Do You Think A Punk Cover Band Is Viable?

[MakiSupaStar]

I play punk covers with a few guys and we might play a few gigs around here locally. But like someone mentioned, it would be better to be a tribute band of a band that's already been established in the punk world.

[jive1]

We had our first "rehearsal" last week, and it went well. It was more of a jam than a rehearsal, so we could see how well we would mesh. Right off the bat, we were doing some upbeat Ska and the horns were just killin. As long as everyone stays committed, this should be a fun project.

We're going to start on the Punked/Ska'd covers to make us more marketable from the get go, and once we can get some gigs, we'll start to add some more straight punk/ska covers.

Here's what we'll be working on next:
Come on Eileen - Save Ferris (Dexy's Midnight Runners)
99 Red Balloons - Goldfinger (Nena)
Kiss Me Deadly - Reel Big Fish (Lita Ford)
Ring of Fire - Social Distortion (Johnny Cash)
Tennessee - New Found Glory (Arrested Development)
Take On Me - Reel Big Fish (Aha)
Ghostbusters - Attaboy Skippy (Ray Parker Jr)
Walking on Sunshine - Ghoti Hook (Katrina & The Waves)
Why Can't We Be Friends - Smash Mouth (War)
Every Little Thing She Does - Ra (The Police)

[crijan]

Jive,

If you've not already, check out the "Punk Goes..." compilation series by Fearless Records.

I've used the Punk Goes Pop discs to find arrangements for cover songs for my old band to throw into their original set. Seems like a perfect starting point for what you're doing.

[jive1]

Originally Posted by crijan

Jive,

If you've not already, check out the "Punk Goes..." compilation series by Fearless Records.

I've used the Punk Goes Pop discs to find arrangements for cover songs for my old band to throw into their original set. Seems like a perfect starting point for what you're doing.

Thanks. I've been through about every single one of those for ideas. There's some cool stuff that I'll definitely use, some that I won't.

[AdamR]

Id go see it, It may not be popular with the "real" punk crowd but the pop punk crowd would love it.

[Polemaccartney]

Hi Jive,
I put together a punk covers band just overe 12 months ago, its been a hard slog but we have played around 12 gigs, but momentum is picking up, I believe 2013 will be a good year! We play a mix of 70's punk covers, Clash, Pistols, Ramones, Undertones, Magazine, Cure, Wire, etc with a few Green Day, Pennywise, Blink etc thrown in to balance things up. We are in New Zealand, where punk is not everyones cup of tea, Country and classic rock is very popular here, fortunately we have had no negative feedback and every where we have played have told us we can go back there and play again! We are a three piece, personally I play bass and lead vocals and love it. We go by the name of Punktuation, you can check us out here http://www.facebook.com/#!/Punktuationband
Please feel free to hit 'like' it would be most appreciated :-D
Gabba Gabba Hey, Peter

[pushbuttonfour]

sounds like a god idea. Much more range than just a Green Day or Ramones cover band. Gives you the freedom of all punk songs. Plus a defining feature of punk for me has always been the energetic and humorous performances. You know, moving around, having fun on stage.
For example, an old blink show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBmS4zmY2DE
notice how mark's running around the stage! That's what makes punk shows so fun. If you can capture that, you're good!

[eyeballkid]

of course it'll fly... ever hear of sublime?

[Bert Slide]

10 years ago I lived in a small ski town in CO. and we started a punk covers band for fun and profit. We intended to keep writing originals and drop most of the covers eventually but it never worked out that way. We had a ready built-in audience of ski/snowboard bums in town who grew up on the punk music surrounding the extreme sports scene. There were plenty of hippie jam bands playing locally but no punk. We were an instant hit with the locals, played bar gigs and did some special events like skateboard contests and snowboard rail jams.

Too much testosterone is what killed us in the end. We started playing double bills with another younger band that was doing a combo of punk covers/originals also. It seems the art of moshing, as evolved from pogoing and what we once called "slam dancing" is now all about trying to hurt other people on the dance floor. I don't know whether to blame the headbangers or the jocks but some people have no idea how to conduct themselves these days. Fights started on the dance floors, spread to the parking lots and soon our gigs were drawing a lot of police presence and eventually the venues refused to book us anymore.

Your market will determine if punk covers are viable and what mix. Since you have the horn section I'd probably lean heavy on the ska and keep it danceable if you want girls to enjoy it. In the ski town we joked that "you didn't lose your girlfriend just your turn" and the typical ratio in a bar could be 5-1 guys/girls on a good night. When we played these girls could usually be seen cowering well off the dance floor floor keeping their heads down to avoid flying objects while drunk "extreme athletes" tried to beat the crap out of each other. Good clean mountain fun!

[AndyLES]

Here's my punk tribute, here in NYC - www.punk77nyc.com

[RipOffRed]

Seeing as how punk is largely a scene-based genre, why not focus on a specific region in a certain period. I'd love to see a band specializing in UK 82 bands.

[jive1]

Well, since we have horns, and we're trying to do some agency work as well, were decided not to go completely punk for the time being. We're doing Ska, Swing, and some Funk along with the Punk. However, I'd still like to do a more pure Punk thing someday.

If you want to check the band out, you can go to www.kingcomfy.com. I'd like to know what you think.

[Downunderwonder]

I went to hear a band once that covered all and sundry in FUNK style, they were great, so PUNK might just work out too?