Ad Liberation

This is my new pick-up for my blue guitar. I think it's going to be pretty good. From what I hear, it's going to punch, crunch, grind and generally unleash hellish fury. I'm looking forward to getting it under my strings to feel it's verve and spank, and I'm going to give it some stick and see how it barks. Can't wait.

Last Wednesday I went to the rehearsal studio in Shimokitazawa with Nic, the Colombian drummer, and we had our regular Wednesday rehearsal. We have been rehearsing now for about three months (in our 10 to 1pm time slot) and every time we've met there the weather has been just splendid, adding to the pleasantness of our day. After meeting at the station and sometimes stopping by for an Egg McMuffin, we make our way to the studio and crank it up.

I have to say, playing in a band (even half a band) has always been one of the most enjoyable undertakings in my life. I just love shredding it up with other people. I have such fond memories of my former bands such as Sonic Minds (AKA: Sonic Boom), Tripping Blue (AKA: Blue Tipple), The Winged Avengers, Blood Red Sand, ACCA and Jay Soul Brothers. I recall proudly walking onstage in so many "unique" venues. Who could forget Friday night jazz in the entrance of the Village cinema Pizza Hut (we got paid in pizza). Or the drunk thug party out in Airport West (playing '60s pop to a bunch of metal-starved satanists). Not to mention the one that began it all - the ever-memorable show at K Mart Boronia (breaking a string in front of an audience that consisted of about three elderly women only to realise that they were only waiting for us to finish so they could get to the bargain tray directly behind the band).

Anyway, back to the purpose of this post: my bright idea. Everytime Nic and I rehearse at the studio, we start off with an impromtu jam of some sort - either he'll crank out a rhythm and I'll join in, or I'll start hammering on a riff and he'll back me up. This is pretty standard rehearsal warm-up for many people however, one thing we try to do is give the ad-libedness some structure by changing the riff every eight bars or so to create a basic song structure. We also add bridges and solo sections on the fly. Again, nothing really original but it gave me an interesting idea: some of the stuff we come up sounds really good first time played and so why not plan out eight or so basic song structures (different tempos and arrangements etc, but with a pre-determined key) and then perform live with no knowledge of what riffs, chords or melodies you are going to sing and play. Just get up on stage and make it all up as you go, using the pre-planned structure to determine how to start and how to finish and when to solo etc. Now, some might say that this is similar to what jazz musicians do all the time but this would be in a rock environment with defined riffs and progressions etc. It would be a totally unique musical experience! You and the audience would hear the music for the first time together and every time it would be new and different. It would be a constantly changing thing. It would flow with the universe in accordance with the laws of impermanence. It would be Ad Liberation!