Until the Asteroid! (or, how to make a band in two weeks)

We took the bus back to Guangzhou. Called Owen. He and Leeyann met us at their favorite little noodle shop, just down the street from their place. We ate noodles and went back to the apartment, where there was an intense yet lackadaisical conversation about the possibility of starting a short-term band. Finally we all agreed to try a real practice the next day.
We spent the morning and some of the afternoon of that next day listening to tons of songs and trying to decide what we could pull out of our asses. Jay and Leeyann made a wonderful Cantonese hot-pot lunch for us. I had trouble with my chopsticks. After lunch we headed off to the nearest practice space (something like 40 yuan an hour) to see what we had. Surprisingly, we had something. The owner of the music store/ practice space came in and wanted to take a video of us. (I feebly protested from behind the kit, "but it's our first practice...") That night we spent HOURS trying to come up with a band name. We asked his housemates. We looked online. We got really silly and laughed and laughed. Eventually, not that night but maybe a day or so later, we settled on "Until Asteroid", which was then changed to "Until the Asteroid". 12-21-2012, people! We gonna put the word in the streets!

Side Note: Here's how they do it in China (as far as I can tell): Bands don't go out and get their own gigs, most of the time. They are contacted by "agents", who are these supremely strange creatures who act as, well, agents. They talk to the venue, and then call up whatever band is on their roster that seems like the best fit for the show. Even if your agent gets you a confirmed gig, it can still get canceled at the last minute if another agent underbids yours. There are a lot of these agent types. And quite often, they want you to rearrange your lineup or completely change your style, at the last minute, because the client wants it that way. There's no real understanding of what a band is, or how it works. When we were there, the agents were constantly pestering us to "have the girl sing". They also were constantly asking if we were "all white". I guess having a band of white foreign devils is better than a band of locals, prestige-wise. Owen calls them Monkey-Shows, and he's right. But if you can keep your head straight and not get your soul crushed too much, you can make money as a White Monkey.

Shit, that's what we should have called the band!

So after that first hopeful day, we had a solid week of heavy practice. Owen was constantly taking band photos of us, wherever we happened to be, to put online. We fussed a lot the first few days trying to get a video made - all the agents wanted to see a video of us playing live. We finally got some footage at the 0765 club in Shunde, where after a long day of practice we just waltzed into this bar and asked if we could play for a while. Members of another group that Owen plays with were also there, and after a while we started playing as a Supergroup, which was a lot of fun. There wasn't a soul in the bar except for us and the soundguy, and the bartender. We didn't give a shit. We got our video.
There were a few gigs being tossed around, but we couldn't seem to get them confirmed - in the meantime we were practicing ourselves stupid. At the end of the first week we had 20 songs. We played another bar in Guangzhou by just walking in and asking if we could. The owner liked us and asked us back. Whee!
We had our first real corporate show on Christmas Day. We played 6 songs, I think. It was an outdoor party for a condo place - with the model home and all. We were given the basement level of the model home to use as dressing rooms, actually, which turned nerve-racking when we discovered that none of the three beautiful bathrooms had DOORS. The show was absolute bullshit - there were, aside from us, some Russian dancing girls in Vegas outfits, and several lottery drawings. We had to play a song, and then get off the stage. Wait. Play a song, get off the stage...wait some more. I was playing an absolutely terrible electronic drumset that the agent (although he had told us repeatedly that there would be drums there) almost didn't get in time. The kick and hi-hat misfired constantly. After about the first 30 seconds, I realized that it was funny and ceased to be upset. We made about 200 bucks apiece on that one. It doesn't sound like much, but it's a hell of a help for us right now.
We eased up the second week - we were all tired and getting snippy. Owen's housemates were definitely not super-psyched that we were STILL sleeping on their living-room floor. We had another impromptu show at a different bar, after a long practice - the best one yet. That was the one we got a ride home in a Mercedes after.
We had a New Year's gig booked in Shunde. We ended up borrowing a real kit for this one - which was much nicer than the e-kit - and it was a pretty good show. It was at this swanky little wine bar on a river, very yuppie. I think we played - or were supposed to play - eight songs. Owen's friend Brandy, a singer from his other band, was singing with us that night. (She saved my ass - I was going to have to sing and it was going to be a shitshow.) We were doing all right, feeling like old timers, playing pretty well. We were just up to the guitar solo in Miss You when - the power went out, on the whole street. After some whispering and shuffling, we did an acoustic drum/ a-capella version of We Will Rock You, which they fucking LOVED, then abandoned the stage. At this point we may have had a few too many botgles of wine. The power came back on a little before midnight, and they did the countdown, and we actually played again, rather poorly as I recall, and I felt bad for Owen, who does not drink. We had all the drunken businessmen dancing on the catwalk by the time we finished, however. It was great fun. Afterwards, Brandy and Leeyann dragged me out on the town dancing. Which was also fun.
So two days later, we were on a plane to Chengdu, and Owen was on a plane to Australia. After some discussion, Jon and I decided to return to Guangzhou after Owen's holiday and try and make some more money, PLAYING MUSIC. We're going to rent a shitty apartment and give it our best shot.