age: should I care?

the only thing that matters is if they are on par with you musically and you all hook up and click well. age is all in the mind man.

 

They are 18, they may have a slightly different idea of dedication and work ethic than a 28 year old

See what you can find out about them in that regard before you get too involved.

 

Lay off Fieldy, for one.

As long as you know what's happening this minute in their musical world, you should fit in. A big reason so many bands are comprised of members who are close to the same age is because so many bands get formed by way of school relationships.

With my decent-sized amp, B string, and my ability to emulate the nu metal guys on demand, (mainly for amusement), younger guys have told me they dig jamming with me. Especially because I expose them to music from back when the guitarists knew how to get it on.

 

Age doesn't matter.

What matters is whether you fit into the band as a musician - whether they are at the same level of musicianship as you are, whether they have the same commitment, whether you have the same goals and direction. That's what matters.

 

Lots of bar owners don't want underagers in their bar, whether they're with the band or not. Also, you may have more "educated" tastes than the younger members of your band, making song selections kinda difficult at times. At one time, I was the youngest member of a band and all the older guys would treat me like sh*t -- talk down to me, make fun of me, blow off my opinions and ideas, criticize my original ideas, etc. I don't know if it was because of my age or not, but it became very difficult to work with them. If these younger peeps deserve your respect, give it to 'em. Also, help them out when they need help and encourage them when they do something right. All in all, if you all get along and enjoy what you're doing together, no one needs to know about the age differences but you and your fellow bandmates!

 

I had 3 drummers that were teenagers. Every one of them punked out within a month.

Watch the commitment levels.

Also look out for money issues. YOu probably are much better off than them financially. Be careful how much money you are putting into the band

Be careful of inter-band fighting. These guys may be still boys to some degree. No one becomes an adult by age. Be aware that you may end up a referee on more than one occasion.

Girls... These guys may have seen boobies, like once. That was probably in a magazine or video. So watch for girl problems.

Umm... that's all I can think of. You might need to give them shaving tips someday...

Good luck!!

 

Be careful if you're asked to play "eighteenth" notes.

 

one thing you might want to be wary about is "sticking out", to a certain degree. you've got ten years on these guys, be mindful of "grandpa" statements if it feels uncomfortable at any point i'd say bail, but it's not like you're quite old enough to be their dad or anything.

all in all, you just don't wanna end up being labelled "The Fonz" ... you know, the cool older guy who never hung out with any kids his own age

 

So tell us all about what happened with these guys in the last three days

 

And this psycho chikc you dated!! That sounds like a cool story!

Rock on
Eric

 

As you get older, the 'similar age' phenomenon
tends to be based on life experience. I'm 32, and
the other three guys in my band are 33, 33, and 34.
None of us had met until 6 years ago and three
of the four of us are not native to the city we
reside in.

My grandfather said to me when I was a know-it-
all 14 year old that "I know more about being your
age than you know about being mine" - and it's
tough to relate at age 32 to a 19 year old who
has road fever to go out and tour the country in
a van after I'd already done that phase at that
age. Note: that's not a put down of 19 year olds.
But the average 19 year old has a tough time
conceiving of being serious about playing music
while also being serious about owning a house,
keeping a good job, being married and raising
a daughter too.

One of the things that's cool about being 32, and
having 20 years of band experience, is that you
simply don't run across a lot of early-30's players
who don't have the chops. If you're still plugging
away at 30+, most of the people you meet are
not starting out on their instruments, and most of
them are not motivated to play music by being
on a star or ego trip. Much different from when
I was in the 18-23 age range.

Scott