Long Way Down
I started the band I currently play "seriously" with in 1997. I had been playing music more or less professionally since 1991 both as a side man and front man, but this band was going to be different. I had, for the first time, really worked on the songs I was writing with an ear to hooks and melodies and considered the batch I had come up with to be light years beyond anything I had written before. I had, for the first time, a really solid idea of what I wanted the band to sound like. Finally, I had, for the first time, a group of players who I liked, who were competent, and who professed dedication to making the band work. It was with a lot of excitement that we debuted in spring of 1998 - everything seemed to be heading in the right direction.
As I write this I am the only founding member left. The band has been through five lead guitarists, three bass players and four drummers. Every time the band has attained some forward momentum someone has developed a crippling drug addiction, alcohol problem, mental illness, or case of ennui. I spent three years catastrophically ill, in and out of hospitals and undergoing multiple surgeries. Short of somebody dying my band has had about the worst luck imaginable considering the amount of work put in over the last eight years.
At this point I'm keeping this band going through sheer obstinancy - shaking my fist at God, so to speak. Right now we are on an upswing - we have a record in the can produced by a well respected producer, we're getting offered good shows, getting a little airplay, and interest seems to be waxing again. Cue the inevitable personnel problem. By the time I post again we may be working in yet another new member.
I started this blog as an outlet to the frustrations I find inherent in this kind of life, and in the hopes that I'm not alone. Future posts will detail events from the mind-numbingly mundane to the unbelievably absurd from my band's past and present and will be much more entertaining than this one.
I find this life unshakeably addictive in spite of the unending stress and sorrow it presents, far in excess of the fun and satisfaction it provides. Here's hoping that, via documentation and the feedback of likeminded others, I can get to the reason why.
Yours -
MiseryCreek
As I write this I am the only founding member left. The band has been through five lead guitarists, three bass players and four drummers. Every time the band has attained some forward momentum someone has developed a crippling drug addiction, alcohol problem, mental illness, or case of ennui. I spent three years catastrophically ill, in and out of hospitals and undergoing multiple surgeries. Short of somebody dying my band has had about the worst luck imaginable considering the amount of work put in over the last eight years.
At this point I'm keeping this band going through sheer obstinancy - shaking my fist at God, so to speak. Right now we are on an upswing - we have a record in the can produced by a well respected producer, we're getting offered good shows, getting a little airplay, and interest seems to be waxing again. Cue the inevitable personnel problem. By the time I post again we may be working in yet another new member.
I started this blog as an outlet to the frustrations I find inherent in this kind of life, and in the hopes that I'm not alone. Future posts will detail events from the mind-numbingly mundane to the unbelievably absurd from my band's past and present and will be much more entertaining than this one.
I find this life unshakeably addictive in spite of the unending stress and sorrow it presents, far in excess of the fun and satisfaction it provides. Here's hoping that, via documentation and the feedback of likeminded others, I can get to the reason why.
Yours -
MiseryCreek
posted by MiseryCreek at 11:27 AM
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