Jamming with Other Musicians – New Song in the Works

Sounds for the Supermarket

A few weeks ago something unexpected happened. I was waiting in line at this organic grocery store in Belgrano. Once I finally made it in front of the line, “Ctrl Alt Delete” of Black Sea Storm started to play on the stereo system of the store. This is not the first time I hear my music play in public, but it is the first time I did not get too embarrassed by the situation. I think mainly because  the sound system at his place is of decent quality, and the bass frequencies tend to come out pretty nicely.

The afternoon manager Mati, had put a Black Sea Storm playlist together on his Apple Music account. Since a high percentage of the T-shirts I’ve been wearing lately have been recycled Black Sea Storm tees, he knew the name of my solo project from my previous visits to the store. It was a quite flattering situation to witness people hearing my songs while shopping. After I was done paying for my groceries, I even took a video of Black Sea Storm being played at the store. This is the closest I got to a situation where a proud father would take a video of his daughter or son at an elementary school showcase.

Jam Invite

A couple of days later I was at the store again. Mati was also working on that day. He came up to me while I was benchmarking two avocados against each other to determine the ripest one. He told me that he liked some of the Black Sea Storm songs. He followed by saying that him and his friend Bernie would be into jamming with me someday. I responded that I was always ready to jam with other musicians.  According to my personal social experience so far in Buenos Aires, I can dare to say that it’s pretty common to be invited to parties and barbecues that actually never happen. Or such invitations, never come with a date, an address, or a phone number. This is the reason why, although very flattered by the idea that Black Sea Storm songs could lead me to a real opportunity to play with other musicians, I was somehow convinced that an actual jam session will probably never happen. Well, I was wrong, and I am very happy to be wrong on this one.

One night I got home around 9:00PM, I had not taken my phone with me the entire day. As I took a look at the screensaver of the mobile device, I realized that I had several messages from Mati, saying that there was band practice at 10:00PM. I messaged him back saying that I was available to play. I packed up my bass and my electric guitar, and made it to the store to meet him at closing time. We later on took the subway to go to a practice space in the Congreso de Tacuman area, north of Belgrano to meet with Bernie.

I Am Playing Guitar

As I am writing this, Bernie, Mati, and I, have met three times already and our fourth jam session is scheduled for tonight. At each of our meetings the quality of our jams seems to be improving. Being able to play with other musicians after all these years of being in a one man band situation is a great feeling.

So far I’ve been playing the guitar and not the bass. Last time I played guitar in a band setting, I was in my late teen years. I have to admit that I was nicely surprised with my own performance for the fake guitar player that I am. For the past eight years or so, I’ve been regularly playing the guitar in order to put together songs for Black Sea Storm. My intention never was to become a guitar player, and play the guitar in a band. Obviously, I must have put enough effort into writing songs with the actual instrument that now I can naturally jam with others and make a positive contribution to the whole with a six string instrument.

Practice Place in Belgrano

For our jam sessions with Mati and Bernie we’ve been going to this hourly practice place called “Rosas Negras”. This is the first time I get to play in a practice space of this kind. It’s is very convenient in my current situation, since I don’t own an amp here in Buenos Aires. It feels a bit like going to a tennis club. You have to reserve your room, you see other bands coming in and out, people can actually order drinks etc… The place is equipped with good quality functioning gear, it’s overall very clean, and everyone working there seem to be really nice.

I am even thinking of recording some tracks for Black Sea Storm at a place like “Rosas Negras” in the future. To record an entire song, may end up being a bit too expensive for a single musician, but to rent a room for a couple of hours to record some key tracks with real amps may add something to the overall sound of my future songs. I also think that going to a practice space to record songs the way I used to do it in San Diego may revive old memories and this can actually be a positive stimulant for creativity.

Making Progress with a New Song.

Aside from the jam sessions with Mati and Bernie, I’ve been in the process of putting together a new song for Black Sea Storm. On this new song attempt, all instruments are now recorded, and I have started the premix process already. The song may actually be close to be done, since I don’t want to go all crazy with the mix and rather keep it close to the way things sound with the rough mix.

I’ve been working on this new song pretty intensely for the past week or so. For that reason I believe that the wise thing to do would be to let the song sit for a while and listen to it with fresh ears later on, before making the final mix decisions. Very often, I’ve made the mistake to jump into the mixing mastering process way too early, and not have enough distance with the freshly recorded song. It’s very difficult for me to keep myself from listening to a newly recorded song for several days to get it out of my system. I also often find myself at this stage of the process a bit too eager to release the song so I can move on and start working on the next one.

It took me quite some time to complete the backbone and structure of this song, but once the backbone was laid down, the rest came very naturally. I was able to record all tracks in a fairly short amount of time. I am excited to move forward with Black Sea Storm. This is going to be the third Black Sea Storm song recorded in Argentina.

Good Momentum

I am starting to feel more comfortable at all levels with my limited current situation for recording. I am truly grateful that I am still able to make music, and digitally release the songs I am able to come up with. Each release allows me to learn something new and update my creative vision. The whole process  isn’t only making me more experienced in producing music, but more importantly I feel like it is helping me grow as a person. Since creating music for Black Sea Storm is a bit like having awaken dreams, I have the sensation that once the songs are becoming reality, it is actually helping me to release tensions belonging to my past.

I can’t wait for this new song to be out and start working on the next one. I had such a long periods of time in the past where I had lost my creative momentum, that now that it’s finally here again, I truly appreciate it to its real value, and want to keep it with me as long as I can.