How Did You Join/Form Your First Band?

hybridmoments21 · #1 06-24-2009, 11:53 PM

I've been playing bass for 5 years now and I've never been in a band and never had a gig. I think the problem is that I live in a small town and I am the only kid in my school who plays an instrument aside from violin piano and that sort of thing. The good news is that I'm only 14 so I still have some time. Also I will be going to a larger school next year and hopfully I can find some poeple who are into the same type of music as me. I'm just wondering how some of the people on this forum first joined a band.

fulltimebassist · #2 06-24-2009, 11:58 PM

All in good time!

9 years ago I started playing bass instead of drums because the band I wanted to join already had a drummer. It turned out to be the best choice I've ever made

The right group of friends will come along, you might have to do some searching though. In the mean time, you can still do a TON by yourself. Download a trial version of FL Studio and experiment with creating your own songs, and maybe record some bass tracks too.

14 is young, don't lose hope

Matt Dean · #3 06-25-2009, 12:07 AM

I started my first band with some high school mates when I was 15... so you're right on track. I'd just find some people in your new school next year and start jamming; the next thing you'll know you'll be in a band. That's how I did it.

nitrofix · #4 06-25-2009, 08:23 AM

When I was 15 my best friend got a guitar for his birthday and then a couple of months later my other friend got a drum set for christmas, so they decided to start a band,so you guessed it if I wanted to be in the band i needed to play bass, I played a little guitar when I was in 4th grade so i knew kinda what i was doing, ended up being a great choice I love playing bass and since there are about a million guitar players around and not nearly as many bass players i never had a problem finding bands to play with.....

lousybassplayer · #5 06-25-2009, 08:31 AM

I had an amp and my buddy didn't so I took his spot in the only band going in 8th grade. Then the guitar player made him teach me the songs!

rappa29 · #6 06-25-2009, 08:38 AM

Like most do, I started when I was 15ish (I'm 38 now). My best friend and I just out of the blue decided we wanted to form a band. I was going to play drums and my buddy was going to play keys. He decided he wanted to play bass so I switched to keys.

We found a drummer from our high school. Found a singer from another high school through the local classifieds. Found a guitar player through friends in high school. Were gigging in an alt rock band by the time we could drive.

You're pretty much on track at your age. Just keep on shedding and keep your eyes and ears open. There are many teens like you waiting to meet others to play music with and form a band. May take some trial and error with different players, but it'll happen if you want it to!

wnelson · #7 06-25-2009, 08:49 AM

i grew up playing in crappy little metal bands with my bc rich warlock (first bass,lol) when i was 14 ....i joined my first serious band at 20...an acoustic jam band (sold the bc rich at 15 btw,haha) ....i just transfered to a different resturant that i waited at....the singer/guitar player and drummer worked there and they had just started the band not too long ago.....i mentioned i played bass and they wouldnt leave me alone till i would check them out...that was a fun band that lasted 3 years..alot of experience came out of it.....it was because of that band that i made my connections and meet the people that lead me to my current band......and i love it!!!

at your age,your doing fine.....better than i when i started playing...which was 14....27 now.....ive been in 5 working bands since i turned 20.......it all about finding the right chemistry with people......thats why my current project is doing so well,i believe
its a band of people who left thier bands to put it together.

its not true for everyone,but for me,it took awhile to find the right guys to write with......heres an article written on my current band kinda talking about how i left my past band to help put this one together..

enjoy!...and good luck!

http://www.theurbanadvocate.com/Primal_Circus.html

Rudreax · #8 06-25-2009, 08:55 AM

I responded to many, many ads on Craigslist and waited to get replies. I got a bunch back, checked them all out, and stuck with the people that interested me the most. That was at the beginning of June, and I have a gig in mid-August now, along with a bunch of sub work.

I hoping you're not limiting yourself to joining bands only you want to play. When you're starting out at joining bands, you should try replying to EVERY notice for a bassist, even if the band is playing a style you don't normally play (unless the style is something your completely against; for me it would be smooth jazz).

Just get yourself out there, and practice ALL THE TIME. Ive been playing for about a year now, but from the comments I've gotten from those I've played with I sound as if I been playing much longer. Play, play, play in your room/basement until you believe you're good enough to cover yourself in most musical settings. You have to literally throw yourself out into the world of music if you want anyone to catch you.

BassChuck · #9 06-25-2009, 09:02 AM

I was working a summer job as a sec. in the Music office in college. Someone called wanting a jazz trio so I booked the gig, hired a piano player and drummer, bought a bass and 4 weeks later played the gig. I was a trumpet major at the time, and had never played bass..... never even held one. The gig went well and we got 2 or 3 booking from it and the whole thing just kept going. After graduation we played some clubs and a theme park. The other guys moved away and I found other bands to play with. That was 35 years ago, and I've been playing steady since then.

Realize that 100% success equals a mixture of technique and BS. Good BS takes at least as much work as good technique. The ratio is a matter of ethics.

vbasscustom · #10 06-25-2009, 09:36 AM

no jazz??!! anyway. first band, started as 2 guys jammin on one song, purple haze. before we started lookin for other people we decided to get the tone and playing really really solid. did that, sounded awsome. found a drummer, singer, and backup guitar, in that order. worked out great, played a couple of things at our school, everybody loved it. got a gig through a local company that puts on local talent shows all over the place, played it, people loved it. the guy the band started from, me and the lead guitarist, well the lead guy moved accross country, military family, and it just kind of fell apart. havnt had a band since this was a couple years ago.

chaosMK · #11 06-25-2009, 09:43 AM

I picked up 2 ads from guitar center. I called one, no answer. Called the second one, an answer.

It was crazy, everyone in that original lineup has continued doing musical stuff, 8-9 years later.

etoncrow · #12 06-25-2009, 09:58 AM

I started taking drum lessons from the high school band teacher when I was 10. My parents bought me a starter set a year or so later when they figured I was going to stick with it. At some point they also picked up an electronic organ with dual keyboard and bass pedals from my Dad's sister in the hopes my sister would learn to play it. A local high school keyboard phenomenon lived up the street and found out my parents had this organ. He got permission to play it on the stipulation I could play along with him. His drummer quit a year or so later and left them with pending gigs. Since I knew all of their songs it was just natural for me to join them. I was about 14. I learned the ropes from them and when they graduated I took over as leader. That was something close to 50 years ago.

Aenima · #13 06-25-2009, 10:02 AM

I joined my first band as a freshman in highschool, it wasnt very exciting infact the whole first band experiance for me was just kind of whatever to me. in fact i think the conversation when i joined was pretty much like this

Singer: Hey chris you play bass right

me: yea

singer: play in my band then

me: kay

and well i was in my first band. I never hated that band but at the same time i never felt good about being in it or that it was ever going to go anywhere for me (it was kind of like those commercials where everything is in black and white untill something exciting happens). After awhile i thought "if this is what playing bass in a band is like im done" so i eventually quit along with the lead guitarist (who was actually one of my best friends)....couple days later we decided to jam again...this time everything felt so "right" and i was enjoying myself. Eventually we got a solid drummer in and an amazing singer (who unfortunatly quit on us early into the project) and we had a group we were all proud of. I consider this to be my first actual band and am still upset that we eventually broke up.

I am still jamming with my guitarist friend we are in a new band that is amazing (protest the hero meets incubus style..i know kinda weird)

MatticusMania · #14 06-25-2009, 10:17 AM

I was 15, writing lyrics in English Class. A friend who played guitar saw them, liked them, and said we should jam. We started our first band. We never got a complete line up and disbanded. Over the summer I took up the bass, and at the start of the next school year we started jamming together again.

bdubs16 · #15 06-25-2009, 10:24 AM

When I was 13 I was asked to be a singer in a band that my friends were trying to start up. They said I sounded kinda like Papa Roach's singer, then I hit puberty lol. I couldn't sing worth a **** and they didn't have a bass player so I was said I'd play bass. Been playing ever since.

WJGreer · #16 06-25-2009, 10:40 AM

In 1983, our middle school held a talent show. I was in 8th grade. A few of my friends had put a band together for the show and were preparing under the tutilege of the school's band director. They lacked a bass player, and at the time I was a cellist in the orchestra starting to experiment on double bass.

They asked me to play bass in the talent show with them. My birthday was coming up anyway, so I asked for a bass and an amp and got a red Ibanez Destroyer and a Peavey Basic 40. We played the talent show with this songlist, sadly and largely influenced by the band director:

Endless Love
Against All Odds
Purple Rain

It went very well. We decided to keep playing as we moved into high school, and the band director agreed to manage the band. We continued that way for three years, and developed a decent book of music that enabled us to play some really geeky gigs (skating rink stuff mostly), but pinnacled with an appearance at the 1986 Austin Aqua Festival on the Locals Stage.

Eventually our musical interests began to diverge, and the band director took a job in another city and left the scene, after which we all moved into other projects and life interests.

The great news, though, is that, of the core members of the band, almost all are still playing. I play regularly in Fina Dupa, an original funk band in Denver, and I take the occassional call gig. The guitarist is now a teacher in Austin and does not play outside the home. The band's drummer was Mike Koenning, who went on to earn a Masters in jazz performance at Texas, and who is a very busy jazz drummer in Austin now. The singer was Ricky Trevino, who had a fairly successful run in the 90s as a country singer, and who is now a very popular Tejano artist in Texas, playing with Los Super Seven and on his own.

It was fun writing this post - some good memories.

vbasscustom · #17 06-25-2009, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by etoncrow

I started taking drum lessons from the high school band teacher when I was 10. My parents bought me a starter set a year or so later when they figured I was going to stick with it. At some point they also picked up an electronic organ with dual keyboard and bass pedals from my Dad's sister in the hopes my sister would learn to play it. A local high school keyboard phenomenon lived up the street and found out my parents had this organ. He got permission to play it on the stipulation I could play along with him. His drummer quit a year or so later and left them with pending gigs. Since I knew all of their songs it was just natural for me to join them. I was about 14. I learned the ropes from them and when they graduated I took over as leader. That was something close to 50 years ago.

but you cant really say you played anything, you were a drummer, i mean come on.

lol

mjolnir · #18 06-25-2009, 10:47 AM

Hmmm... Well, the first band I was in was my high school jazz ensemble, but as far as my first serious band, the one I'm still in now, started in college:

My roommate at the time walked into our dorm with a little slip of paper with a telephone number on it and said, "I know you were looking for a band. I think this guy needs a guitar player." I was pretty desperate at that point, and the ad was for an acoustic guitar player, so I called the number and set up an audition. It was with a small startup group, only keys, bass, and guitar/vox so far, and they asked me to meet them at the music building later that night.

The audition was going horribly (I wasn't a very good guitarist) and the frontman was noticing I was eying the bassist's Fender Jazz, so he asked if I played. I told him I was actually a bassist, and just for giggles he had me and his bass player switch instruments for a few minutes.

I went home with the impression I'd bombed the audition, but the next day I got a call from the frontman: "Hey, I kicked the other bass player out, do you want his spot?"

Vic Winters · #19 06-25-2009, 11:07 AM

When I was 19 I had a friend/co-worker come up to me and ask if I played rhythm guitar (I play both bass and guitar). He played guitar (lead), and already had a drummer and bass player. Before we got together the first time, I talked with the bass player at the time who told me he was better suited at guitar than bass. I didn't care either way so when we did get together I brought my bass and he brought his guitar. We played off and on for about 2 years. Only played 1 show in a complete dive, but it was always fun.

Interesting side note: Up until this time I wasn't a serious musician or bass player, I'd screw around with both guitar and bass on occasion but only when I was bored. After I joined my first band I became a bass and all around music junkie. And if I hadn't switched with the bass player/guitar player, I may very well have become a guitar player instead of a bass player.

Stumbo · #20 06-25-2009, 06:00 PM

6th grade, attempted to play drums, with neighborhood friends (guitarist and singer (no bass yet), then switched to guitar, in 7th grade, another guitar player came into the picture and I switched to bass as they had been playing longer than me. We were together for about 3 years until a couple of us moved away.