Ever been in a horrible but fun band?

[NickInMesa]

There are two types of bands: Serious and not serious.

A serious band is like a professional sports team. They practice practice practice. Sometimes practice is not fun and is more like work. But they get better.

A not serious band is like a group of guys playing sandlot football. They drink a few beers and toss the bass around. If they get better it is a complete accident. But they have fun.

I have been in both bands and they both have their advantages and disadvantages.

One band I was in started out fun but I got tired of the lack of discipline/leadership. They goofed around and never got any better. It was fun but I soon got tired of playing simple songs poorly, so I quit. I saw them years later and they were still making the same stupid mistakes they were making when I was with them. They get a few gigs but could actually get more if they worked at getting better.

So it all depends on what YOU want to get out of the band. In my case I wanted to try different music and challenge myself to grow musically.

Actually we are working and improving, we play the tune seriously, with the intention of playing them right.

It's just that the guys are just goofy and have that "whatever happens" attitude, which I think is fun.

As for it being "horrible" maybe I use too strong of a word. Horrible is a band full of drama, something that some know I have been involved in a few times recently

 

[whocaresnotme]

I played with a band for about 3 years, notwithstanding, the players were experienced and excellent. We never practiced and learned every new song on stage (owing to the years of experience and mutually known songs). We had gigs out the kazoo and were quite popular in our area and had loads of fun on stage. It got better as we played together more until it honed down to, again, excellent renditions of cover tunes.
The point: role with it and have fun, it will get better.

 

[normalized]

yeah that was the two situations I was in concurrently for 7 months. One a fun punk rock cover band and the other a serious originals band. The cover band were guys (and gal) I've known for years, never practiced, Singer kept forgetting lyrics, guitarist did the super-fast power chording for every song. but we played out had some fun shows (though the lyric forgetting started to get on my nerves). But sometimes tightness was an issue.

The other band didn't play out until I booked a show and lost their drummer and seemed to be stuck in this "practice until we're perfect" zone and seemed to think we were never (or I was never) good enough to play out. Obsessively practiced their songs and always reworked arrangements of new songs. But with no goal in mind.

So where am I now? I quit the second situation and took over the first myself after the old guitarist and singer quit. Got other guys who are really good musicians and also want to play out.

I think this is the best of both worlds. I'm an old guy, I'm doing it for fun, other old guys (in the originals band) need to know not to sweat the details and have fun and ROCK.

 

[zaubertuba]

There are two types of bands: Serious and not serious.

A serious band is like a professional sports team. They practice practice practice. Sometimes practice is not fun and is more like work. But they get better.

A not serious band is like a group of guys playing sandlot football. They drink a few beers and toss the bass around. If they get better it is a complete accident. But they have fun.

I have been in both bands and they both have their advantages and disadvantages.

One band I was in started out fun but I got tired of the lack of discipline/leadership. They goofed around and never got any better. It was fun but I soon got tired of playing simple songs poorly, so I quit. I saw them years later and they were still making the same stupid mistakes they were making when I was with them. They get a few gigs but could actually get more if they worked at getting better.

So it all depends on what YOU want to get out of the band. In my case I wanted to try different music and challenge myself to grow musically.

There is a happy medium. To be honest, we did practice for several months before our first gig, and do set goals for ourselves (going to cut some demo tracks in November, for example). The thing is, even though we were all university-trained musicians, we don't take ourselves so seriously that we're stressed about the next gig and don't have fun. It's more of a musical journey for us.

You are correct that its possible to get into a rut if you're not even interested in getting better. I guess my comment to the OP would be to accept the warts...but don't accept that you can't work them out, and make a concerted effort to clean things up over time.

...and this can be done, still having fun.

 

[billiam5billion]

Go to Myspace and search a band called Love$ponge. So fun, I can't remember most of the shows.

 

[MNAirHead]

Nick..

Hold onto them.

Chances are they can sell more drinks that a stellar top notch band.

They may be more relateable to the masses than a bunch of arrogant fools.

Pogues come to mind

 

[RTL]

You, sir, are my HERO!

Hahaha.

Believe me, I was just a 16 year old jazz drummer trying to be a badass.

I guess it worked, though. My dad never would've thought in a million years that the cops would be bringing me home one night. Haha.

 

[RustyAxe]

Making bad music is NEVER fun for me. I avoid it ...

 

[Munjibunga]

I've subbed in a band like that. They're good musicians, but not particularly tight as a band. The leader would call out songs I never rehearsed with them, so I'd just roll with the punches. Then he'd play some lick from a song the band has never played (like you might do at a practice), the crowd goes ape, and we end up playing it. It's proof that audiences are fundamentally clueless about what they're hearing.

For me, it's more fun than my own band, because we just cut loose with no worries, and at the end of the night, I go home without having to wear a coat of shame if things didn't go as planned.

 

[Third Basser]

I got sucked into playing drums in a punk/butt rock/glam band with vulgar sophomoric lyrics, songs about sex, lots of profanity, and stage acts involving blow-up dolls, ripping their shirts off, and other cheesy stage moves. I'm rather embarrassed by it and would never invite my coworkers to these shows, but they're decent musicians and fun people. it's great to be in an environment where I can say whatever the hell I want, get as drunk as I want (on or off stage), and everyone chills and has no hang-ups. I used to play bass with them, and the shtick got kind of old for me, but now that I'm on drums I'm getting more out of it because it's actually challenging to me. 360 turnaround from the math rock and other serious projects I've done, but if we play a show every now and then to a crowd that's digging it, like at a house party, I'm down for it.

 

[lbanks]

Having been in both, I'd pick fun... unless we're talking BIG money.

 

[somedumbguy]

I would take a bunch of goofball who I enjoy playing with, over straight-faced professionals any day.

If you enjoy playing with these guys... stick with them. Eventually the singer will get better, practice makes perfect.

 

[Fiset]

Being in a fun band that happens to be horrible can be a really liberating experience. You learn not to take yourself so seriously, not worry about every little note, nuance, etc, and just HAVE A BLAST!

I was in a band like this for a little while back in high school. They were called "Son of Spam". They mainly played punk covers (NOFX, Ramones, Rancid, etc..). I was brought on toward the end of the band's reign of terror (as a drummer), and there was never a dull moment. Trademarks of this band's shows were out of tune & very aggressive guitar, out of tune & very aggressive bass, and a big, mean looking "co-lead" singer.. Who really just stood there, got really drunk, and sang loud, out of tune, obnoxious backing vocals (sometimes in falsetto) riddled with profanity. It was just the cure for someone like me, who thought that every note had to be in perfect time, perfect tune, etc..

I remember the last gig I ever played with them, it was an "End of School Year" bash we were throwing - we rented the auditorium in the civic center and everything!

A week or so earlier, the lead singer/guitarist's girlfriend dumped him, and he didn't take it so well. He ended up cutting himself up pretty badly, and was now in the hospital being monitored, because they thought he was going to try to commit suicide.

The band paid pretty big money to rent this hall we were playing, and there was just no way we could do any of the songs without the lead singer. So, we had to do sumthin' bad.

We dropped off our gear at the hall, and the 4 of us got in the van, drove to the hospital and snuck him out. Well, sort of...

We played the whole night without incident, and I don't think anyone even asked us why our lead singer was in a hospital gown and ID bracelet. It was probably the tightest and most entertaining show we'd ever played, but we still totally sucked! Only, we sucked in a loud, obnoxious, aggressive, making everyone dance, kind of way. It was awesome!

One of the best nights of my HS days... Until we tried to sneak the singer back into the hospital, where we had to explain our actions to some cops who just happened to be looking for us all night.

Horrible bands ROCK!

I love this post....all of my posts are gonna be jealous of it when I show it to them....

 

[tomber]

In 7th grade I was in a band I started with one of my friends who couldn't sing and another one of my friends who couldn't play drums. I was the only one who knew how to play an instrument. The lyrics to all of our songs often didn't make much sense, or were inside jokes making fun of our peers. These songs included "Canadian Shane', "X-box Now", "My Body and Me", and a couple of others.

 

[tycobb73]

If the singer is really that horrible then him and the band as long as he is in it is doomed. Average singers can get away with it ifthey make up with it in stage presence but there is no covering horrible.

 

[troy mcclure]

My 1st cover band was kinda bad but fun, but after a while the trainwrecks started pissing me off, after a year of gigging withc I hadn't done in 20 years, it got my stage comfort level back up to where I could find a better band.

Nick, you never know what it leads to and if you got nothing else going on you might as well.

 

[NickInMesa]

Just got an offer for a one or two-hour charity gig.

 

[Lazylion]

I've been playing out for nearly 40 years, and I can't count the number of lame-to-terrible bands that I've seen working regularly. These bands have something, charisma, fun, whatever, that keeps them popular and makes up for their musical shortcomings. Usually it's this:

Chances are they can sell more drinks than a stellar top notch band.
They may be more relateable to the masses than a bunch of arrogant fools.

Audiences don't get off on arrogance, unless you make a joke out of it.
I've stood in the back thinking "OMG, they're awful!" Yet the place is packed & bar is busy. Hard to argue with that!

...proof that audiences are fundamentally clueless about what they're hearing.

It's not always about the skills! Sometimes there are intangibles.

Nick, you never know what it leads to and if you got nothing else going on you might as well.

+1 Enjoy!

 

[FunkMetalBass]

As my boss told me when we were looking to hire some new guys, "I can teach these guys how to be computer programmers - I can't teach them how to show up to work on time."

If the drummer and vocalist are willing to put in some effort, it could legitimately lead to something more successful.

If not, do you feel like you're wasting your time? As long as you continue to grow as a musician, playing with others will do nothing but boost your ability in the long run.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

Just got an offer for a one or two-hour charity gig.

Tax. Write-off.

Also looks great for scholarships.

By the way, what's the charity gig and when/where is it? My goal for this year is to go see two local TBers in action.