Who was Sin Cera?

I must admit that there are days where I don’t think about starting another band and it would appear that those days are becoming more and more frequent. You see, I came across One Republic again the other night while trying to make notes on an article and I took a break from note-making to listen to “All the Right Moves” by One Republic which I once covered with my band Sin Cera back in our second year of university. At the time of performance, I forgot half the words due to general stage fear (not fright) but soldiered on..and looking back, we weren’t so bad. We collaborated rather well considering we had very different music listening tastes; I loved my popular, chart topping music whereas the majority of the group preferred alternative and rock music. Nonetheless, we worked it out and I would like to think that we produced a good sound. The name ‘Sin Cera’ first appealed to me after the two words were repeated several time in the Dan Brown book ‘Digital Fortress’. In the book, he explains the meaning of the term “sin cera” which means without wax. I won’t go into the whole explanation but basically, I wanted the name to represent an ensemble who performed music which we were good at and specialised in and all sorts...I’m beginning to wonder if I should have used another name and kept such a good name for a later ensemble...oh well...carry on!

Our first ever concert was in the YSJ Tuesday Lunchtime Concerts took place in the Chapel from 12:30-13:00 (and which I believe are still going). I presented the group to everyone in the space we had specifically set up and then I think we proceeded to play ‘Apologise’ by One Republic. I believe we did a couple more covers but I can’t remember exactly, which is a pity really because it was our first concert but then again, I don’t think it’s uncommon to prepare for something for ages only for the event to pass in the space of 8minutes.

In any case, we performed, we were given feedback and I came across one of the pages of feedback which we received from the tutors...here’s what it said:

“Good ensemble feel. I like this song but can’t hear all the words: you could work for greater clarity. Slight mix-up in guitars – and remember to tune together – you’re not quite there! I like this song’s key change and structure; could you make more of the ending? I’d like to hear you exploring the possibilities of the electronic kit rather more. Second song rather too similar, feel, key, tempo etc. Nevertheless an enjoyable performance.”

That is what I can read, the handwriting is almost impossible to decipher. Nonetheless, I take it that there are more positive points than negative ones which made me question the reasons for the band falling apart. I don’t like to dwell on that point however because I have moved on and collaborated some more with great musicians and it has all been just as rewarding. I have played at the Summer Ball in YSJ two years in a row (in the acoustic tent, where I like it), I have performed at several Open Mic Nights and even hosted and performed in my own concert, all the while collaborating with one or more musicians; honestly it has been amazing and brilliant.

To them move into a new city with new class mates, new everything...well my collaboration balance with life is not existent right now to say the least. I am working on that though...first I need to find a potential repertoire which includes some original music and then I need to find myself a guitarist J It shouldn’t be hard but I seem to have grown a shell to which I am too attached. All the same, that doesn’t mean there isn’t some kind of creative streak within looking to collaborate with someone likeable and to perform in open mic nights and gigs and so forth.

Something important that I noticed in the last year was that being sociable with the person you are working with can be a good thing in that it can inspire both of you to write a new song or piece and it also strengthens the bond between both musicians. This, I find, is important because if you meet up purely to work together, rehearsals can be rigid and if you don’t have everything organised down to the last music stand, the members of your band can become irritated with you...now being sociable outside of rehearsals doesn’t mean you can get away with being somewhat disorganised, but it does allow for a more amicable response from you band mates. I also think it’s important to figure out what kind of collaboration it is that you can deal with. For example, it was all very well having 5-6 people in my band Sin Cera at some point but there were times where I simply could not contain the entire rehearsal in an orderly manner. What I mean is that because there were quite a few of us, people would talk over one another, other people would play their instruments when not supposed to and it could feel a bit hectic and like you were a very tiny mouse in a big noisy jungle.

In my MA year, I created a certain collaboration with a fantastic pianist when I needed someone to play the instrumental part of a piece I wanted to perform in a concert. From there, the rehearsals were frequent and we began rehearsing together and building a decent repertoire which we performed in Open Mic nights down in the student’s union and then later in a couple more concerts (I think). The main factor that held our collaboration together was that we became good friends and had a mutual understanding of what we wanted to get out of the collaboration. I found it was also easier to communicate with the other member of the collaboration because it was just him and so attention was easy to focus and it was fairly easy to simply get on with the rehearsal rather than postponing the main element of rehearsal with chatting and trying to get silence in the room. We started writing songs together and actually have one song which needs finishing, which hopefully, we can do one day soon.

In an alternative world where my dreams come true, I have a new band in which we all get along and rehearse on a weekly basis. In this world, we have several potential gigs coming up and a really good repertoire and we have been rehearsing for a long time and are completely ready to perform... in this world, we are already working on original material to perform in open mic nights and all that sort of thing.

The reality of the situation is that I’m still trying to work on my people skills and to pluck up the courage to contact musicians about a possible collaboration. I’m also in the middle of writing another song on guitar with vocals which is taking a bit of time because it’s based on some very vivid dreams I’ve had. Foolish I know but this is where I take my inspiration from, lest my dreaming in colour with sound go to waste!

Anyway, I beginning to get caught up in music on Youtube, I’m going to love you and leave you and bid you all good night. (It’s 2:08am apparently...HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?)

Take care,

Panthera T.

This is Sin Cera at the Summer Ball of YSJ. 

And this is from 2011 - first concert with JC, performing 'I Fall Too'.