My history of live performances are a series of short-lived sporadic events with various people,so that being said-it's nothing worth writing a book about.
My first experience was in the latter part of high school in the the late 80's in a band competition,but my initial performance in the "battle of the bands" contest was just myself playing a Led Zeppelin song on my keyboard.
Since it was my first public performance,my nerves were so rattled,that I was trembling almost too much for me to play effectively.
The next time around in this contest was a group of friends of mine & since we all played keys-our entire performance was all done with keyboards,but our performance was shot to s**t when one of our vocalists was unable to keep time,key or a reasonable distance from the mic,so the whole performance was null in void.
Beyond high school & throughout the 90's I did nothing but sing karaoke here & there & aside from that,I attempted to form & band & also audition for a couple of bands,but nothing panned out.
Then in the new millennium,I began trying my hand playing at a local coffee house,which was comprised of me & my Korg 01/W Pro X & a friend who played guitar...that went pretty well for the most part,but every now & then I would forget a lyrical line & because I was such a perfectionist-if I screwed up,I would stop & want to start over from the beginning-which was an embarrassment to my friend,as he always wanted to try & salvage the glitch & move on through the song.
I understood his reasoning & embarrassment over the ordeal,but we were playing a very small-time gig that we were not getting paid for & he became so disgusted & pissed off at me over it,that it ultimately ended that whole arrangement.
I have always primarily been a studio based musician-as I preferred it that way,& my friend was a seasoned live performer with much more experience,so we just ended up clashing together harshly.
It's entirely too difficult to form a band & I feel for the most part,that if you don't establish a friendship firsthand with someone-than the band thing is not likely to work out-as I see it.
A couple of close friends of mine that I've known for several years with whom I got along with very well musically-as we had alot in common-were ideal candidates for forming a band,but they neither had the discipline,nor the dedication & continuity to work & collaborate on a day-to-day,regular basis and neither of them could ever match & conform to my passion for creating music.
Ironically,they were the only two people that I had ever known that I had felt so passionate about collaborating with & yet,they both lacked the passion to commit themselves & take root into the idea of forming a band.
Since then I've been far too involved in keyboard workstation recording to care about going that route anymore.
Jan Hammer,Hans Zimmer & Howard Jones are all my keyboard idols & I fantasize about living their lifestyles & I've often thought about doing commercial jingles,as well as film & tv scores.
I am however,reasonably content with just being a hobbyist.
