Knight Times music writer Ian Doll’s band, Fisto, was recently selected to perform a Feb. 16 show at The Venue 42 in Lebanon. The band is one of the opening acts for the Sacramento-based, electronic post-hardcore band, Jamie’s Elsewhere (pictured above), which is currently on a national tour.
What is it like for a high school musician to prepare for the spotlight? Doll gives us a glimpse, in a piece he calls:
Journal of a Madman: Part 2
I am writing this journal to show all of the stress it takes to be in, run, book for, and perform in a band for close to a month before a big show. I’m going to start on January 3, which is when I got the call for an opening spot for someone that’s on a national tour.
January 19
I’m still having a hard time getting everything ready. Not too much that is new to report though.
January 20
Just started scheduling our first practice as a band and we have just started to schedule our first practice before the gig and none too soon. Thinking about pulling in some more outside help.
January 23
We just got dealt a huge blow before the show. One of our guitarists wants to quit because he is lacking in confidence. I have decided that instead of the heavy metal set I wanted to do, we will be playing a set that is comprised of primarily punk music.
January 24
I’m still researching what we are going to end up playing but it seems like its going to be a mix of Anti-flag, Blink 182, and Green Day.
January 25
I’ve finally gotten all the music that we are going to do for the set. You will just have to attend the show in order to find out what we are playing.
January 26
We have our first practice tomorrow, so hyped to finally get everything officially underway. Alex and I have enlisted the help of our buddy, Geoff Amburgey, to help us be ready in time for the show.
January 27
I am writing this now as we have just gotten done with our first practice and everything seems to be going just fine. During this practice we had gotten down our opening song and some of the songs we are going to play after the opener. Geoff helped us get our timing down and is turning out to be a great contribution to our development as a band.
January 30
No new update as of so far. I’m just trying to set another practice date and people's schedules are starting to mess up our practice schedules.
January 31
I’m still trying to get stuff done. More updates to come later
February 1
We are continuing to work on things, we will have everything down by the time of the show!
So far nothing new has happened with my my band, the moment that something happens I will be sure to update the public.
PART ONE: (PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED)
January 3
I got the call that the Venue 42 wants FISTO to play during a national tour. While I had no idea who the bands themselves were at first, I took some time to look them up and they are fantastically amazing. They are Jamie’s Elsewhere, Icon For Hire, and These Hearts.
January 4
We were going to have our first practice today. I hope everything will work out as planned. Im making the flier that we are going to plant around the school, and even with the problems, they are turning out pretty well.
January 4
Why did I have to hope everything will turn out as planned? I found out today that unfortunately I had to deal with our drummer quitting. Sage is trying to find someone as soon as possible and it will be a little bit until I can find someone.
January 5
Well we got a new drummer today. Just have to try to iron out all the little details now.
January 6
I got permission from Mr. Corradini to start hanging flyers yesterday and now I have to figure out who is seeking out my flyers and tearing them down.
January 9
I had an extremely eventful weekend. I had practice scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday and nobody showed up and now I still have to deal with whoever is tearing down my fliers as well as how in the world we are going to be ready for a show in February if we can’t even practice once.
January 10
I found out who is tearing down the fliers today but I couldn’t believe it at first. Its somebody whom I thought was my best friend here, and he just goes and is trying to ruin my chances of selling all forty tickets! God all I can do is put more up and hope that if I put up enough then he will just stop.
January 11
There is just so much going on in my life that I can’t even deal with right now. 1. I had to end up cancelling another practice because the drummer didn’t have a ride and 2. Now we have to find a new drummer. I’m lost and the only way to ease the stress is to try to lose myself in my music and writing.
January 12
It feels like my entire world is crashing around me and if I didn’t have such fantastic friends I really don’t have any idea what I would do, and quite frankly I have no idea what I'm doing right now. That’s all for this log, I’ll come back on Tuesday.
January 17
I distinctly remember have a bad weekend. I got frustrated over all the trouble the band has been having; I’m really surprised that I haven’t cracked under all the pressure seeing as I have to deal with all of this, as well as sell 40 tickets. After all this pain and frustration I am finally getting everything back on track; we got ourselves a new drummer and are once again working out all the details. I have a good feeling about this. We are going to rock that show!
January 18
Dealing with all this stress is just a total nightmare. How the bands that are on major labels do it is beyond me. Even though it is still a month before the show, we have yet to have a practice, we still have to sell tickets, and work out all the kinks that keep appearing with band member changes. But I think that we now finally have our band lineup set; two guitarists, two bassists, a singer and a drummer. Hopefully everything will turn out just fine.
Stay tuned for more updates on Doll’s experience in the spotlight. The show is Feb. 16.
|
