It was a warm Wednesday evening when I parked in front of the Grimelab for the first time. I grabbed my bass from the back seat of my dirty black Civic and called Rob to let him know I was there. I don’t like to walk in unannounced the first time I show up somewhere. It just seems rude.

Rob walked out toward the street to greet me and we chatted as we walked around to the studio, where I met Aaron and Noah. Everyone seemed pretty cool. We talked about music and personal history while I set up my bass and got ready for the audition; a few stretches, finger exercises, going over bass lines. I had learned three Cold Chills songs for the audition, and we went through each one a few times. I thought it sounded pretty damn good! And the guys didn’t seem to think I sucked, which was what I really wanted to hear.

“So hey, good times guys, that went well!”

“Yea! We’ve got a few other people auditioning, so we’ll let you know by Friday for sure.”

“Cool man, sounds good!”

They did not let me know by Friday. I actually went through the entire audition process without getting nervous at all, but when I wasn’t told by Friday that I did or did not have the gig… THAT made me nervous. I’ve auditioned for bands before, and occasionally I haven’t gotten the gig. It isn’t a big deal for me. But not knowing? THAT is a completely different situation. And when I finally did hear back from Rob on Sunday, he asked me to come back for another audition.

“It’s down to you and one other guy,” the email read.

So let me stop the story at this point and give you a bit of personal history. Maybe I should’ve started with this, but hey, I like Quentin Tarantino. I had been looking for a good ol’ fashioned ROCK band for a little bit before I ran into the Cold Chills. Before I joined them, I had been working with a lot of programming, synthesizers and MIDI controllers for years. It was definitely time to get back into a straight-ahead rock band and play some solid, stanky grooves. When I came across the Cold Chills, I knew I wanted the gig.

So skip back to Sunday night. The guys wanted me to learn three more songs for a second audition that Wednesday. No problem. Except this time, I couldn’t stop psyching myself out! I should have been confident in my playing of the songs, but I was over-thinking everything. The worst mistake a musician can make.

Wednesday night rolled around again, and I showed up nervous as hell. I left the second rehearsal feeling like crap. I thought I had screwed up every song. The boys were nice to me, of course, but I could feel the fact that the OTHER GUY must be better, he must be the one they chose…

So I said my goodbyes, told the Cold Chills I was looking forward to hearing their decision, and drove home. Upon my arrival I promptly poured myself a glass of Jameson. My girlfriend was asleep already and so I went to quietly drown my nerves. As I was sitting on my condo’s balcony, staring at the nearly-full moon and sipping my whiskey, wondering how I could have let myself sabotage this second audition, my phone vibrates. It was a text message from Rob, followed by one each from Noah and Aaron, all of them welcoming me to the band. Awwww, thanks guys. I would have not slept that night if it weren’t for those text messages.

I’m really excited to be a part of the Cold Chills. I’ve played in many groups and with many talented musicians, but none with the combination of energy, drive and commitment to the music as these guys. We’ve already been working on new music since I’ve joined and I’m stoked to be a part of the process! Please keep checking back in with us, more new new new things ahead!