July 11th, 2011 by dan
So, I have just joined a new band. I was asked by the lead singer, Craig, to put down a few thoughts for a blog on their website. I started writing this and couldn’t stop. So I rewrote it to a couple of paragraphs for that and decided to keep this for my page. It was written on Saturday just throwing a bunch of thoughts and feelings out there. At the end is some more a few days later.
As a musician I’d be lying if I said I never wanted to play on the biggest stages in front of 1000s of people. Everyone has a dream and this has been mine from the moment I first picked up a bass guitar 14 years ago. I have been told that if you believe in your dreams you can make them happen. That you create your own “luck”. Your own opportunities. For the last 14 years my dream has been to play on the biggest stages in the world in front of 1000s of people. Not for the fame or fortune, but to share my love of music with the world. To have people walk away with a smile on their face, to experience the joy of music that I have when I listen and play it. My motto in life comes from Nietzsche, “Without music, life would be a mistake”. Slogging away in Melbourne pubs playing in original and cover bands sometimes you think that is never going to happen. You may lose sight of your dream and begin to doubt your abilities but the dream never goes away. Sometimes all it takes is a change of attitude. One late night, while in conversation with a very talented drummer friend, Christian Nativo, I knew I needed a change in attitude. At that moment I made the decision to not give up on my dream.
The world works in funny ways, because the very next morning I woke up to a message from a guitarist I knew asking if I was interested in joining an original band. My only gig at the time was a regular gig with a rockin’ cover band having almost given up on the original scene in Melbourne. I had done the hard yards for the better part of a decade playing tiny bars to the same faces for the pure pleasure of playing in front of people. Most of my musician friends know the story, paying for rehearsals every week just so you can pay the sound guy more than you make at a gig so your girlfriend and mum can hear the same 10 songs gig after gig. In the message were a name, and the comment, “Check out some of their stuff on Youtube.” I knew even without opening up Youtube that this band was going to be different. You know that feeling you get. Intuition. These things don’t just happen. I clicked away.
Within 24 hours I had been sent 5 songs of the upcoming album “NEW WORLD ORDER” to learn for a “jam”. Now I am one of those guys who isn’t often impressed with what artists/musicians/bands are putting out these days – in fact, there has only been one album released this year that has made me stand up and say “WOW” (Foo Fighters’ Wasting Light) until I heard these songs. That doubt once again filled my head. The negative thoughts, those ones that hold you back. Those voices that tell you that you are in over your head. That you are not good enough. Then I remembered my dream, my new attitude and the knowledge that these guys knew what they were doing. I was waking up with these songs in my head. I ate, breathed and slept these songs. Whatever it took, I wanted a piece of this. No…I was going to get a piece of this. This was what hours spent wearing my fingers down over a bass guitar for the past 14 years at lessons, the bedroom, rehearsal rooms and stages was for. This was my time!
Walking into the audition it was like no other audition I had been too. There were no egos. No heroes. Only a bunch of guys who knew what they were doing and where they were going. I felt at home. In fact, it didn’t feel like an audition at all. It already felt like I was part of the band.
I have played with talented musicians, inspired songwriters and people with so much belief in what they do that it is not funny, but it wasn’t until walking into that rehearsal room that I have played with a whole band that combines all of these. On top of that they have a trust in each other and the music they are playing that I have never before seen in a band.
It is an honour and a privilege to share the stage with and call these amazing musicians my band mates. I can not wait to share this album with all the fans all over the world. To show the world that honest rock n roll still exists in the world. There is a reason the new album is called “NEW WORLD ORDER” – that is exactly what Velvet City is bringing to the airwaves around the world.
Here are the thoughts from the past day or so.
So last night, Sunday, I was chatting to my mate Damien, a fellow bass player who loves gear as much as me, and a chat as much as me. He asks about the new band and all these things start coming into my head. A lot of it related to what I wrote above. But the thing I notice is that the reality is starting to set in. The reality that this band has what it takes to make my dreams come true. In the space of three weeks I have gone from wondering where music is going for me to being exactly where I want it to be. Heading in the direction that I want it to be heading. With a group of guys who share a dream and passion that is so much aligned with mine. I was telling Damo all the things going through my head and I had tears in my eyes.
Music is an emotional thing for me. Behind my daughter, my girlfriend, my family and a couple of good friends nothing else even comes close to being as important or emotional for me as music is. Like everyone it can change the way you feel in an instant. For me it is an escape. When I was 11 years old all I could imagine was being a professional tennis player or a fighter pilot. Then I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. I went through 12 months of chemo and a total hip replacement. My life – as I knew it – and dreams were destroyed in 1 sentence. I would never play tennis and there was no way I could ever pass an air force physical. I couldn’t even go to school. I spent my days in bed or on the couch. Some days I had the energy to go to the dining room where our stereo was and play my Dad’s old records. That started an obsession. I would listen to anything. Rage became a weekend staple for me. I had always played music. Piano and flute. Then at around 14 I decided I wanted to play guitar. So for my 15th birthday my Dad took me to get my first guitar. A few months later it was sitting in the cupboard until 3 years later a few schoolmates and I started jamming. When we decided to start a band I got my first bass and the dream began.
And now I find myself playing bass for Velvet City. Currently learning songs for the forthcoming album “NEW WORLD ORDER”. I can’t get these tunes out of my head. I wake up with them. I drive with them and all day at work they are playing in my head. What my coworkers must think as I start whistling the melody of one of them. I can already see us playing on the big stages not just here but everywhere. You know when things are right when you rock up to your first meeting with them and the guitarist has brought along his projector to show some ideas for video backdrops at shows that aren’t even booked yet. Entirely synched with the music!! Who does that?!?! That’s right….guys who are serious about making their dream come true. People who believe in each other, believe in the product and most of all believe in themselves. People who are so committed to making it happen that nothing is done half-assed. There is no “She’ll be right”. The songwriting is some of the best I have heard in years. The production is brilliant. The focus and determination is something I have never seen. Say something is going to be done. It’s done! You get what I am saying. We are not waiting for things to come for us. Whatever it takes we will make things happen. I was told something once by a very inspirational person, Kurek Ashley, “You either EVOLVE or DISSOLVE”. In other words, where the line is now is not where it will be in 6 weeks time, 6 months time or 6 years time. You have to keep changing to stay at the front of the pack. Most bands wait for that big break. The ones who get that break make it happen. This is what Velvet City is doing and this is why I wanted so much to be a part of it. Why I am so grateful to be a part of it. I can’t wait for the next rehearsal, or the one after.
Well, this has gone on much longer than I thought. I think most of what I wanted to get across I already did before I wrote tonight’s part. But I needed to get this stuff out on “paper”. To really process it.
If you have made it this far I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read it. I am sure there is repetition but so be it. Mostly this was for me. I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to share your comments. In the simplest of terms I play music because it makes me happy. But why should I be selfish and keep that to myself. I want everyone to get the same emotion out of music as I do.
Thank you.
And after one of the sets told me that I was not helping with his G.A.S (we are talking about a guy who runs a Eden WTX-1000 and 2 Eden 410 cabs!).