Audition > Band!

cymbop · #1 09-20-2007, 01:08 PM

In the wake of my previous band dissolving last summer, I went out for a Bassist Wanted ad in Craigslist. It's an all-instrumental, 1960's style surf, funk and longe band. As I researched, I found out they were all 40-60 years old and former touring musicians -- a step and a half out of my league. One toured with Tift Merritt, and another was in Southern Culture on the Skids for two years. The oldest guy was in a college band in 1967! (I'm 31, have only played an instrument for 5 years, and taught myself almost entirely by ear. I've played out five times.) The music is tightly arranged and chops-centric for sure. As an instrumental band, they have to take a lot of pride in their musicianship. But it's groovy as hell and a blast to play once you've got it down. Imagine the Ventures and Dick Dale meet the Meters and Booker T & the MGs.

Well, I learned 5 of their tunes, stone cold, from a live CD they sent me, and lo and behold, I didn't suck at the audition. I relied heavily on the excellent advice in Jimmy M's thread. After waiting a week to try out one more guy, they called last night to say I had the job. Holy crap! They play 3 sets worth of 2 1/2-minute songs, so I've got some woodshedding to do! 8 songs learned so far, 32 to go....

The real upshot is that these guys are really good human beings, and they obviously love getting together and making tight music. There's no singer-associated drama, and the two guitarists really respect each others' space. They all exude good vibes. I love the material. I am pinching myself.

Check out Killer Filler if you have a chance. Let me know what you think about the music, and more importantly share your experience as the New Guy stepping into an established band and some advice on learning loads of new material.

Thanks!

Johnny Crab · #2 09-20-2007, 06:10 PM

CONGRATS!!!

So NEVER underestimate yourself, right?
Good job and go woodshed.

STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!
GO PRACTICE NOW!
OPPORTUNITY IS KNOCKING,
ANSWER THE DOOR!

seansbrew · #3 09-20-2007, 06:27 PM

Good job, congrats. Situations like these are hard to come by. Enjoy the bass chair, sounds like a good group of guys.

MoD_Scotty · #4 09-20-2007, 08:38 PM

Wow...they have a great sound. Congrats on the gig!

sublime0bass · #5 09-20-2007, 08:42 PM

he BETTER not post anytime soon

beware cmybop... we are post stalking you!

cymbop · #6 09-22-2007, 10:18 AM

Holy crap. I went to hear these guys last night at Slim's in Raleigh, and they brought it. Two sets, 33 songs. They've been together for 3 years, and it shows in the tightness. It's the most psychedelic non-jam music I've heard, and it has a crazy level of sophistication without being the least bit pretentious. The departing bass player, a super guy, let me sit in on a few of the tunes I'd learned for the audition. Band leader called out "Where's the young'n?!? Get up here, Young'n!" So I plugged in and went to town. It went okay, I guess, and afterward I couldn't get them to say anything bad about my parts.

Slim's is a private club owned by a bunch of musicians. They asked us to play their annual Christmas party, where they invite a couple hundred friends for a full open bar. The guy said that after we played that party, we could pack the bar any time we came out. After the show some drunk guy said he'd seen 200 bands in that venue and none as good. Is this normal?

The drummer, who came into the band a year ago, assured me that they were really patient with him from the beginning. In fact, they did three months of weekly practices together before they played a gig. The Boss said last night that 3-4 new songs per week would be a good target.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

scottice · #7 09-22-2007, 10:37 AM

Great story! Congrats!!!!! Keep us posted on your progress.

LowDown Hal · #8 09-22-2007, 10:40 AM

just checked out the my space..
sounds great

Congratulations on the gig

Busker · #9 09-22-2007, 11:10 AM

Hey, you're doin' good. Congrats!

Caca de Kick · #10 09-22-2007, 12:37 PM

Sounds like a blast! Congrats!

cymbop · #11 09-23-2007, 10:32 AM

I ran into the Boss last night at another group's show, and he handed me five CD-Rs worth of homework material! He's not rushing things, though. He wants to add 3-4 songs per week and put in the communal practice hours until the comfort level is there and things are really tight. Maybe I'll be playing out by November. That's manageable.

It looks like the Benevolent Dictator model works really well for this group. Crispy, the B-3 player, knows what he wants to hear and makes all of the ultimate decisions. But he's so gentle about it and inclusive of the others' input that nobody gets ruffled.

At the gig last Friday one of the guitar players said "We're really a musician's band. If you look at the audience tonight, half of these people are in a band of their own."

So the pressure is on, but in the best possible way. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm back to the woodshed....

cymbop · #12 10-04-2007, 09:12 AM

Second rehearsal was Tuesday. Man, these guys are so great to work with. I show up with the list of songs that are up to speed -- 18 down, about 22 to go -- and the band leader pretty much lets me call the order of what to work on. We run through a tune, everybody can make comments, and if anybody wants to run through it again, then we do. Everybody shows up happy, relaxed, and ready to work on the music but have fun all the while. We plowed through songs for almost two hours without a break. There's such a great emphasis on the quality of the music, and everybody saves the beers and smokes 'till the social hour after reheasal. Then we have a little show & tell time where we play some tracks for consideration in future setlists.

I'm still pinching myself over the opportunity to be in a band like this.

I leveled with them about my learning curve on a new song. I'll sit down with a tune on a CD, hack away at it for two hours, and think, "Damn, I can't do this."

Then I'll come back the next day, hit it for an hour, and think, "Maybe I can do this." By the third day, after another hour, it's, "Okay... I can do this."

They all smiled knowingly.

Fenderjazz6823 · #13 10-04-2007, 09:21 AM

Keep On Going

Thats a dream for me !!!!

Blueszilla · #14 10-04-2007, 10:32 AM

What fun, sounds like you're diggin' it! You've made friends for life, nothin' better than that.

Edit: How about posting your set list?

cymbop · #15 10-04-2007, 05:45 PM

It's mostly obscure stuff - B-sides and album filler, hence the name of the band. They just put up on YouTube a Ventures tune called "Never Came Back." (That's the former bassist.) To be honest I didn't recognize any of the setlist titles other than "Fever" and "Cissy Strut." Here's a very partial list, omitting the dozen or so originals:

No Matter What Shape
Man Possessed
Tintarella di la Luna (arr. Enoch Light)
Bird Rocker
Java
Jellybeanin'
Shindig
Club House
Wild Trip
House Shoes
Outrage
Bellsouki
Tweetie Pie
Cruel Sea
Soul Dressing (Booker T)
Loser's Bar
I Can Dig It (Booker T)
Man of Mystery (The Shadows)
Contentment
Night in Tunisia (Dizzy Gillespie, arr. Laika & the Cosmonauts)
Arabesque
Journey through Space (Jeff Wayne Shuttle)

Crispy licenses some of his originals to MTV -- they've been on The Osbournes and Made. Woah.

Juniorkimbrough · #16 10-04-2007, 05:53 PM

Cool! Congrats, this is what it's all about.......enjoying playing music with no drama or egos!

cymbop · #17 10-10-2007, 01:30 PM

Well, weekly rehearsal #3 was last night. These guys show up to work, for sure. We hit tunes for 2.5 hours without a break! I didn't feel 100%-on for whatever reason, but held it together okay. Last week I spent most of my time learning and polishing 4 new songs, and maybe the other 18 suffered a little from neglect.

Crispy commented that it's been cool to have a new guy on the bottom end, because the songs just groove a little bit differently now. The older guitar player said he enjoyed playing in the band more now because "the rhythm section just sounds more alive." That meant the world to me.

And I got a little bit of love on their Myspace blog:

We got us a fine new bass player in Rusty Miller. He's our youngest member but plays like a 60 year old session guy. Plenty of chutzpah in the chops department. Rusty already sat in with us at Slims and did very well. He's got two shiny basses with the Fender logo on them. Very sexy. Rehearsals have been moving along swimmingly. Rusty's first official gig will be November 10th at the fabulous Cavern Tavern in mighty Chapel Hill. We're opening for another band so Killer Filler will go on around 10pm( relatively early for the Cave.) Come on out and get sloppy drunk with Killer Filler. We'll hide your keys and blame an innocent bystander.

So, it sounds like they like me.

Here's a YouTube of them (without me) doing a Booker T & the MG's tune.

Thanks for reading, and sharing any relevant advice. For those of you with long setlists and change-heavy tunes: how do you keep everything lodged in your head?

scottice · #18 10-10-2007, 01:37 PM

That's quite flattering! Keep up the good work. Sounds like a nice bunch of guys.

flakeh · #19 10-10-2007, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cymbop

Well, weekly rehearsal #3 was last night. These guys show up to work, for sure. We hit tunes for 2.5 hours without a break! I didn't feel 100%-on for whatever reason, but held it together okay. Last week I spent most of my time learning and polishing 4 new songs, and maybe the other 18 suffered a little from neglect.

Crispy commented that it's been cool to have a new guy on the bottom end, because the songs just groove a little bit differently now. The older guitar player said he enjoyed playing in the band more now because "the rhythm section just sounds more alive." That meant the world to me.

And I got a little bit of love on their Myspace blog:

We got us a fine new bass player in Rusty Miller. He's our youngest member but plays like a 60 year old session guy. Plenty of chutzpah in the chops department. Rusty already sat in with us at Slims and did very well. He's got two shiny basses with the Fender logo on them. Very sexy. Rehearsals have been moving along swimmingly. Rusty's first official gig will be November 10th at the fabulous Cavern Tavern in mighty Chapel Hill. We're opening for another band so Killer Filler will go on around 10pm( relatively early for the Cave.) Come on out and get sloppy drunk with Killer Filler. We'll hide your keys and blame an innocent bystander.

So, it sounds like they like me.

Here's a YouTube of them (without me) doing a Booker T & the MG's tune.

Thanks for reading, and sharing any relevant advice. For those of you with long setlists and change-heavy tunes: how do you keep everything lodged in your head?

Sounds like a great bunch of guys! They sound like a bunch of fun-loving music playing chops-galore guys also!

I too have a band audition this weekend. Its with a bad thats a bit out of my genre (make that fairly out) But I want a challenge. I'm comfortable with the stuff, But not my first choice. Either way

cymbop · #20 11-14-2007, 01:32 PM

Oh, man. It went so much better than I could've imagined. The Cave is a really, really cool room, and it was pretty-well packed with folks. The '74 SVT sounded majestic beneath all the reverb-drenched single-coil guitars. I've finally found my tone, and it fits just right with the band. The lead guitarist mentioned how much he like playing in front of my Fridge.

Aside from just a couple of flubs, all 15 tunes were tight and rocking. Got a recording last night, and holy cow I can't believe how good it sounds. Yee freaking hah! The band is really happy with me, although I still feel like I hardly deserve to be on stage with them. Drummer said I "brought it with authority and musicality."

A friend took some really good shots:

I feel like I'm the luckiest bass player in the world. I love the guys in the band, and the material we play. WooHoo!