Meeting the band

Wishmaster is:

Philip Charbonneau: keyboard, vocals
Anissa Bélanger: vocals
Tony Batal: guitar
Daniel Tremblay: bass, guttural vocals
Alexis Serré: drums

Yesterday I was invited to a nice little happening that has to do with the Wishmaster show I'll be playing cymbals on this October. It was the media launch for the band's summer tour as well as the presentation of all the heads of departments for the October 20th gig. Present were a few local journalists and photographers, representants for the supporting acts (not really supporting acts, more like co-headliners), and representants for the dance troop and drumline (yay us!). Reps from the circus troop and Les Diplomates drum & bugle corps were also invited but Real Life did its ugly thing, but at least the drumline's director was able to cover a bit as he is also with the "Dips" as we call 'em here.

So basically it was a little party with Wishmaster presenting the new tunes on their set list, a miniature show in essence, followed by a small press conference and question period all done in a very easy-going manner. Following that I got to have a good chat with singer Anissa, and of course with drummer Alexis. The former was quite interesting despite the massive age gap (I'm 22 years her elder) because we have very similar musical tastes; I'll never get used to being called "Mr Gauthier" though! Do not let her young age fool you: this girl can SING! She doesn't try to imitate the Nightwish singers but her own voice works wonders. The drummer talk was also great because again our tastes match up not only musically, but also in drum set-up, a 7-piece DW placed almost exactly like my Mapex and also afflicted by cymbal addiction :) It's not every day that two drummers get together and talk Zappa and it happened yesterday as Alexis was taking down his kit.

But I had also an unexpected surprise waiting for me there. Apparently I made a good impression at the drumline's first practice because I was told by the director's wife that they felt sorry they couldn't put me on at least the bass line and that there wasn't time for a multi-tenor crash course. The fact that everybody from the bass line returned this year meant there was no room, and multi-tenors take a set of skills I have never practiced. But as I said before I don't mind all that and I'll have a great time. On the other hand, they told me that there is a spot open on the number three bass in the Dips. Mmmm... I may need to do some serious calendar juggling and possibly some hard discussions with my ex. Some practices fall on my parenting weekend, and only one in three practices is in the Montreal area. Not to mention the massive head-cramming I'd have to receive to catch up with the rest of the line. But even though I'm not sure if it's possible it was very uplifting to receive the invitation.

So the project is slowly starting to take shape. The venue is reserved, the people are booked, and work is under way. All we need now are actual drums and cymbals to play on :))

Drum Corps Metal for the kids and for the win!

o7