Too much, too good

Technically, the Day 10 entry is tomorrow but I really just wanted to stop my life and share some good great news with you all. First of all, my band, Eve of Sin finally played our debut show at DM Plus this past Saturday (16 Feb 2008). All I can say is, it's been 2 days and I'm still high and shaking from the performance. I'm not trying to toot my own horn but we did a killer job. All of us ended the gig and smiled with extreme delight and agreed, we did it. We finally did it. After so much hard work, late nights, talks, searches, effort and a heck of a lot of heart, we did it. This was truly a dream come true for all of us. Within a month's time the band went from a new vocalist to a new demo, a new website, a new logo, a new set up, a new mindset and a new future.

Enjoy this video before you continue.


So there you have it, on a flip side to my comedy, I'm a metalcore drummer and many people at the band show had seen my stand-up comedy so it was hilarious! People were calling out bits from my set while I was on stage, it was great fun and really a memorable experience. I'm happier that people were laughing and moshing on the same night, really both my passions combined into one. If you saw the video, you'll see how wild the crowd went that night. Almost everyone had never heard of us and the 5 - 10% that were our friends had only heard one of our demos so the rest was all a bunch of strangers letting loose and enjoying our music. The night had a lot of other bands as well but we stood out in our own way. Hey, no matter what it was, to have a crowd reaction like that on our debut performance is like having a road paved for you with a bright future ahead. I see great things for Eve of Sin so watch out for more gigs!

Eve of Sin, to me, is really an inspiring part of my life. It's seen me through a lot of things both good and bad and it's reminded me that when you know your passion and you stick to it, everything will work out the way you want. But it all starts off with a dream. Eve of Sin was a dream of mine. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it wasn't a dream of its other members, but I can't and shouldn't speak for them right now, so I'll talk about what I do know -- myself. I still remember days I used to stare at the big mirror in the bathroom and pretend I was a drummer by playing air-drums. I used to always say "wow, it'd be cool if I was a drummer" but never followed through not because I didn't want to, I just felt I wanted to be where I am today but without the wait of practice. It wasn't that I didn't want to practice, I didn't mind having to do that, but I wanted the results now! Kind of like paying by credit card in a way.

Eventually I did it, I realized my dream, and started playing drums. In the beginning it was overwhelming and tough especially when you're a beginner and you're surrounded by really good musicians, you always feel like you're lacking and it's very discouraging. But in many ways, I kept reminding myself of my place and after all, anyone who's good today, had to have been a beginner at some point as well! It's just a matter of time that I get to where the other skilled players are at. Today, I feel I still have a long road to go, but I can say I've reached a milestone in my drumming life that I once dreamed of. To also perform and be appreciated is another milestone and a dream at the same time! On Saturday night, I just let it flow, one thing I learnt from Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within was that I just had to let it go. I really did because after the show I couldn't remember what was going on on stage, I just let it flow naturally. And it worked out. It's a funny concept because you need to tell yourself to take all that hard practice and throw it all away and just perform. You need to have a certain level of confidence in yourself and your musical skills to be willing to let it flow happily. Like I said, I don't see myself as a top metal drummer (yet hehe) but I trust my skills enough to let it flow by itself. I know at the end of the day, the worst that could happen is I mess up, but I'd probably do the same if I didn't let go, so why not just sit back and enjoy.

In the book, it talks about stepping out of your body and becoming an audience to the music, I did that, all I can remember is enjoying the music and hearing it unfold. I don't remember playing it, but I did according to the videos :). So I just want to say, I talked about the theory behind effortless mastery in my blog entry back then but today I can tell you I experienced effortless mastery :). It's a great feeling but takes a lot of effort on your part before you can expect it to happen but like I've said before, just have the faith. You keep at it, all that effort cannot be wasted. Energy doesn't just disappear, it transforms into another form, the point is to make sure the form it transforms into is the form you want! Go for it and rock on!