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Age gaps?

#41
peaveyuser said:
well I'm about to meet up with a band (thrash metal). The guitarists who are starting it are all 18-19, so I'm fine with that since the age gap is only bout 2-3 years (I'm 16). We're all teenagers so it's not really awkward, but then they found a drummer who is supposed to be 30 uhhhhh.


Isn't that a bit too old? Because I thought this would be a kind of young thrash band, the fact that I'm underage and playing with a 30 year old that I don't know just kinda makes it feel weird.
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It will cause problems - when you get a giant age gap like that, you have differences of opinion on WHAT thrash metal is. The 30 year old is thinking Anthrax, Slayer, early Metallica, Megadeath, Testament, Exodus, etc. The 18 year olds are thinking Shadowsfall, Killswitch Engage, and whoever else is attempting the genre these days. (Can you tell how old I am? LOL)
 
#42
NKUSigEp said:
It will cause problems - when you get a giant age gap like that, you have differences of opinion on WHAT thrash metal is. The 30 year old is thinking Anthrax, Slayer, early Metallica, Megadeath, Testament, Exodus, etc. The 18 year olds are thinking Shadowsfall, Killswitch Engage, and whoever else is attempting the genre these days. (Can you tell how old I am? LOL)
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Actaully we're all thinking Metallica, Anthrax, megadeath, Pantera etc.:)
 
#43
My group has 24, 30, and 45. Oldest I've played with is 66, youngest is 16. Who CARES what age the person is. Be glad you found someone who CAN play and don't worry about how old he is. Just wait till you're 30 and some 15 year old thinks you might be "uncool".
One point my bass teacher made about him being older is that he grew up when the music most area bands are covering was NEW. So he's been listening to it a lot longer and has a lot better understanding of it.....and can play it better.


""But seriosly my main reason for asking this question was
B) The fact that maybe he won't be wanting to play at all ages shows only. He might rather play in 18+ bars where he can entertain people around his age. I'm 16 I'm probably not allowed to play in one and if I was I'd like to play gigs where my friends and people around my age can watch too.""

Have you ASKED him his thoughts on what venues he'd want to play? If he's getting paid....I can guaran dang tee you he won't care. Keep in mind it's only a few more years and you'll be able to play other venues, by then if you stay together you'll be really smokin!

""D) since the age difference I might have to treat this guy as an adult, which I rather not do. The reason is I'd like to be myself and have no authority figure, everybody should be equal. Therefore I'll talk to band members as I do with friends, laid back attitude.""
*sigh* Why on earth would you think he'd be the "adult" police? There's no magic wall you climb when your birthday comes around that makes you an "authority figure".

Seems to me like he's the one that might have his hands full.....if you're gonna treat him like he's an old guy. And if you go around telling your friends that, wow, I'm playing with an old person.....he's 30!! Your drummer will probably rightfully whap you.

And +2 to the don't ask him to buy alcohol......make that plus 100....shouldn't be drinking on a gig anyhow!
 
#44
I'm 20, drummer 19, lead guitar player and mando player are 23, and our lead singer/rhythm guitar player is in his late 50s.......i think. It doesn't matter, he has loads of experience and alot of know-how he shares with us, plus his one of the most rockinest dudes I know. Not to mention he has about 1.8 million songs he has written......we're never short on material.

We treat everyone as equals, and he doesn't have the, "I've been doing this for 50 years so I know more than you" attitude.
 
#45
peaveyuser said:
Actaully we're all thinking Metallica, Anthrax, megadeath, Pantera etc.:)
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:bassist:

the band i was in with the 40 year old drummer when i was 19 was like that too man. oild tallica, megadeth, maiden, all kinds of 80's metal. cool stuff. just keep thrashing!

good videos on youtube btw. good effort, how long have you been playing? just keep on practicing, esp. about keeping your left hand more steady and your right hand: don't keep your fingers so far away from your fretboard, rather keep them about in the position where they belong, about half a cm from the strings :) will save you a lot of trouble when you start on moving the tempo up a little ;)
 
#47
Our Sax player is 23, new drummer (he still has that new drummer smell) is 39, singer is 40ish, Guitar player is 45 and I just turned, ( like something in the fridge too long) 50.

I am officially, the bands Grumpy Old Man.




In MY day, we didn't have any digital reverbs...we played in the bathroom... and it sounded cool. (dagnabit!)


JKT :p
 
#48
Are ya trying to be famous and make it big or just a few bucks here and there? Aside from the older guys in cover bands, or jazz bands or whatever, record companies typically won't touch a band with anyone over 30 in it. Just a hard fact of life. The exception seems to be country music - you don't play country do you?
 
#51
peaveyuser said:
Most convincing reply yet.




Well we can play at bars and clubs, just at all ages shows. There are some venues that sit a good amount of people and serve alcohol just not to minors. So we can get a decent gig but just not as many options.
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Well, there ya go. If you click with him, great, you have places to play that should make you all happy. I say, give him a go!

Cherie :bassist:
 
#54
I'm 47 and have been playing for about 34 years. Many of the musicians I work with are 10-20 years (one or two even more) younger than me. Personally, I find it refreshing to work with younger musicians - I certainly enjoy their enthusiasm as it keeps me from stagnating as a musician. I have also found they appreciate having someone mature, who is musically solid and having a lot of musical experience, working with them and helping them develop their craft. Of course, temperment on both sides of the age scale has a lot to do with how successful this type of musical relationship can be.

Now, that said, I do see a little bit of difference with an older musician working in a band with teens and an older musician working with musicians in their twenties who are, essentially, considered adults. I think musicians in their twenties typically have a bit more maturity and are able to make better decisions for themselves. If things get strange, a young adult will typically pick up on it before a teen does simply because they spend more time in "the real world" than teens do. If I had a teen in a band where there was a 30 year old drummer playing with all teens, I suppose I would want to know a bit more about this 30 year old - his personality, his motives, his character, etc. Not that an older musician can't be trusted around teens, but there are some people out there who, for whatever reason, don't always have the best intentions - especially when it comes to spending time with teens and younger children.
 
#55
Back in the 1960's when I was sixteen I played drums in two bands. My own, which was a cover dance band for teen-agers and Mr. Harry French's Combo, which was a cover dance band for adults. Three of those guys were older than my grandparents: Mr. French played a Hammond B3 with a Leslie, another guy played electric vibes and sax (he used to play in one of the Dorsey bands) and another oldster, Cute Hall (and he wasn't) played bass. The guitar/trumpet player and I were in our teens. I always suspected that Harry hired us kids to carry that damn B3 but it was a great learning experience for us. We played all sorts of styles, rhythms and arrangements that I would never have been exposed to otherwise. That exposure increased the demand for my services long after those guys had passed - I could walk in and play anything with anybody because of what I learned from those "old-timers." A bit off the thread but it seems important to say none the less. And you know something else, I played in bars five years before I was old enough to drink and nobody ever said a word except once when the State Police busted the place and my parents had to come and get me. And nobody ever expressed anything like, "Look at those perverted old men playing with those children." Like Robert Zimmerman said, "The times they are a changin'"

By the way, does it bother Tal Wilkenfeld to play with Jeff Beck?...or vice-versa?
 
#56
peaveyuser said:
:D good eye Twiggy


The quote I have was meant to be more relevant to the fact that the music industry which is getting increasingly superficial is focusing more on who "looks" good and ignoring good bands because they may not have the "look". The fact that these "good looking" bands and "musicians" make real superficial garbage music making it big, and there are struggling bands who make really good music getting ignored by record companies, MTV etc
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The industry may be changing a bit. When you look at The next Great Am Band and Bodog Rock band contest etc. One of the things that they pointed out that there was no age limit and a good few of the bands that made it to the broadcasts were comprised of older guys- 30s +. Most of us should forget about the old "industry" and start thinking more about the new industry... the internet... The old industry is falling off quickly. Pushing "the younger the better" for them its a easy quick formula to make money but its almost run its course. For singers it went from 40s crooners to 50s teen idol Doo Wops to 60s R&B groups to 70s R&B DANCE bands but when you add all of the writers, singers, musicians and studio time together that cost a lot of MONEY! SOOO along comes the 90s...Rap was pushed (2 turntables and a Microphone) Grunge was pushed (does it sound like its in a garage?) all very cheap to produce..then the Boy Groups (I won't call them bands) Dance productions-people were getting 3 song deals or a soundtrack slot let alone multi album contracts! Think about this, you and every member of TB is here about the music they WANT instead of what is being generally offered. Imagine how many members of TB alone, were to buy your recordings IF you made them available. The internet is allowing us direct access to OUR audience. And BTW, up until now, nobody asked how old you were! You are falling for the same trap. Are you more concerned about image or making music?
I vote MAKE THE MUSIC !!! :hiding:
 
#57
CraigG said:
If I had a teen in a band where there was a 30 year old drummer playing with all teens, I suppose I would want to know a bit more about this 30 year old - his personality, his motives, his character, etc. Not that an older musician can't be trusted around teens, but there are some people out there who, for whatever reason, don't always have the best intentions - especially when it comes to spending time with teens and younger children.
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Hmmm to be honest I'm not really worried if he's a wackjob or not, now that I got in with the other guys (17, 18, 18 year olds) who are all fairly nice cool guys. We are 4 people to see one guy, 3 of us are fairly well built so I think if anybody were to try and pull off a perverted stunt on us we would know better and be able to take care of ourselves. Hopefully (and most likely) this Drummer ain't a weirdo.

otis_thick said:
I vote MAKE THE MUSIC !!! :hiding:
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Great point, I will:bassist:
 
#60
CraigG said:
Now, that said, I do see a little bit of difference with an older musician working in a band with teens and an older musician working with musicians in their twenties who are, essentially, considered adults. I think musicians in their twenties typically have a bit more maturity and are able to make better decisions for themselves. If things get strange, a young adult will typically pick up on it before a teen does simply because they spend more time in "the real world" than teens do. If I had a teen in a band where there was a 30 year old drummer playing with all teens, I suppose I would want to know a bit more about this 30 year old - his personality, his motives, his character, etc. Not that an older musician can't be trusted around teens, but there are some people out there who, for whatever reason, don't always have the best intentions - especially when it comes to spending time with teens and younger children.
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this depends on what you wanna play.i'm 35 but still love to play fast as hell old school punk/hardcore and its hard to find people my own age who are into playing music that will never make any money or get "chicks",so i tend to play with people younger than myself.
 

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