The Sensi SoundHouse Story: Part One

Part One, Spare Change

It's hard to believe that just over a year ago i wasn't in a band...... It all started when friend, local ska promoter and all round good guy Richie told me about a band called Sensi SoundHouse, he knew i was desperate to join a band, i had been playing Saxophone for a few years and felt ready. I looked them up on on Myspace and sent them a message, got a reply from the guitarist, Nick he discussed things with the band then got back to me inviting me to a jam night at The Full Moon pub in Neath, now the full moon was the kinda place that never acknowledged the smoking ban, the kinda place where you could smoke weed out back, the kinda place that had it's own dealer. I was a little nervous, i didn't know what these guys would be like, the only thing i did know was that the pub where they were jamming was a dangerous dive of a place.
I arrived at the pub Saxophone case in hand, the place was filled with the usual locals, the smell of wet dog and weed lingered in the air, i walked around the bar to the back where the raised pool room section was, there sitting on two tables on the right side of the room was Sensi SoundHouse. There were six of them, five guys and a girl, they were wearing skate shoes and baggy jeans and clocked me pretty quickly, Nick, the guitarist i had spoken to on facebook looked up at me and said Chris? I said yeah and he said to take a seat so i did, placing my Saxophone case on the floor i was introduced to the band. Nick looked like Russel Howard, he had the same kinda turn in his eye and a similar wry smile except that he had darker hair. The guy next to him introduced himself, his name was Ken and he played bass, he had the biggest smile i had ever seen and a big mop of black hair covering his eyes , he seemed like a nice guy. Next to him was girl, she introduced herself, her name was Kathy and she played keys, she was pretty tiny and seemed cold towards me, i shrugged it off (she turned out to be lovely, it's just first impressions). Next to her was a very cool looking dude with dyed blonde dreadlocks, a real ladies man if ever i saw one, his name was Jon and he was the drummer, right off the bat he seemed easy going and his smile was warm and comforting, he made eye contact and seemed genuinely interested in what i was saying as we made the usual small talk. The guy next to him furthest away was Josh, he was the singer/guitarist and he did everything but ignore me, out of all of them so far this was the guy i needed to impress. Sitting next to me was a happy looking dude with a mop of curly hair and glasses, his name was also Josh but he told me to call him by his second name, Whitton. He's the guy beside me in that picture up there. me and him got on from the start, he was easy to like, he was the trumpet player but was quick to point out that he wasn't that good at playing it yet, he really made me feel welcome and i chilled out a bit, i dug in my pockets and took out my tobacco, to my amazement everyone else did the same! we went out back for a cigarette and started chatting, they asked if i could read music i told them that i played by ear which was the truth, at that moment i got nervous i was ready for them to tell me they weren't interested in practicing but that didn't happen, "same as me then" said Whitton, i couldn't believe it awesome. We talked about music, we all liked Sublime and Mad Caddies but it was clear that they didn't have the same knowledge of ska that i had, mind that's hardly an insult, to call me a ska fanatic would be a huge understatement
We went back to the pool room and everybody else got busy moving the pool table and setting up the equipment, i felt like a third wheel everyone knew what they were doing and i just stood there feeling like i was getting in the way. I unclipped my Sax case and started putting it together, Whitton set up a mic and a stand and showed me how to adjust the level so the mic pointed to the bell of my sax, i was glad that someone was showing me the ropes and i wasn't surprised that it was Whitton. We discussed songs and then decided to play the Mad Caddies song Spare Change because they reckoned it was the easiest song for me to play. Whitton quickly taught me the parts it was just two notes so i learned it quickly. The band started playing and the time quickly arrived for me to play those notes, i remember shaking with nerves, it was now or never i nervously played the notes i had just learned into the mic, it sounded good, all of a sudden i was struck with this amazing feeling, i played along following Whitton's lead until the trumpet solo came in. Now remember Josh the singer, the guy i needed to impress well i knew two lousy notes wasn't going to cut it i looked at him and winked, after Whitton completed his solo i made one of my own up. This was a big risk and it could have very easily gone badly wrong, it was a foolish thing to do, i was taking a risk and i knew it but i also knew it was the only way i could convince Josh that i was a good Saxophonist. Luckily for me the solo sounded amazing, it was a lucky break, i finished the solo and stood back from the mic, at that moment all eyes were on me, ken was smiling his huge smile, Kathy looked surprised and Whitton looked at me shouted "yeah man" and shaked my hand mid song, we then went back to playing the same two notes for the last few bars until the song ended. I didn't know it at the time but that was the moment i became a member of Sensi SoundHouse