Practice Corner

7+ months in Canada, no bass guitar, no gigs, no band, no jammings… no happiness.

I had apprehensions about getting a bass guitar. After all, I’m doomed to play by my lonesome. To see if it will spark some craving, I listened to Jaco Pastorius’ studio album and Tal Wilkenfeld’s Transformation. I love Tal’s album! Catchy tunes, and a healthy mix of modern and heavy jazz with smooth jazz. I was torturing myself. I want a bass, but I must be practical and resist the urge! I took it as a sign that while on the treadmill at the gym, the TV featured a story about music stores in Calgary. Chatting to old music buddies who were overseas but still make time for music sealed the deal.

Starting out with a Squire Vintage Modified 70s Jazz. I’m loving it! It plays really well and it reminds me of my old bass in the Philippines, but much much cheaper! I figured I don’t need an amp yet, and so far satisfied with headphones and the Pandora personal FX (bought some time ago in the Philippines). With some cheap music and guitar stand from Walmart, I now have a professional looking practice corner in my room. Tee hee!

It’s back to bass boot camp for me as its been a while since I last held the instrument.

Only 12 posts (not including this one) for this year.

In response to Nuts’ year in gear: Sold the Yamaha RBX-350. I think I saw that RBX in ebay.ph stripped off of the sticker veneer. Got a Geddy Lee jazz from Onie dela Cruz. Got an M-80 bass DI. Sold the Washburn XB-400 before the Zurich trip. Almost sold the SansAmp DI but when it didn’t go through, I figured I can’t part with it yet. Got a PX4D, which eventually went to my dad. Got a regular tuner when I figured out that was the only thing i really needed from the PX4D. Hmm.. Got one of those Levy’s leather straps. 4 inches width – too thick and too long for me! Might have to sell eventually. What a waste.

As for sisig, a whole year went by with us playing mostly the same stuff over and over. What the hell.

I still can’t do triple pops but I’ve favored string jacking on the jazz over try-hard tapping on a full 24-fret instrument. Found it more fun to produce inaudible notes and percussive sounds. Hah.

I love my job, but I still yearn for the dream of studying in a far-off non-third-world country.

2007 was both an exciting and lazy. A lot of wonderful things happened, but myself is still unmoved. Hah!

As expected, everyone who was there were either musicians, luthiers, guitar enthusiasts or roadies. I hated the feeling knowing that people are observing you, listening to every note, waiting for you to make a mistake. That’s why they call it Guitar Adrenaline. Sheesh.

The pressure of playing perfectly. Gah. We did the 3 guitar attack. Ernie, Ced and Nathan taking turns shredding, or blues shredding. I had a short bass solo during the last song. Wouldn’t want to hog the limelight from the guitarists haha. The place was awesome, the amps are boutique! Priceless guitars and autographed photos adorn the walls. This is a place for serious musicians.

I didn’t expect to see some bass people there since it’s supposed to be an event for guitar shredding. However, I bumped into Roger Alcantara of Eternal Now, AC or Cean, Jon dela Cruz of Elegee guitars, and saw Empi Katindig. Met up with some familiar faces, Karen of Massacridia and Paolo of Jutch whom we play with every Thursdays at Freedom bar.

So many people, so many bands and solo artists. I later learned that some bands got pissed because the show went on really late at almost 4am. Eeep! Luckily, we played second.

Of course Ron was there with me and helped carry my bass

DUI fast version (featured in MTV) :

DUI slow funk version (Agama gig in Eastwood):

I learned a lot of things from these guys and I thank them for giving me the honor of sessioning bass for them. I learned how to be a careful and consistent bassist, that music isn’t about skill showdown, that songs should have perfect timing, and that songs have certain moods. Hehehe.

If life was so easy, not having to wake up dead early for work, and other reality checks, I’d accept their offer of permanency. I really wanted to play more with them and even considered getting a 5 string jazz that would be perfect for their kind of music. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and I’m not meant to be a rock star. Therefore, they need someone better, someone who can stick with them forever. Someone who has the same ideals and vision in music life, someone to make great music with that can last a lifetime. They need someone who can dedicate more practice and not be an ass on stage with performance mistakes. Hehehe.

Good luck to Menaya! You guys are going to make it in the scene!

Here is proof that my ultimate plan is nearing culmination (of course the ultimate goal is to get to page 1 or just beneath Kitchie’s Official Website):

As you can see, I am result #14. Muwahahaha…

The place looks like a run-down apartment but the equipment were awesome. I adored the Hartke A100 kickback amp which has a build in LIMITER! Coolness… However, if its up midway and beyond, it will kill the treble. Hmm. Laney and Marshall amps for the guitarist. Drumset was complete and in A+ condition. I wanna gig there again!

Interesting enough, we met again with the band Thumbs and Big Toes! It’s been a while since we played with them and they’re also regulars at Freedom Bar on Thursdays!

We rocked our guts out to make-up for the crappy performance in Kolumn last Friday. Waaa…

Last night we gigged in a Flower Duet prod at Bridgeway Bar in Sta. Lucia. Outside the venue, we passed by seemingly familiar faces. People from other bands that we’ve probably gigged with and of course Marie, the prod manager.

Inside were kids. As in kiddies. Maybe high school (or even grade school), or college folks. There were no familiar faces. One band of youngsters had 2 female vocalists who screeched (not growled) some lyrics and everyone went woohoo! I am not against angsty or hardcore music with growling, but please distance the microphone from your mouth when screeching, or at least raise it. They were cute though. Another band had 3 male vocalists and they had trouble with coordination amongst themselves.

The younger crowd. Sigh. That means we’re the older crowd (but we’re still young), or at least in transition to being old, but not to the extent of being called oldies. Maybe I can say we’re more mature. Naks!

But seriously, I miss being one of those younger folks. I miss not having to care for anything, being reckless, adventurous, insane and weird. I miss all the fun of exploring things and figuring out what you want to be, how you want to project yourself to others.

To the younger crowd everywhere, YOU ROCK! But remember…
- Music is not about being loud, but being audible.
- Performing is not about showing off but to entertain.
- Don’t scream just to be able to hit a note.
- Being a band requires group effort. If you want to stick out, do it one at a time!
- Do not jeer at other bands even if they suck. Just wear EARPLUGS.
- Do NOT as in absolute NO-NO-NO-NOOOO of tuning up your guitar onstage!
- Follow prod rules. Stick to the maximum number of songs to play!
- Don’t say “support other bands” or “more bands to play after us” and then leave after your set… YOU ARE MOCKING THEM

Freaking shit, why do us Pinoys like them singers for their face value? Come on, none of her songs show skill. Her guitar is nice but she’s not good with the darn thing! It’s all props!!!

Have you heard her in gigs? People say she sucks when performing live. That means, the studio recorded songs of hers are tweaked. I wonder why she left Mojo Fly? I don’t think its just about school…

She’s a grisly reminder of Avril Lavigne meets country folk singer in the Philippines. A cute, sweet and innocent little thing aspiring to write her shitty little songs with ripped-off melodies, claiming herself to be a rock star. Yeah right…

I searched google for “Kitchie Nadal Sucks” and “I hate Kitchie Nadal”. No hits. So here’s one hit for it!