relocating as a band

jomahu · #1 09-28-2007, 08:19 AM

how many folks here relocated to a different town/state/country with their band?

how was it? did it turn out to be a good move (pardon the pun)?

Fishbrain · #2 09-28-2007, 09:08 AM

two out of the three of my band moved to the city i live in and its come on ten fold since they did. i've not got any experience of a band moving as a whole though.

casualmadness · #3 09-28-2007, 09:12 AM

When I was 17, my guitar player and I moved to Hollywood for a bit. The drummer talked about going but decided to bow out at the last moment. I was 17, guitar palyer was 19. It only took a few months ofbeing broke and being unable to find a drummer and singer before we hated each other. Pretty soon I joined a band a few cities away and he retreated into his bedroom. We ignored one another all together until we decided to leave Hollywood. Although not enemies, we were certainly never friends again.
We were young and immature and didn't really think anything through. We just did it.

rodl2005 · #4 09-30-2007, 09:31 PM

we did it yrs ago. Hard work unless U got REAL contacts. By real I mean definate gigs --& good ones- lined up!!!!!! We had a few yrs of HARD work & broke times. worked out OK in the end but WAS hard. Get GOOD solid contacts 1st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

invader3k · #5 10-01-2007, 09:15 AM

I've never done it, and would never consider it, but I just play in a cover band. It seems though that for any really good original band with potential to get signed, it shouldn't be necessary, though (again, just talking from what I've seen and read).

Any market is going to have people who will buy CDs and merch if your band is really good. How many stories do you hear about a young band moving to LA, paying to play in order to "get exposure", living in a van or a crummy one room apartment, and then burning out in a year or two and breaking up? Tons.

I just think that if a band really has potential, the record companies will find them.

punkbassistfc · #6 10-01-2007, 01:17 PM

you never know until you go. Although being blind is probably the worst thing you can do, life is all about risks, and sometimes the blind reach great things. But, you have to ask yourself a few questions before you even consider it..... Are you good enough? And I mean really good enough? Do you have a little bit of cashed saved up? Do you get home sick? Do you have girlfriends that you are in love with? Will they come? If they do would it suck? And lastly but most importantly, why are you making the move? The internet is a great place, and touring is even greater.

Just because you live somewhere local does not mean that you will pull a crowd. There is a story here in my town about a band that gigged and gigged locally for years in all the crap little bars and never pulled anyone. Anyway, they got on the bill on a festival in a city an hour away and within one show were catupulted to stardom in that town. Every time they play there now they pull at least 300 people. All im saying is, the grass is sometimes greener, but not always.

Bassic83 · #7 10-01-2007, 01:30 PM

Back in the late 80s, there was a cover band from Florida who used to play a bunch of cruise ship gigs and casinos and whatnot. They had a friend book them in SoCal at a club and promoted the hell out of the three shows. One month later, they were all moved in to a small house they had rented in Laguna, and were playing 5 nights a week. They were getting local bands fired almost at will based on their "drawing power". I think their god-like powers were popped when they tried to sit in on someone else's gig and couldn't handle it- couldn't wrap their minds around songs they didn't already know. Couldn't improvise worth beans, and had an attitude against local players (mostly well-known tour guys) sitting in with them. All those little things started to catch up with them, and before long, their newness wore off, and crowds went back to seeing the locals more often than not. A few months went by, and there were rumors that there was discord within the band. A few months after that, they were nowhere to be found- they had skipped town owing rent. Never did find out what happened.

bigfatbass · #8 10-01-2007, 01:43 PM

Completely different deal for original vs cover bands. A mediocre cover band with a good attitude can work full-time just about anywhere.

A mediocre original band in an unfamiliar scene is doomed.

An exceptional original band in an unfamiliar scene (especially a big market) is equally doomed unless they make friends with everybody in town, and I mean EVERYBODY.

There can't be a bartender in the county who can say nothin' other than: "GREAT band and a real nice buncha cats" lest he be tellin' a lie. (props to Roosevelt Sykes for that phrase)

ElectrAcoustic · #9 10-01-2007, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jomahu

how many folks here relocated to a different town/state/country with their band?

how was it? did it turn out to be a good move (pardon the pun)?

I haven't but that's cause I've seen people do it and within a year or two be back starting over. I'm with the previous poster that you make you situation happen where you are..

darkfinger · #10 10-01-2007, 08:17 PM

My band and I moved from Winnipeg to Toronto a few years ago, it was extremely stressfull and we were hungry more often than not, however it was an excellent learning experience, and we met a lot of cool players. After a year, our drummer moved home and we soon followed. Unfortunately the band broke up but we all remain great friends. It helped that we were great friends to begin with, plus the guitardist and I were roomates for a year before making the move.
I recommend learning everything you can about the applicable scene in the city you`re planning on moving to. Find out where all the great bars are and find out how hard it is to get booked in them. Finally, make bloody sure you`ve got a job set up before you go! Unless you`ve got a large nest egg saved up or are lucky enough to have really generous parents, you will be broke. It doesn`t matter how great of a player you are, if you don`t have any contacts out there then, it will take a while to get set up.