Roach's thoughts on Slam One Down part 2

Hey its roach again. its been a while and its been a busy two weeks for me (work, my birthday was the 22nd, thanksgiving preparation etc.) It was an excellent birthday surprise party and i wanna thank everyone who came, including the other guys from slam one down. that fact is gonna factor into the last part of this blog so stay tuned...

alright lets continue.

when i left off, i told you about my first performance with the first band i played with. it was shit. nothing worked that night. we berated our "manager" after the show and we were all in low spirits. It would prove to be our first and last performance together. Through inner turmoil and not seeing eye to eye the band broke up. Most of the guys that were in that band i'm still friends with to this day and i love those guys, but we just didn't mesh well as a band.

for the next couple of months after that i continued to look for other bands. I joined an acoustic rock band that had a good singer, good bass player, and the music was excellent. We did a lot of shows together over that year i was with them and we recorded an EP. I really got to know those guys and even though the music wasn't the genre i wanted to get into, i still had fun playing with them. I got a lot of experience playing with those guys. The light style of the music helped me to relax behind the drum set, but I helped them rock out a little bit and make a show out of it.

While i was playing with them, i was still searching for bands to play with. I found a band that was looking for a drummer. It was Industrial Metal, something i was interested in and had experience playing in. They were already sort of established, indie label, getting ready to tour, all the good stuff. I thought this would be the opportunity i was looking for. I learned the songs forwards and backwards. The audition was in Long Island. I drove there, my brakes grinding into my rotors, running out of gas. i was gonna get there by hook or crook, dammit. I finally get to the place, meet the band, and we played together and i nailed it. Everything fit perfectly. They said they loved me and i loved the music and the vibe i was getting. they said they sort of had a problem with me being in another band, but i told them i was willing to quit that other band if it came down to it. I loved the other guys and the music, but acoustic rock is not my genre. I needed something more. They said they would be giving me a call in a couple of days.

So i waited and waited and informed the other band that i was possibly joining this other band that were getting ready to tour. They were cool with it. I waited two weeks before losing patience and contacting them. They replied saying they were going with another drummer who was a friend of theirs. I went back to the acoustic rock band and told them i didnt get into the band and they had already found a replacement drummer. I tried to leave my current girlfriend for a hotter girl and got dumped by both. I was left alone. no band, nobody to drum with.

needless to say, i was heartbroken.

i was left without a band to play with, something that i hadn't experienced since i started playing. Now Meanwhile, the bass player from my original band had a side project he was working on in those years and they seemed to be gaining momentum. After their drummer decided to leave to take care of his family, he called me up and asked me to sit in with them.

to be continued...