Counterfeit Digits, Vol. 1

Counterfeit Digits!

We played numerous shows, pleased crowds of friends/family and fans alike, had our own T-shirts, two recorded EP’s, about 15 original songs, a couple shots at the big time, and it all began in a tiny college apartment with a friend’s guitar, our two voices, and my cousin playing drum beats on a Little Caesar’s pizza box.

During college at BYU in Provo, UT, I met my good friend Matt. Matt really enjoyed playing the guitar and he was/still is, much better at it than I. I was much more confident in my ability to sing. So, we figured out that between the two of us, we could play and sing a few rock n’ roll songs and woo the lady-folk with a fair amount of success. We did this for a little while and eventually we heard about a sort of music club on campus called Footlights. It was spearheaded by a kind gentleman named Paul as a way to give local musicians a breakthrough into the bustling local music scene.

Matt and I wanted to try out for the club and see if anything would come of it. We had both recently worked on our first original song together while watching an NBA game featuring Dallas Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki. It had a mellow, almost melancholy tune with verses supplied by Matt, and I came in with a higher arching chorus. We named the song “European Man” and everyone we played it for seemed to really enjoy it.

We knew that we needed to recruit a rhythm section to complete our little ensemble, and maybe even some other instruments/musicians. Luckily, my cousin Tommy had only recently returned home from a church mission to Portugal, and he just so happened to play the drums. Tommy and I had always nonchalantly mused about how cool it would be to start a band someday, but now we had the prospect of it actually becoming a reality!

Our first time playing together, we had nothing but a Little Caesar’s pizza box for Tommy to drum out a beat. Eventually he brought a Djembe which provided a nice smooth rhythm to accompany Matt and I. Matt also had a hometown friend named Miranda who played the piano. We thought that a keyboard would be great to fill in our rough edges, and we sold Miranda on the idea. Though she never did get to sing in our band (😉), she really did round out our sound and bring a whole new dimension that we wouldn’t have had without her.

So, we practiced up and took our mob orchestra up the hill to campus to try out on a sunny summer afternoon. We introduced ourselves and performed in front of Paul and a couple of other students from the club in a large classroom/auditorium. I remember feeling nervous, but we played confidently and felt good about our effort! Afterwards, the four of us went back to the apartment and debated about what the future might hold.

To be continued....!