An amusing musical career semi-dilemma... opinions, please?

Parallel to my search for collaborators for the band I want to form, I've been putting out feelers (read: freebie musician's classifieds online) for bands looking for a bassist.

So far, the most "serious interest" was from a 'Modern Rock' band forming in the Stroudsberg area, about an hour away from me. I talked to the guy yesterday on the phone and in e-mail, and after getting some facts from him, told him I would not say yes or no right away.

Here's the points I've been considering:

Point A) Their definition of 'Modern Rock' is bands like Taproot, Cold, Oleander, Sevendust, Evanescense, Taint, Staind, etc... none of whom I ever listened to! In other words, after a little research on Pressplay, I have found that the music is a little heavier than the direction I was planning on going into (Stooges, Black Flag, Minutemen, fIREHOSE, Meat Puppets, Husker Du, Sonic Youth). They got my e-mail address and phone number from a post I made, but I can't fathom for the life of me how they thought a guy who listed The Stooges, Black Flag and TLC as his main influences as compatible with their musical vision (unless they translated THAT as either open-minded or completely ****ing oddball).

Point B) They're a new band with no name, a temporary bassist borrowed from another band for practices (which may mean to me that they haven't been able to practice as much as they'd like), whose average age is about 7-8 years younger than yours truly.

Point C) The guy flowed me their set list. They seem to have their act together in that respect.

Point D) They did say they were open to doing other styles of material... wonderful attitude, but it remains to be seen how suggesting "Search And Destroy", "Rise Above", or "Paradise" would go over with these guys.

Point E) They have two vocalists, one male (the guy I talked to) and one female (his girlfriend, who answered the phone when I called him). OK with me except I'm having acid flashbacks of the last ****ty cover band I was in just knowing that, because that band was led by two vocalists - one male, one female, and they were sexually involved with each other. (Sidebar: _Those_ guys were married briefly, and now the girl singer of that old band is married to the guy she's in a lounge act duo with... who coincidentally had to take my place as bassist at the last minute after I quit... what an irony!)

An interesting situation. Like I told the guy, I couldn't say yes or no right away but I'd keep in touch.

Out of curiosity, what would YOU do?

 

Point well taken. Here's what I was thinking while I was out running a couple of duties (I'm at work now):

They've got some of their shiznit together as far as their set list goes, but they're also open to other ideas.

I've been trying to get my own band together but the only serious interest I've had so far is from a singer. I've talked to a couple of guitarists since I started looking around, but no drummers.

You never know - it couldn't hurt to come in and say to them, "You're a new band looking for a bass player, I'm looking to put a new band together, and you seem to be open to ideas beyond what you want to do here, so here's my offer..."

 

Too true, too true. I told Bif Naked when I interviewed her last fall that I feel like telling most of the nu-metal bands out there to stop ripping off what Black Flag did on side two of My War. Her response was something to the effect of, "True, but on the other hand most of the kids out there haven't heard the originals."

 

Very tempting here. Like I said, they did flow me their set list to date via e-mail, and I e-mailed the same cat I talked to last night and asked him if he could find out what tunings his guitarist was using for the songs (I found a transcription of one of the Staind songs they have in the set in an old Guitar World and the bass' tuning is a step and a half lower than normal... and that's on a fiver with a low B!

 

...and yet this guy accused _me_ of being "linear" in my thinking re: the musical intentions I have for my own band!

I think it's time munji gave up his ted kazinsky-like log cabin existence and joined the twenty-first century. it's only a couple of years old and he could be caught up in no time!

 

g,

the doobie brothers are a fine band, but they really haven't done anything revolutionary to earn the exaggerated honorific you've bestowed upon them.

"revolutionary", for the record, would be beatles/stones/stooges/ramones/clash territory, capece?

cj