MUR
Metallica
Ever since listening to a track by one of my favourite bands, Metallica, I was in awe of this band. From binge watching all of their documentaries, most of their interviews and live performances, my love for this band reached its fever pitch when I got to see them, LIVE!
With my best buddies, we reached the venue at 7am for the concert, which was scheduled to start by 8pm. Call me crazy, but I would still do the same thing if they were to come again. There was tiredness from standing in the long queues that did not seem to end and waiting for over 12 hours on our feet without moving around because we thought we’d lose our spot. But finally, we watched them come on stage and over 30,000 people sang along to their songs and it made this whole experience worthwhile. That day I wondered how it would feel to play on such a stage…
Needless to say, they were also my inspiration to learn an instrument. During the course of my continued learning, I finally fulfilled my aspiration of forming and playing in a band. The journey since has and continues to be one filled with learning and experiences, which I cherish and apply in my life as well.
- Patience: Forming a band is a time consuming process. Not only did we need to find good musicians, but musicians whose schedules did not clash. Of course, the process would again have to start from scratch when some members of the band had to leave for whatever reason. Having patience while going through the grind is very important.
- Diversity: Since Metallica was a major influence in my music journey, most if not, all of my compositions were of the hard rock/metal genre. Not to say anything is wrong with that, but listening to other genres and music from all over the world, my music knowledge had broadened and so have the compositions. It’s important to listen and pay attention to everything happening around us and thus appreciate
- New Ideas: Our band started out as a three-piece group mainly looking to play acoustic shows. As we heard more songs and how the different instruments played a part in these songs, we brought in more instruments (and people). As a band composing original music, more often than not we had a certain way other instruments would sound in our heads. So when our bass player came in, he came in with a completely new idea and rhythm that is now predominant in the music we write. Always experience new ideas.
- Saying No: Over the course of this journey, we have had many lineup changes. Changes because the person did not seem the right fit, or because of time. In the first case, we often did not communicate this at the right time. Which meant both parties lost – we were not satisfied and also the person could have tried out for other bands had we been open about it. Communicating in the moment when it’s not working out instead of waiting it out is crucial.
- Experience is the biggest teacher: We went from playing our first show as a bunch of super excited and nervous musicians to now being comfortable on stage. Experience is always to be cherished and learned from. Using experiences from other aspects of our lives also helped us to reach this stage. In my case, working as a facilitator has immensely helped in improving my stage presence.
Like the well-known saying, the journey has definitely taught me a lot more than the destination. All along the way, the most important factor has and always will be – building relationships. Because of this, I have not only been able to form a band, but I’ve made some very good friends.
