Well here it is folks. you've all been eagerly awaiting the last installment in this series and i finally have some free time to write this. I'm at work right now but its a saturday and it is shit slow around here let me tell you. Its days like these i wish i was already touring and doing what i love behind my baby. Anyway lets get on with this...
When i left off, the bass player from my very first band called me and asked if i wanted to join his current project. I agreed and sat in on a couple of practices. Heavy metal, right up my alley, with a little humor, another one of my alleys. I already knew the guys he was working with and everything seemed to gel naturally. We did a couple of shows together and the music was sounding good and the show aspect was getting better. We were starting to get buzz. We made a full fledged album out of our own pocket and it was good. we had enough material for a second album that was forthcoming. We made it to a final of an international battle of the bands and got to play at Webster Hall, which i find to be our crowning achievement. People were taking notice of us, our music, our antics on and off stage, and it seemed like we had nowhere to go but up.
this was to me the long term relationship girlfriend. the one you marry. the one you have kids and get a house with.
there were a couple of things going on in the band, however, that raised some concerns, not just to me, but everyone involved. some things can be argued, some things cannot. I always thought we would be able to get through those issues and come out the other side in one piece. The fates proved me wrong.
One thing we didn't do enough of was advertisement. The fact of me writing this blog is me learning from my own mistakes as well as the band. the online community is so vast and easy to connect to, but you have to put the work in to connect with them. I didn't do enough of that on my own and im trying to fix that.
Another mistake we made was coasting with booking shows. We allowed the head of another band, whom we were real good friends with, book shows and include us with them. The only problem was that this guy didnt know how to book cohesive shows. Everything was erratic and utter chaos. We always swore we would never use him again but then he would call and we'd go "alright lets do it" and start the cycle of pain over again.
we didn't promote ourselves as much as we should have. We gave out the cds for free, which is cool, but at the same time we weren't seeing any returns on the money we put into making the album. We also had a lot of ideas for merchandise, videos, shows, comics, movies, etc, all pertaining to the band, but we never followed through with them. Its like those times your drunk with your friends and you spew out all these ideas about taking a road trip to alaska or climbing the adirondack mountains. Then the next day you totally forget what you were talking about.
In short, the music was good and tight, but the business side was lacking.
being in a band and trying to make it is not about the music. its probably 10% music actually. Most of what you do is what im doing right now, write about your band, promote, advertise, get the name out, let people know you exist. I get people complaining to me that Slam One Down posts 500 times in a single day on facebook or myspace. but look at it this way, they're noticing that my band is there and alive and kicking. The music industry has very little to do with the actual music. Look at Britney Spears, The Spice Girls, the Jonas Brothers, and Miley Cyrus for references.
So after our last show, we sort of drifted apart and didnt talk to each other for months. I wondered what was going on, but in the back of my head i knew what was coming. We started to email each other and have meetings about whats the next step for us. We had the answers, but we were wondering if it was worth it. a couple more months passed by with no correspondence and what i had originality thought happened, we were breaking up. After three years of playing non stop shows, recording, joking around and coming up with great ideas that fell to the wasteside, we broke up. It wasn't a fast and clean break either, it was slow, tedious, and painful.
The girl who i thought was the one drifted away from me and sort of broke up with me without actually saying it.
Thats the worst kind, because for years after on top of the "what if?" factor, you have this nagging feeling that you might actually get back together if those differences got patched up, but you know they never will.
While the slow breakup was happening, i went back online to look for more bands to play with. I get an anonymous email from someone in jersey who has a band and is looking for a drummer. I was interested and because of the slow breakup, i was left bandless, so i decided to reply. the guy, J.R., sent me the music and i immediately loved it. i replied and we set up an audition day.
TO BE CONTINUED?...hehe you guys guessed this was the last part, well its not. im throwing a curve ball. The Epilogue is coming. With that, i bid you guys an adieu and remember, kids, KEEP IT METAL!
-Roach
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