Behind the Music: Stiletto Give Their Side of the Story (Part 2)

At this point, you've probably read about how we put together our own band as part of an experiment for our September Music Issue. You might also have caught Part One of the band's diary. We thought it was about time we brought the episode to a close with this, the second and final part of Stiletto's story. Fan, the band's lead guitarist, takes up the story.

After the initial get together that awkward night in the Red House when we thought we had finally managed to bring the band together, a couple of days passed before we got the ball rolling on coming up with a set list.

August 3, 2012
Me, Blades, and Otis had our first unofficial band rehearsal at Blades’ apartment. We came up with a very ambitious set list thinking that we had an hour for our set when in fact we only had 40 minutes including setting up. Sure enough, when Paul Ryding saw our set list, he told us it was way too long. To be honest, I was quite relieved since two weeks to prepare for a 13-track set list was going to be very demanding, especially considering the amount of guitar work required for some of the songs.

August 5, 2012
We had our first official band rehearsal at a studio in Beixinqiao. When the three of us (myself, Blades and Otis) arrived at the studio, the drummer was already there setting up. Our new drummer, Jon, was not only a great musician but also seemed like a cool guy, so I was more than happy to have him on board the "experiment". The bassist, on the other hand, was again nowhere to be seen. Paul was present at the rehearsal and told us the bassist would be arriving a little late after being caught up on a broken-down bus on the outskirts of the city. We decided to proceed with just the four of us. After about an hour of practicing, the bassist, Marco, finally arrived at the studio. We had sent him the set list so he could prepare beforehand, but he said he hadn’t been able to practice the songs yet. No big deal, I thought, since I had the bass tabs of the songs we were playing on my iPad. However, to my astonishment, I realized that our bassist didn’t know how to read tabs.

After the rehearsal was over, it was quite obvious that there was some work to be done. I quickly taught Marco how to read bass tabs and offered to help him out so he could get up to speed with the set list.

Later that night, Marco sent us an email saying he was quitting the band. I notified Paul immediately and decided to wait until the next day before we started our search for a new bassist.

August 6, 2012
As soon as I woke up I got an email from Paul asking the band if we knew a bass player who might be interested in joining the band. Exactly 12 minutes and 29 seconds later, I got the following email from Ryan Brown:

At first I thought this was someone who Paul or one of the guys in the band had asked to write me. In reality, it was just down to pure coincidence and absolutely perfect timing. If I was religious or superstitious, I would have been convinced this was the work of a higher force. I immediately replied to Ryan and asked him to call me, which he did and agreed to come to the rehearsals later that evening.

When we met up at rehearsal and Ryan started playing some bass lines to warm up, it was literally music to my ears. We now had a solid group of musicians for the project. However, there was still one more major change in the band that was soon to follow.

After our band rehearsal, we all decided to grab dinner together at a restaurant in Sanlitun Village. Otis wasn’t present at the dinner, which was an ominous sign of things to come. Those of us who were present at the dinner collectively decided to continue the project with just the four of us. Otis was out of the band and he didn’t even know it yet. I was very reluctant to be the bearer of bad news – the one who informed him of the decision – so luckily someone else decided to take up that responsibility.

August 7, 2012
No rehearsals were planned today, but in the evening I asked the band if anyone had informed Otis of our decision. Nobody had done it yet. Not wanting to drag the issue out any longer, I decided to give him a call and let him know. After all, I had known him the longest (just) and I was the one who had brought him in on the project. It seemed appropriate that I would be the one who informed him of the bad news, as much as I didn’t want to do it.

It was one of the most unpleasant things I'd ever had to do but it had to be done. Without going into too much detail, Otis was obviously not pleased and didn’t take the decision well. He told me he would meet up with the band at the V.A. Bar open mic (where we had scheduled our next practice) the following night and prove us wrong.

August 8, 2012
Luckily, cooler heads prevailed in the end and Otis sent me a text before the band’s rehearsal at V.A. Bar to say that he would not be coming.

However, no sooner was this ordeal over, than the next one was developing. I quickly realized that the band would be performing for the first time in its current lineup (just the four of us, with Blades taking over duties as lead vocalist) in front of an audience. On top of that, we had only nailed down one song from start to finish during rehearsals. I would be playing lead guitar for the songs "Seek and Destroy" and "Sweet Child O' Mine" in their entirety for the first time with the band in front of a crowd! Although in the end we did manage to put on a respectable performance (especially given the circumstances), I was very nervous and sweated profusely throughout the performance. I was pretty upset by the fact that I hadn’t been able to play the way I had during rehearsals. However, I knew it had been great preparation and that if we were able to play those songs at that level on our first try, then with a little more practice we would be ready to go by the time of the Showcase on the 19th.

August 10-14, 2012
Rehearsals, rehearsals, and more rehearsals! We practiced solidly throughout this period. We were beginning to get comfortable with each other and focused on refining our set list as we practiced continually.

August 15, 2012
A week on, the band returned to V.A. Bar's open mic night, this time with seven days of real practice under our belts. This time, not only was I much more comfortable performing my parts, but the band as a whole played as if we had been playing together for much longer than we actually had. The Wednesday before, I had been sweating profusely but this time I didn’t even break a sweat. Seeing members of the audience head-banging and enjoying our music felt absolutely amazing. The performance, though it was in front of a modest crowd, reminded me exactly of why I wanted to become a musician and why I enjoyed playing guitar so much.

August 16-17, 2012
Photo shoots, photo shoots, and more photo shoots for the Beijinger magazine. In one instance, we had to wake up at 5am to make a shoot!

August 19, 2012 - The big day
Not much could be said except that, to my surprise, I felt the most relaxed and calm before a show I’d ever been (especially after sweating bullets at that first V.A. Bar performance). I thought our performance went really well. But I think the best way to describe what happened at the gig would be in pictures and videos:

During our rendition of "Sweet Child O’ Mine," I was completely oblivious to the fact that Jon had lit his cymbals on fire. He'd planned this one on the quiet, and it wasn't something we'd discussed at rehearsal!

In the end, I can easily say that the month of August this year was the best of my life. Given that playing music is what makes me most happy, I had never had so much fun. Whether all four members of the final line-up would continue to play together remains to be seen.

Follow Fan on Weibo for more information regarding Stiletto and upcoming shows