When I went back home from that 1999 "president's club" trip from Maui, I bought myself one, because I wanted to be focused on some new passions that I could do more often than windsurfing (in Italy the right sailing conditions don't happen all that frequently).
It was like a need of putting more of my time into something I liked.
I took some lessons, did a little practice on my own, but never really found a band to play with. The passion faded and the bass got some dust...
During my second year in Maui, one day I was at a party and there was a couple (she sang and played rythm guitar and he played lead guitar) that provided some nice background entertainment music.
When they hit the notes of "Time is on my side", I thought:"hey, that would be fun to play on the bass!"
A few minutes later, during a break I introduced myself to them:
"Hi, thanks for the music, it was great! My name is Giampaolo and I am a bass player. Do you need one?"
"Sure, let's jam together next Friday at my place!"
The day after I went to Bounty music and bought myself a bass and an amplifier.
This one's for the ladies.
It was probably 2002 and since then, though through many interruptions and changes of schedule, I still play with Corinne and Tony.
At one point we had Pat playing drums with us, and that was great! But he had a very busy schedule and we lost him along the way.
Lately Steve (a keyboard player) joined our every other friday practice. And it looked like two Fridays ago it was going to be the first time ever that the five of us would get together and play.
The idea for the fourth example of "everything is possible" was to record Sympathy for the devil and show that I can now play its bass line, which was unthinkable of a few years ago. It's not that it's that difficult, but it's kinda fast and long, very long...
Unfortunately (well, I guess I should say fortunately, seen the circumstances!), that night Steve's grandson decided to come to check out this world, so our first rehearsal as a complete band didn't happened.
Now Tony is about to leave for a four months job in New Zealand and so that'll have to wait a bit longer.
The way Steve plays that lovely tune is so good that we decided not to play it without him. But I did some recordings anyway and here's a few classics for you guys.
Note: you'll notice that some have video and sound out of sync (specially the first one, but I don't have time to fix it), because I had to take the video from one camera (the GoPro) and the audio from the the other (the Sony), in order to have a acceptable combination.
Enjoy.
So what's the "everything is possible" in it?
Bloody hell, I'm playing tunes that I never even heard before (Tom Petty or the Greateful Dead weren't too much of a hit on italian radios when I was a teenager) with a band of guys that instead grew up with them!
Our average age might not be that young anymore, but our spirits sure are.
BTW, as I said Tony is leaving for four months and I wouldn't mind to jam on a regular basis with someone else. I would love to play some reggae tunes, for example. Anyone out there? The internet is a great way to meet musicians...
The other day, for example, Kai Katchadourian posted on his facebook that he and his band were going to play at Slim's in San Francisco.
I posted the comment:"need a bass player?"
He sent me a message:"Hi G you play bass thats awesome I have several potential projects and some may need a bass player so i'll let you know..."
I replied:"Kai, I play the bass the way I sail: like a kook!
I've seen you playing and you play drums the way you sail: like a pro!
That probably makes us not a good match.
Plus, I'm not quite into metal...
Said this, if the bass lines are not too difficult, I'd be STOKED to jam with you. That'll make a nice blog post for sure!
Talking about which, stay tuned on my blog. Very soon you'll have an idea of what kind of level we're talking about."
See? Maybe next year I'll be playing at Slim's in Kai's band...
Never know. Everything is possible.
PS. No one guessed chapter six yet...
11 comments:
Going to play bass with Steve Wilson?
Super cool! Love your posts, read them everyday. Wish you updated twice a day. :)
G...thanks,I'll let you know when there is a chance to get some jamming in.
Oh yeah when I was referring to the Kreator / Kataklysm @ Slims show that was a show I was attending not playing at. Great show too, big mosh pit.
Frank,
that would be cool but nope. One day I'll take him surfing though.
David,
if I get an i-phone, that'll be a serious threat.
Kai,
ops, misunderstood that...
I saw the Porcupine tree at Slim's and loved it.
Also saw a couple of nice turns of yours today.
Right, third time lucky - no little GPs, no first class ticket to Maui SO are you going to cut a record and make yourself as famous as the Beatles or Rolling Stones?
Anne
How about a banjo and conga player? I'll be there Saturday! Talk about kooks! HAHAHA!!!
Ely
"Fire on the Mountain" - great song and nice jammin!
You got your USA passport so now can live in Maui forever?
Chap 6, all the money from HP is now gone? Or all the investment from the money Of HP makes me the 101 billionnaire? ;-)
Gp has decided to run for Maui's Major due to his ongoing interest in politics and environment.
You're cutting you hair, getting a tattoo (& a Prince Albert for good measure) before finally living the dream and moving to Brazil?
you're going back to the corporate world, can't wait to wear that tie again. After all, "everything is possible." :-)
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