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Band auditions and first impressions
- Thread starter AndyMopley
- Start date
Our full time professional three piece prog rock band had been playing the local circuit for several years when we finally got a deal with a national label to record an all original album and go on tour.
Our drummer, who was pretty good (we also liked him personally) wasn't really up to going out on the road so we decided to part ways and audition for a new drummer.
Several auditions in, we were starting to get discouraged with the available talent pool of drummers. Then this guy comes in driving an old, beat up Ford Pinto with an antique Roger's drum kit he carried in to our practice room in plastic laundry bins.
He looked really goofy and we immediately thought that he was nowhere near cool enough to play in our band.
Then he started playing the crap out of his drums, pulling off triplets and intricate fills, and nailing his double kick drums like cannons. He sounded like a combination of John Bonham and Kieth Moon.
We immediately hired him and he learned all of our songs and we went on tour three weeks later.
That was years ago and we managed to become relatively successful since then.
Our drummer, who was pretty good (we also liked him personally) wasn't really up to going out on the road so we decided to part ways and audition for a new drummer.
Several auditions in, we were starting to get discouraged with the available talent pool of drummers. Then this guy comes in driving an old, beat up Ford Pinto with an antique Roger's drum kit he carried in to our practice room in plastic laundry bins.
He looked really goofy and we immediately thought that he was nowhere near cool enough to play in our band.
Then he started playing the crap out of his drums, pulling off triplets and intricate fills, and nailing his double kick drums like cannons. He sounded like a combination of John Bonham and Kieth Moon.
We immediately hired him and he learned all of our songs and we went on tour three weeks later.
That was years ago and we managed to become relatively successful since then.
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I've got probably the same list of what I'd term professional behavior as anyone who's been doing this more than a minute - acting in ways that others can rely on, behaving in ways that are conducive to spending a lot of time together on a team.
But that's not what we're talking about, based on OP context - we're talking about visual appearance - what someone and/or their gear looks like.
To me, yeah, appearance matters if you're going to be performing in front of others - not whether someone's skinny or overweight, or walk funny with a wooden peg leg and parrot on their shoulders, but how they carry themselves. Are they comfortable in their own skin enough to own their part of the stage? Do they look you straight in the eye? Can they present themselves as inclusive in their dealings with others? These are all things that translate on stage - things that separate those who look the part from those who don't - those who make an audience feel uncomfortable and not 100% welcome.
My secret to finding people who meet this kind of appearance metric, BTW, is simple - I try to network and work with those who work a lot. Those who get along with others generally have this part down.
But that's not what we're talking about, based on OP context - we're talking about visual appearance - what someone and/or their gear looks like.
To me, yeah, appearance matters if you're going to be performing in front of others - not whether someone's skinny or overweight, or walk funny with a wooden peg leg and parrot on their shoulders, but how they carry themselves. Are they comfortable in their own skin enough to own their part of the stage? Do they look you straight in the eye? Can they present themselves as inclusive in their dealings with others? These are all things that translate on stage - things that separate those who look the part from those who don't - those who make an audience feel uncomfortable and not 100% welcome.
My secret to finding people who meet this kind of appearance metric, BTW, is simple - I try to network and work with those who work a lot. Those who get along with others generally have this part down.
