You're the Freakin' Bassist!

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