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Mucha na Dziko · 06-14-2021, 11:17 AM

14/06/21 A Quartet is Born

Yesterday's rehearsal brought some fundamental changes to our band.
The first being that we're currently (finally) a quartet, and not a trio, as it was for the last couple of months.
The second one is that our setlist changed quite considerably (we're dropping two songs out of it).
And the third is that Szelest might become a full time vocalist and drop the guitar for most of the gig.

1&3

The newest member is Jędras, and as I've said before he came to our attention by being the roommate of Szelest's girlfriend. Szelest met him at their apartment, learned that he plays guitar, likes a lot of blues stuff, they jammed, etc.

As I'm a rather (very) introverted person, I was being quite stressed out by the fact that I'm supposed to meet this guy ON the day of the rehearsal, as there would be no time for any sort of knowin-each-other/bonding other than playing really, so I might end up ****ing this up, by being unkind or not-very-welcoming. But it all turned out all right, he seemed cool, and wasn't imposing his presence upon everybody, so the social part went well. We didn't talk much, but the impression he left was pretty great.

The jamming was awful.

For the first hour and a half.

I guess it was because of the new blood in the studio, we had to work out among ourselves how to approach this new playing style, in a band that was rather a hermetic one up to that point. What certainly didn't help was that instead of doing a warmup jam to get to know how Jędras plays when he's free of structural constraints, we went straight to rehearsing songs.

So we played and played, and although it wasn't really that awful, it didn't have any of the energy, power, atmosphere as it should.

Anyway, we took a break, Kilijanek and Szelest nearly broke up the band (I'm getting kinda tired of being the mediator between these two), but after half an hour we went back to playing, but this time we took a different approach.

I was playing bass and Kilijanek drums, nothing changed here, but Szelest gave up the guitar duties to Jędras alone. So our squad became one of a power trio and a vocalist (with the singer occasionally submitting some keyboard licks here and there). And this work out just perfect. Jędras free of playing just rhythm or just lead started to really shine, and his guitar work on Chocolate Man and Ja Padam was a work off pure genius. I really like his playing style, it's like exactly somewhere between Szelest's and Kilijanek's in their prime. It's good to have someone (apart from myself) n the band who thinks at least a bt about theory and actual composition.
The reason for which Szelest was singing only (and not playing) was not only because of an agreement, but also because we (me & him) wrote some more lyrics for the songs he's singing, so it became a bit more tricky to play and sing them at the same time (they're long and in polish, so I don't have the energy right now to translate them and type

2

As for the changes in the setlist, it's that we dropped The Pencil Problem and Punky Jam 1 (which we renamed "I'd dance pogo").

Punky Jam got dropped because it's mostly (like the title implies) a jam, with no real structure, and there's no time to work it out, so that it would become a real song.
The Pencil Problem got dropped because of it's complexity (

), as the different rhythms and tempos were too hard for Kilijanek to master n such a short notice, and playing the song on bass and singing at the same time was tricky for me to say the least. Also, for whatever reason Szelest is unable to play the chorus part right (those are his chords god dammit!).
Anyway, it's a shame, but there'll be plenty of time to work on the track later on (it's great).

Also, what was another big improvement was the new arrangement for Mada!, before this jam we were playing it with guitar, bass, drums and vocals only, but now with Szelest free of his guitar duties played keyboards on the whole track, and to my ears it finally started sounding right. Like there was something missing before. Now the song has a bit less of it's jazzy mood, and has more of a ethno/exotic rock'n'roll feel to it.

stay tuned

06-14-2021, 11:17 AM	#9 (permalink)
Mucha na Dziko Go ahead, Mr. Wendal Join Date: May 2021 Location: Paris, France Posts: 1,023	14/06/21 A Quartet is Born Yesterday's rehearsal brought some fundamental changes to our band. The first being that we're currently (finally) a quartet, and not a trio, as it was for the last couple of months. The second one is that our setlist changed quite considerably (we're dropping two songs out of it). And the third is that Szelest might become a full time vocalist and drop the guitar for most of the gig. 1&3 The newest member is Jędras, and as I've said before he came to our attention by being the roommate of Szelest's girlfriend. Szelest met him at their apartment, learned that he plays guitar, likes a lot of blues stuff, they jammed, etc. As I'm a rather (very) introverted person, I was being quite stressed out by the fact that I'm supposed to meet this guy ON the day of the rehearsal, as there would be no time for any sort of knowin-each-other/bonding other than playing really, so I might end up ***ing this up, by being unkind or not-very-welcoming. But it all turned out all right, he seemed cool, and wasn't imposing his presence upon everybody, so the social part went well. We didn't talk much, but the impression he left was pretty great. The jamming was awful. For the first hour and a half. I guess it was because of the new blood in the studio, we had to work out among ourselves how to approach this new playing style, in a band that was rather a hermetic one up to that point. What certainly didn't help was that instead of doing a warmup jam to get to know how Jędras plays when he's free of structural constraints, we went straight to rehearsing songs. So we played and played, and although it wasn't really that awful, it didn't have any of the energy, power, atmosphere as it should. Anyway, we took a break, Kilijanek and Szelest nearly broke up the band (I'm getting kinda tired of being the mediator between these two), but after half an hour we went back to playing, but this time we took a different approach. I was playing bass and Kilijanek drums, nothing changed here, but Szelest gave up the guitar duties to Jędras alone. So our squad became one of a power trio and a vocalist (with the singer occasionally submitting some keyboard licks here and there). And this work out just perfect. Jędras free of playing just rhythm or just lead started to really shine, and his guitar work on Chocolate Man* and Ja Padam was a work off pure genius. I really like his playing style, it's like exactly somewhere between Szelest's and Kilijanek's in their prime. It's good to have someone (apart from myself) n the band who thinks at least a bt about theory and actual composition. The reason for which Szelest was singing only (and not playing) was not only because of an agreement, but also because we (me & him) wrote some more lyrics for the songs he's singing, so it became a bit more tricky to play and sing them at the same time (they're long and in polish, so I don't have the energy right now to translate them and type 2 As for the changes in the setlist, it's that we dropped The Pencil Problem and Punky Jam 1 (which we renamed "I'd dance pogo"). Punky Jam got dropped because it's mostly (like the title implies) a jam, with no real structure, and there's no time to work it out, so that it would become a real song. The Pencil Problem got dropped because of it's complexity (), as the different rhythms and tempos were too hard for Kilijanek to master n such a short notice, and playing the song on bass and singing at the same time was tricky for me to say the least. Also, for whatever reason Szelest is unable to play the chorus part right (those are his chords god dammit!). Anyway, it's a shame, but there'll be plenty of time to work on the track later on (it's great). Also, what was another big improvement was the new arrangement for Mada!, before this jam we were playing it with guitar, bass, drums and vocals only, but now with Szelest free of his guitar duties played keyboards on the whole track, and to my ears it finally started sounding right. Like there was something missing before. Now the song has a bit less of it's jazzy mood, and has more of a ethno/exotic rock'n'roll feel to it. stay tuned Last edited by Mucha na Dziko; 09-08-2021 at 05:15 PM.