I hope you all had an absolutely lovely and superfluous Thanksgiving Day!
This year I spentThanksgiving with my girlfriend Olivia and her family, since most of my family is off on a three week trip to England and then a transatlantic cruise (before you go judging them for leaving me behind, I couldn't go because of school). And it's completely all good too, because Olivia made some of the best stuffing I have ever tasted! I estimate that probably 50% of what I ate was that stuffing...
But hey, aside from Thanksgiving, there are a few other cool things that have happened lately (or will be happening soon) for me.
I played with Nate Randall's Bad Tuesday again at Pure Taqueria in downtown Matthews a couple Saturday evenings ago. It was a terrific time as always! Good friends always show up to enjoy food, drinks, and some recognizable music. For me, it is an outlet to practice playing in the pocket, really locking in with the drummer.
Also, do you remember Fall of Ashes? The band I praised in my previous blog entry? I have recently been forging a relationship with a few of their members, setting up jam sessions and hangage, that sort of thing. In particular, their guitarist Mikey Marrero and I have been working on a Dream Theater cover project since we are both such avid DT fans. We are currently working on two songs that we hope to video tape and post to Youtube. Keep on the lookout for that. Also, I was recently invited by Fall of Ashes' drummer, Fred Updegraft, to perform with him, his dad, and most of the rest of Fall of Ashes for both Sunday morning services at Morning Star Church in Fort Mill, South Carolina. It was a really great experience for me, though I haven't played praise and worship music in years. As a venue, the church was absolutely awesome. We all got to use in-ear monitors with our own custom mix, which made for a really enjoyable playing experience for me. It also gave me the chance to use my new pedalboard!
Indeed, I have once again made major changes to my pedalboard. Don't judge me. You know I have an addiction to new gear. And I'm not breaking the bank to do it, so it's all good. Anyways, here's what the new board looks like:
So here's the rundown from right to left (how signal chains run): Samson Series One UHF wireless system, which runs into my new Boss GT-100 effects processor (or sometimes, if I don't want to be wireless, it'll just be an instrument cable running into it), which then does its magic with my MXR Bass DI+ in its effects loop. It then goes from there into my brand new Markbass Super Booster and DI box. So it's basically a lot more simple to look at than the previous iterations of my pedalboard. Really, all the same complicated stuff (all that split signal chain mess that I explained in a previous entry) is going on, but inside the GT-100. Another beautiful thing about the processor is that I can use it to switch the channel on my Mesa Big Block 750 amplifier. Which is really freakin' cool.
I am certain another rundown video will follow, along with a tone demo video. Again, be on the lookout :)
Lastly, before I say goodnight and turn the computer off, I found out that Meshuggah will be coming to Charlotte on February 13th of next year, with Animals as Leaders supporting. You KNOW I will be at that show, no doubt about it. So, out of excitement, here are some of my favorite tunes by either band.
Meshuggah, "Dancers to a Discordant System"
Animals as Leaders, "Somnarium"
Have yourselves a good week! Metal on!
Cole Millward
S.I.Q. Bassist
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