Finally playing music again!

So far my life here in Bangalore has been everything I thought it would be and much, much more. I enjoy my job where I'm gaining incredible experience. I enjoy my social life as my social network continues to expand beyond the "IndiaIT" crew that has quickly become my very tightly knit immediate family.

Many would say that the life I’ve created here is much like the life I led back in Evanston. I obviously miss my friends in Evanston very much.

(On a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever missed home as much as I did late Saturday night when my parents called hysterically to inform me that Northwestern upset #14 ranked Wisconsin in Evanston! I quickly called up Dan Hess, who was pleasantly drunk and on his way to continue the debaucherous partying that ensues following an upset of this magnitude. Later that night one of my best friends, Tony, threw a huge party which I’m sure was made all the more absurd with the big victory. I almost cried I wanted to be there so badly.)

I digress.

So it would seem that all is well, that I’ve been able to fulfill all of my needs. But what did I really spend the majority of my time and energy doing at Northwestern? The FUNK!!! More specifically, CAPTAIN TEABAG!!! Probably the most prolific college band to ever come onto the scene, Teabag dominated Northwestern for my last two years on campus. No other band had ever brought together the sounds and influences of Wang Chung, Mark Morrison and polka music with such incredible energy. Here’s a great article:

Battle victors: Captain Teabag wins Dillo Day student band slot

More importantly, this band was about so much more than the music, it was about the lifestyle. My senior year was defined by endless hours of rehearsal with Jake Nissly and Pat Droppleman that often led to late nights of drinking, darts, heaters, music and late night hilarity at Jake’s apartment. This was often followed up by the LONG walk back to my apartment, or more conveniently, Jakes couch. Oh, Jake’s couch. What I would give...

This is one void that will never be bridged during my time here in Bangalore. Nothing could ever replace that inconceivable chemistry that occurred when you got Nissly, Patty McD, The Truth, JJ, JepsonTurn and I in the same room with instruments and a case of beer. BEEEP!!!

The absence of that experience has been sorely missed. Ask any of my crew here in Bangalore and they will tell you that I probably talk about my band at Northwestern beyond all else. These guys practically know Jake and Pat as if they had been at NU experiencing the insanity that was my junior/senior year. I even was able to procure a few tracks from our Dillo Day performance at Northwestern, and even though they are fairly mediocre (it was, after all, Dillo Day) it brought back some fantastic memories.

This weekend finally brought me closer to filling this huge space in my soul. I was connected with a few other musicians in the area and we were to spend a few hours jamming on Saturday evening. It was so refreshing! So far, we have a guitar player, Arul, and a bassist, Anindya. I wasn’t expecting much from these guys, I mostly didn’t want to get my hopes up. I know that I’ll never have the pleasure of playing with such talent as I had with Captain Teabag, but these guys really weren’t half bad! They’re both self-taught, so they have virtually no knowledge of musical theory whatsoever, but their ears are better than most I’ve experienced. We’re currently searching for a drummer, another guitar player and hopefully a vocalist.

We played through a couple blues tunes and then tried to learn a tune that Arul wrote. Seeing has he knows very little about theory, I had to make some edits so the tune would sound ok, but we eventually arrived at a good place. It sounds like it will be more of a hard rock sound than I’ve had before, but I’ll find a place to hang for sure. Something in the neighborhood of a Spin Doctors (think Hungry Hamed’s or Big Fat Funky Booty). Crazy, eh?

I guess there is a battle of the bands in Bangalore coming up in mid November, so if we can have a 4-5 song set by then, we might as well give it a shot. Just the chance to perform live again is enough to get me there!

So that is a major development in my life. I’ve felt much better since that night. The proof: I shot approximately 85% from beyond the 3-point arc during Sunday basketball.

That’s it for now. I’ll keep you updated. Because of the holidays this week, Dasara, I will not be at work on Wednesday, Thursday and I may be flying to Bombay on Friday, but I’ll update from an internet café at some point this week.

Peace it and release it. And remember, the world is getting skeetier, skeetier and beepier….