Audition or no?

[Blues Daddy]

I agree heartily with others that suggest to go do the audition with a positive attitude and open mind, and then make your considerations about how (if) to move forward with this project. Even if they offer you the position - you don't have to take it. You might even end up working yourself into a nice sub spot if that's what you're after.

Speaking from my own personal experiences, I've had a number of 'House Band' opportunities and almost all were ideal for me: steady work, reliable venues/band mates/pay etc., good audiences & music, light load ins (house systems). I did however have a few good friends that would sub for me if needed, so that freed me up a bit for planned vacations or even last minute necessities.

Good Luck OP and let us know what happens.

 

[Renaissance]

You don't like the potential pay, you don't like the potential schedule, and you think the music will eventually bore you. Why audition?

Tell them your concerns. Tell them you would be interested in subbing occasionally. Let them find someone that meets their needs. If they need a sub, you've told them.

I've had people audition who (after long conversations, setlist, audition songs, etc.) came in with their own agenda. Waste of time.

 

[mambo4]

It's not hard

Be honest and up front about your intentions. If clarifying your position costs you the gig, it's not the gig for you

 

[51PRI]

You don't like the potential pay, you don't like the potential schedule, and you think the music will eventually bore you. Why audition?

Tell them your concerns. Tell them you would be interested in subbing occasionally. Let them find someone that meets their needs. If they need a sub, you've told them.

I've had people audition who (after long conversations, setlist, audition songs, etc.) came in with their own agenda. Waste of time.

IMO it would be better to have the gig and, on occasion, get someone to sub for YOU rather than being the sub.

 

[Renaissance]

So, I'm considering going to the audition just to get in front of them to put in my claim to sub or second call guy for them.

I didn't read all the responses so maybe I missed the change of heart.

EDIT:

MY BAD! I responded, thinking I was responding to the OP. I apologize.

Carry on!

 

[gln1955]

I wouldn't worry about being rude or wasting their time. Players audition for bands they think probably won't interest them. Bands audition players they think probably won't interest them. Why? Because things aren't always what they seem and you won't know until you actually audition.

 

[Bass Viking]

Side rant: How come people looking for musicians on CL always seem to demand (*) video or audio prior to even talking, yet they rarely offer links to their own audio/video in advance? I get that they want to see if I'm worth their time, but they don't seem to understand that I want to see if they're worth my time as well.

Speaking of one-way streets: This also reminds me of situations where the band gives the person a list of songs to learn for the audition and it turns out the band doesn't even know them.

 

[pepj]

If I was to get a handful sings to play at a dress rehearsal or audition, I'd just listen to them enough so i could navigate around the songs.
At this stage, no one needs to look for note perfect, they just need to know the song is going to work.
If a band couldnt play a song they put up, that would speak volumes.

 

[KenSmithFan]

Speaking of one-way streets: This also reminds me of situations where the band gives the person a list of songs to learn for the audition and it turns out the band doesn't even know them.

I had that happen - with an originals band. The guitar player sent me a list, so I decided I'd impress them by learning 10 of their originals. We played a couple of songs and they asked me what I wanted to play so I named one of their originals. They said they hadn't played that in a long time to choose another one. They said they didn't play that one either. After the third one they didn't play, the drummer stood up and said, "*** ****, this is embarrassing. The man walks in here and knows our originals and we can't even play them." They apologized and we played everything else I knew. They were really, really good and it was one of those situations where you feel like you've been playing together forever. The drummer said on the way out, "Man, that was really tight." So I said, "It will only get better."

I later found out that after I left he told them that they could pick anyone they wanted, but I was going to be their next bass player. I had a great run with that band until the drummer developed a health issue and had to quit playing.

 

[Bass Viking]

I had that happen - with an originals band. The guitar player sent me a list, so I decided I'd impress them by learning 10 of their originals. We played a couple of songs and they asked me what I wanted to play so I named one of their originals. They said they hadn't played that in a long time to choose another one. They said they didn't play that one either. After the third one they didn't play, the drummer stood up and said, "*** ****, this is embarrassing. The man walks in here and knows our originals and we can't even play them." They apologized and we played everything else I knew. They were really, really good and it was one of those situations where you feel like you've been playing together forever.

Ha, I didn't see that coming!

 

[richntiff]

I understand the intention of the 'just go do the audition' crowd here - and I do tend to agree. For me, and it sounds like, for you, the elephant in the room is the 'play for a few bucks, food, bev'. At the same place. Every week. Playing blues rock. Personally, for me, that sounds like the 8th level of hell, I don't care how good the burgers are. It probably doesn't help that I don't drink anymore, so the free beverages thing is really just about a Fresca or root beer....

 

[KenSmithFan]

Ha, I didn't see that coming!

The guitar player was absolutely incredible, just as good as almost any of the major hair band guitar players, but what a knucklehead! He had sent me an old list.

 

[3Liter]

You're overthinking things and getting ahead of yourself. Just do the audition, THEN make your decision.

I'll dissent. But only by sharing my own experience. I don't have the desire to gig or the time that some of you all do. Sadly, my music playing takes a back seat to other hobbies lately. Maybe that's not sad, but when I come here and other music forums where that's all that's discussed, I'm less of a one-track dedicated player and my skills suffer for it. But such is life.

Anyhow, found an ad on CL looking for a bassist to play in what sounded like a no-gig garage jam. In another suburb about 40 min away from my own. I sent a note and got a quick reply. Turns out that all the players lived on the same street as the BL and he sent me a list of possible tunes. Then radio silence. Then back in touch, with a handful of "audition" tunes. I didn't touch them, but asked for a quick call.

We finally connected and through the call, I expressed that I wasn't interested in gigging because my priorities right now are different. But he insisted it was "ground floor/start up" and even though he expressed concerns about the commute for me, sort insisted I still try and "audition". I spent a couple of nights working on the audition setlist, some were easy, one I knew I couldn't get anywhere close to being happy with it. As the time wore on, I put less and less focus on this setlist because I guess I wasn't into it, the distance, the mismatch in original vs. new goals, being the one guy not living on his street, the other things I spend my time on, etc. BL contacted me last night to set up the audition and I politely thanked him and said it wasn't the right opportunity. I'm oddly kind of bummed about it, and I'm not sure why.

 

[40Hz]

I'll dissent. But only by sharing my own experience.

Understood. But your experience is very different from the situation the OP is asking about. So my suggested approach was specific to his situation and wasn't meant to be taken as a 'one size fits all' recommendation even if it can be a good strategy most times.
Whether or not to audition for something is a highly situational and personal thing. All relationships (including romantic relationships) are transactional to a certain extent. You need to calculate what you're likely to get in return for what you're reasonably expected to give in return. Sometimes the calculus can get a little complicated since the question "what's it worth to me" is such a personal valuation decision.

 

[3Liter]

Understood. But your experience is very different from the situation the OP is asking about. So my suggested approach was specific to his situation and wasn't meant to be taken as a 'one size fits all' recommendation even if it can be a good strategy most times.
Whether or not to audition for something is a highly situational and personal thing. All relationships (including romantic relationships) are transactional to a certain extent. You need to calculate what you're likely to get in return for what you're reasonably expected to give in return. Sometimes the calculus can get a little complicated since the question "what's it worth to me" is such a personal valuation decision.

Oh without a doubt the facts are different. What is similar, or seems to be similar for so many of these audition/new band threads is that the situation is often vastly different than initially presented in the ad/recruitment process. Just like any job/relationship/etc. And was offering a data point where I had misgivings about something and took a path. 10 years ago me would have made a different decision.

 

[mrcbass]

OP Follow up:
I took the advice of the collective and just went to the audition. My initial instincts were to disclose my concerns before going, but there were enough compelling arguments to sway me into just going.

In fact, the threat/promise of "every Saturday house band" for "some pay and food/bevs" was not the case, just the one guy's idea of a direction. we might do a few gigs there just to get things rolling.

There was a lot of focus on "pay" talk. They kept trying to get me to define a minimum acceptable level of pay, to which I repeatedly responded: "It's about respect for us and other bands. The money isn't important other than for venues to recognize that this isn't (just) a hobby." We'll see how that plays out.

They said they are open to rotate material so nothing gets too stale. There was also some mention of songs that weren't straight out blues songs, so that was good.

The LG adamantly refused to do any outdoor gigs when it gets hot (3-4 months of our year), so our summers won't be overbooked.

Their drummer is new to blues (reportedly more of a funk player) and it showed, but when he found a groove he was tight.

So the jam went OK; I think I'm in. Post jam discussions were held as if we were starting to formulate a gig plan and was I available for their rehearsal schedule. It kind of feels like

A semi-funny, small world anecdote: I was hanging with the LS from the band I'm leaving yesterday morning, working on some acoustic stuff. He mentioned that he got a text from our BL that was passed from our KB player. The texts indicated that I had an audition scheduled.

Apparently, the bass plyer who subs for me is common friend of the new band's contact, and he gave the contact our KB's number. Apparently, during the conversation, the contact - not knowing that KB was in my band - told our KB player that he was planning an audition with me (by name). The KB player declined, hung up and sent a text to my band's BL, who promptly passed it on to the LS. I'd been planning to let the guys know I'm leaving this weekend (after fulfilling commitments) anyway regardless of how the audition went, so it was no big deal, but I did let the contact know, that that was a pretty bush league move.

 

[pepj]

Its unfortunate about the audition getting made 'public' but that's really just about how your current band reacts to you playing with other people.
It shouldn't efen be an issue, but then again..if they want to make it a deal they will anyway

Re new band. Did you get the impression they knew what they were doing. Do they all have a stack of gigging experience.
Not that matters much if you are in anyway.

 

[mrcbass]

Its unfortunate about the audition getting made 'public' but that's really just about how your current band reacts to you playing with other people.
It shouldn't efen be an issue, but then again..if they want to make it a deal they will anyway

Re new band. Did you get the impression they knew what they were doing. Do they all have a stack of gigging experience.
Not that matters much if you are in anyway.

As I said, I'm exiting that band anyway, and was going to do so regardless of how this audition went. So it's really not a big deal, but in a different scenario, it could have been a disaster.

New Band: Yeah they know what they're doing. We range in age from 52 to 70 (me being the second oldest). The weak link of last night was the drummer, but he's getting schooled in blues right now.

I think there's need to create a page to all be on. We did talk about (money, gig needs, etc) a bit after the jam, and I was treated as if I had a say, but nothing was completely settled about much of anything. I'll go with it for a while. If it goes sideways, I can always move on.

 

[pepj]

I always want to see video of people i don't know.
Asking for trouble without it and its a red flag, imv.
Even if it is the main people in another setting..tells you a lot.