NEVER assume!

YES, that's right...NEVER assume! I did, and I quickly realized that indeed I can't predict the future reactions brought on by a future action. What I'm specifically referring to is the music I've written and then recorded...ok, now it's time to explain!

As some may know, I've been playing drums since I was fifteen. And most people don't know that I write songs too. I didn't know I could until one day about 10 years ago, I picked up a guitar, learned a few chords, wrote down a few thoughts on a piece of paper and with a bit of patience, I put them together and PRESTO! I couldn't believe my ears...I had written a damn song!!! I always assumed I was a drummer ONLY. While in Moncton, I wrote about a dozen songs within a 6 year span, some came naturally, some took a whole lot of work. I even recorded the drum tracks for some of these before moving to Ontario in 2007. When I moved to Toronto in September of '08 on the other hand, I wrote 15 songs in less than a month! Change was upon me; I was alone in this huge city with a personal goal and a whack load of inspiration. The first week in Toronto was when I had the most inspiration. All I had in the apartment was an air mattress, a book bag and a guitar. What was I to do between meals and job hunting?? WRITE SONGS! So I did. And they ALL came naturally this time. Things settled and time progressed...

After a few months of chaos, I started revising my goals: starting a pro career in music playing drums...but wait a minute, I just wrote fifteen meaningful songs from the heart, shouldn't I be sharing those with other people? Would other people enjoy them as much as I do? I assumed they probably wouldn't. But there was just one problem...my voice. I couldn't project what I head in my head and I didn't have the proper technique, which could take years to master! I'm the kind of person who believes that if you're gonna do something, you're going to do it right! I'm a DRUMMER, I have years of experience, so that's my forte, I'm the time keeper. Playing drums and singing is a difficult feat that few dare to attempt. I find that singers sound way better when they concentrate on JUST that...singing! So, my goal has now changed (or had been modified): I was going to start a pro career playing drums...to my songs! Now the question was: where do I begin?

It took about 4 months, but it was worth the wait, I had recorded some of my songs well enough to showcase them online (besides, I had a wonderful human being by my side kicking my ass every step of the way, she helped me realize it sounded good when I assumed it would all suck in the end). The first and most crucial step was to put them online and find that "diamond in the ruff" to sing them. This brings us to about 2 weeks ago. I put my songs on Myspace and started posting ads on classified sites. While doing so, I kept assuming that no one would respond as the vocal quality may be substandard or the songs would just plainly be dismissed. To my amazement, I started getting replies peppered with compliments...people actually wanted to sing this stuff!

I'm now in the process of auditioning singers, who would of thought! I came here assuming I would only be expressing myself behind a drumset, but ended up finding the courage and inspiration to form a group. NEVER assume!

myspace.com/theweirdthewonderful

~m~