Muse on the muse, Negotiators Duo update

The Negotiators finally got together again on Sunday for a 'practice' (more of a jam, really) at Steve and Jackie's. Played quite a few old classics and a handful of originals from the days of Requiem. There's something that clicks when all five are together that isn't quite there when it's just the four of us. Listening to what we were doing, I could hear that we have grown into a unit. Not a polished unit, but one that when it gets it gets it well.

Every unit has its own sound. Even when they play the same songs, in the same style, they will still have uniquely identifiable groove which is theirs alone. When you hear it, you know. Not all bands have it. In fact, over the years I've seen a lot of performers who haven't 'found their sound'. It always eventually comes down to sounds like going through the motions. When you have your sound, your music comes alive.

It's a bit different than simple performance or technical skill. It is a collective inspiration expressed in the sound of the unit. If there are inspired moments occuring on stage, the moment will shine. Across an evening, a band with its own sound will carry both itself and its audience into the altered state which is rock n roll. As long as it holds its own act together aesthetically.

And with every practice session we do, we get better at this last.

The Negotiators Duo (Steve and Nancy) play at the Excelsior Hotel, Hawker Street in Brompton, this Friday (11 May) from about about 7.30pm.