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
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