El Encuentro/The Meeting

I first saw Diego Paqué perform because an American friendof mine, Rod, put me on the guest list to one of his shows. I enjoyed both the musicality and energy the band brought to the performance. I thought to myself, 'it would be great to play in a band like that someday...' Eight months later I got a call from Rod explaining that they were looking for a bassist and wondered if I was interested. At first I got very excited and then nervous as I realized that this was a serious, seasoned flamenco fusion group that would not be a 'show-up-and-play' scenario.

That night I made a date for a tryout and talked to the exuberant Diego about the situation. Their bassist had a baby and wanted to focus on his family. No bad blood, always a good sign. I have learned that if a member of the band quits because of personality issues, it may not be the best situation to walk into.

I wanted to make a good impression, so I learned a couple of the songs off his website and showed up ready to go. I had a few of the basics of flamenco rhythms down from my time with Matius, but was still unsure of myself. Regardless, he was impressed that I already knew some of the material, liked my sound that he called 'bajo americano' (American bass) and was willing to give me a shot.

Diego explained that we had one month to prepare for a string of shows coming up. This was the best news he could have given me as I dreamed of the stage since playing my last show with the Catalan pop-rock group almost one year before. I missed the stage more than anything and little did I know the fun was just about to begin...