Rock and Roll Stories #45 - So what happens at a band rehearsal?

 Rehearsals? For most bands who do original material, this is how we spend most of our time. If you don't enjoy rehearsing, don't join an originals band. I've only ever fleetingly been in bands that played covers, mostly to help mates out, usually playing bass. When you are in a covers band, you get a list of songs. learn to play them, then go out and earn a load of money playing them. If you gig regularly, you almost never rehearse, except when you decide to freshen up the set, have a new member, have a big show and want to get it right or have had a break. 

For originals bands it's different. We are constantly writing new songs, trying out new ideas, swapping the set around, etc. I've no idea how many thousands of hours I've spent in my life rehearsing, but oddly I enjoy it just as much as I ever have. When the band first got together in 1979, it took us the best part of two years to get to the point where we felt ready to gig. This was for two reasons, the first was that we couldn't play and the second was the constant churn of musicians.  Our first gig was supposed to be in August 1979 supporting the UK Subs in Derby, but our drummer got thrown through a window in a violent assault and severed a tendon. We split up for three months and then it took another six months to get to the situation where we felt we were ready, with a new line up. All of that time, we rehearsed 2-3 times a week. 

When we eventually started gigging, we soon realised that songs that work well in rehearsal (ie in our heads) don't necessarily work well with an audience. It wasn't until 1982 and our tour of Sweden, that I that we were on top of the gigging thing. We got by on energy and attitude, but having strong songs and being tight is really the key to getting on. That comes from rehearsals and gigging regularly.  For me, it is important to keep writing new material, to make the set interesting, to constantly improve. This is done at rehearsals and its importance cannot be emphasised strongly enough. Over the course of time, I've learned that there are three distinct types of rehearsal. Sometimes, time constraints mean we have to combine them. I am not a fan of long rehearsals, although if we were ever asked to support the Rolling Stones or perform on Jools Holland, that is exactly what we'd do. 

So what are the three types of rehearsal? The first, the bedrock of getting an originals band together, is a song writing rehearsal. Our first year was pretty much doing this. Often, we'll play a few songs to warm up, have a cup of tea and then spend the rest of the rehearsal working on the new song(s). We may have a jam at the end to let off steam. These days, when we rehearse a new song, as the songwriter, I will give the band a set of lyrics and the basic chords and explain the arrangement as I see it. I am blessed with three creative band members, Tom Hammond on Trumpet, vocals and occasionally percussion, Fil Ross on Bass and Graham Ramsey on drums. We will have a discussion and then try and then play it through. All members give opinions, suggest changes and then we will play through it. Once we get it right, we will record it. In the early days, that was done on a portable mono cassette recorder. These days, we video it on a mobile phone. Often I will post short clips on Tik Tok and Youtube, so that we get some sort of feedback. This is what we were doing last night, with a new song called "We don't live in America". We also had to have a quick run through of the set, as we have a gig coming up.

The second type of rehearsal we have is a gig rehearsal. I've always worked on the theory that you should keep such rehearsals as short as possible. Just run through the set once, as you would at a gig and then come back to any issues you want to address. Play it as you would a gig, so do the intro banter as well. This is an important part of gigging so practicing it is actually important. 

The third type of rehearsal is for recording sessions. These will take songs and do a deep dive to ensure that we get it right when we play it. These days, as I have my own studio we do more work in the studio, but when we were time and cash limited, these were key. 

So, getting back to last night, what did we do. We scheduled to meet at 8,30pm. I arrived early, printed song in hand, set up, had a tea,etc. Graham and Fil turned up, then Tom. I spent five minutes explaining the concept of the song. I'd messaged Tom earlier in the week to give him a heads up. Tom then gave some excellent feedback. We started with the intro. It starts just with drums, then bass then Trumpet. My guitar comes in, then we break down into the a chorus. When an idea is solid, it generally comes together quickly. I've learned that if songs don't come together quickly, they probably won't work well live. We spent about an hour getting it to the point where it was worth recording. I set up the phone and we did it in one take. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty damn good IMHO. 

We then had a tea break. Graham and Fil had a cigarette, Tom and I got a tea. We then crashed through the set for the next gig. We were done by 10.45. We had a quick chat as we left and I was home by 11pm. 

This morning, I put a little clip of the intro together on Tik Tok. You might recognise the intro to the song. This is very much intended as a 'get the audience going' song for our live shows. 

@falsedotsrog We don’t live in America! The False Dots grooving out in rehearsal last night! #funk #jazz #ska #reggae #livemusic ♬ original sound - FalseDotsRog

For me, one of the best feelings in the world is conceiving an idea and then watching it come together. The proof of the pudding will be when we perform it live. Nothing makes me happier, at the age of 63 is to make the sort of music that would have excited me when I was sixteen. I suspect that the song will evolve. That his how things work with the False Dots. An example is the song "Electric Ballroom" which Tom sings. This song was originally conceived and played in its old format at our first gig in December 1980. We dropped it shortly after, but I've always had an itch to revisit it. I rewrote the lyrics (Pete Conway wrote the original draft) as I felt it was dated and didn't really mean anything anymore. We also made it a song that builds up over its three verses. Last night, was the best we've ever played it. It feels so good when you have that experience with a song. The feeling that you get when a song works, the band is totally on it and you feel it has been well and truly nailed.

At one point, Tom was enjoying Fil's bassplaying so much, he started videoing it mid song. Some feat as he was playing trumpet at the same time! When I started the band, I thought that by the time I was 63, I'd be smoking a pipe and sitting at home in my slippers. Nothing could be further from the truth. I couldn't be happier with that!