I got my first guitar when I was about 14 or 15. At the time I was living in London, UK, and didn't have that close of a social circle. I didn't really go out, and I got quite focused on learning to play guitar.
At the time there wasn't an internet, and the bulk of how I learned was from various US-based guitar magazines that would come out every month. They would feature little tutorials and complete transcriptions to songs — songs that often I would never had heard before (again, no internet). It was an interesting way to learn.
In my hyperfocused learning, I would pull out the good bits of each magazine, and add them to a binder. I would transcribe my own versions from shitty cassette tapes. This binder grew quite large.
Recently we've been packing things up, and relentlessly downsizing stuff. But what can I possibly do with this? This was my bible when I was 16. Nobody else could possibly find it useful these days.
So yesterday the band and I had a great opportunity to shoot a music video with a local film production company. The director donated his time, a local company donated a bunch of beautiful 16mm film, and about 15 local crew worked for dirt for over twelve hours. We even had the thing catered, by the Russell Street BBQ. There were interns! Everyone was very professional and laid back at the same time, which was very cool. We had a bunch of kids show up to be our audience, and to be in little gags during the video.
Its off for processing and editing, and hopefully will be in our grubby little hands in about three weeks.
The sucky thing was on the way home, while we were stopped for a celebratory beer. Someone broke my rear window of my car and stole my bass amplifier, the same one I've been using for every single pirate show. There were people around who saw it “go down”, and were a great help with the report to the police. I'm spending this morning trying to track down the serial number to stop it going to pawn shops, but I'm skeptical I'll ever get it back.
It was a great amp, and its going to be missed. Things could have been worse. The bass I made myself was in the trunk, along with more equipment. The rest of the band's gear was in a van right in front of my car, and if it were dark or more secluded, they could have easily broken into that as well.
And hell, we'll have a fantastic-looking music video soon.
