Hate being told I don't look rock and roll!!!

[scourgeofgod]

The NEXT person that says it to you, HEADBUTT them

Came to say this. Your sound is all that should matter, but if people are bad mouthing you to your face at 6'2", show them a little attitude.

 

[Lizardskyball]

You want to trick the mom's into letting the kids 'bop' with ya.

 

[hernameisrio]

Just don't be one of those people who tries way too hard. Most people can't really pull off a "look" and there is a reason the pro rockers have a team of makeup and wardrobe artists to make it all look right. Lose the shirt. Swap it for a t-shirt or hoodie or flannel and you're fine. What are you supposed to look like at these gigs?!

 

[Son of Wobble]

Just don't be one of those people who tries way too hard. Most people can't really pull off a "look" and there is a reason the pro rockers have a team of makeup and wardrobe artists to make it all look right. Lose the shirt. Swap it for a t-shirt or hoodie or flannel and you're fine. What are you supposed to look like at these gigs?!

Depending on genre, the OP might also crib from Hernameisrio's profile pic and rock some leopard kicks. Works for her!

 

[Son of Wobble]

SERVING SUGGESTION:

 

[LiquidMidnight]

Setting aside the "be yourself" stuff for a moment, I think the main issue with your look as shown in your photo is it's neither here nor there. Your look is neither rough around the edges nor fashionable enough to say "rock & roll". Look at the pics people have posted here - they're either more grungy and tough looking, or way more stylish and daring than your look. Lemmy is grungy looking, McCartney & Deacon are stylish, Bolan is flamboyant - all of that is rock & roll. But you're just safely somewhere in the middle, not much of anything. The safe all-black look, the club shirt, the little subtle necklace, the nice bass, it looks like well-to-do kid playing trust fund equipment. Everything's well-mannered but nothing stands out. There's no theatrical quality to it. You look like an audience member, not a performer.

I think the answer is to be more of anything. You don't have to grow your hair long or get tattoos or wear a certain kind of clothing. You just need to move demonstrably in some direction away from center, some direction that makes some kind of statement. For example, something as simple as a jacket can make a difference - take the look you have in the pic and add a sportcoat, and then under that a loosened tie, or an opened shirt with more showy necklace, or a cool band t-shirt, and just like that you've made an easy and noticeable step in a more R&R direction. But that's just a random example. You don't need to dress like Bootsy, you just need more of something. It's hard to make yourself look poor while holding a StingRay, so you may be best off going in a slightly more fashionable direction; not high fashion, but something in the Stones direction, maybe. And definitely tousle your hair. It doesn't have to be long or crazy, but yours is too neat and tidy. Lose the part, for a start.

I think you really hit the nail on the head. From the OP's photo, I think he is an ideal candidate to do the neo-new wave, stylish look - ala The Hives, or even a sophisticated dressy look like Vintage Trouble.

The key with that look is actually looking polished with it. I often hate the "We play rock, but we wear neckties" look, not because it's an inherently bad look, but I often hate it because it's done so sloppily. The reason The Hives and Vintage Trouble look awesome when they put on dress pants and neckties is because they look put together - their clothes fit and they've taken care of all of the other details (e.g., hair, facial grooming, nice shoes, etc). Too many bands get cheap black dress shirts from Wal-mart that don't fit well, throw on Godawful ties and cheap looking foderas from Rue21, and don't bother to do anything interesting with their hair and don't shave well. Then they just end up looking lame.

The issue is the OP is halfway there with that look, but he's not the whole way there. Instead, he kind of just looks like every dude who goes to the club on Saturday.

 

[hernameisrio]

Yeah I was gonna say that but I didn't want to be mean. His outfit is very simple. But he could kinda go with that a little more and make it into something.

 

[GBassNorth]

I'm 22, and unfortunately I have a bit of a baby face.
So what do I do? ...
View attachment 524455

Guinness - no offense intended, you seem like a cool guy and you rock a mean bass but you do have a bit of that "Leave it to Beaver" Theadore Cleaver look going on...

A dark tee shirt (and don't tuck it in), a cap of some kind (a ball cap might make it worse, consider a cabbie cap) and maybe some sunglasses would change things up a bit. If you're in a country band setting get yourself a Dwight Yokum type hat and wear a western plaid shirt untucked with worn out jeans and some cool western boots. If you're in a grunge or alternative rock type band get a dark knitted skull cap, along with a light color long sleeve pull over shirt and wear it under a mostly unbuttoned and untucked flannel shirt with the sleeves half rolled up and some well worn jeans.

But most of all - continue to focus on your playing - with really good chops you can put a lot of asshats in their place!

 

[Son of Wobble]

TRY THIS?