Cole Goes to Hollywood parts 4, 5, and 18

Hey S.I.Q. fans!

   I returned home from California this past Tuesday, but I'll still fill you in on the second half of my trip.
   On Saturday, my uncle and I went to a Prince concert at the Forum. What a show! Chaka Khan was the opening act, and I was quite enthralled by her bass player. The guy was playing a 6 string and was tearing it up! Funk/ Soul may not be my personal style of music, but dang, I know a good bass player when I see one.
   When Prince took the stage, the whole place erupted. Everyone in the audience was singing along with the songs (I sang along to the four that I knew) and feeding back a really positive vibe. When the show "ended", he Prince was called back out for an encore (surprise, surprise), and upon finishing it, he was called back out again. He must have played at least 6 encores. Needless to say, by the time I walked out of there, I was exhausted from all that positive vibe!
   On Easter Sunday, I ate brunch with my uncle and several of his friends, including the friend that works for Warner Bros. He gave me some feedback on our demo, saying that we had a very distinct sound, especially with Ashton's voice.
   On Monday, I became a legal adult. Yes, I finally turned 18! I celebrated by going to Amoeba music (basically just a giant music warehouse) and getting two more Dream Theater live DVDs, then going to house of pies. I also visited the Guitar Center in Studio City, where I found the 5 string version of my dream bass guitar. Here is a picture, please ignore the wacky face that I am making in it.

   Getting to play that bass pretty much made my trip complete, just saying.
   I flew out of LA to Charlotte on Tuesday, as I said, and have been getting back to business since. I re-strung my 5 string and my 6 string and I'm ready for practice/writing/jamming this coming Saturday.
   Upcoming shows are in the works! Keep an eye out for info.

Cole Millward
S.I.Q. bassist

Cole Goes to Hollywood parts 1,2, and 3

Hey S.I.Q. fans!

   I am writing this from Los Angeles, California. This is my third day of my trip, and it is quickly turning into my best birthday present ever.
   But I'll start from the beginning.
   The flight here was...a flight. It was 5 hours of nothing special. It did give me a great opportunity to just listen to music however. I get very few chances to just sit down and listen to all the multiple facets and complexities of the music of my favorite bands. A few songs that I found myself particularly enjoying were "Sheltering Skies" by Threshold, "Nemesis" by Bad Salad, "Another Existence" by Age of Nemesis, and "Alien Kamikaze" by Pagan's Mind.
   When I landed (about 10:00 AM California time, 3:00 home time), my uncle picked me up and we went back to his house to relax for the rest of the day. Thus ended the first day.
   Day two was definitely a busy one. My uncle and I visited a friend of his who works for Warner Bros. studios. We got a tour of the lot (HIGHLY interesting by the way) and ate there as well. As we ate, I talked with my uncle's friend about S.I.Q. and our music, and (having the foresight to bring a few along with me) gave him one of our demos, which he said he might use as a temporary soundtrack mix for the screener of a movie he was working on the post production of. Very exciting, because if the director likes the music enough, big things could happen for us.
   Following our adventure at Warner Bros., my uncle and I drove to the Sam Ash music store in Cerritos, CA where the "Metal Masters" clinic was being held. I was excited about this in particular because Mike Portnoy, former drummer for Dream Theater, was one of the four artists hosting the clinic. His performance was excellent, and he also gave this speech, which I captured on video camera:

   After the performance was finished, I got the tremendous honor of meeting him at the signing table. He gave me a signed poster and also signed one of the S.I.Q. demos I had with me. Sadly, because the signing line was so fast, I was unable to give him a demo and explain myself. Nevertheless, I was immensely satisfied just to meet him.
   Today, day three of my birthday week in Los Angeles, was fantastic. I got to visit the Hollywood Guitar Center, which, while cool, was a little disappointing. It being Hollywood, I expected it to have a wider variety of instrument brands, but sadly it did not. Here is my analysis of the bass section on video:

   Shame, no ESPs.
   I took pictures of the rest of the store, including a whole section of John Petrucci signature Musicman guitars, but I do not have the proper cord to upload them from my camera. They will have to wait.
   Following Guitar Center, my uncle and I went to the Musician's Institute, the music college that Phil, James, and I all wish to attend when James and I graduate high school. I was given a tour of the facilities (which I have nothing but praises for) and got to talk with the director of admissions about some of the options that the school provides with regards to an advanced education in music. It's a very exciting prospect for S.I.Q.'s future, one that we will be exploring and discussing in depth.
   Even while I am here in California, back on the east coast my fellow members of S.I.Q. continue to work towards the solution to our drummer situation. They have auditioned a new possibility, and continue to jam with a drummer that we have been auditioning for close to 5 weeks now. We just want to make sure we find the right guy.
   Tomorrow will yield more experiences for me to share with you all. Keep an eye out!

Cole Millward
S.I.Q. bassist

Cole's Grand Adventure

Hey S.I.Q. fans!

   I have some exciting news! Mostly exciting for me, but it is also a very lucrative opportunity for S.I.Q. This Wednesday, in celebration of my 18th birthday (which is actually the following Monday, the 25th), I am flying to Los Angeles for a week. I have spent the past month setting up all sorts of great things to do. For example, on Thursday, the day after I arrive, I will be going to the Sam Ash music store in Cerritos to attend a clinic being done by my favorite Dream Theater ex-drummer, Mike Portnoy. He is one of my music idols, so I am particularly psyched about that! The following day, I will be touring the Musician's Institute, a music college in the middle of Hollywood that I (and other members of S.I.Q.) would like to attend. That same evening, I will be going with my uncle to see Prince live in concert. Further plans for the week include visiting the L.A. Guitar Center and touring the Roland offices. And, of course, I'll be coming back from this trip a legal adult. Can't be bad! And of course, I will be bringing along California's fair share of S.I.Q. demos!
   This past Friday I had the tremendous pleasure of attending my first prom. Which means I got to dust off my dancing skills that I rarely use. Heres a picture:

The lovely Samantha Harper and me

   At the last S.I.Q. practice, the drummer we have been trying out wowed us with an exceptionally powerful performance on Nightmare Lullaby. Have we found the right guy? Here's a question for you guys: what would you expect to see in a new S.I.Q. drummer? Comment on my post here on the blog site or as a facebook comment on the link.

   I'll send you a postcard from California!

Cole Millward

S.I.Q. bassist

A Third One?!?!?!?

Hey S.I.Q. fans!

   Just a little bit of news for you all this time. The drummer that we have been intensely auditioning and jamming with went on vacation this week, so for the first time in two months, we members of S.I.Q. sat down and had a writing session. We focused primarily on one song project: finishing Til Life Do Us Part. If you have been to one of our live shows then you have most likely heard the first two parts of this three-part epic. The first part is a more traditionally structured song, the second is an instrumental, and the third will be a complete surprise to you, and will definitely be on the first album.
   I'd just like to say that after all the shows and drummer issues we've had in the last few months, it was nice to be able to write something totally new.
   I have accomplished a great personal victory by learning to play John Myung's "Solar Groove" on my 6 string. I learned to play it a about a year ago on my four string (as I didn't have a 6 string at the time) and now I can play it the way it was meant to be played. Here is the video.

   And, if you're one of those people that like to compare covers to the real thing to determine accuracy, here's John Myung.

   It's definitely a very calm composition, but it was written for the purpose of showcasing various techniques of bassplaying, which is why John Myung is my idol.

      That's pretty much it for this entry. As always, keep a lookout for more S.I.Q. news. This is going to be a big year for us!

Cole Millward

S.I.Q. bassist

Society in Progress (or S.I.P. for short!)

Hey S.I.Q. fans!

   We apologize for backing off a bit on our Facebook posts and public announcements. Obviously we haven't had much going on, save for being short a drummer. However, it may not be for too much longer that we are drummer-less. We have auditioned a few fellows so far, and one in particular is excelling at everything we require of him. For the moment, he will remain unnamed (guess we're taking a leaf out of Dream Theater's book). We are still auditioning though, so if you have the skill and the interest, do not hesitate to contact us.
   Some good news for James Nelson, our guitarist, has come up. He is now giving lessons at Streetwise Music Instruction of Charlotte. I will also be applying to give lessons, so wish me luck.
   If you pay any attention to the little gadgets on the left hand side of my blog page, you'll have noticed that I have linked several videos that I have uploaded to Youtube. I have begun video logging some of the adventures that S.I.Q. has outside (and occasionally inside) practice. These are all candid videos filmed for the purpose of the entertainment of hardcore S.I.Q. fans. See? We care about you.
   Keep an eye out for upcoming announcements!

Cole Millward
S.I.Q. bassist