Craigs list band ad gone awry

banks · #1 09-28-2010, 07:10 AM

Has anyone had luck finding a band on craigslist? I've tried craigs list on other occasions meeting with the same results, nothing ever pannes out. The other night I met up with a guitar playrr and a drummer looking to form a blues , jazz , funk band. I asked if we would have some sort of set list, the drummer tells me nah, we're just gonna jam! (usually a recipe for disaster). The night we met up we couldn't get anything together. It was a mess! I'm sure this situation isn't exclusive to craigs list.. But I guess this happens.

**StrangerDanger** · #2 09-28-2010, 07:12 AM

We found a great drummer on CL. I guess we were lucky.

Tampabass · #3 09-28-2010, 07:15 AM

CL is a real crapshoot. After one particularly bad experience there (getting together with someone who turned out to be a major psycho), I'll never use it to find musicians again. Word of mouth is 100% more productive.

Tumeni Notes · #4 09-28-2010, 07:19 AM

I agree, finding a great band on Craigslist is tough. Our band got lucky and found an outstanding singer; which enabled us to release our debut CD last December. Unfortunately, he was a lot younger than us and after the CD was completed, decided to find a band that "wanted to make it big". Thus, he left on good terms and we wished him the best. At least we got a great CD out of it!!!

Ric5 · #5 09-28-2010, 07:20 AM

You can find good bands and players on craigslist ... but there are a lot of posers and wannabes and total nut cases there to sort through. I post a link to my profile online http://www.3dentourage.com/425/jeffbass.htm a lot of the craigslist posters get intimidated and won't email me after that.

banks · #6 09-28-2010, 07:25 AM

I should mention none of us knew each other. The guitar player thought he was a blues god, all he wanted to do was solo. The drummer was ok . I agree word of mouth is better. Thanks for reading...

Flatwound · #7 09-28-2010, 07:25 AM

There are a lot of flakes out there, and a lot of them advertise on Craigslist. Fortunately, I did find the band that I've been gigging with for the last three years thru Craigslist, but I went thru a lot of weirdness on the way.

The majority of the ads seem to be in a few categories:
-People who want to "make it", and require specific looks and attitudes
-People who just want to jam and aren't interested in gigging
-People who want you to play their original songs, which suck
-And people who seem to be running the ad just to let you know you're not good enough to play with them.

I was just looking to learn some songs and play in clubs. You'd think that would be a fairly easy goal to accomplish, but it sure wasn't.

PSPookie · #8 09-28-2010, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flatwound

There are a lot of flakes out there, and a lot of them advertise on Craigslist. Fortunately, I did find the band that I've been gigging with for the last three years thru Craigslist, but I went thru a lot of weirdness on the way.

The majority of the ads seem to be in a few categories:
-People who want to "make it", and require specific looks and attitudes
-People who just want to jam and aren't interested in gigging
-People who want you to play their original songs, which suck
-And people who seem to be running the ad just to let you know you're not good enough to play with them.

I was just looking to learn some songs and play in clubs. You'd think that would be a fairly easy goal to accomplish, but it sure wasn't.

You would think. I mean, how many guys are there that have day jobs and families but still want to rock. It's such a trick to find people who are in between the two extremes of "screw everything else, we're gonna be rock stars" and "let's just jam in my basement once a month".

FeuerFrei · #9 09-28-2010, 07:45 AM

I found my band through craigslist, and in reality we would have never met any other way, I also found the prior band this way as well, but that ended poorly, mostly because the lead singer was a dipstick.

banks · #10 09-28-2010, 07:46 AM

Don't get me wrong I'm all for jamming and having fun. I think it would have gone better if there was a chosen direction before hand.

invader3k · #11 09-28-2010, 08:42 AM

I've had some limited success with craigslist. You have to wade through a lot of wannabes and people with unrealistic expectations to get to someone who is a good fit.

I've had everything from old guys who just want to jam to guys with diva attitudes. Once when our band was looking for a singer (for our basic rock cover band practicing in a basement), I had a guy email saying he would only show up if we had very specific equipment and a full recording studio. I've had other incidents where it was obvious someone only wanted to join so they could completely change the band's direction and do their own songs (whether covers from a different genre or their own lame original music).

I've had much more luck finding people through local musician message boards (madisonmusicians.net and milwaukeerocks.com, specifically). If you do a Google search for the state you're in, you should be able to find something.

Cosmo420 · #12 09-28-2010, 08:53 AM

We found our drummer on CL within 24 hours of posting the ad (and after 3 months of asking around on Facebook, in music stores, word of mouth, etc. with no luck).

I believe we are the exception to the rule, however...

jpTron · #13 09-28-2010, 08:58 AM

I found a guitarist through there that I'm meeting up with tomorrow. He's sent me samples and I liked what I heard so I have some hope. But after my last experience where I felt like I was in a room with a bunch of Special Olympics escapees, I don't expect much. I'm shy and all, but these were the 3 most socially awkward people I've ever been around in my life. And they all sucked at their respective instruments so it's not like I could pull the best dude aside and be like "the rest suck, lets get together ourselves and jam"

LaklandBass · #14 09-28-2010, 09:06 AM

We found a great drummer through there.
I also went to an audition that was horrible from CL though. Its usually the case that the more "requirements" the band lists the worse they actually are.

**StrangerDanger** · #15 09-28-2010, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ric5

You can find good bands and players on craigslist ... but there are a lot of posers and wannabes and total nut cases there to sort through. I post a link to my profile online http://www.3dentourage.com/425/jeffbass.htm a lot of the craigslist posters get intimidated and won't email me after that.

BADASS coat in the bottom pic. I also tell you dont like Rics.

natw42 · #16 09-28-2010, 09:24 AM

I've had experiences both positive and negative. My last band went through 3 singers, all found through craigslist, and ultimately they didn't work out for various reasons (bad performance, prima dona action, etc.) which led to the demise of the band.

I've also found sub work through craigslist...some of which were headaches and drama, some were cool. But there is coin involved so whatever.

However, my current band situation came together mostly through craigslist and it has been amazing thus far.
The band leaders put a post saying they were looking for new musicians for their band. My keyboardist buddy responded as well as the percussionist (who I didn't know previously and is a top tier musician and instrumentalist).

My buddy recommended me to the band leaders, I recommended my other buddy for guitar, and the percussionist had a friend who played drums. All the sudden ... a BAND happened.

And this is the most positive playing experience of my life. I could go on and on about the band to be honest. Great people, musicianship, and songs. We've since taken on a new name since we aren't just what the old band used to be (see my sig). But it never would have happened if not for the power of craigslist because the band leaders are from Easton, PA and the rest of us are based out of Philly/South Jersey (about 1.5 hr drive from Easton).

All my ramblings aside - it's a mixed bag. You never know what you will find. But you won't get into a new playing situation if you don't put yourself out there - be it craigslist, word of mouth, posters at your local GC, etc.

Just my 2 cents...

klokker · #17 09-28-2010, 09:27 AM

Craigslist worked for me initially. Its the only way I could get a start. Once you get going, "word of mouth" is the best way.

unbridled · #18 09-28-2010, 09:46 AM

Found a great drummer through CL when other methods failed. Drummers are hard to find in Montana for some reason. The best part is he's closer to the rest of us than the last drummer was.

NickInMesa · #19 09-28-2010, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ric5

You can find good bands and players on craigslist ... but there are a lot of posers and wannabes and total nut cases there to sort through. I post a link to my profile online http://www.3dentourage.com/425/jeffbass.htm a lot of the craigslist posters get intimidated and won't email me after that.

Jeff, good page, a bit old school but who cares. You have all you need and it features you playing.

I have done the same with my Bandmix page. Just one photo, a sample of my playlist, videos of me playing with a band. None of it is too shaby. Shows I am real and can hold it.

It helps sort out the players from those who have a real project.

Unfortunately most of those who have a real project, don't have a real project, but that's another issue.

I have found good folks on CL, but it's about 5% of them. The rest is either guys with no project, guys who live on the other side of town and did not take the time to read where I lived, guys who play music I will not play and a lot, I mean a lot of people who talk a good game, then nothing happens.

I am not frustrated, I play with good fun guys, I am sure I could play with much better musicians, but last time I tried to play in a band with good musicians, it lasted one practice before drama happened.

I hear from a lot of folks that their music scene sucks, but Phoenix is really, really particular.

EricF · #20 09-28-2010, 10:01 AM

I've had mixed success with CL. My most recent efforts to get a blues band together lead to a string of meetings with guitar players who ranged from painfully bad to Russian-psycho-metalhead (dude, "blues" doesn't just mean 12 bars if I-IV-V!!). I finally put the idea of buiding a new band on hold for the time being.

My previous two bands all included CL connections with skilled (and sane!) musicians who have subsequently become good friends. Unfortunately, both bands disintegrated for other reasons.