Mat Rock Galore (Part 2)

Oh, I forgot about the band practice didnt I?

First, I got a message from one of our guitarists saying that the practice is on, but it could be later at night. Then, I message another guy to confirm and he said that it would be cancelled because our bassist and lead singer couldn’t make it. After dinner, I get a call saying that the practice is ON, and they’re leaving in 10 minutes. Talk about being fickle and keeping things up to the last minute.

In the end, I hopped into a van owned by the owner of the studio which was reeking of cigarette smoke. The ride to somewhere in the middle of nowhere was endured for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I was constantly sweating over the other ten for the return trip.

We got out of the mobile can of second hand smoke, and into the studio. Already there were about four other more senior Mat Rocks jamming away. Man, was it weird being the only Chinese around. Memories of my days at Indiana University flooded back. You want culture shock? You got it!

Yeah, so what was this nerdy, bespectacled chinaman doing around these “funky” Mat Rocks? “Errr….I’m just the drummer.”

So we spent about 5 hours in the studio somewhere in the middle of nowhere. And most of the time was spent tolerating the wailing, characteristic of any Mat Rock anthem. Oh, the wailing…..only rivaled by the high pitch screeching of female Hindustani singers. By the time the clock struck 1am, I was so bushed. I did a little workout at the gym earlier that day so my muscles were already twitching involuntarily. Plus, I had a really long day without an afternoon nap.

The interesting thing about that night was there was this guy called Riz (Rizal), who’s a member of a band from Milwaukee called Kickstand. He brought along a couple of samples of his albums and gave them to us. We even got them autographed. Yeah, one day when you become rich and famous, they’ll be worth something, Riz.

The trip back was a Déjà vu, and by the time I got home, I was a walking (more like stumbling) zombie. It’s a miracle that I managed to wake up for Sunday Service today.