My crazy Saturday

I wear a few hats in the music industry. Mainly, I play bass guitar for a rock band and i handle content and partnerships for www.odysseylive.net. Last saturday, the 14th of March there were a few things that were scheduled that i had to take care of. www.splintr.com had booked my band, Blue Jean Junkies to be part of their Splintr Sessions wherein the band goes into a professional studio and is videotaped and recorded live while we played a few songs. Our calltime was 11am and we got there a little bit late. It didn't matter because though it was still early in the morning, there were delays already and the band before us had just gotten started. I had guessed that we wouldn't actually begin til about 1pm or so but it no longer mattered, we were there and it wasn't like i could lay back in bed for another 2 hours, right? So we just sort of hung out, got a bit stoned, and tried to relax while enjoying ourselves at the same time. Finally it was our turn. We got plugged in and set up and waited for the crew, both video and audio teams to get themselves together while warming up our fingers while finding that perfect sound for the recording. It didn't take too long and finally everyone was ready. We did the first song twice because we weren't exactly happy with the first take and carried on with the rest of our tracks. Though we weren't exactly happy with some of the other recordings, we sadly had to carry on due to the time constraint of the entire operation. In the end i spoke to the engineer and asked if i could come back when he mixes us so that i could do a couple of adjustments in an effort to sound better and cleaner in the final product. After doing 4 songs it was over and we were asked to hang around for the interview. That went by fairly swiftly and as soon as it was done i was out the door and on my way to visit my son, who had been waiting for me since about 1:30pm. I know, bad father, its not right to be late...but i did call him and he knew i'd be late. Nevertheless, i felt bad, which is why i rushed over.

My afternoon with my Son was good fun! We ate a feast and enjoyed some video games. We watched some tv as well and eventually went up to his room to play around and mess about as we always do. I was secretly happy that it wasn't one of my visits where were sword fighting or playing football for hours because i knew i was tired from the night before, my lack of sleep, my early morning start, the time spent at Splintr.com, plus i knew that i had a long night ahead of me. Nonetheless, the not being able to lie down or nap for even 20 minutes eventually got to me and i started slowing down. My son noticed this and so we sort of chilled out a bit as well by getting fake tattoo's onto our hands and arms and though that was another half hour on my feet, it was ok since i wasn't moving around much and we were pretty much just playing with some water.

By 830pm i had to split. I'd (figuratively) put on yet another hat and prepared myself for the Als Bar Gig that i'd set up and entitled "Riot"! Not only was i the head organizer for the gig but my band was also playing the event. The stress of not too many people being there was not good for me. Which by the way is an odd thing because you can ask any of my friends, im a fan of empty bars and good music! To me, it gives the people who are there a chance to really listen to the music and spend a more intimate time with their friends, but as an OdysseyLive.Net event, the emptiness caused the stress as opposed to the other way around.

Anyway, first band got started at 11, yup i know that's late, but i didn't want them playing to an empty bar so i waited for some more people to get there. Problems came and went as the night progressed. Some bands couldn't make it at their call time, another band had to cancel their set when their singer lost his voice, and my biggest problem...everyone wanted to play "Next", regardless of who was onstage. That problem actually isn't so much a problem but sometimes it does make me think that they just wanna be over and done with, and i dont blame them for that being in a band myself. But as an organizer, it does kind of hassle you. I mean, why would you plan out who goes first second and so on if in the end everyone is just gonna request being next?

But all in all it was good. I had fun and i guess the people that were there had fun too. I saw smiles on people's faces so i reckon thats a good thing right? Im sure the "cigarette" breaks some had on the balcony participated in that said fun too! When it was all over, it was late. Too late for me to follow to my really good friends farewell party, he left for new york the next morning and i didn't get to see him anymore. And too late for me to even eat, though i was starving! I'd even made an attempt to get a bite to eat by saying that yes i'd join the rest of them who were all hungry but while parked outside of sinangag express before getting out of my car, i'd just realized that fuck this man im tired and live so far and just wanna go home!!! So i did!

The last part of this mad story is that after driving myself from sucat to greenhills, i'd discovered that the elevator of my building was fucking broken and i live on the top floor! So, with a big bag of clothes from the night before and everything i needed that day, and my big and heavy bass guitar, i walked up 12 floors up the fire escape and finally into my apartment. By the time i got to my room, it was 530am and i was dripping sweat! I couldn't even be bothered to take a shower man, i just undressed everything and plopped down on my bed and passed out in an instant!

That's how crazy my saturday was!