Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

Filed under: enanotangent

The Last Post

Hi. 

This blog is going to end pretty much as quickly as it began. I may continue blogging over at http://verfremdungseffekt.posterous.com - that's the band I'll be focussing on from here on in. 

Maybe one day I'll get to tell the full story of what's been happening over the last week. At the moment, sadly I can't, but I'm back playing with the people I really care about, playing music that moves me. And doing it without any interruptions from The Man. 

Rehearsal Blog, Day 6.

Hi all! sorry I've been quiet, rehearsals have been so intense I've not had time to blog! All is going really well, we're powering through the set, getting everything as tight as can be. 

The last couple of days have been more focussed work on specific tricky bits in songs. Finding the bits that each musician finds most tough and working it til they nail it. Laborious but the payoff is worth it. 

Today was a lighter day, we focused on the beginning of the set, playing the songs in order 'as live' - not with any stage stuff or choreography, just getting the songs slick. Slickness is very important in this kind of set-up. Not much room for spontaneity or improvising, but that's the way it works, I guess. Maybe that's just the way arena shows have to be. It's good discipline, that's for sure. If there weren't so many interruptions from outside the actual band, I think I could really get into the rehearsal process... Ah, enough about that.

Some of you who are fans of the band may be wondering how I, a lesser-known musician, ended up playing with eNaNoTangent. Well, the short answer is I knew one of the guys in the band. The long answer is, I went to music college with Barney - we used to share a house, practice together, went through a lot of music education together. We've stayed in touch all the way through, so when his arena-sized band needed an extra guitarist, he knew I was up to the job. I didn't need to audition, as such - Barney's word was good enough. The lesson in this for musicians is clearly to meet as many people as possible, and be prepared for any gig that comes along. Which means practice not partying. The partying happens once you're in the band! 

...but not during rehearsals, so I'm going to sign off and go to bed, ready for tomorrow - no time off on 'middle Sunday' for this band. Keep going... 

Rehearsal blog, day 3

Hey all! Thanks for reading thus far...

Rehearsals day 3 was where we started to really get into it. We took two of the most complicated songs and started to rework them. I'd learned the parts from the forthcoming CD (that's why I can't tell you the song-names, cos they haven't been announced yet!) but the band had learned them as a quartet, so we took some time to rejig the parts, work out the right combination of guitar sounds, then program the effects units and preamps for the quickest changes. I've got a great tech working with me on all that stuff, so it doesn't take as long as it might, but there's still a lot of programming to do! 

So we worked on the intros, the solos and the outro to those two songs - the parts I knew, but the arrangement was new. None of it was that tricky, but I had to concentrate! The other guys mostly picked it up pretty quickly. There's a fair amount of sitting around at rehearsals, so I spend as much time as I can making sure I've got everything down pat. There's no room for sluggishness on a gig like this! 

Well, I need to sleep before tomorrow - this rehearsal schedule is pretty intense, but I thought I'd point you to a band the bassist in eNaNoTangent pointed me to - called Hope And Social. Said he heard them in a gig in Stockwell - nice stuff! 

Rehearsals day 2

Hello to all my readers! 

The second day of rehearsals was a lot of fun! Still getting to know the crew. There are a LOT of people involved in getting a show like this together - techs, record company people, even a wardrobe mistress! It's a big machine, but a well-oiled machine that's for sure. The rest of the band just seem raring to go, to get out and play some shows. It's exciting. 

I'm really glad I did my homework - I've got the songs pretty much down as they are on the album, and there don't seem to be that many changes so far. 

We spent quite a while today working on getting sounds right. It's the kind of thing that you need to focus on on a tour like this. Professionalism means filling in that last 5% that would get missed on a smaller gig. Get the details right and make sure everyone who comes to the show has the gig of their life. 

The guys in the band are great - I'd met them all before, but only knew Barney well. The rest of them are making me feel really welcome, which is cool. 

However, it was a really long day and I need to get some sleep. I'll write more tomorrow. 

Til then, keep practicing those scales! Ha! 

cheers

Gem

My First Blog Post

Hi, I'm Gem. I play guitar, and I've just started rehearsals with eNaNoTangent. They're big news in Japan, and I'm joining them on rhythm guitar for their next tour. 

I also play in a band called Verfremdungseffekt - an awesome improv trio, who will be playing as a duo while I'm away, but who I'll be rejoining when this rock and roll jaunt is over. 

I'll try and tell you a bit about rehearsals as they go along. 

The first day was great - a bit of time getting set up and meeting everyone, then we started playing through songs. The band were set up in a circle - there's no actual stage-type playing til week 2 of rehearsals, then we do what's called a 'production rehearsal' with the lights and video and everything. It looks like it's going to be a pretty big production. 

Anyway, I'll keep you posted as I go along - feel free to comment on anything below, and ask questions if you like! 

Cheers, 

Gem