Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Counterfeit Digits, Vol. 3


Performing in front of a crowd was the absolute best. The thrill is indescribable, the joy that I had on stage was euphoric, and being able to sing my heart out and be hoarse by the end of the night for the enjoyment of friends and fans was just ever so satisfying. I had my own little quirks on stage as well. I usually liked to wear some kind of jacket over a t-shirt, or a button-up shirt and tie. I had fun with a jean jacket I bought to wear for shows, and a black one that I no longer have. But my favorite by far (and I still have this one!) is the tan leather sport coat that my own father wore for his engagement photos with my mom. Classic, haha. And still in great condition! I played many shows in that jacket. 

I also preferred to use a straight die-cast mic stand with a round base that I bought while on a band excursion to Guitar Center one afternoon. It’s one of my favorite things/mementos from our time playing together, and yes, I still have it as well. I also loved to dance on stage. It was funny, and perhaps awkward at times, but everyone I talked to seemed to love it, haha! Whether they loved it because they thought it was good, or the fact that it just gave them a good laugh (most likely the latter), I didn’t care. The fact that people enjoyed it made me keep doing it. Besides, when you don’t have an instrument in your hand most of the time, you gotta do something, right??? 😊


It has been my experience that many people tend to think that putting together a band and becoming decently good musicians doesn’t take a whole lot of effort. I can tell you that is certainly not the case. Especially if you want to be good at it. One of those summers together we all decided that we wanted to stay in Provo mostly to be able to work on our band. I remember going to work in the morning, maybe going to the pool in the afternoon for fun, and then going to band practice for at least two hours literally every. single. day. Except Sundays. We worked very hard because we really did want to give it our best shot.


And it really did pay off. We had a ton of friends and family who were all very, very supportive of us. I can’t thank them all enough for helping us to do what we did. We really could not have done all the fun things we did as a band without everyone’s support!! We always had a great turn out at shows, people loved our Counterfeit Digits shirts, bought our EP’s off iTunes, and heck, we even had some friends who were a couple whose “song” was one of our songs!! (they did end up marrying each other and it’s still just crazy to me that one of our songs could be a song for someone’s relationship) Never thought that would happen!


Oh yeah! So, we were fortunate enough to make enough money to be able to record two EP’s. They were about five or six songs each, and we found a great studio to help us fulfill our dreams. Dave Zimmerman of Noisebox Studios was so cool, so kind, so friendly, and had the best input and recommendations for recording our songs. I can’t say enough about how awesome he was. I’m pretty sure that was in the early days of him opening his studio in his home, but even then, he was great at what he did! The tracks sounded superb and we were, and still are, so happy with the way that they turned out. And I have to say that singing into a recording mic in a booth was so surreal. I am so thankful for that simple opportunity. It was truly a highlight and one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life.

More to come...!

No comments: