Most people tend to remember firsts - their first love, their first kiss, their first drink, maybe even their first speeding ticket. Musicians remember firsts, too, and they become memories that are, in time, even better than the actual events themselves. The Day Jobs wasn't my first band, but it was my first "hit" band, and so it will always hold a special place for me as my favorite musical experience. I love to reminisce about good times, so here's the fun I remember.
Soon after I moved to Austin, my pal Tom Fleming introduced me to some new friends - Matt Melton, Ernesto Marquez, and Dae Kim. He knew that they had been playing some old 20s and 30s tunes together, and he knew I was a drummer, so he got us together. I remember the first time we played in Ernesto's bedroom - it was fun for me to play jazz style, and I think the boys liked the way the drums filled out the sound. So, we hit it off pretty quickly! Soon we decided we needed a bass, so we advertised in the Chronicle and had a few responses. One of them was Ann Marie Harrop, who was enthused to be playing stand-up bass, and soon she was in. Suddenly we were a band!
We spent lots of evenings rehearsing in Ernesto's bedroom (always stopping for a French press coffee break), and not only did we learn tons of tunes, but we started becoming great friends. Even from the beginning we were adding original songs - Dae and Ernesto were both writing (Dae's Mopac Bounce and Ernesto's Marvin Gardens became some of our most popular tunes!). We learned how to arrange as a group, trying out different intros and endings, seeing what worked and what didn't. We started to develop our style, which I always thought of as "a big band feel with a small combo".
Ann Marie, who turned out to be a master booker and manager for the group, got us our first gig at the Manor Road Coffee House. It was a small quirky place with protest posters everywhere, and we played for free pizza (which was excellent), but it was a real gig and we were excited. We told all our friends, and Austin's local swing scene was notified - the Four on the Floor gang showed up to our first gig, so people were dancing! Since we were still a new band, lots of our songs were played at a medium to slow tempo (because that's all we could handle at the time!). However, those tempos turned out to be perfect for Lindy Hop, a style of swing dancing that was all the rage, so the dancers loved it! We were on our way.
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