Responses from CL - Madness Continues!

[Michelob_64]

I happened upon an ad on CL looking for a bass in a band, it interested me. But what insued afterwards was mind boggling. Do people really read their responses and how they come across to the general public?? Here is the response I got:

Thanks for you interest!

We are a formed cover band in the XXX area seeking a bass guitarist. The music we perform is of the ROCK genre spreading through the decades of the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and today’s modern ROCK.

Auditions will be held in XXX on Tuesday XYZ. (Weather permitting)

You will need only yourself, bass guitar, and an instrument cable.

Backing vocals are not a must, but is something we look very highly upon in choosing the right person for the position. You will be supplied a microphone regardless, feel free to chime in where backing vocals are needed.

All music played is tuned half a step down in ‘E’ flat. There will also be songs at the audition in which you will need to tune to Drop ’D’ flat as well. Please come to the audition tuned accordingly.

The night before the audition I will contact you by PHONE to confirm that you will be arriving and the time slot you will be performing. I will also provide detailed directions with the address and zip of the rehearsal location in XXX.

I will need a phone number that you can be reached at and any other contact information in the reply to this email.

There will be other musicians auditioning. If you are late, you risk losing your time slot and will be turned away.

The day after the audition, we will contact all who performed and will let everyone know who made the position or did not.

Below is a list of songs that you will performing at the audition.

We are all professional musicians and have a lot of pride and commitment to our work.

If you have videos, pictures, or MP3’s you would like to send ahead of time, please feel free.

The better we know who’s coming in, the smoother your audition will go!

NOTE: By replying to this email, you CONFIRM that you will be able to make the date as listed above and have all the necessary equipment and know how in order to fully perform the audition.

If you are unable to attend the audition after replying to this email, you must contact me BEFORE the audition date, via email.

Thanks again for your interest!

Butthead

1.) Live Wire, ACDC

2.) Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne

3.) Piece of Me, Skid Row

4.) Bad Girlfriend, Theory of a Dead Man

5.) Saturday Night, Nickleback (Elton John Remake)

[Asomodai]

I dont see much of a problem here, as they mentioned they believe they are a professional band with professional musicians and they dont want time wasters.

If it were an amateur band, i would be avoiding.

Nothing to see here, move along.

[bassteban]

Seems pretty clear & to the point, unlike a lot of CL. If it gives you some kind of iffy vibe, don't go.

[zachoff]

Any band that plays Nickelback is no band for me.

[Michelob_64]

I agree that they do sound professional and spelled out everything very clearly. Maybe its just me but the response is cold, regimented and didn't know if I needed to respond with a hand salute or not lol. Just not used to prison guidelines for a cover band is all.

Added:

I mean do you really have to spell out half step down, E flat?? And that some songs are in drop D flat? They could have simply said "We are seasoned players, looking for same in a bass player, just need to bring your bass & back up vocals if you sing. Audition times are tight & we play a half step down so come prepared so that you have maximum time to play.

[hrodbert696]

It reads to me like the person who wrote it works in the HR department of some big corporation and just goes to that tone automatically. I would normally assume that a band that's relying on CL to find musicians is not going to need to regiment tightly scheduled rehearsals for dozens of auditioners still less treat it like a doctor's appointment about cancellations and all. They seem to take themselves a little too seriously. But at least they're not flaky!

[Staccato]

"We are all professional musicians and have a lot of pride and commitment to our work."

If this is true, why come across like a cattle call?

Anyone (except on Broadway in NYC) deserves to be approached like a person, and not a number.

Many of us on this forum could write the ad (or response from the band)-that would increase the attendance, and not sound like a cattle call.
Mooo!

One safe assumption is that someone 'new' to the band would be treated as a number (not a valued musician) and if you get the gig-that you could be quickly replaced in an impersonal way, without decent regard.

[paganjack]

It sounds like they have a form response for people, it probably works pretty well at scaring off the flakes. If every piece of correspondence with them looks like that, well, they just might be robots. I'll take a response like that over the usual CL nonsense any day.

[agreatheight]

That ad reads just like the ads I run.

Detailed and organized.

The truth is, no offense meant, if you don't like the ad you are probably not professional enough for the gig.

[agreatheight]

Originally Posted by zachoff

Any band that plays Nickelback is no band for me.

Not really playing Nickelback, tho.

[agreatheight]

Originally Posted by Stacatto

[b]Many of us on this forum could write the ad (or response from the band)-that would increase the attendance, and not sound like a cattle call. Mooo!

My experience is that increasing attendance by not being specific just brings a lot of suck jobs to the audition.

[grisezd]

It all seems pretty reasonable to me. I imagine they've had some CL responses from people who showed up pretty unprepared. I also imagine that they've had people show up for "auditions" who were of the impression they had the gig just by showing up. Just this weekend my wife auditioned for a band without it being entirely clear that it was an audition (another drummer pulling up as she was packing out), the response had going in was "come on over, we'll jam, see if it's a good fit" or something like that. It went well, by all accounts, but she may have been better prepared if she knew it was a competition.

Also, this sort of "checklist" makes it pretty easy to be smart about selecting the right bandmates. Did he show up relatively close to in tune and ready to play? On time? Sing reasonably well? Know the tunes? Brought the right bass to play down a half step on rock tunes? Hard to have bad feelings if they told you all of this ahead of time.

You never know who you'll have to suffer through when you post on CL!!!

[knumbskull]

it is pretty severe and impersonal in tone but then again, presumably this is a money making gig.

on the other hand i'm guessing there are quite a few CL ads along the lines of 'wanted: totally righteous jamming buddy to explore SPACE. bring pretzels and beer and a guitar i can use since i pawned mine'

[Col Pruse]

Originally Posted by agreatheight

Not really playing Nickelback, tho.

I think a cover of a Nickel back cover is somehow worse...

[thesilence]

I don't see anything wrong with it. It's alot better than most CL replies; it's just written cold and professional

[agreatheight]

Originally Posted by Col Pruse

I think a cover of a Nickel back cover is somehow worse...

Lol, don't get me wrong, I hate me some nickelback, but Elton John is alright by me.

[subject42]

That's actually an excellent ad. I would rather have as many details as possible up front than a nebulous "let's do stuff and things will happen".

Even better, if I saw that ad, I know that I wouldn't fit what they're trying to do. It saves everybody time.

[Passinwind]

Originally Posted by subject42

That's actually an excellent ad. I would rather have as many details as possible up front than a nebulous "let's do stuff and things will happen".

Even better, if I saw that ad, I know that I wouldn't fit what they're trying to do. It saves everybody time.

+1 to all of that.

[Jeff K]

Here's the one that bothered me a bit:

"Please come to the audition tuned accordingly."

I don't care whether I'm going to a practice or a gig, I always tune up before playing. It's not a problem to tune at home first, but being in a case or gigbag can cause that tuning to change. Sounds like he's saying, "You won't even be given the time to tune. Just start playing immediately!" So that statement kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

[guitar ed]

Are you looking for a job, or looking for friends to jam with?

As a job description, it is clear, direct, and to the point. You might not like the people you end up playing with, but then the job is to make music. Nor does it mean they are idiots & jerks on a daily basis. Just focused on the job.

Also note that they have committed themselves to getting back to you with an answer by a specific date & time. Are they the pros the are claiming, or trying, to be? If they are, you will hear from them on time.

Now if you want friends to jam & party with, these guys aren't it.

Just my three cents.

edg