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Finding a new band? How much to say up front?

#61
klokker said:
I totally agree with this. Just a general statement is all you need for Craigslist if you want the best results. Once you get someone on the phone you can get a much better feel for whats' going on.

I've learned the hard way that you can't tell by just lookin'. Some bands are way better than they look in the ad, some way worse. Same with bass players.
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I think, for anbody that is involved in a serious search for a band should be in the business of making things work.

Making things works sometime will mean walking away

blue
 
#62
#64
Figure out what you've absolutely got to have, and what you'd like to have. Be flexible, things don't always work out like you planned. Sometimes they work out anyway. Good situations seem to be few and far between, and perfect is even rarer, so you can also expect to compromise on something. That said, certainly put the stuff you won't compromise on in the ad, save you a lot of time weeding that stuff out of the responses you end up getting.

It may take a while, depending on how picky you are in the ad and how lucky you get, so start working on your weak spots. A month to learn 40 songs isn't unusual for a band. Just make sure you learn the songs you need for the next practice, or any auditions coming up. Start picking popular songs from suggestions on here, that you have mp3s for, learn them. You'l get better at learning tunes, and many of them will be in use by the band you hook up with. Win Win.

As far as day jobs restricting gigs, that's no problem, plenty of people in that situation, they typically don't want to waste the little free time they have, that's a GOOD thing. So they want better gigs and less practice time as a result. They are used to working in the real world, so tend to be more professional about it. They understand deadlines, meeting times, etc.

Joining an existing band is easier, and more likely to be a better situation. The odds of them finding 1 good player to add is much greater than you finding 3-4 at once that happen to all be free currently, through no fault of their own. Starting your own band consider yourself lucky to get a couple key guys, and a couple that'll barely get the job done.

Randy
 
#65
What I still find funny is bands that have crazy demands like 2-3 pratices a week, want to gig 5-6 times a month in and out of town, travel,tour etc and are still unknown small town bands.

I understand the kids doing this while living with the parents and eating beans on the road etc but some of these guys are in their late 30's to 40's plus :eyebrow:
 
#66
Wow, leave a thread alone for a few days and look what happens.... :)

Ok stumbo.....here goes :) (yep.....you were a little off :) )

I'm in my thirties and kinda burnt out because there are only a few types of music I can stand any more LOL noooooo not quite. I can't stand screaming/punk/R rated music-not to mention there's no gigs for it here. The rest is negotiable :).

I cant' stand stoned/drunk, younger musicians with too much ego Who can?!?!?!:eyebrow::eyebrow:

and I really don't want to haul a lot of equipment anymore. No, I don't mind hauling equipment. I mind when I'm hauling ALL or most of the equipment while those who don't even own their own stuff get paid the same... Fail.

Also, since I can't play by ear, I'm not really flexible on learning songs Wait, where'd that come from? "I can't play by ea"r doesn't mean "I don't like to learn stuff", it means you gotta let me know which songs you want to do so I can sit and listen through them. Oh, and an Ideal formula for me is get 40 for gigging quick (rehersals galore), then add 1-2 new ones a week to have a variety. And that 1-2 can be done in one rehersal a week.

Even though I've been playing awhile and done some gigs, I cannot play enough songs from memory or know enough blues to play at a classic rock/blues open mic nighHrm, no I couldn't do a classic rock mic, but I can and have done blues open mics.....that's how I learned bass.....might be something to mention :).

If I could just bring my bass(maybe someone else could load-/load-out all the other equipment because I'm tired), I'd be more flexible in what type of gigs I would play(for less pay). LOL now, given the choice between hauling all the cables, lights, half the PA, and all of my rig for $100 or someone else hauls all but my rig and I get $75, yep. Sounds fair to me!

I guess it boils down to I have high standards for myself in terms of showing up on time, being straight/sober, being professional, having your own equipment, and want to be in a group that's the same. You can learn songs a lot faster than learning how to be professional. I really don't want a weekend-hang-out-smoke-dope-drink-get-too-drunk-to-play band, or a we're-gonna-make-it-big-but-need-someone-else-to-pony-up-money-for-cds group, that's what I'm trying to avoid here. Hrm, maybe I should just say that ;).

Some great suggestions here! I've been trying to listen to more of the "classic rock" stuff on the radio and pay attention to the bass lines in case I need that song. I do have a bass white pages book, I can read tab, I can pretty well read chord charts (sight reading notes in bass clef I'm working on), if I'm in a blues situation and someone calls/gives me the numbers/changes I can do that. I'm just not at the "here, we start playing and you join in" stage....

All of this in in reference to cover bands BTW, because around here original bands don't get paid to play. Just the way it is, original work is a different game. That's been debated to death :).
 
#67
Some famous golfer (OK, I'm no sports guy) said, "The more I practice, the luckier I get."

This band stuff is like dating, there's a lot of wrong ones out there, and a few right ones. You gotta go out and play to figure out who's who.

It's also like work, in whatever business you're in. Sometimes you learn the most, the fastest from some truly unpleasant people. The pressure is on, and you have to hussle.

Too many filters on your search and you get nothing.
 
#68
singlemalt said:
Too many filters on your search and you get nothing.
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You say that like its a BAD thing? :D

Its a fine line getting enough filters to not waste too much of your time with worthless projects. If that results in no responses, that's ok...

I'd rather repost the ad, wait a few months to get the first few good hits...

But your point is a good one, if you get too fussy, there won't be any situations out there.

I was in a great band, sounded great, singer was great, guitar player is now touring with a national act, drums were solid and tasty, keyboard was very good also. No drama, steady gigs. But they drank during rehearsals. Sometimes more than I'd prefer, but not often, and not to the point nothing was accomplished. There'd be some fooling around. We could have gotten more done without it, but we never wasted a lot of time because of it.

Sometimes you have to be flexible on some stuff, as long as they get the job done, its all good.
 
#69
Like my earlier post, I ran a CL ad for nearly a year before finding something. My ad started out generic, and I was getting bombarded with hits. Stuff I either had no interest in, or could not meet the "requirements" (frequent rehearsals, gigs, travel, etc.) My ad grew more specific with reposts, and the hits dried up. But finally, the right situation came along. Auditioned, got the gig. It`s going quite well; there were no misconceptions before even meeting. Rehearsals are only every two weeks, but we are doing our homework and maximizing our time together. After just two rehearsals, we have about 20 songs. The kicker ? I had to compromise on the material, mostly. I favor stuff like Metallica, Godsmack, etc. and these guys are doing U2, RHCP, Radiohead type - stuff. But considering everything else fell into place, I had to make a concession somewhere. Can`t have it all, but it doesn`t hurt to be picky to a certain point, either. Besides that, the material has turned out to be a pleasant surprise - I`m enjoying most of it, and never would have learned it on my own.
 
#70
I say filter and filter heavy when using say CL. I would stay gigless and bandless forever before I would waste my time with half of the dolts on there. The few good musicians will find you and will know what you are looking for for the most part..
 
#71
On the filter thing, a lot of people are complaining about "wasting my time." I'm a little stumped on this one. Is reading and replying to one email such a huge labor-intensive exercise that we need to fuss over how much of our time it's wasting? Three emails, five?

Maybe where some of you guys are is different from where I am, but my experience was that posting "bassist available," even with no filters, does not bring the deluge of fifty-seven emails all begging you to join their bands. I do try to clarify who I am, what kind of gear I have, what I can play, but I don't post a huge array of "don'ts." That brings four or five, maybe eight or ten replies max. Maybe I'm just a fast reader and typist, but that to me is not such an enormous drain on my energy that I'm going to worry about cutting it down.
 
#72
hrodbert696 said:
On the filter thing, a lot of people are complaining about "wasting my time." I'm a little stumped on this one. Is reading and replying to one email such a huge labor-intensive exercise that we need to fuss over how much of our time it's wasting? Three emails, five?

Maybe where some of you guys are is different from where I am, but my experience was that posting "bassist available," even with no filters, does not bring the deluge of fifty-seven emails all begging you to join their bands. I do try to clarify who I am, what kind of gear I have, what I can play, but I don't post a huge array of "don'ts." That brings four or five, maybe eight or ten replies max. Maybe I'm just a fast reader and typist, but that to me is not such an enormous drain on my energy that I'm going to worry about cutting it down.
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I'm thinking along the same lines. It takes maybe a minute or two to read an email, and maybe another one or two to say 'no thanks' (which you honestly don't even have to do). If you don't have time to do that, you probably don't have time to be in a band :hiding:
 
#73
hrodbert696 said:
On the filter thing, a lot of people are complaining about "wasting my time." I'm a little stumped on this one. Is reading and replying to one email such a huge labor-intensive exercise that we need to fuss over how much of our time it's wasting? Three emails, five?

Maybe where some of you guys are is different from where I am, but my experience was that posting "bassist available," even with no filters, does not bring the deluge of fifty-seven emails all begging you to join their bands. I do try to clarify who I am, what kind of gear I have, what I can play, but I don't post a huge array of "don'ts." That brings four or five, maybe eight or ten replies max. Maybe I'm just a fast reader and typist, but that to me is not such an enormous drain on my energy that I'm going to worry about cutting it down.
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I'm with you on this one. In this day and age, with the technology available, the amount of time wasted is reduced tenfold. When I was younger, it was much harder to get someone sound clips, check out their gig schedule, search on their past experience, etc. Now, I can check out a band to see if it's worth auditioning for without leaving my house. It's really not that much work, compared to in the past.

The best ad I ever placed got me at most 15-20 responses, and I live in a pretty densely populated area. I asked for soundclips, websites, and/or songlists. It probably took me about 10-15 minutes to check out songlists, soundclips, etc. And if it were something that I wasn't interested in at all, I didn't even spend that much time. An e-mail saying, "Thanks for the response, but I'm not interested. Best of luck." took me less than a minute to compose and send. From there, I was able to get down to about 4 bands I auditioned for. The amount of time total to whittle down to 4, probably just a few hours done over the course of a couple of weeks. The auditions totaled about 6-8 hours over a couple of weeks. Not much considering they were all working bands that I was interested in. Even for a guy with a full-time job, family, business, and bands, it wasn't too much off my nose.

In the end, I didn't get anything out of those but a couple of sub gigs. For various reasons, they weren't interested in having me as a permanent member. But, I'm not bitter about wasting time. I got to meet some musicians who are working in the scene, and got my name out there. I got to learn songs that add to the repertoire that I use at gigs. I got to get out of the house and jam with other musicians. I was investing in the long term. I had fun.

Considering how much "wasting time" we do in researching and trying the gear we play with at gigs, we shouldn't have such a negative attitude towards the process of trying out the people that we will play with at gigs. Speculation and research is a part of any investment.

Even with all the investigation techniques out there, it's still hard to beat "time-wasting" endeavors like a phone call, meeting face-to-face, and jamming with the people in question. Until then, it's mostly speculation anyway.
 
#74
steveksux said:
But your point is a good one, if you get too fussy, there won't be any situations out there.
.......
Sometimes you have to be flexible on some stuff, as long as they get the job done, its all good.
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I think that's the most important thing. Do they get the job done?

And I think sometimes you have to weigh your priorities, and it will vary for some people. Some folks will deal with a pr*ck, if they are really good at what they do. Some would rather have a lesser player they can get along with. Some don't mind a little drinking, some do. Some folks would rather have a dedicated beginner than a pro with no commitment. And there's so many different factors, because there are so many different people.

Even with bands, you can lose a buck trying to save a penny.
 
#75
I'm with the Jive1 on the less filter thing. You can email, phone, text and talk till the cows come home, but it's not until everybody is in the room playing together that the rubber meets the road. You spend an hour with them and take your leave, if it's not floating your boat.

The first meeting with a group can be a total fiasco, but if you walk away with your future drummer, guitarist, or singer's number in your phone, you are one step closer.

The sub gig you spend 20 hours preparing for, might only net $100 cash, but you learned new tunes, spent the time with your bass, met new people, and maybe played in front of someone that noticed you. And you did it with a deadline, in pressurized situation. Took a challenge and showed what you got. How's that a waste of time?

If you take your gear to a audition, take along a pocket recorder, like the zoom thing, and record . Nobody has to know about it but you. Take it home and listen to how you played and how they played. How's that a waste of time?

Obviously, if you don't want to do metal, or hip hop, or covers, or whatever, you can say so, and not take the audition. But if what you want to do is find a gig, tell em what you can do, not what you won't do. You can't sort out what you never hear about.
 
#76
nsmar4211 said:
Another thing, do I bring up that I don't want to deal with anyone who drinks heavily? I would be mortified if I did a gig and the band got drunk around me! Is that something to put in an ad, or something you ask on first conversation?
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If you've read enough treads in this forum, you'll find that they may just lie, or that they don't think it's an issue and won't mention it. You may think that 2 or 3 beers is considered ok, but they may think 12 or so is considered ok.
 

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