i was fired from my first band. i guess i was about 18 years old at that time, medyo late bloomer sa pagtutugtog. harap-harapan, maganda naman daw ang palo ko, even if i myself admitted that i sucked. i had to hear it the monday after from a good friend of mine na ang sama daw ng palo ko at naghahanap na sila ng replacement drummer...
before that, my first exposure was playing drums with some neighbors sa town fiesta namin. mga 16 ako at that time, tapos pumalo ako sa "laklak" and a juan dela cruz song, either "beep beep" or "balong malalim". one time big time yung band na yan, tapos guest drummer lang ako...didn't sound that bad compared to my first actual band that i described above. but anyway...
i was a ripe old 21 when i finally graduated from weekend after-school bandmember to gig-playing bandmember, playing at clubs and private parties. somehow we always played our best gigs when no one was recording us...nakasanayan kasi naming magdala ng pocket recorder para i-record ang mga gigs, and sometimes practices. we had our share of epic fail, drunk and/or stoned gigs...but the one that stands out is the private party where i stepped up to the mike and sang a very off-key, very drunk, and sexually explicit version of "it might be you" by stephen bishop...although mabuti na lang at tumigil ako sa first verse.
that, too is preserved on cassette tape, although i can't find my copy of the event, just like almost all my other cassette tapes...