band ad..."must have sufficient income"

duff beer · #1 03-06-2010, 11:56 AM

I was browsing Bandmix and saw this ad:

"Rock band out of winnipeg needs drummer. Recording record. Exp needed in playing shows, touring. Must have sufficient income and be willing to practice 2-3 times a week."

Yup...not only do you need experience touring, you also must have a "sufficient income".

http://www.bandmix.ca/miketexasdirty/

OneMoreRobot · #2 03-06-2010, 11:58 AM

Translation: "Must buy us stuff and bail us out when we go to jail."

Stinsok · #3 03-06-2010, 11:58 AM

They don't want a big mooch hanging around.

seamus bass · #4 03-06-2010, 12:07 PM

sounds like they want to weed out the "rockstars" and keep to the "realists"

sackvegas · #5 03-06-2010, 02:42 PM

I think they need someone to pitch in for the recording

tycobb73 · #6 03-06-2010, 04:49 PM

I'm thinkg about stating something similar. I once got a lady responding to my ad saying she couldn't get together because she had to wait to get the brakes on her car fixed. A guitard once wouldn't come see my band play and talk about joining us because he couldn't afford the gas.

joebar · #7 03-06-2010, 04:58 PM

you have to know about the personal lives of your band- it will answer alot of questions right of the bat. it is as important as the music.

Fassa Albrecht · #8 03-06-2010, 06:56 PM

+1 to the point about realism. You NEED a person who isn't trying to mooch off everyone else, and you need someone who isn't simply trying to live the rockstar life.

That then leaves you with two types: the serious musicians who do make a living playing music, but do the work and put their everything into the band, and the weekend musicians who earn a little extra doing something they love doing.

fdeck · #9 03-06-2010, 09:27 PM

Won't the band produce sufficient income?

ilikethump · #10 03-06-2010, 10:43 PM

Makes perfect sense to me. Weeds out those who are counting on "making it big" at some point. That typically means people who can't afford to maintain their equipment and have extremely misplaced expectations of the band.

It doesn't matter how good the band is, if they are recruiting it generally means that they are still forming up - which means that they don't have the fanbase yet. If you don't have the fanbase, it doesn't matter how good you are, you aren't making money for some time... best to have something to live on for that time.

Beej · #11 03-06-2010, 11:15 PM

Well, I'm a therapist, drummer and guitarist are bricklayers, other guitarist sells stereos, and our singer is a nearly homeless alcoholic. He can really sing, but he doesn't own any mics...

NickInMesa · #12 03-07-2010, 12:30 AM

That is common. They don't want a loser or a student. They are all financially viable with stable jobs and this is a hobby, but since it's an expensive hobby, they don't want to see a kid show up with a Squier and a Crate (or in this case whatever is an entry-level drum set brand)

Makes plenty sense to me.

jakelly · #13 03-07-2010, 05:08 AM

This band I used to know had a sort of a drifter type guy on the bass. He wouldn't spend any money on equipment, if he had any extra cash that is. He played a beat-up, filthy dirty Squier* that had no case, not even a gig bag, and with the strings literally having been tied on at the bridge after they broke. Finally the guitarist corralled him on payday and drove him to the music store (oh yeah, almost forgot, he didn't have a car) and made him buy a set of bass strings.

So, yeah....

* Nothing wrong with Squier - I have two and enjoy them. But they do benefit from a bare minimum of care & maintenance.

Sijjvra · #14 03-07-2010, 05:23 AM

I could get into a debate about "expensive bass =/= good bass player" here since the Squier remark, but I won't. All I'll say is plenty of gigging bassists play with less expensive stuff and sound wonderful.

But back to the matter at hand: currently my band is looking for a full-time vocalist as our guitarist really doesn't want to sing, but at this point in time -has- to sing because the rest of us stink at it. One of the requirements for our frontman-to-be?

Must have the resources (aka cash) to fund your own equipment... in this case mics and a PA and/or monitors. Considering you can get a nice used PA on Craigslist for about 400 bucks, the frontman would still get away with having spent 1/4 of what the rest of us have so far.

I don't blame these guys. If you go to a band hoping for a spot in the band, don't expect them to buy your stuff for you. No one bought my rig and my basses, no one bought the drummer his kit for him, no one bought our guitarist his stuff either. It's just common sense - music can be an expensive hobby if you plan on playing in any sort of live setting, and you have to be able to foot your bill *shrug* I'm not rich by any means but I set aside a little bit at a time until I can afford what I want.

Having someone with a sense of responsibility in a band like that is a -must-

steveksux · #15 03-07-2010, 06:09 AM

That's one of my requirements too, when looking for a band. I want to hook up with a bunch of guys with day jobs.

1) They know what responsibility looks like
2) They aren't depending on the band to pay the bills
3) They don't want to work every weekend.
4) They don't want to practice 3x a week.

Randy

invader3k · #16 03-07-2010, 08:08 AM

I think stating "must have sufficient income" is slightly tacky. What is "sufficient income?" $20,000/yr? $50,000? $100,000? Just seems very subjective.

Usually stating "must have quality gear and reliable transportation" (yes, I know that is subjective too) seems to be enough to weed out the wannabes. There's so many singers out there that won't even fork out for their own microphone, which is just ridiculous. You can probably find a quality, slightly used Shure mic on eBay for less than 50 bucks. I used to be in a band with two female wannabe vocalists, and the guitarist brought up some sort of pitch correction pedal/device (I don't remember the exact details of it). I think it cost about 100 bucks and probably would have helped their vocals. They both kind of got deer in headlight looks at the though of *gasp*, actually spending some money. One of them was loaded too.

I've dealt with band members who have had constant car issues ("Yeah, my car's in the shop again, can't make practice") and it definitely sucks. Sometimes you just have to cut ties quickly and move on.

rllefebv · #17 03-07-2010, 09:35 AM

It may not always be about having the proper gear... Sometimes, this type of statement could mean not depending upon gig money to live...

Some bands (mine for instance) pay the 'band' as an additional player to have a 'kitty' for incidental expenses (fliers, photos, cards, website, etc)... It's truly a drag when you have to quibble about this kind of stuff at the end of a gig... Having 'been there' in a few bands, I just prefer to lay that out for prospective band members up front...

-robert

NickInMesa · #18 03-07-2010, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sijjvra

I could get into a debate about "expensive bass =/= good bass player" here since the Squier remark, but I won't.

Yes, it's true, I have a Squier Stratocaster Affinity and it sounds surprisingly well.

I also have a Squier Jazz V which has great action but crappy pickups.

I think if you want to be taken seriously, showing up with a Squier does not help.

invader3k · #19 03-07-2010, 11:15 AM

Well, regardless of whether it's a Squier or a Sadowsky, you have to maintain your instrument. Letting the strings degenerate that badly, regardless of the brand of your bass, is unacceptable if you expect to be in a serious band.

strozey · #20 03-07-2010, 01:44 PM

Practice room rent, studio time, travel expenses to and from gigs + hotels rooms add up to hundreds of dollars a month per member if your band is still getting established, they want to make sure you can 'afford' to be in their band before you join

take a look at a book like "Tour Smart" by Martin Atkins to get a better idea