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.
Friday, 22 May 2009
Thursday, 21 May 2009
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
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
Saturday, 16 May 2009
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
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
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