Holy crap. Here's a story for those that're interested

Ok. A while back I'd been working with a band which crumbled while I was out on a business trip. Upon return I'd linked up with a guy and we'd been jamming. He'd then suggested I join one of his bands, so I did. And I was learning the material which I grew kind of lackadaisical with learning because it's funner to listen to than it is to play. It's far from basic, it's just that I don't care to really play the way he plays. I'm still working with him though, just not as frequently.

In the mean time another friend of mine and I decided to start our own little grindcore/doom metal hybrid band. A 2-man piece. We wrote a few songs and posted them on myspace and soon came into contact with some other dude in Cincinnati which is about 45 minutes from where we live. We came to be good online buddies and within a week of talking to him he suggested that we join ranks with him. Now the thing about his group was it was also 2 members. They programmed drums in fruity loops on a laptop and screamed over it. That was it. So we were basically adding guitars to the mix. Last week, about Wednesday he suggested we meet on the weekend since they were playing a show there and we'd get to hang out and see the performance at the same time. So we quickly agreed and yesterday we drove to Cincinnati to meet the both of them. He had also told us to bring our gear since we'd started writing material to go with the drums they already made and they wanted to hear it in person

So we were en route and we hit a traffic jam. The Cincinnati zoo was having a stupid light show or something and everyone had to get there. The kicker is we could've dodged it completely if we got off one exit later. After that we'd met the guys in near a Walgreens and on the walk back it'd turned out their car was towed. So after getting all that sorted out we went back to the one's place and did what we did. Soon after the entry fee to the place came up. I'm in a very tight financial situation and would like to avoid paying money if possible. So they brought up that we could get in for free if we played.

Now, having one song actually written that left about 20 minutes of room to fill. So they said "make it up there." To which we said "what?" Turns out the majority of the music that the others were playing was literally noise. They were all a bunch of noise artists so the less music like it sounded the better the reaction it'd probably get. So we figured **** it, we'll figure it out there.

So we showed up and saw the first performance. A guy with a drum machine playing nothing but static as he stood inside a small circle of people and screamed. Wasn't too sure what to think, at first.

Next up was probably the best performance of the night. A duo with a drum machine that played frantic grind. In the grand scheme of things it wouldn't amount to much, but in the then and there aspect they probably had the best quality music. I actually enjoyed some of their stuff.

Next group, whom we were borrowing the stacks from for our guitars, well. They were nice to talk to and cool for letting us use their gear. Can't say I was too into their music though.

Then it was us. Figuring that the energy we emitted would be what they were primarily concerned about rather than the quality of the music I deemed it fit to go ahead and start off with a helicopter headbang. Later on in the set, all songs which had no direction (not that it mattered much since I couldn't hear **** anyway), I'd noticed that since the set up was the way it was, there wasn't a single person around me or even noticing me (not that I found that to be a problem). The setup was the vocalists in the center of the room, then the other guitarist right next to them, then a drum kit from the last band, then me. Now bear in mind that this place was the epitome of a hole in the wall and the stage was just a space on the floor. So I looked around and saw some chairs within reach, grabbed one and sat down as I played and oddly enough the chair was a hit or something becaue people flocked to me afterwards. In that instance I did what any other guitarist who's making things up as they go to drum-based songs they'd heard for the first time just minutes before he went up on stage. I helicoptered my ass in that chair for the next song. After that was the last song which we actually had music written for (which we played poorly since pre-practice was minimal, not that anyone really noticed or cared) then we finished.

The last performance was the guy that booked most of the shows and pretty much ran things. His was a solely noise based event where he had mics and amps giving feedback as he screamed crap. He wasn't too happy since the owners of the place were closing down. And really, if you could've seen it, it's kind of a shame that it's happening. It's all noise, but it's what they've devoted themselves to.

In the end, it was a blast, but I do look forward to playing actual songs and actually rehearsing. The people apparantly loved the chair and we'd made a big hit among the mass of people there, which was something like 30-ish. 20 to 30. Nothing big. Just people that listen to noise. It's really kind of amazing the lengths that some of them have taken it to. As I've dedicated myself to honing my skills and taking them as far as I can, they've done exactly the same, but in the completely opposite direction. But the love for what they were doing is there all the same. Shame the place had to go under. They had a presence there. Also kind of funny. I never thought I'd get my start in music through the underground, local, noise scene.

One step at a time. :D

More or less, yeah. It was a blast though. If it came to it, I'd do the noise thing again, but I don't want to forget the actual music. Y'know. Seems kinda dumb to practice as much as I have been just to throw it all away.

Cool story! Keep it going!

Thats hilarius.....