Has Your Overall Band Experience Been Good?

[Tx Basser]

All of the above. For the most part, my band experiences have been good. But the times they haven't is when I have to work with a prima donna/arsehole or some musician who thinks they know it all and refuse to compromise when it comes to anything they don't want to do.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by phillybass101

The reason is simple despite whatever tour they just came off of they still need to eat and pay the bills, thus they're right beside me at the neighborhood bar/grill. .

Very true, a good buddy of mine tours playing drums with someone of Super Star status. When the tour is over he comes home and does corner bar gigs just like the rest of us.

One of the coolest nicest guys I know.

Blue

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by gjbassist

Overall I have enjoyed it. Last month I left a band because the BL was a total pain to get along with and had ideas that were way out in left field. But I still enjoyed the experience of playing some music I had never played at venues I had never played before.

I think when any of us find ourselves dealing with a prima dona, know it all , I have all the answers and your at the local level. It's time to bail.

Blue

[Marial]

Originally Posted by zachoff

Rad. I've been kicking around doing this as well but the only ad I responded to did covers & didn't care about playing shows.

I got lucky and hooked up with a pretty talented song writer, and despite some line-up changes that involved some bumps and bruises (literally... our BL was dating the fiddle player we had at the time and she quit the band after pretty much attacking him after our biggest show at the time a sold-out Halloween gig.... she was psycho and mixed adderall with booze).

Anyhow, yeah, I haven't had this much fun playing in a long time.

[kevteop]

Overall yeah it's been great fun, or I wouldn't have been doing it for so long. I've never cared about making money so being broke all the time was never an issue, and I've had some awesome times with some great people.

Of course there are the lows too, but they are the occasional unbearable bandmate and the admin side of things mostly, and while I've quit bands due to not getting along with other personnel it's never been bad enough to stop me going and joining another band.

[kjpollo]

Mixed so far.

I'm in my 3rd band and each one was different, 1st was original hard rock, 2nd was classic rock covers and the current one is modern country covers.

The 1st band started out as a cover band and very quickly morphed into originals. Project seriously lost steam when the original guitarist killed himself, plus we had problems finding and keeping a drummer. We kept going for about 5-6 months afterward but the singer was developing serious LSD and I left to join band #2.

Band #2 was 2 very old friends (drummer & LG) and me trying to find a singer and rhythm player. Numerous lineup & musical changes later we thought we had a set lineup and we even got lucky and found an excellent keyboard player. We had a couple of gigs lined up but the drummer nixed both because we werent perfect enough for him. He's not the type to "wing" anything. Shortly after the 2nd gig got shot down, people were losing interest and not showing for rehearsals. Drummer and keyboard player left. The other 4 of us got a new drummer and kept going. Just before Christmas the singer went berserk on me because I couldnt make a rehearsal despite ZERO gigs at any time in the near (or far) future. I left for band #3.

Band #3 is the modern country band- lead singer is an old friend, everyone else is new to me. Chemistry is amazing and we played a gig after only about 6 or 7 full rehearsals! This is what I've been waiting/looking for. I had to change genres but I'm learning and enjoying music I had been missing out on for years.

[Frank Tuesday]

I'm a little confused. Do you want to know

Has Your Overall Band Experience Been Good?

or

Originally Posted by bluewine

I have read comments from some Tbers that don’t like the experience of playing in a gigging rock band. There’s all sorts of reasons. I am wondering if there is a consensus.

•Just not your thing.

•Life Style change , for example family obligations or day job
•Health issues

•To many experiences with bands that went nowhere

•Treated poorly in bands,(drama, creeps, pay ect..)

•Did it for too many years, age issues, burnt out and lost interest

•Lack of bands that share your direction

•Made some poor band choices

•I don’t like being in bars or clubs

Blue

To answer the question in your title, my overall band experiences have been good.

To answer your post, I'm more interested in creating music than performing music. I love playing out, and look forward to it, but that isn't why I love being a musician.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by Frank Tuesday

I'm a little confused. Do you want to know

Has Your Overall Band Experience Been Good?

or


To answer the question in your title, my overall band experiences have been good.

To answer your post, I'm more interested in creating music than performing music. I love playing out, and look forward to it, but that isn't why I love being a musician.

No shame in that, I know a few guys that are great musicians but prefer doing the home recording thing as opposed to gigging.

Blue

[Pacman]

Music has taken me all over the world, fed my family and put a roof over my head. I've meet fantastic (and some terrible) musicians, wonderful people, and seen things many of my peers won't ever see. Yeah, I'd say pretty positive.

[jive1]

Originally Posted by Pacman

...... and seen things many of my peers won't ever see. Yeah, I'd say pretty positive.

If it weren't for playing bass, I would never have had an opportunity to cop a feel of Phalex or Jady's moobs. Positive indeed.

[Pacman]

You win.

[BayStateBass]

Overall, it's been good as a whole. Specific things have been bad.

I'm late to the party having only started doing this band thing in my 30's. Now that 40 is in my line of sight I realize I should have taken the initiative much earlier in life.

But I've met some good people, had some fun, and been able to do something that I've always wanted to do. I've also made good friends that I like spending time with.

I've also met people I'd like to high-five. In the face. With a chair.

It has not been without it's hassles, but nothing worth doing is ever easy.

I am glad I did it and overall I still enjoy doing it. It will never be more than a weekend warrior thing for me but I'm okay with that. My family is my first priority and being in a part-time cover band works with everything.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by BayStateBass

Overall, it's been good as a whole. Specific things have been bad.

I'm late to the party having only started doing this band thing in my 30's. Now that 40 is in my line of sight I realize I should have taken the initiative much earlier in life.

Why do you say that?

Blue

[Kmonk]

•Treated poorly in bands,(drama, creeps, pay ect..)

•Lack of bands that share your direction

These are the two that I have experienced the most often. I took some time off from bands for a while but for the past year, I have been having more fun playing in a band than ever before. I try to learn from every experience (good and bad) and the vast majority of them have been positive. I have been able to make a decent living in music and have had the opportunity to perform with and open for many well known artists. I wouldn't trade the experiences for anything.

[BayStateBass]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Why do you say that?

Blue

Well, because honestly I would be able to have enjoyed it longer!

[HolmeBass]

On the whole most enjoyable. Not going to quit any time soon.

[bluewine]

Great responses

One of the things I was looking for is where a bass player had been screwed around so much by bad bands they fall out of the system before they have had a chance to work with good people in a worthwhile band.

I have a friend where every band he's joined he has been screwed over and now he won't even audition for any band even when it's a potentially a good opportunity.

Blue

[the yeti]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Great responses

One of the things I was looking for is where a bass player had been screwed around so much by bad bands they fall out of the system before they have had a chance to work with good people in a worthwhile band.

I have a friend where every band he's joined he has been screwed over and now he won't even audition for any band even when it's a potentially a good opportunity.

Blue

i'm not certain his is true but very recently heard this ancient proverb: "meet an ass in the morning, you met an ass. meet asses all day, you're the ass."

do you think that applies to your friends situation?

[Biggbass]

Originally Posted by Stewie26

I have always been in weekend warrior bands so I never had to make a living from playing. With that said, it has been fun and rewarding for me.

for the past couple of decades...This ^

[Jazz Ad]

So far, so good.
I've played in well going, small touring projects, absolutely crappy bands that were a lot of fun, cave experiments that were awesome but too crazy to ever land a stage, local cover bands gigging weekly and also a big lot of borndead insane bands that never put more than 1 1/2 song together.
All in all, something like 30 bands in which I truely was a member and a bunch of replacements.

What I learnt along the years:
-I rarely enjoy the company of musicians out of band duties. Very few of my friends are musicians.
-Artists in general and musicians particularly, myself included have an ego the size of Jupiter, which makes relationships difficult to manage. You need to set things straight from the start.
-Contrary to a popular opinion, bands that provide the most fun aren't the ones that pay the less.
-Even with music being a hobby, it takes a lot of will and dedication to make a good band. It's a lot like working out, if you force yourself to do it even after a 12 hour day the reward is great.
-You don't fix people and you can't teach them discipline. Slackers they are slackers they shall be. Yet if you know your parts and lead the rehearsal strictly, most of the time it gives good results.
-It is equally fun to make music alone in a home studio and to play live in front of a crowd, just these pleasures don't compare. They add up to each other.

Yes, I like it. It is a kind of social interaction that you don't find in other areas.