There's this really great little jazz department at this little school we have out here in sunny southern California called USC. Now, USC has one of the top 5 jazz schools in the country, so I figured they oughta have some pretty good talent there, right? Now, how do I go about gettin' in touch with these cats? I'm the type of person that feels anything is possible, you just have to, you know, go for it! So I printed off some "musician wanted" ads, hopped in my car, and headed for trojan country. I think I probably walked around that campus for about 3 hours askin' myself why I would do such a silly thing, when I stumbled upon the music building. I almost turned around and walked back to my car, but this little voice inside me told me to just walk through those double doors and check it out. I didn't listen to that voice that day, I threw away my flyers, walked back to my car and....Just kiddin'! You wouldn't think I would come that far and not seize the moment now do you? I ended up havin' a meeting with the student affairs advisor that same day. She took down all my info and sent out a mass e-mail to all of her students and, within the hour, my phone was ringin' off the hook with players. Ironically, the first person to call me, Willis Clow, would go on to become the lead guitarist of "Fact & Fiction", but we'll get to that here in a bit. Back to the story. Now you truly do have to have one hell of a sales pitch when you're talkin' to players of this caliber because they are some of the best and can play with whomever they choose. Here was my salespitch... "Hey so and so, my name's Grant Elliot and I'm lookin' at puttin' a band together here in L.A., just wanted to chat with ya for a sec to see if you might have any interest in the project?" Their response, "How much does it pay?" My response, "Ummm, well nothin' right now, but if we can get some gigs together we could make some money!" Their response, "Haha, click." And that's pretty much how that went for the next couple days. I had this massive list of names, and pretty much everyone gave me the same, "no money, no play" reply. I continued down the list, marking off names one by one, until the name Jay Multanen appeared just below my most recent name crossout.
By this time I was pretty delirious and fed up with all the "NO" responses that I don't even really remember much of what we talked about. I remember he was drivin' down from Oregon and he said he'd call me in a couple of days. Well, those couple days passed and my phone rings. It was Jay Multanen, bass player extraordinaire. We chatted and I could just tell that somethin' felt right. We totally vibed from the start. We met up, jammed for a bit, well, I jammed while he sat there with this blank stare, almost like a teacher watching you do a math problem on the blackboard(totally uncomfortable situation). I was positive he was gonna tell me he wasn't interested, but he didn't. He grinned, said he liked the tunes, and that he'd love to be a part of the project, total Jay style(this kid is the most honest, good hearted human being I have ever met, by the way). It was truly one of the greatest feelings ever. We jammed almost everyday, and it was those simple, organic sessions with acoustic guitar, upright bass, and lyrics, that would form the foundation for what "Fact & Fiction's" music would stand for. Jay's approach to music was like nothing I had ever seen. He truly has a connection that only a select few will experience, and he continues to be one of my biggest musical inspirations. One more mountain climbed, one more step gained. Grant, the singer and guitarist, Jay the bass player. Two down, three to go...
