Had an audition today. This was a full band audition, not like the last one where it was just me and one other dude. First time in ages I've played real rock and roll with all of the players in the room. The last time would've been my final show with the Drags back in August. Man, it felt good. I'm thinking I will be playing some shows with these guys quite soon and I honestly can't wait!
On another tangent, I just wanted to touch on something I've discussed before. I'm not very modest about my playing, and I don't mean my technical proficiency. I mean my style. Now, I've already listed my influences, so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about by listening to them. Or to me for that matter, just go to iTunes and buy "She's Happy" who knows maybe I'll get my 3 pennies royalty check if you do.
But here's the thing, a lot of bands have really generic sounding drums. If the drums sound like nickleback, then the band sounds like nickleback. I, for one, wish to have no part of that. Plus, if all you singer / songwriters out there want to get on the radio, try sounding slightly different than the crap that gets played now. I'm surprised that more bands out there aren't looking for an angle, you know? Why not clean up the distortion a little bit, add some harmonies, and have a drummer who tried to build some atmosphere around the song rather than drive a mack truck right through it. And seriously, stop buying record by bands who play guitar and flex at the same time. Like the guy from the bowflex commercial whose 48 and still rocks. Coming soon to a sports arena near you, some douchebag with an armband tattoo whose all juiced up and dressed like Lance Armstrong singing songs about, you guessed it, relationships.
I know it sounds crazy to try getting on the radio by not sounding like all the bands who already are. Except I think we are at the tail end of the current trend cycle. Creed started it and Nickleback will end it. And Kid Rock... what a no talent hack! I firmly believe that people are ready for more. Like how grunge came out in the early 90s and exposed all the 80s hair bands for the sideshows they really were. But wait, I don't really like grunge and I have been to several Bon Jovi shows. Yeah but still. People were sick of the same old, they were ready for something new, and grunge was just that. And then there's Oasis. Total Beatles rip-off, but why not? I mean, if you're gonna sound like someone else, it might as well be the Beatles. Oasis came out at the height of grunge and what they did is remind us of Rock. Not hard rock, butt rock, dance rock, prog rock, but ROCK rock. Kinda like when you have a cup of coffee and remember what the original is like before all the sugar and fat was added to it, inflating the price 1000%.
If you listen to some of the most memorable hits from any time period, you'll notice that they don't sound like anything else of that time. "The Joshua Tree" is firmly etched in our minds as an iconic album of the late 80s. Now go dig up the old Billboard charts and see what else was getting a lot of play back then.
Wow I get bit long winded when talking about music don't I? At least I haven't started ranting about sports, yet...
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