Day 108

Saturday January 17

I get up with no problem at all and head on out to Bethnal Green to hook up again with The Punching Preachers. I arrive at The Vatican Studio about 20 minutes early. The boys are already in their studio and have been since 11am. I decide to leave them to it till the correct time and have a cup of tea and get my arms and hands warmed up. I’ve given them a good working over on the tube here so I feel in decent shape. When the time comes, I knock on the door and Craig opens it and all but pulls me in to meet the boys again. Matt and Mark on guitars and Andrea on drums. First off, it’s the biggest rehearsal room I’ve ever been in. The idea is that you’re on a stage and everything is arranged that way. There’s no standing in a circle like you would expect in an audition. Instead, everyone is facing one wall which is a huge mirror so everyone can see what’s going on. And behind the band, just as on a big stage, there’s a drum riser. Next to that is a double stack bass amp. Easily the biggest thing I’ve ever played through.

Preliminaries over, the first song we’re going to do is Australia. They do it in D. But the band plays half a step down meaning we’re already in Eb. I’d prepared for this and had worked out where various licks and tricks were with the E string tuned down a further half step to the other strings. When I do that, I’m told, “No. It’s D from where we are.” So that actually means C# so another half step down. It’s hardly a difficult change but having what I’ve learnt so ingrained and then having to retune a string suddenly sets my thoughts in motion. But I haven’t got any time to think about it because now we’re playing the song. So instead of thinking about the transition from intro to first verse, my mind is still frantically thinking about the break in the middle and how I’m going to play that now. As a result I totally mess up the first change. But I catch it and the rest of the song goes through fine. We do it again and I catch everything this time.

Then we’re onto Land Down Under. I’ve got this one sorted. The only difference is that at the end, they break it into a complete punk number with the bass playing straight 16ths through the changes. No problem. Only what I’ve only just realised now is that this room really is quite cold. I play through the song fine but when we get to the 16ths, I’m struggling. It could be match fitness because I’ve not played straight 16ths with a band for a while, or, and this is what I think, the cold has got into my right arm and totally undone all the warming up I’d done. I don’t think anyone notices my little struggle over there because I manage it OK. I just know that if this was a gig and the whole thing was to be like this, I’d be in trouble right now. Another run through of that and the band decide it’s time for a break because they’ve been going about an hour and a half by this point. Bloody hell that’s lucky. A chance for me to regroup and adapt to the cold. By that I mean go through warm up again. The massages, the stretches I’ve already done but this time set against the new temperature. And another cup of tea. Which holding onto really does help the hands to get new warmth and so movement.

This break also gives me a chance to talk to the lads for the first time, particularly Mark and Andrea as I have at least hung out and had a pint with Craig and Matt before.

Back into the room and it’s decided another go of Land Down Under is in order. Immediately I feel transformed. Everything is now moving as it should and, when we hit the 16ths, I power through them effortlessly and smoothly. That’s more like it.

I’ll cut to the chase here. I am now a semi professional bass player with a solid paying gig diary with The Punching Preachers. It unfolds like this.

We move through Maybe Tomorrow, quite a simple but effective song and then onto the originals. One of them, Come On Sweetness, has got a very definite bassline which the band love so I have to be very careful with that one although I still have some ideas of my own and there’s also room for interpretation. We do it three times and I don’t think I’ve ever played such a song for the first time with a band and have it come together so quickly and sound like the finished, or almost the finished article. We look at some rhythmic issues at the beginning and at the end but they get quickly resolved and that’s it. The whole band is delighted with how it’s gone. Not looking at me as the new guy coming in, just how everyone has come together on this song, learnt it and then done the business.

We do the other original and it’s pretty much the same result. The only thing is that they ask me to give a bit more definition between the verses and choruses so I can come in bigger. This is essentially because the bassline in both is similar. I achieve this by taking my right hand most of the way to the bridge for the verses, producing a harsh, quiet metallic sound. Then when the chorus comes in, I move over to the middle pickups and the full thunder and power of the bass comes in. No more is said about it. Job done.

We finish about ten minutes early with everyone happy with the day’s work they’ve done. While the boys are settling up with the studio’s management, I talk to Mark again and I’m pleased to hear that, when they first started today, he also struggled with the temperature of the room and found that his fingers weren’t moving properly. I don’t tell him of my early issue but it’s good to know it wasn’t just me.

Once we’re outside, Craig wants to stay back and hang out with Mark and Andrea, leaving me to walk to the underground with Matt.

On the way, Matt asks me about the songs I know in the set and I’m able to show him; before I came, I’d called up the set on the computer and bolded the songs I knew or had at least played at some point. When I show him this now, I see that there are only five songs left of their set list that I don’t know. Of the full repertoire of 64, I know 34 but of the first set of songs they want me to learn, that’s just the five. “OK,” he says. “Can you do backing vocals?” I tell him the truth that my vocals aren’t great but if I’m singing with one or two people at the same time then yes, I can make a contribution. OK. He then tells me they’ll probably need me at some point and that I should make it a priority to start learning the songs I don’t know. Cool. We reach Bethnal Green tube and he goes into the nearby bar to wait for Craig and I go down to head off home.

I’ve been home about 20 minutes when my phone goes. It’s Craig. “How did you feel today went?” he asks. “Yeah. It felt good.” “So you like this band?” “Yes.” “Do you want to be in this band?” Oh. OK. “Yes. Absolutely.” “Right,” he says. “This gig’s yours for the taking. If you show the same work ethic you’ve shown so far, you’ll be absolutely fine. We won’t put you in for our next gig because I don’t think you’ll be ready for that, but you could pencil in early February to start. I reckon with you we would just need one or two rehearsals and then you’d be ready to go.”

Cool. Then it gets a little bit serious as I ask about getting to and from gigs. I don’t have a car but the London transport system is good. I tell him I can get myself anywhere I need for a lift to a gig, or even get myself to a gig. Then after, maybe just a lift to the nearest nightbus. It’s all around the London area. “That’s fine,” he says. “But how you get your amp about, that’s your problem.” Totally fair enough but I’ve thought about this. I tell him that I have an amp but I couldn’t leave it with them because it’s not actually mine. I have it courtesy of Radiotrib – Kevin. A lovely Trace Elliot. I tell Craig that my idea is to buy my own amp and then leave that with the band’s gear that they take to shows. He thinks that’s a good idea but adds, “Mark, leave off for a little while on that. You may decide a few shows in that this isn’t for you or whatever.” He says that he’ll be coming my way for the first few so I’ll be able to bring along the amp I have and get it home and then after that, maybe I could buy my own, which would become the Punching Preachers bass amp which would stay with them. It seems a good solution.

So now I can tell you that their gig diary has a show at least every month between now and the end of November. There’s one a week for certain periods and sometimes two in a weekend. I’m sure more will be coming along. I know a few things about this but I have to be careful what I write about the band now. I’ve always known this. These are my diaries and my experiences but inevitably they were always (hopefully) going to involve the inner workings of a band, rehearsals, politics, backstage. I have no doubt that some of that is going to have to stay where it happens and neither can I betray confidences but I’ve already dealt with that last one with discretion on quite a few occasions. But all those are considerations for another day.

Back to today and I just put down the phone and out comes a gutteral roar. A roar of triumph and maybe a little of relief. A door has opened. I no longer have to just tell people I’ve come to London to become a professional bass player. I can now say I’m in a semi professional band and open to other projects. My words are now backed up with action. It moves the level of the game, and the conversation, up a touch.

Moving onto the practical aspects, rehearsing and playing at this level can only greatly improve my chops which, I’ve seen, need some work. You can practice at home all you want. And go to jam sessions. But even at those, you rarely play for more than ten minutes at a time and even then, not much more. And home playing never reaches the intensity of live playing no matter how much you might try to replicate it. And believe me, I’ve tried. No. You want to be professional and play live then you’ve got to be a professional and play live. No amount of bedroom shedding or part time jamming can substitute that. It can help keep up certain standards and disciplines, but for sheer physicality, playing a full sweaty set has absolutely no substitute.

All that considered, there are now three hours before I have to go to work. I know exactly what I’m going to do with them. A glorious nothing.

If you want to check out The Punching Preachers, here are a few links.
http://www.lemonrock.com/thepunchingpreachers
http://punchingpreachers.wix.com/punching-preachers
https://www.facebook.com/punching.preachers

 

Day 109

Sunday January 18

A handy start to the day today. I’m rehearsing with Omater for three hours from 10am. After working quite late last night and getting out of there about 2am, the rehearsal is about 10 minutes walk away from me on an industrial park in Kentish Town. Its in KT Studios which, I understand, has moved from Denmark Street due to redeveloping going on there. I’m also due in work at 1:30pm so I can do this rehearsal. I’m then due to finish work at 7pm which means I’ll be able to head on out to The Blues Kitchen for the jam there.

For today, Omater is bringing in a new drummer and a new guitarist. I won’t say too much about either of them right now apart from the fact that they both very much know what they’re doing and add a good vibe to the room. Omater’s got our schedule all sorted out. We all had to prepare five songs for today then it’s five songs next week then it’s hopefully start getting out playing live.

We work quite quickly and Omater is very impressed that everyone has turned up fully prepared. She picks a song, we play a recognisable version of it. There follows a discussion of dynamics and stops and all that kind of stuff and we go again. In between, there are some conversations between me and the drummer, then me and the guitarist all while the backing vocalists and Omater are sorting their things out. So when we go again, there is often a lot more meat to what we were doing before. Maybe a third play of a song and then move on. The only thing is the room is quite small so the bass often ends up being big, boomy and at times quite muddy. So, for the purposes of today, I whack the bass right down and the treble right up. This makes me feel a little naked on parts of songs where everyone stops and the bass continues but that just means I have to concentrate on playing super cleanly.

The whole rehearsal has a really positive vibe and the work gets done with no fuss whatsoever. The songs are up tempo, clear structurally and at times maybe even simplified. It will be interesting to see where that leads.

Afterwards, I stay behind after everyone has gone and Omater asks if something’s wrong. “Not wrong, so much,” I say, “But I have to tell you that yesterday I joined a semi professional regularly gigging band.” I’ve not been particularly looking forward to telling her this but there’s only a positive reaction. “Mark, you’re going to be a working musician,” she says totally matter of factly. “That’s generally the kind of person I deal with anyway. It’s just a case of getting dates to match and that’s what I work from. But it is good that you’ve come and been completely up front about it. I’m happy for you. ” Oh. So that’s that sorted then.

I should also say here that the reaction in work to what happened yesterday was brilliant and so it continues today when I go in again. I end up working until 7:30 and then I pick up the bass again and go out to get the bus to Camden for my second Blues Kitchen jam.