Music in My Life

I'm in a band. It's a one-man gig, but that counts, doesn't it?

My interest in music started in 5th grade, when the school brought a bunch of music vendors to show different instruments to the students. Virtually every boy was over at the drums, so I steered clear of the percussion (although being a drummer would have served me well later on). I finally settled on an alto saxophone, because it looked complicated with all of its keys. I played it for eight years, achieving first chair and getting to perform all sorts of solos in concert and jazz band, as well as getting to play with the All-Region band. I detested marching band, but that went with the program.

My horizons expanded when a couple guys I knew decided to start playing together. One of them played guitar, the other played guitar and drums. They looked at me and said, "Hey, he can play music." So they convinced me to go buy a bass guitar. I picked up a four-string Fender at a pawn shop and found a dinky little amp that could barely achieve speaking volume, but even with this sub-par rig I instantly fell in love. I could play music and breathe at the same time! The three of us played a couple times in a garage - my very first song ever played was Nirvana's Incesticide version of Polly (Nirvana is a new guitar player's best friend). Even sitting right in front of my amp, I couldn't hear it over the drums and guitar, but I knew I was playing the right notes. It was a lot of fun.

I was then introduced to some other people who wanted to play, and I was given an audible amp to play through. During this time I bought an acoustic four-string Dean and a Peavy six-string, both of which allowed me to discover that I really am at home playing chords, such as the intros to Alice in Chains' "Rotten Apple" and Metallica's "My Friend of Misery". We covered Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, the Stone Temple Pilots, Staind, and other odds and ends, but we also wrote original stuff. Two of our guys wrote our songs, and they were really good at it. I would place it in the same genre as Chains and STP, with some Metallica-isms perhaps, but overall it was a unique sound. We began recording, but alas, just as our songs were reaching epic greatness, the band went POOF!! and fragmented.

In a fit of musical despair (not really, but I do miss the original music we played), I sold my Dean and Peavy. The Fender's pickups are exceptionally bright on high notes, so I can't chord through it. I bought a Michael Kelly five-string fretless, and that's a whole different animal than a fretted. It's impossible (for me, anyway) to bend my fingers sufficiently to play some arpeggiated stuff, but it also allows for some interesting slides during chording.

I'm wanting to get an Ibanez five-string with a high-C instead of the low-B. I think that would be my perfect bass. A similar acoustic would be great, too, but that's not a priority. I'm also wanting to get a mandolin to try out for something different. I keep telling myself I'm going to learn guitar and piano, but every time I start I get bored. Why I want to chord on bass and mandolin, but not play guitar, I don't know.

So I'm writing my own music for my own amusement now. It's hard when you're not a vocalist per se, but I think I can bull my way into an album's worth of songs. Indeed, I am a one man band with a one woman audience. Thanks for listening without laughing, Charin. :)