How I Joined ETH

Well, Trevor has lead the way in this story, so as per the requests on the talkboard I figured I'd kick in my own tale.

Back in high school, I played in an original rock/alternative band called Drowning June. A few members came and went from the band, but in the band's later days we ended up with a guy named Owen Pallett playing alternately keyboard and violin. I had met Owen years earlier when he Trevor and I got together to perform the tune Correspondences by a Canadian band called The Tea Party at a talent show night at Trevor and Owen's high school. When Drowning June decided we needed a violinist for a couple of songs, I thought of Owen.

I had always planned to go to school for physics, but in my last year of high school, I decided to pursue music for a career instead. I had to quit Drowning June, and I went off to Humber College to study jazz, following in the footsteps of my friend Anthony Giles (percussionist appearing on both Casualties of Retail and Soapbox Heroes), whose example convinced me that perhaps a person could play music for a living. I didn't know exactly what I was going to do with music; all I knew was that I loved jazz, and hopefully if I got good enough I would meet someone who would be interested in working with me on some project somewhere.

I remember a conversation with my Mother when I told my parents that I wanted to go to school for music instead of physics. She had asked me what exactly I was planning to do with my music education, and I told her "I don't know exactly. I'm just going to go there, and something will find me." Naively bold words, but things ended up working out for the best anyway! I imagine that my parents must have been somewhat apprehensive about my dubious career choice, but they supported me all the way as they always have.

Half way through my first year at Humber, I got a call from Trevor saying that he'd just joined a Celtic Rock band called Enter The Haggis. He also said that the band was going to be looking for a drummer soon, and perhaps I should think about auditioning. Not only that, but my friend Owen Pallett was already a member of the band, and the two of them thought I might be right for the job. Trevor gave me the name and number of one Craig Downie and told me to call him to arrange an audition.

Craig encouraged me to come on down to one of the band's rehearsals to jam, although I didn't know any of the music. To be honest, I didn't really have any concept of what Celtic Rock as a genre was. I immediately went out and bought Ashley MacIsaac's High How Are You Today? CD, as well as Natalie MacMaster's No Boundaries and a Celtic compilation CD called Bravehearts (not to be confused with the movie). I listened to those CD's non-stop before I went to the rehearsal so I might have at least some idea what to expect.

On a Thursday night I found my way up the shady elevator to the illustrious loft in which Craig was living which was unlike any place I had ever seen before. It only added to the mystique of the place that Craig had warned me on the phone to steer clear of the building next door on my way into his building as he suspected that it was a sweat-shop of some kind. From there we walked to the band's rented jam space on Richmond street just east of Spadina in Toronto. The place more or less always stank of mold and mildew but there were a variety of other odours thrown in there from week to week. It was always interesting to see what the jam space was going to smell like each time we went there. We jammed for a while on a number of different ideas, and if I'm not mistaken ended up playing some Red Hot Chili Peppers tune. On the recommendation of the band's at-the-time current drummer Ken Horne who was present at the jam, it was decided that I was to be tried out for a while.

My first part-show with the band was in February 1999 I think, and for a while I traded off songs at shows with Ken, who incidentally is the one who gave me the nickname "Seumas/Seamus/Shamus/ Shame Us". On St. Patrick's Day, March 17th 1999 I was officially asked to join the band permanently, and I did so by taking over for Ken mid-tune during a performance of the song The Train from Let The Wind Blow High. The show was at a bar called "Original's" on Bay street in Toronto.

For a good long while, it was a real challenge for me to regain my "rock chops" as I had been playing nothing but jazz for months. (It might be argued by some that I still have a ways to go in that department!). If you could hear a performance from the band back then, I think you would find my playing VERY different from what it has become. It's been an ongoing struggle for me over the years to find ways to incorporate my musical preferences into the music of Enter The Haggis, and my efforts have met with a wide variety of success and failure. The experience has been very rewarding though, and I've learned a lot about my instrument, and a tremendous amount about how to play with a band.