Yesterday night, my friend Vincent, who plays in the local japanese-rock band R.E.I., told me that his rhythm guitarist was MIA. Like totally disappeared from the face of the earth. And they are going to tour China on the 25th of Dec. So he asked me i wanted to play in his band, giving me the lead role while he plays rhythm.

And i'm like "WTF?"

Well, it's definitely an honour to be invited by someone, but er.. i doubt i'm that good enuff to wow the pants off the Chinese. And also, i'm not tt keen into make-up. Damn gross. Lastly, i have to get my degree first. Imagine the response from my Science Dean when i tell him "Sir, can i defer my studies for 1 year because i'm gonna be in Jrock band and tour China next yr?"

Yea it's really quite wtf.

But i guess i might seriously consider if their band is a pop/rock one. Metal maybe abit too technically challenging, jazz is totally no-go. And Jrock have to dress up! Fuck, y does opportunity come with such weird terms and conditions? Either ways, i'm not taking up the offer, gonna pass it to another Guan's bro maybe. Shrug.

One thing i can't really figure out is: What is this particular company really thinking? Signing a band tt's untested and inexperienced, playing a genre which isn't mainstream at all, coupled with the fact tt they dress up in gothic fashion complete with make-up? Give them a studio for them to jam for free, cut an album, send them to China for tour and hook up with major companies like Apple to release their own line of merchandise?

The funny thing is, nobody has ever heard of their band? Sounds too good to be true, but it's true. And i doubt the company is taking them for a ride. It seems serious. Shrug.

I can never comprehend the machinations of the music industry.

Some new/old music i'm listening:

Beat Crusaders - J indie punk rock. Damn solid catchy riffs. But with ENGRISH singing. Still good fun music^^

Black Sabbath - Old school "heavy metal". Iommi's the man for his "devil's note"

Celine Dion - Meh, i tot she was great, but seems that i prefer Mariah over her.

Enya - New age goodness. Great tracks to listen out for their instrumentation works.

Evanescene - Yea, their old songs are still good in my books. My Immortal is one of my favs.

Guthrie Govan - A solid guitarist who's also one of the tutors in Guitar Techniques magazine. He's like the fusion of alot of guitarists, lotsa different styles. Brilliant.

Jaga Jazzist - Jazz fusion band. Very nice, im digging jazz fusion lately.

Jeff Healey - Blind blues guitarist who plays the guitar on his lap. Shreds as fast as anyone u know, with a killer wide vibrato tt puts Malmy to shame.

Joe Bonamassa - New kid on the block in the blues scene. Good technique and feel for his solos, with a little jazzy touch to his playing.

Kylie Minogue - Killer sexy dance tracks. Shld play her music when ur getting it on. Kinky

Massive Attack - Electronic music? Something different from the usual rock n roll. Good stuff, i like the way they drone on and on but with little variations each time.

Porcupine Tree - Recently got hold of some of this good stuff. I dun really know how to classify the music, but it sounds rock and prog-ish, yet alternative sometimes. But it's very interesting music, though there's a tendency to use the "Prog chord" all too often. Prog chord = power chord + 5th as the bass note.

Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Latin acoustic duo with good seriously good chops. And the female player gives rhythm guitar a wicked twist. Catch one of their vids to understand y

Spyro Gyra - Another jazz fusion band. Solid stuff.

Stratovarius - Power metal with Jordan Rudess (or issit Derek Sherindan?) Either ways, the keys shred way more than the guitar :D

Tower of Power - Jazz funk horn-based band. Very very funky grooves. And horns!

Lately i realised that i'm beginning to move away from listening just for the guitar and listening out more for the entire instrumentation of music. Which i find is extremely interesting and challenging. Interesting because of the interaction between the various sounds, and challenging because it's already damn hard to write 1 guitar part. Can u imagine writing for 10 instruments, each playing something different. U have to think of which instrument plays counterpoint, which plays harmony, which just covers the rhythm aspect, and last of all, where to let each instrument stop playing and BREATHE! Tricky tricky.

Ok here ends today's episode. It has effectively killed 1 hour of my time, which is good. ^^