Hey S.I.Q. fans!
We have had a busy, but very rewarding weekend. Phil, James, and I hit the studio on Thursday to finish the leads, intro, and outtro for track 1. It was very productive, and we decided that James' solo in that song is probably the best on the album, at least in the way of technicality and difficulty. It is really shaping up to be one of my favorite songs that we have written so far.
Friday evening and Saturday morning hosted practices at Paul's, the last two before our show Saturday evening. We focused very hard on making sure that our chops and our newer music was very tight.
We got to the gig at about 8:00 PM. It was a private party, hosted by a friend of Ashton's step-dad, Jerry. The "stage" area was in the back yard, but we had plywood to set the guitar and bass stacks on and a home-made drum riser for the drums (thanks to Jerry and Ashton's brother Greyson!).
Now for my analyzation of the show itself.
We split our entire performance into four separate sets of about 20 to 25 minutes each. Mostly, this was done in an effort to make it last from 9:00 until 12:00, but it had the ulterior benefit of allowing us to warm up our hands between each set. It was cold! And we can hardly play with gloves on.
This was the first show I've done utilizing my new Mesa/Boogie bass head. It proved its worth in gold; it was powerful enough to keep up with the cranked guitar stacks and the mic-ed drums, and it still kept its tone. I was getting a really fantastic growl out of it, especially when I used my lower strings.
The crowd was definitely not a prog-crowd. Most of them (from what we could tell) were Country or Southern Rock fans. Fortunately for us, there was enough alcohol going around in the audience that we had them cheering without having to compromise our musical integrity. (Note to self: Progressive Metal takes intoxicated people on a wild ride.) However, this is not to say that we were not asked to play some Country music. One particular gentleman in a cowboy hat asked us before each set if we knew any "sweet home country music", and we politely told him that we are not a country band. In response, he would start singing country songs at us, as if to jog our memory. Keep in mind, many of the people at this party were not in control of all their faculties, so I doubt he knew what he was even saying to us. The only time when alcohol ever became a problem was when a few guys got behind the mic in the stage area and stumbled dangerously close to my pedalboard and amp. Just for good measure, I don't think I moved more than 15 feet away from my stuff for the rest of the night after that.
All things considered, we put on one heck of a show. Nothing diminished our energy nor disrupted the vibe that we were all getting. For that, I want to thank/congratulate my band brothers for that. Way to go guys! We received rave reviews, and I even had some people come up to me and compliment my playing, which I greatly appreciate. "You're the [freaking] bassist aren't you? Dude, you [freaking] rock, man."
The money that we were paid for the show is going straight toward studio time for the album. We are gonna knock it out!
I was going to write something philosophical here, but it is looking like it is going to be a late night for me, so I'll skip on that.
However, I am not going to close this entry without leaving you some music to listen to. Here, James found me this band recently, and I really like them.
Enjoy!
Cole Millward
S.I.Q. bassist
Monday, October 24, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Greetings from Beyond the Computer Screen!
Hey S.I.Q. fans!
We five in the S.I.Q. machine have all been so very busy over the past couple of months. Most of what we are doing, however, is a lot of the same stuff over and over to achieve our goal, which is why there hasn't been much for me to tell you. At this point, though, I have enough happenings to update you on to make this post very interesting, and hopefully exciting, for you.
First, an update on our album. We are still in the studio recording and mixing, working our collective butt off to produce the best possible product. We have already released two singles from the album to show you just how much progress we have made. The two singles are "Slightly Out of Breath," and a re-recorded version of "Stasis." "Stasis" is one of only two songs from our 2010 demo CD that will be making a reappearance on the album. Can anyone guess the second? Post which one you think in a comment. Also, take the time to go and listen to both singles. You can listen to them either on our info page on facebook or on our reverbnation page, both links of which are listed here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SIQ/270139033114?sk=info
http://www.reverbnation.com/sinq
Here is an updated list on the progress of each song in the album:
Track 1: Being recorded
Track 2: Released as a single
Track 3: Released as a single
Track 4: Waiting to be recorded
Track 5: Being recorded
Track 6: Waiting to be recorded
Track 7: Waiting to be recorded
Track 8: Waiting to be recorded
We will release the official track list (song titles) soon.
A few of us in the band have had gear upgrades since my last post. Phil now owns an OLP John Petrucci style guitar, which sounds terrific, and it even has him eyeing the real thing, the MusicMan John Petrucci guitars. As for me, I have finally achieved something I have wanted since I learned what good bass amps sound like: a Mesa/Boogie bass amp. The specific model is the Mesa/Boogie Basis M2000. It has two preamps (one tube, one solid-state) built into it, and both have a ridiculous amount of tone-shaping options to them. This works perfectly for me, being a "tone-monkey." I have sold my solid-state Peavey amp, but my Peavey 4x12 bass cab is still up for sale. I plan to purchase one more Mesa cab, then my Mesa stack will be complete.
For anyone who did not understand a single word of that whole paragraph, I have new stuff, and it makes me happy.
And now for some music sharing. I haven't been listening to a lot of new stuff lately, but since my last entry, Dream Theater released their new album, A Dramatic Turn of Events, so I am going to post my top songs off the album.
We five in the S.I.Q. machine have all been so very busy over the past couple of months. Most of what we are doing, however, is a lot of the same stuff over and over to achieve our goal, which is why there hasn't been much for me to tell you. At this point, though, I have enough happenings to update you on to make this post very interesting, and hopefully exciting, for you.
First, an update on our album. We are still in the studio recording and mixing, working our collective butt off to produce the best possible product. We have already released two singles from the album to show you just how much progress we have made. The two singles are "Slightly Out of Breath," and a re-recorded version of "Stasis." "Stasis" is one of only two songs from our 2010 demo CD that will be making a reappearance on the album. Can anyone guess the second? Post which one you think in a comment. Also, take the time to go and listen to both singles. You can listen to them either on our info page on facebook or on our reverbnation page, both links of which are listed here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SIQ/270139033114?sk=info
http://www.reverbnation.com/sinq
Here is an updated list on the progress of each song in the album:
Track 1: Being recorded
Track 2: Released as a single
Track 3: Released as a single
Track 4: Waiting to be recorded
Track 5: Being recorded
Track 6: Waiting to be recorded
Track 7: Waiting to be recorded
Track 8: Waiting to be recorded
We will release the official track list (song titles) soon.
A few of us in the band have had gear upgrades since my last post. Phil now owns an OLP John Petrucci style guitar, which sounds terrific, and it even has him eyeing the real thing, the MusicMan John Petrucci guitars. As for me, I have finally achieved something I have wanted since I learned what good bass amps sound like: a Mesa/Boogie bass amp. The specific model is the Mesa/Boogie Basis M2000. It has two preamps (one tube, one solid-state) built into it, and both have a ridiculous amount of tone-shaping options to them. This works perfectly for me, being a "tone-monkey." I have sold my solid-state Peavey amp, but my Peavey 4x12 bass cab is still up for sale. I plan to purchase one more Mesa cab, then my Mesa stack will be complete.
For anyone who did not understand a single word of that whole paragraph, I have new stuff, and it makes me happy.
And now for some music sharing. I haven't been listening to a lot of new stuff lately, but since my last entry, Dream Theater released their new album, A Dramatic Turn of Events, so I am going to post my top songs off the album.
Bridges in the Sky
Outcry
This is the Life
Breaking All Illusions
But really, the whole album is fantastic. I highly recommend it to everyone. Go buy it, and support an amazing band.
Everyone have a great evening. I hope to be writing with the same frequency as before. Be on the lookout!
Cole Millward
S.I.Q. bassist
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