Making the band
Awhile back Noah surprised me with a bass guitar, and I determined to embrace my new, edgier self. Let me refresh your memory:
Since this photo was snapped, I've taken several moves toward becoming proficient at Rocking At Bass Guitar, including losing 9.5 pounds and getting my nose pierced. Earlier this week I began yet another crucial step: Learning how to play.
Although I read all the time, and was once a professional reader, I learn best by seeing and hearing. So in the interest of education and tutelage, Noah bought Guitar Pro 6. Although he cleverly cloaked his selfish motivations in "wanting to help," I'll give him bonus points for deviousness: He chose my favorite Coldplay song to demonstrate the awesomeness of the program. I can now play (a simplified version of) the verse bass line of "Fix You," and the chorus is approaching fast.
The next logical step is to come up with a track list for our band's first album.
I'm only half joking; I recently listed 28 things I want to do before I turn 28, and #5 is "Actually get our band together and perform at least once." Our band currently consists of two guitarists (Noah and his younger brother), a bassist (me), and a drummer (my brother, who doesn't yet have a drum kit). So anyway, back to the track list. We were discussing the issue recently, when Kyle gave us an interesting peice of news:
Kyle: My friend's band just put their first album on iTunes.
Me: Cool!
Noah: Can just anybody put their album on iTunes?
Kyle: ... ... yeah.
Me: Well that means we can too!
Noah: How much would we charge?
Kyle: Five bucks.
Noah: Would people actually pay $5 for our album?
Kyle: We don't have any songs.
Me: We have a Coldplay cover.
Kyle: That's true.
Me: Put it this way: They can either buy 12 actual Coldplay songs for $10, or 12 mediocre covers of Coldplay songs for $5. It's a bargain.
I expect a representative from Wake Forest's MBA program to be calling any day now to ask if I'll do a guest lecture on marketing strategy. I might be able to fit it in between gigs.