Tuesday 28/04

After a long break, I relistened to all my 8 of my self-written, self recorded songs yesterday. Of course, there are plenty of things that can be improved, notably in the mixing and mastering as I know slightly more now than I did when I started.

But I was quite happy with most of the songs from the point of view of lyrics, structure and overall feel.

It is still a source of intense disappointment that I have not been able to convince my band, the Cannonballs, to attempt to play one of my compositions – even if it’s only for fun. Which it would be, because this band has precisely no dates planned.

I may have more luck with the much better organised Flashback, but I am the new boy here, having only joined in February 2009. I think my songs stand up fairly well to the other originals the group plays so we shall see. There is a short series of dates in the near future with Flashback – starting with a local concert on 08/05 – so we are hard at work in the rehearsal studio at the moment. Things have not been made any easier by our front man and singer recently undergoing 2 operations (and 3 weeks in hospital).

The contrast between the two bands is striking.
The Cannonballs is likely to remain a hobby band forever as nobody has the time necessary to devote to promotion, marketing and the non-playing side of things. 2 of our members still turn up to the studio without any documentation of the songs we play and so constantly forget words, bridges, endings etc.

Flashback is an entirely different matter. We are lucky enough to be able to rehearse in a well-equipped and soundproofed home rehearsal room at one of the band’s members. A legal entity has been set up to enable customers to book us and the band has collectively invested in its own p.a system. Furthermore, I get the impression that ‘day job’ commitments are less pressing which gives 2 of the guys plenty of time to tackle the administrative and promotional aspects of the band.

In recent months, I have been rehearsing every Mon. and Tue. evening with these respective bands – which has made for an interesting life! But I guess you only get out what you put in.

Until next time…