Saturday, March 7, 2009

Rip your heart out of heaven....

Devilock is no more. It's been that way for some time now. 


And I miss it.

Didn't ever think I'd miss it. Certainly not towards the end. The monotony of playing the same 2 1/2 minutes songs (usually in just over a minute) for 2 years got tiring. Not sure how professional artists can do it. Maybe it's the thousands of more dollars a year they make off of touring than I did. Who knows.

Devilock was a Misfits tribute band I played drums for with 2 of my really good friends, and the ever changing guitarist. Kinda like Spinal Tap, only the drummer wasn't the one dying off, and we didn't get trapped in any space pods.

One thing I miss the most was the loyal fans who came out to our shows. Seems to me, like many things in life, you either loved the Misfits or didn't. And we had everyone who loved the Misfits there and it was amazing. Our biggest crowd was a hundred people at best but it's such an overwhelming feeling when you hear the people you're playing for singing back to you. It's moments like those that I wish I could play in a venue the size of Madison Square Garden or Luxembourg, just to hear the feedback.

I had never listened to the Misfits once before agreeing to be in the band. I just needed to venue in my life that provided some fun. And Devilock was my outlet. My knowledge of the Misfits consisted of The Ataris cover of "Astro Zombies" (still my favorite Misfits song to this day) on their Live In Chicago album. No idea who Michael Graves, Jerry Only, or even *gasp* Glenn Danzig was. Now, I laugh at teenagers wearing Misfits shirts they bought at Hot Topic because I know they're wearing the band name, not their heart on their sleeve. Or so I suppose.

Now I'm in an 80's tribute band (ot just 80's heavy metal, but a large dose of it to be certain). We've chosen the name HOTFLASH. We had some others that didn't seem to fit ("Wizard Sleeve" was a personal favorite, but those who got the joke thought it might be too much. "Fake Tits" was our name for one show, but we soon learned that not all bars would be willing to put that name on the marquee.) I'm enjoying it. But progression is going very slowly. I feel like I'm on drugs, for the past 4 months. We progressed very fast at first. Busted out about 15 songs in a little over a month. Then the holidays came, and practices no longer occurred. Now we're back down to 7 songs, at best. I enjoy the band, but not the stress of regressing. Hopefully things will pick up soon, before I have a change of heart. (Wasn't that a TV show? "Change of Heart"? I dunno.)

Alas, I love playing the drums. It's a great way to let loose and burn calories without coming close to a gym. But more importantly, it lets me be creative. I've always considered myself a quiet person in general, but nothing excites me more than getting on stage in front of people to create some musical enjoyment.

Hopefully HOTFLASH will work out. I know there's a "Flash in the pan" joke somewhere, but I'm going to let that one go.

Billy Idol put it best. When it comes to performing for people, I want "More More More!"