Iain Watts Life reports have moved!

I have decided to switch to Wordpress for all my blogging needs. I've never really entirely liked using Blogger, it's certainly a step up from LiveJournal, but I dunno, something just didn't click. Wordpress seems to be a lot better, and more accessible. I thank everyone who has took the time out to read this blog at any given time, and I encourage anyone who still follows me to check out my new blog at:

http://iainwatt.wordpress.com

Look forward to seeing you all there!

Iain Watt

What happened in Hickory, Iain?

This is actually probably one of the most common questions I have been asked on IM, Facebook and Twitter recently. And I guess not updating my blog didn't overly help if people read this looking for Iain news.

Well, without getting into TOO much detail...I didn't get the drumming job for Brian Willoughby. I barely slept that night, due to nerves and lieing in a bed I wasn't used to...what also didn't help was that I lost the room key card in the car as I was holding, so me and Colette were stressed out trying to find it, and it just really did not help my mental state. Eventually we found the card, it was stuck underneath my seat. After that, I just felt more nervous and less confident...and the feeling of this becoming a bad day was beginning to come all the more true.

I arrived there, expecting there to be a queue in their 'office' filled with performers. I was the 2nd person up, and I keep walking in and I notice that someone was already being interviewed, and the whole thing was going to be open plan! This added so much more to my nerves - being interviewed by the panel, as well as my competitors listening to what I had to say, and what I would eventually play of course.

As I listened to the guy being interviewed, I could already tell this guy had it made - he was very experienced, having played around the world including the Montreux jazz festival and encountering Dizzy Gillespie in his underpants, and having that age of experience, being a more solid player and having the beats perfected, something that I know I still need to strive for. Not to mention the panel clearly loved him - basically implying to him after he played that he had the slot, asking him to stay around for the '3 way jam' they would have later in the day. One thing that bothered me however, was that he was from Chicago, married with 2 kids...I felt this would play against him as he would have to leave them, and possibly would have to move to the NC area, and he said 'oh, my family won't mind that'...I call bullshit. There was just so many issues with that statement, but I can't be bothered complaining. After that, it was my turn.

Hearing everything he said, and played, my confidence was pretty much at the lowest it could be - and I was nervous. Anyway, I did as best as I could under the circumstances. The whole fact that I had to play entirely on my own with no band to back me up felt strange, I had never done that before, and playing the songs, despite knowing them well, nerves took over, and I probably didn't do a fantastic job. Then they asked me to just 'play something you do when warming up'...and, like that, I froze. I just had NO idea what to do. I just went into grooves and a few things I've been working on, but I just knew no matter HOW well I played, I didn't have a prayer, despite being at his age group, having more of a 'look' than the other guy, and, to be honest, I felt I grooved better...the other guy seemed a little robotic. But, whatever.

After the audition, I printed them out my resume and left...unsure of whether or not I would be asked back. There was 1 more drummer after me, and I just wasn't in the mood to hear him play. So, Colette and I went to the Farmer's Market...which was really small, and quite frankly, rather terrible. I was in no mood for anything anyway. Colette and I got a drink and sat on a bench, she was being succumb to a big rant about the whole thing, and how disappointed in myself I was. Poor her.

Anyway, after the walking around, we walked back to the agency and I was still unsure whether or not to go in - I felt I had nothing to lose, apart from my dignity...so I went back in. I asked if I was being asked back, they said, 'there's not much point in me wasting your time when you could be driving back, think we're going to cut some people out here so...thanks for coming here, drive home safely, BE SAFE NOW'. Tsh. So, that was it. I was rejected. I didn't know how to react.

For the first 30/45 minutes of the journey home, I just looked out the window, so upset with myself, and feeling like a failure generally. The first thing I said to Colette was 'I give up with music'...reflecting back, that probably was one of the stupidest things I have ever said...and I just continued ranting about me being a failure and not getting anything, and sucking at life generally. All reject talk. Eventually, we got to a rest stop, ate some lunch, and I was in better spirits, joking about the whole thing, which is what I should have done really. The audition WAS a joke, VERY unprofessional, VERY unorganised and just not the right way of going about finding a rhythm section member.

The drive home actually seemed far less time than getting there - probably because I talked more and was just less excited about the prospect of touring around the US. Despite promising myself I wouldn't build my hopes up too much, I really did. And that's probably why I crashed down so hard. When we got back, we went to Colette's grandmothers for her birthday party, and that was a nice 'back to reality' call.

So, since that, I haven't done much - apart from working on my tightness as a drummer, and getting back into challenging myself and playing technical stuff again.

It's now 2 MONTHS until the wedding! Crazy.

Iain

Posting from Hickory, North Carolina!

Well, it took over 3 hours but I made it to Hickory, NC this afternoon! It's actually a really nice town. Very small, almost European-esque, and ridiculously quiet. At 5:30PM this evening, me and Colette went into the 'town square' and there was basically no-one there! A lot of people were at the 2 bars that we saw...Colette joked that the whole population of Hickory was there at the 2 bars. We went to a Mexican restaurant this evening, was great...food came in like less than 5 minutes, and the chips and salsa was almost orgasmic - and I'm usually not a fan of Chips and Salsa. The hotel we're currently in right now is pretty cosy.

Earlier on, I got a lot of nerves about the audition tomorrow. While I feel ready for all the songs but one. 1 of the songs in particular has been making me nervous - simply because I just feel like I don't have it completely down 100%...but YouTube was my savior, and I actually learned the parts in my head a lot better now thanks to some tutorial videos I watched. Despite the majority of them I watched had AWFUL sound quality and, quite frankly, odd kit setups, I struggled and cringed through them just to hear the parts I needed to definitely get stuck in my head.

Anyway, tomorrow will be the judge of how I perform - it's been some time since I auditioned for something. Wish me luck! And of course, I'll be sure to update you all once I'm done.

I can't wait to get on the road again...

So, tomorrow I leave for Hickory, North Carolina! I'll be there auditioning to be the drummer for NC based signed artist Brian Willoughby. This is going to be the first 'formal' audition I will be doing since way back in March or April 2007, when I auditioned for the Berklee College of Music scholarship (and subsequently was told on that day that I got it...but couldn't take it because of money problems, and wanting to finish my BMus at Magee). That said, every audition I have taken, I have been accepted or told I would be accepted in the future, or it went good at least...so I really hope that that strain of good luck at auditions continues. When it comes to auditions, I like to 'do my homework'...making sure I have every little nook and cranny ironed out so that my performance sounds as smooth and well rehearsed, but most importantly, as natural sounding as possible - I think there is an incredible difference between someone playing a song they've rehearsed a million times and then got bored of it; compared to someone who knows a piece just as well but still enjoys playing it and gives it 100%.

When I was practicing today, something just felt good. As stupid as this sounds, I feel almost like I have my groove back...but it's a better groove. Everything about my performance to me just feels better; looser, calmer, more direct, and just generally sounds better and more consistent...something that I was really trying to aim for these past few years. I have a brand new confidence that definitely comes with the fact that I am beginning to hopefully start my career properly. And even if I don't get this gig, it's definitely more than enough good practice for other auditions that will hopefully come my way.

Rehearsing the songs today, including Drops of Jupiter by Train, felt oddly strange - when I listened to that song casually, and many of the others, the beat sounded easy and I could play it no problem - well, whilst it isn't incredibly difficult, there will still little cool nuances and ghost notes etc which just made the groove...and for Drops of Jupiter, it's actually quite a nice groove, I especially like the bass drum work. Despite me hearing the song too many times to now dislike it a lot, analyzing the drum part (something which I haven't done much recently for any song...) gave me a new appreciation for the song.

I'm really not going to divulge too much information about what would happen after I get the gig, but, it'd be pretty amazing.

So, I'll be travelling with Colette for over 2 hours tomorrow, staying in a cheap hotel and then auditioning at 10:30am! I really hope my body and limbs are in good shape at that time of the morning, but I've played great in the morning before for university recitals, so I'm sure I'll do fine!

I may post tomorrow from my hotel room, I may not.

Iain

It's been a while...

Jeez, when did I last update this?! February?! Wow. Well, for -anyone- who views/subscribes to this blog, I apologize for not updating it enough...I hope that changes now. I've rarely had a moment to myself these past 3 months, and I only have around 20/25 minutes to update, so I'll be brief.

Anyway, my immigration papers are being processed and I should have everything sorted within the next 3 weeks, I HOPE. USCIS, truthfully, have been anything but helpful, despite that being their job, to help immigrants with their process. Luckily, I have a friend here who is going through the exact same process, and is a little ahead of us by a few weeks, and she has her SSN now, which HOPEFULLY should mean I'll get mine soon enough too. But, who knows.

My wedding plans are coming on nicely, Colette and I bought our rings yesterday at a heavily reduced rate - thanks crappy economy! We're finalizing invitations right now, printing them off and sending them, and making sure we have everyone we want to include on the list. Time really is flying by now, the wedding is just a little over 2 months away! Crazy.

As for my actual musical career, well, things are picking up a little bit. I've been offered a sponsorship by Shine Drums, or should I say, an artist discount. The whole package is going to cost me a little over $800, but I feel like it would be worth it, just so I can say that I am a sponsored artist. Obviously, money is not my friend at this moment in time as I don't have a steady job yet - but once I get the money, I am taking that offer. I am still teaching, and looking for more students - the one student I have is coming on leaps and bounds, and for a 11 year old who has just started, he definitely has a bright future ahead of him if he keeps at it.

I also have an audition with an artist called Brian Willoughby at the end of this month, but the audition is about 3 hours away, so that'll be a fun road trip - and the worry I have right now is that the rehearsals will always be there - and obviously travelling 3 hours per rehearsal is not ideal; so I don't know what to do. Answers on the back of a postcard please.

Anyway, that's all I have time for right now. I really do hope to update this more often.

Iain

Iain The Destroyer reviews the Grammy Awards 2009

Grammys: The annual US music awards, presented to people and artists in all fields of music for their extraordinary efforts in the previous year. Despite never watching them, I always like to see who wins certain awards; because, I am an avid fan of music. Allow me to give opinion on some of the awards distributed; and if they were well deserved (or not)


The stars of this year's Grammys were Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, who won all awards that they were nominated for, including Best Record and Best Album; basically, in my opinion, the best 2 awards to receive (at least for actual recording artists). Despite only having heard a slice of their work together, I don't know what justified those 2 receiving that award, when there were SO many better albums out there last year (Viva La Vida was also nominated, and frankly I feel that deserved the Album of the Year within "Grammy respected" music.) Away from this, I can understand why they did win it; it's "adult" music with the classic voice of Robert Plant, eering back to a lot of baby boomers childhoods and growing up periods, with a more mature, less heavy sound, which complements their studio apartment or nice houses with open plan kitchens, as they sip on their white wine and get cosy by the fire. It disappoints me greatly that Plant has went down this path, but I guess singing the same Led Zeppelin stuff without the greatness of John Bonham in the background isn't getting him far.

The crime of the Grammys was Rick Rubin winning Producer of the Year. For his work in Death Magnetic alone, he should be shunned (or, just tone down his compression/distortion and let the music BREATHE). Danger Mouse and Nigel Godrich were easily the more deserved candidates than the man who doesn't know anything about production other than to have it really loud.

Now, onto awards that were most definitely deserved,
The Mars Volta winning Best Hard Rock Performance. The Bedlam in Goliath was easily one of my favourite albums of 2008, and was a huge return to form for a band who I felt lost their way with Amputechture. The drumming alone makes the album; some amazing drum fills and cymbal work going on - and Cedric providing yet more crazy vocal effects and lyrics, and Omar providing his Hendrix 2.0 style once more. They really were up against some commercial heavyweights in Disturbed, Judas Priest, Motley Crue and Rob Zombie; who all easily could have won the award because of their status alone - but I'm glad they didn't. Wax Simulcara really is a highlight of Bedlam.

Also, Kings of Leon won "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" for their song "Sex on Fire". Despite the lyrical content having, well, little or complicated meaning, the song itself is very catchy and well-written, I often hum the chorus to myself (and am right now) and really is a modern day classic pop-rock song. I've always liked Kings of Leon, I think they have a great appeal of having Southern Rock style, with a poppy and a damn catchy edge to it also. Coldplay also winning "Rock Album of the Year" put a smile on my face also - it deserved it.

I was also very happy and quite frankly surprised to see Zappa Plays Zappa win "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" award too, with Peaches en Regalia. Seeing Zappa still being honoured post-humously makes me happy, and they did beat some excellent competition, especially in Rush's song "Hope" (despite Snakes and Arrows being released in 2007) and Nine Inch Nail's "34 Ghosts IV", from Ghosts I-IV, another outstanding album from 2008. Ah, 2008 was such a great year for music!

This is a brief summary of an overly exhaustive awards ceremony, but I think these categories were most relevant to me. Blink 182 are also reunited, which might be interesting.

Iain