FIX THIS BAND! Ep.4: Teenage Metal Band Sanctus

[@MrRoybob]

The dude trying to burn the house down is the most high school party thing ever🤣

[@80sMeavyHetal]

I just love this format Fix This Band.. I was always interested in what makes a live band sound great and what a good live show is about. Please keep 'em coming!

[@scatered1]

I know I've seen videos like this before but not a whole series. TAOG is such a genuinely great dude.

[@charlesrocks]

“I must go back in time to fix my tone…” Lmao 😂😂😂

[@TylerCMilligan]

Underrated part of the journey was hearing Al's vocals improving over time. OR at least the newer recordings did him more favors

[@gregarcher8177]

I think all young guitarist learn what good tone is as we age. I never used mids at all when I was young, just cranked bass n trebble to ten.

[@cömerdark6524]

I think with the Internet now there really is no excuse for bad tone.

[@markrogers7304]

Yup me in the early 90's.

[@Vermonster23]

Everything was super scooped and sounded like hot shit! The toughest thing going back in time is listening to how you sound. Not the playing , but how you sound

[@Mariofan7]

Your original songs actually sounds super badass. I was expecting more of a metallica ripoff sound but that felt much more original. Would have totally banged my head at that in my teens

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Crazy what you find when you start looking inward.

[@jevinday]

I agree! I was expecting the same thing but they sounded more like rush or something if anything

[@squidcaps4308]

I've volunteered in the local live music association since mid 90s, promoting and supporting local young bands and i've seen this progress happen. It is really great when you see kids taking it seriously and really putting in the effort. You see them getting more and more relaxed each gig, and the band sound transforms completely. We were on hiatus for years, re-activated last year, i did over 20 bands last year, and it is still the same: first gig is just.. fumbling and everyone being scared stiff, and then you see the same band few months later and they act like veterans... the whole process is smoother, and they always sound SO much better. That is why we are doing it, there is absolutely no other way to learn how to play than playing live. It is just very difficult for 15-18 year old kids getting gigs, we focus on metal and other heavier stuff. I never thought i was going to be the old guy behind the sound console, yelling at kids but.. it is very rewarding.

[@NytronX]

How the hell were you a teenager in the late 80s but you still appear to be like 30 years old in 2024?!

[@oliya7793]

Guitar gods are happy. (he didnt spill sanpelegrino on his gretch like my rythm guitarist did)

[@maluorno]

your drummer's growth and better care of his kit was evident as well

[@jmilitaria_collectibles]

Awesome showing the changes over time. As a teenager starting a band this is kind of inspiring

[@redneck472]

Seeing how your band improved was so inspring. Playing on a stage like the one in clip at 14:20 would be a dream come true for me. After exams I wanna form a band and just play, play, play as much as possible and keep growing.

[@stigmatamartyr400]

do it

[@williamphillips24]

I'm loving seeing the progression as you guys got better.

[@freddlazer]

I am LOVING this series. I wish we had this kind of easily accessible professional critique 20 years ago.

[@JeredtheShy]

The insane thing that somebody pointed out to me recently is that yeah, you and the band were really young here (better than some older bands I've seen for sure) but Metallica themselves were just a couple years older than this when they released their first album on Megaforce, they were all maybe 17. So imagine you see these guys from the video get up on stage, then they play the entirety of Kill Em All perfectly because they're actually Metallica and it's 1983, and they wrote it. No wonder they got so huge.

[@AmplifyChris]

That’s why they are special talents and famous.

[@kylebrady969]

James was born in August 1963, and KEA was released in July of 1983. He was 19 at the time of recording that album, just barely 20

[@PadawanIan]

a lot of the great bands were like that when zeppelin formed plant and bonham were 19 JPJ was 21 and page was 22 or 23 that’s just one example too!

[@Ou812em]

Love the fact that you are willing to show even your own embarrassing moments. That way we all know you really are just trying to help bands out. Mistakes will always be made, and you doing this video tells me you’re a humble man. 👍🏼

[@jevinday]

You guys were playing prog rock and doing harmonizing guitars in jr high? We could barely get through a song in my jr high band lol, that's really cool. I love how wholesome and constructive your channel is

[@shenanigans582]

just been on binge watching sanctus videos here on youtube, perfect timing!!

[@staciepaul]

I live in the Twin Cities and just to be clear, getting a gig at First Ave main stage is huge. I remember seeing Prince and Steve Vai live at First Ave. What a great video. Thanks for being humble enough to share everything. Keep these coming. Great series.

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Our drummer's sister took us all to a Metal Massacre at First Ave when we started out. We lost our minds at how cool it was, and loud. So the first time we played there it was at a Metal Massacre but we opened in the 7th St. Entry. That was badass but we still had our eyes on that main stage. A while later we finally played it. We were so over our heads that our drummer didn't even know he could ask for anything in his monitors. We started a song for soundcheck and he had this deer in the headlights look of fear. He mouthed, "I can't hear shit!" The sound man, a bit annoyed I think, was like, "Well, what's wrong?" We told him and then he hit one button and bam, Chris the drummer lit up, all smiles. We never had such a great monitor mix and it kinda spoiled us from then on. :)

[@staciepaul]

@@TheArtofGuitar Love this series and your channel. I'm a 50 year old drummer that has played in Jazz bands, drumline Captain, Praise and worship, prog rock, etc who decided to finally learn guitar. That's how I found you. God bless and look forward to what comes next from you.

[@oldmanpence4803]

Mike, it’s amazing that you took a honest hard look at your own band. It can be so tough to look inwards, but you handled it with humility and humor. Great job man! This was my fave episode in the new series!

[@orion42186]

Yess please keep these videos coming! This series is what brought me to your channel, I hope for many many more fix this bands!

[@HannahCope88]

@TheArtofGuitar Yesss!! Been waiting for this! Congrats on 853k Subscribers🤘🏻🔥 Sanctus freakin' rules! I just love that footage of you guys playing Incomplete, not only does it sound freakin' awesome (quite possibly my fave song after Swords of Sadness) but the camera moving up and down with you all makes me feel like i'm in the room jumping up and down with everyone else, real atmosphere to that clip for me :-) I did put my Charvel Avenger V up for sale, but nobody wanted it or gave horribly lowball offers. I've decided to keep it and fix it up, get the chipped horns repaired and painted white🤘🏻

[@saulmorris9639]

bro i swear your like his #1 fan

[@firemonkey1015]

I’m loving this series so much lol. It’s such a unique and creative one. Instead of sitting there making fun of people and bad bands, I love how you turn it into a learning experience even for yourself.

[@mikal]

Funny, I should do this to my high school band. I have a VHS tape of us playing the talent show. We had a VH-style keyboard malfunction where the keyboard was tuned 1/2 step higher than everybody else.

[@jontheismusic]

Ignore the haters. These videos are great. I feel like you are being fair and reasonable with your assessments and this type of education is needed.

[@scottvogel8477]

I love that your willing to show how awkward your band used to be,but also show that with practice and hard work you can improve. Can't wait for more of this series.

[@lancehall3897]

Loving this series. Hopefully the bands you’ve reviewed will send more footage back of future gigs to show their progress.

[@TheHippieCrack]

Just found your channel. Good explanations for each avenue. I just started learning with my cousin now that we are old men retired with nothing to do. Our first show will be in August at a "Music on the Porch" local gig. I will be watching for more.

[@ThroughTheAftermath]

I absolutely love this series and this video especially. I played drums in a metal band in high school right around the same time as you were, playing the same songs. I'm still good friends with a couple of the guys from the band today, but for the most part, we all stopped playing a couple years after high school. I always wonder what would have happened if I kept at it.

[@DocRaunchy]

Mike. Are you my spirit animal? Your love for your first band is outstanding and all your comments make me relive my passion for my first band and there are so many similarities on the live shows and lessons to learn. Love it.

[@richardpierce7819]

Have you ever listened to Johnny Winter , he would crank the mids and trebs , but would turn the bass all the way down on his amp . He made it work extremely well.

[@markt2398]

Kudos for posting these and even including your own band! Let's be honest, most of us suck when we start out playing but you keep at it and keep gigging to work out the bugs. Eventually you get there but it takes time and lots of mistakes. Not to mention even if you play perfectly, others in the band might not on any given night (tech issues, just having an off night...). Nice to see even the pros screw up from time to time.

[@KaijuAlert]

I love this series. Every time I see a new episode pop up in my KZbin feed, I know I'm in for some great viewing.

[@MrBikboi]

Man I fucking love the archive of videos you have, it'd be great if you posted them all.

[@mboyer68]

Hi Mike! Love these videos, I'm learning so much about music and realizing that I've missed so many things that were right there in front of me. You've taught me how to listen, thank you:) Started playing guitar during covid at age 52 on a tiny $20 red acoustic I bought my daughter and now I've got 13 or 14 guitars, a bass, and a drum set in the family room. I haven't found a KZbin channel that I've watched video after video like yours in a long time, love it!! Your experience and passion for music really comes through in your videos. Thanks again!

[@conjob2112]

Great walk down memory lane. I’m still terrible but when I hear our first few shows it’s amazing anyone put up with us. So fun though.

[@joellebrodeur1015]

Keep doing the Fix Your Band series. I'm enjoying it and learning from it. Eventually, my band will need to take video. Right now we're doing sound only to help tighten things up and make small changes so our singer isn't struggling singing in a key that doesnt work for her range.

[@penttikoivuniemi2146]

Have you guys considered making new, professional recordings of the old songs? And maybe a new song or two, nudge nudge hint hint?

[@magnifichades9710]

That would be really cool to hear!

[@fimlviaquez3936]

dude now I wish I could see your band live, those shows looked awesome

[@dglime1]

Hey Mike, my name is Dan Glime. I'm from St Paul Minnesota. I now live in Jacksonville Florida. We moved down here about 10 years ago. I've been watching your videos for years and just realized that I've done shows with your band Sanctus at Ryan's Corner in St Paul. I was the lead guitar player in the band Battle Cry. I don't know if you remember us or not but we did shows with you guys around September October or November of 1992. I remember your band, we did at least two shows together. I really like your videos keep up the good work!

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Hey Dan. I do remember Battle Cry! Awesome. I’m sure we shared the stage on a few Tuesday nights there. Hehe. Had plenty of those nights.

[@dglime1]

@@TheArtofGuitar That's cool that you remember Battle Cry. I haven't stopped playing since our shows with Sanctus at Ryan's, in fact I've been in quite a few bands since then. Right now I'm in a band called Highway Jones here in Jacksonville Florida. I wrote a song back in 1992 called Runnin Wild, in fact we played that song at Ryan's when we did shows with Sanctus. I re -recorded it with the band Highway Jones. It's on Spotify. If you get a chance it would be cool if you could take a listen to it. Thanks again for all the awesome videos that you put out there!

[@fju1107]

Thanks for sharing this! It's so cool to see the growth from a duo starting out in the basement to a full band playing 1st Ave main stage!

[@satchelburg]

Your early shows were still way better than the bands you find for this series. BTW, watching all the footage you have really makes me wish that my old band would've taped more of our shows.

[@anthonycook5238]

As someone who is recently reformed the band starting to make new material and getting ready to want to play shows this video series has been on been helpful. I just love it I appreciate this I mean it’s something that us younger musicians who may not have these develop skills don’t have knowledge of and I just appreciate that it’s making the stress of trying to book our first show and if everything‘s gonna go right so much more maintainable because I know we’re going to make mistakes and stuff like that but I know that they could be rebound or if we just keep taking helpful tips Maybe we can try to eliminate some of those things❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@thejakefromstatefarm6768]

You are either taller than i thought or your band is really short lol. It was a cool ride watching you guys become a real band. I respect how you stayed on a stage throughout your entire growth. It’s hard not to give up or change members sometimes.

[@oldmanwinter63]

Mirage! LOL! I've played there many times!! Earl Root would be proud of ya!! With love from Richfield!

[@bebop425]

Good job. You're so mellow talking... one would never imagine you jumping around and head banging on stage like that

[@bottomkitchen250]

I don't think it's that bad for being a beginner band. And you guys definitely progressed beyond beginners. Makes me remember my youth and the parties lol.

[@billybadass7718]

I’ve been watching your channel for a long time and the quality of your videos has grown so much. You make really good videos. Loved the vid where your old metal band played the first song you ever wrote. You were absolutely ripping!

[@JaredGunstonTV]

this reminds me so much of my journey as a teenager to my early 20s. Great vid man! \m/

[@protoolsfanatic7276]

I remember hearing about sanctus in Lakeville high school. I was at that nuclear assault at Ryan's bar what a great time to be alive. St paul Minneapolis wasn't a very good place to try to get noticed. Prince Dylan and soul asylum are the only 3 that I know of. Bass player from vixen was from st paul too.

[@chriscollins50]

This was awesome. I'm definitely here for more Sanctus stuff!

[@daniverson3321]

“Sonic Sadness” = killer band name. Love the series, Mike. Cory needs to bring those baggy jeans back 🤣

[@brandonhoffman9202]

@The-Art-of-Guitar Mike, This was really fun to watch. Spent a lot of time at Mirage, Iron Horse, 1st Ave, etc. back in the day. Was Sanctus part of the Twin Cities Battle of the Bands that happened back around '89-'90? My band, Destiny, participated so our paths may have crossed. Great work! Keep it up!

[@paulh9657]

Wow.... thank you for this video.... for no other reason than to find out you're a Twin Cities person! KZbin algorithms suggested your videos, and I just recently started watching. You've had some great topic and the fix-the-band has been fun. I was going to just come here to say kudo's to the self-inflection on your own band, as that proves you're not above your own mistakes and learnings. But then to find out your in my neck of the woods? Super cool! Another subscriber added!

[@jimsguitarplaying]

What I've felt my whole life is how fortunate young bands are to have a place to practice - a big kudos to the parents and neighbors who allow that to happen, unless you are lucky enough to have a sound proof room in your house. Anyway awesome retrospective video!

[@guitaristslair]

2:27 its just me or the bassist changed the orginal bassline in a cool way?

[@jonasirw1]

Awesome vid and the progression was impressive. Solid state amps all sound absolutely grotesque. My high school amp was a Peavy Combo with chorus and reverb.. great clean tone but dirty tone got thinner the louder it got.. when I got the first gen 100 watt Engl head it was a complete game changer.

[@matsnilson7727]

This was extremely cool to watch, and it's amazing how much was caught on film! I get sooo many flashbacks to my own first band back in the very late 80s and early 90s. We also played Metallica covers for quite a while, and since my best buddy had a real talent for lead playing, I ended up as "the guy who makes throat noises into a microphone". I may not have been the greatest rhythm guitarist, but at least I had some idea of what I was doing on the guitar, which is more than I can say about my "singing". I didn't even realize I sang eveything one octave lower than James, but I was made aware of that fact when we auditioned a really good bass player and he asked if there was any particular reason behind my guttural wheezing. 😂 Despite my obvious vocal shortcomings I ended up singing for a while, simply because no one else wanted the job. I think we had a total of two shows (partially) filmed during all those years, but I don't have access to any of that material today. It's most likely lost forever, and maybe that's a good thing. I'm not sure I'll EVER be ready to relive our 1988 school auditorium massacre of Fade to Black, Master of Puppets and The Four Horsemen, but I remember that we managed to impress at least one guy in the audience. He volunteered to help us carry the equipment after the show, and we gladly accepted.

[@Employee00765]

When you got better and wrote original's, i was really liking your songs. Found you demo tape on youtube. Its pretty good.

[@21stCenturySin]

The Mirage. Man, that takes me back. Best show I saw there was Fight. That was rockin. How about King’s Machine? Seen them there back in the day too. What year were those Mirage & First Avenue shows? Did you play with any other local bands at the time? I was involved in the Twin Cities band scene from 1995-2007. 21st Century Sin, Seventh Calling, Cold Colours to name a few. Played lots of shows at Ryan’s/Station 4 in St Paul. Also played a lot at Sharkys in Columbia Heights. Got to play The Quest too a few times. We played a lot of shows & went on tour with Impaler as well. Great guys.

[@themightys1nclairs69]

Love this channel! So real and underrated!

[@beenaplumber8379]

Wow! I had a couple friends who were huge fans of Sanctus! I was drifting back toward hard/classic rock myself, but those friends devoured the hardest metal they could find. The metal scene in MN was great - and Ryans in St Paul was the place to be! It's the first place I played that had a dressing room for us! (We bombed. Blues-rock in a metal bar?)

[@Crazysurferdude]

This was a great episode. This series is great. I liked your breakdown of the recent solo you did where you showed what it should sound like vs what it did. Might be cool if you can show some of that too. LIke that one run in the solo from Sweet child of mine of few episodes ago. Love hearing where people can make improvements and things to watch out for when learning another song

[@greenerdays]

Loving these episodes! Please do more of these. You guys were really good in the end! I would have really enjoyed your shows!! ♥

[@eldensmith4161]

Love this! Me and some friends started a band a little over a year ago and a lot of this is super relatable!!

[@toddapplegate3988]

I never had this progression. I was the new guy in my first band who had like a decade of experience together. So the critque was right there in practice and on stage. It really made my overall growth accelerate. Tone ? Terrible day one pretty good day 2 because the other guitarist fix it. Movement on stage stiff as a post day 1 but within a few shows improved ( with almost a choreographic approach) . Playing improved by being pushed outside my comfort every practice. My first show opening song me on acoustic with no one else playing (big risk) , I played well enough but I felt like I ran a marathon after first song.

[@martyhafermann938]

Cool video! Brought back fun memories...you guys really rocked. Rock n roll Unlimited was fun opening slot for Sanctus

[@jonogray2378]

Soup of Sonic Sadness...been there! Great series, man. Giggers of all ages can learn from this - I certainly am.

[@fransenmusic]

Awesome video! It's so cool you have all that footage to document the improvement.

[@Jfromtexas]

So cool to see the evolution of the band!

[@slicknicdwyer]

Sonic Sadness is my next band name, also 13:14 John Cusack???

[@TheMatioman]

Hey man, thanks for sharing your bands journey. My band's early gigs could easily have ended up in one of these videos. Shit, they may even one day lol. It is really inspiring to see this though, definitely does give hope and I've found it really inspiring. Now I want to pick up my guitar and practice, unfortunately I gotta work lol. One of the problems my band faces is we don't gig consistently enough to really build on the skills. We have definitely come on a lot since we started though.

[@themichaelkemp]

Love seeing this evolution

[@handsomerube]

You had a Budweiser banner; I had Budweiser Converse shoes. What a time to be alive…and underage.

[@davidestes9971]

Nothing says high school party like Fade to Black. A song about contemplating suicide. 😊

[@stevenadam3658]

The Mother EFFIn Regime!!!! Scott, Crispy, Kerry. Probably Jay and Vern on guitars. I remember seeing you guys warming up Porcelain God, i believe at The Mirage or maybe Ryans.

[@PeterSTIHL]

Did you ever see their last show at POV's I think around 2014?

[@stevenadam3658]

@@PeterSTIHL no i missed it

[@SnappyJCM800]

Sounds like you guys are playing a little fast on the fade to black intro. I also love when you guys end the song and he just goes”whatever”!😂

[@perspect836]

This such a great series and so epic so see your progress as a band. Love it!

[@r1se0fth3lykins]

That snare sound at the first avenue gig was so dope.

[@kurtmackenzie7349]

Every kid musician went through these same growing pains.

[@Xavasius]

Definitely relate to a lot of what's said in this video. Especially the curly hair that seems to be just growing inwards!

[@johnmccracken8023]

My favorite video of yours thus far

[@eddiejr540]

Great stuff Mike…I remember I played part if the solo to “texas flood” in the wrong key cuz I couldn’t really hear myself in the mix…so embarrassing…hahaha

[@christiankingston5186]

Love this series mike, keep it up!

[@Gaborkik]

I love this series. I wish you would go a little more in-depth on the suggested fixes, like the boost pedal was new to me etc. Thank you!

[@zaturnneo]

Fade to black intro in double time! We have all been there, muh guy. This actually brings back memories of my first band, Parasite (we may have liked KISS a bit).

[@LazyCat010]

Relate to your rhythm guitarist. I used to own a Boss PH-1r phaser I really liked and used way too much 😂

[@NytronX]

We want a Sanctus live show in Minnesota. PLEASE!

[@PaulStirk]

I still have audio tapes from the mid 80s of our band practises. I had that lead guitar tone too. Probably sounded better out of the amp than the 3" speaker on a stereo cassette.

[@svenjonzy1311]

ahhhh this takes me back! It's a beautifully painful journey of deliverance!! haha This stage of discovery was the late 80's/early 90's for me...woah! that's a while back now. Murdering Guns n Roses tracks at school concerts. LOVED it but thankfully no video evidence :P although would be cool to see how bad we were back then and how far (hopefully) my tone has improved

[@dextarantino9941]

currently in a high school band, would love to be like these guys one day. I already got the hair now though lol P.S i'm the drummer

[@horn_of_plenty2629]

It was great watching a band evolve. Great content.

[@garfieldfan3892]

Idk if my tone is the best for my amp but i never used to crank down the mids like many apparently do I have treble and mids at around 6-7 and bass at 3 My reverb is zero and gain is max mostly just to learn to be tight and learn muting (if i can be clean when gain is max, i must be good at when gain is lower)

[@Krullmatic]

This reminds me of when our band first got together back in '90, and we played the junior high talent show. We called ourselves Anno Domini. We were just together like five days before we played there lol. We got to play two songs. Both of our songs were Metallica's. We played Jump In The Fire and Welcome Home. I fluffed my way through the solos as well. Our singer sucked BTW. The only reason we let him sing, is because his little brother was a badass drummer. He was only thirteen at the time, and the little dude could play his ass off! I just wonder if he's still playing? If he is, he has to be professional grade by now. They also had the rehearsal space lol. Their parents were rich. Edit: I love to see your guy's progression! You sounded really great playing your originals. Oh wow! That's killer that you opened for Nuclear Assault!!! I had there first album, well cassette lol.

[@kamukameh]

1:08 Aaaaw, how sweet!! Brings me down memory lane when my teenage band sounded that way. At 8:17 it's time for a bit of self-praise (although we had other problems back then), we: 1. never tried to play stuff live we couldn't really play on point, for example: I played max. 8th solo licks (and of course no shredding! ;-) ), because I couldn't play 16th-notes that clean. And we played rock/ska/reggae/funk stuff. 2. We went on stage when all songs were totally in us, which was 1 year of practice before standing on a stage 3. I had a lot of luck with the drummer my teacher introduced to me, he was a time machine as an animal on his instrument at the age of 15! 10:25: Yeah, we also played that famous ending a lot, also live 😁 12:14: That's more like it! Cool solo, man! I wrote and recorded a new song today (with my method of instant-songwriting 😉not perfect, but good enough), after releasing a lot of improvisations lately, here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJDYqXqAjJejrdk

[@wadew3623]

It's always a balancing act to keep some of that raw, unpolished sound while still trying to get the actual sound you want. You want a little bit of that almost punk attitude in there, but still be able to sound smooth as an option.

[@kempcky]

Loved this video! Great to see your progress.

[@pheonix72]

Make mistakes, laugh, carry on stronger!

[@PREPSTAR]

Great video! Love seeing the progression of your band. You guys rock!

[@Soundsystem504]

Best fix this band yet! Great info for all musicians but especially young aspiring bands!🎸 SANCTUS ROCKS

[@TheBcoolGuy]

Maybe it's because of the style of music I tend to play, and me mainly doing acoustic, but you were better at metal at 13 than I am now, 15-16 years into playing.