The Audition

In September of 1989 I was not in a band and working in a body shop. I got a call at work one day from Todd Fowler, WRIF DJ and friend for many years. He said one of his co-workers was asking if he knew any bass players. He said he knew lots of them, what band is it for? When she told him it was for Ten Seconds Over Tokyo he told her he knew THE bass player for the band, me. Todd told me that I HAD to audition for this band and gave me a number to call.

That night I called and spoke to Bil Eldridge, singer for TSOT. He told me about the band, got my address and had a tape overnighted to me. I'm pretty sure this was a Tuesday. I had an audition set for Saturday morning. Over the next couple days I busted my butt learning a few of their originals and going over a few covers he said they did.

Saturday morning I drove over to Sarnia Ontario. We set up in Bil's parents' living room and had at it. We played through the originals, then some covers. I even ended up singing a few lines when Bil forgot the words to one they hadn't done in awhile. Then Vail, the drummer, stands up and says "I've heard enough" and walks out, the other guys follow. The way he said it made me think I had not passed the audition. I started packing up my gear and they came back in the room and said "Right, you're in. We've got a showcase in Toronto next week for Attic Records."

Well, I went in to work on Monday, told them I was quitting and got back to learning songs for a full set the following week. Let the ride begin!!