was close to 40,000,000 views on Youtube, which i believe qualifies it as a candidate for beatification according to Rome.the kids crazy. and ill be honest -- i personally have never been swayed over to the Metal Side -- but hes got chops.in the end though, my all-time favorite musical appropriation of the "Canon in D" goes to Spiritualized for "Ladies and Gentlemen We're Floating in Space." i realize that i still have my friend Steves copy -- and have had it for the last couple of years. i lost my own CD of the album years ago when my car stereo (and collection of indie crap) was jacked while we were drinking around Chapman Plaza. i gotta get that album back to you.
in the meantime, heres a fan-created music video of the Spiritualized song, courtesy of Youtube, cultural barometer of the times:
... set to random arthouse flicks from the 1990s. remember Les Amants Du Pont Neuf? i saw it in college. i dont remember the movie, but i do remember the theatre. smelled like ass.
