I always felt that covers were your chance to really sell out. Being true to yourself as a musician is what writing original music is for. And if people are into it, play it! But if your gonna play covers, you might as well just throw darts at the top 100 radio chart to pick your setlist
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"I don't wanna play that song"
- Thread starter Haysoochreesto
- Start date
Show him this thread.
But yea, if he doesn't accept that you have to play for the crowd, then it's not a fit for him, and you should tell him that straight-out.
And unfortunately, the "everyone picks a song and we have to play it" doesn't usually work. The cover band I'm in, one of the guys is always throwing out suggestions like Muse or Coheed....but we're a Top-40 band. So we just don't really seek out his opinion for songs, and nobody else in the band has a problem shooting down another's suggestion. The good thing is we all get along, so it's not like anybody's taking it personally.
But yea, if he doesn't accept that you have to play for the crowd, then it's not a fit for him, and you should tell him that straight-out.
And unfortunately, the "everyone picks a song and we have to play it" doesn't usually work. The cover band I'm in, one of the guys is always throwing out suggestions like Muse or Coheed....but we're a Top-40 band. So we just don't really seek out his opinion for songs, and nobody else in the band has a problem shooting down another's suggestion. The good thing is we all get along, so it's not like anybody's taking it personally.
In my experience, every member of the band has a song or two or four that s/he isn't in love with, that's just part of the deal. But NO successful (read: popular, paying, gigging) band I've ever played with or talked to plays songs that only one member likes.
Me, I'm all for LIMITED veto power. My one song that I just won't play any more is Jesse's Girl (Sweet Home Alabama is a close second, but I can tolerate it while watching the ladies dance).
Bottom line, the band is there to bring in the crowd. Where the ladies go, the men will follow. It's ALWAYS about what gets people to part with their dollars. Obscure X isn't going to do that.
YMMV, IMHO, caveat emptor, contents may have shifted in transport, etc ad nauseum, ad infinitum
Me, I'm all for LIMITED veto power. My one song that I just won't play any more is Jesse's Girl (Sweet Home Alabama is a close second, but I can tolerate it while watching the ladies dance).
Bottom line, the band is there to bring in the crowd. Where the ladies go, the men will follow. It's ALWAYS about what gets people to part with their dollars. Obscure X isn't going to do that.
YMMV, IMHO, caveat emptor, contents may have shifted in transport, etc ad nauseum, ad infinitum
IMO, the new person in any band should not immediately be an "equal". He's already angling to change "your" band since he's an equal.
I suggest that, since he's new, that you change the rules of the game and tell him (since he's already gone against the rules you set out) that it's your band and he's not equal anymore. You might tell him that he should concentrate on playing the songs that are picked (and that make you money) and if he has any complaints, to keep them to himself.
Imagine if he was a "new guy" at some other job. If he started telling everyone else how to do their job or complaining about the way things are done, he'd be out in a heart beat.
Nothing should be different about your band.
You should be able to get a replacement drummer pretty quickly if that's your band's status.
I don't think he's so cool if he's creating drama where none need be created. Based on what he was told that the rules of the band were before he started, sounds like he's trying to sabotage your band.
IMO, based on what you've posted, I don't think he's redeemable if he's started talking nonsense after one gig.
Sounds narcissistic to me. If he was really a team player, he wouldn't be making these kind of remarks. Remarks that sound like he likes to hear himself talk and have the scent of a "I'm not happy unless I'm the center of attention personality". The "look at what I can do" nonsense that leads no where and burns brain cells because there's no solution to a problem that doesn't exist accept for in his mind.
We talked about it at rehearsal the other night. I think the issue is solved for now. The conversation went well and he took it just fine. After that we had a really good practice, really focused.
He was one of three drummers who wanted to play with us so the actual replacement wouldn't have been too serious of an issue. But it's not just finding a replacement. We have gigs lined up and a new guy might not fit personality-wise and what if the replacement turns out to be a flake and we have to gig with the guy?
Like I said, he's a great personality fit in addition to being a really good player. Hopefully the issue won't come up again and we can move on from this----which was more of an aggravation for me than a true band emergency.
He was one of three drummers who wanted to play with us so the actual replacement wouldn't have been too serious of an issue. But it's not just finding a replacement. We have gigs lined up and a new guy might not fit personality-wise and what if the replacement turns out to be a flake and we have to gig with the guy?
Like I said, he's a great personality fit in addition to being a really good player. Hopefully the issue won't come up again and we can move on from this----which was more of an aggravation for me than a true band emergency.
I have a very popular 3 piece party rock dance band. Our guitar player has a bad habit of suggesting songs that are good but are 40-50 year old songs that he liked when he was a kid. They are not necessarily what the audience likes other than musicians and he has little sense about dance songs. The drummer and I pick most of the tunes and they cover a wide range of material with a formula.
Popular tunes both overplayed songs and ones you rarely hear bands do
Simple
Danceable
Catchy
Sing-a-long
Can we cover them 3 piece well
Popular tunes both overplayed songs and ones you rarely hear bands do
Simple
Danceable
Catchy
Sing-a-long
Can we cover them 3 piece well
That's pretty much our philosophy too. Me and one of the guitar players make sure to always pick songs that fit the main age of the crowd we play to, have a nostalgic and iconic element to them, and one that chicks can dance to.
2. It’s All About The Song. This goes along with what Darryl is talking about when he says it doesn’t matter if you’re playing in front of 50,000 people or by yourself. Your job as a bassist is to play the song; there is no musical difference between the song you’re performing to the sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden or the same song to John and Mary at their wedding.
Suppose you play in a top 40 band and you’re sick of playing Celine Dion's “Because You Loved Me” for the 500th time. What if Celine called you tomorrow to join her band for a sold out year of shows in Vegas? Would you like playing the song more? If your answer is yes, you’re not doing your job as a bassist. “Because You Loved Me” has the same chord changes no matter where or for who you’re playing it, and that framework should be your focus. Your role is to make that song sound and feel as good as it possibly can every time you play it. The audience should never factor into the way you approach your performance or the energy you put into it.
http://www.ricksuchow.com/press-group-80.html
Works for him: http://www.ricksuchow.com/calendar.html
Suppose you play in a top 40 band and you’re sick of playing Celine Dion's “Because You Loved Me” for the 500th time. What if Celine called you tomorrow to join her band for a sold out year of shows in Vegas? Would you like playing the song more? If your answer is yes, you’re not doing your job as a bassist. “Because You Loved Me” has the same chord changes no matter where or for who you’re playing it, and that framework should be your focus. Your role is to make that song sound and feel as good as it possibly can every time you play it. The audience should never factor into the way you approach your performance or the energy you put into it.
http://www.ricksuchow.com/press-group-80.html
Works for him: http://www.ricksuchow.com/calendar.html
Maybe I'm just old(er), but I can't imagine a crowd not liking "I'm a Man". Then again, I don't often "get" people.
- Jul 8, 2009
- 1,612
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- A&R, Soulless Corporation Records
"Math metal," is a term used to describe a genre of metal typically characterized by unusual meters like 15/16, 13/16, etc.
Offer to start a side project band with him. Keep the two separate. All the cool metal or whatever with the one group and keep rocking the danceable covers with the other. Win win...
Everyone in a cover band loves to bitch about the songs they have to do that the crowds like but the musicians hate. It used to be "Proud Mary", then "Brown Eyed Girl".
Whatever, no problem, as long as it slight hearted commisserating.
Once you start refusing to do songs, its a problem. Once it occurs on a gig, its time for new personnel.
Having said that, I was once in a band who's goal was to never play another Bob Seger song...
And that was cool, plenty of other artists out there...
Randy
Whatever, no problem, as long as it slight hearted commisserating.
Once you start refusing to do songs, its a problem. Once it occurs on a gig, its time for new personnel.
Having said that, I was once in a band who's goal was to never play another Bob Seger song...
And that was cool, plenty of other artists out there...Randy
What a load of crap.
I never was one to play the "what if" game but I'll play this one.
You play Because You Loved Me 500 times in stinking bars... Then play it on a stage with Celine Dion and see if there isnt new life breathed into the song.
I get sick of playing Talk Dirty To Me, but I would jump at the chance to play it with Poison on a stage in a sold out arena. And yes... I would enjoy the hell out of it.
I guess that means I'm not doing my job as a bassist.
HAHAHAHAHA!!! That's a good one! Biggest load of horsecrap I've seen on here in a month!
100% honesty...you're not.
if you go up onstage and play a really boring cover like it's a really boring cover, the audience is going to know, and they're going to be bored with you and leave. seen it happen a million times. but if you get up there and play that boring song like it's the greatest song on earth, then they will be with you. i don't like mustang sally and brown eyed girl, but the audience will never know it when i sing them. that's what's called professionalism, and that separates the good bands from the bad bands. musicians are fond of underestimating the audience's intelligence and thinking they don't know the difference, but they do.
btw, i often do play a lot of boring songs with my regular band and then sometimes i go play them with the original artists. it makes no difference to me...i give 100% all of the time. if you need bret michaels to inspire you to play talk dirty to me with some conviction, you're not giving 100% effort.
to the original question, tell the drummer that HE joined YOUR band and you're not going to let him or anyone else sabotage it, and if he wants to make the money, do what you tell him to do or he can hit the bricks. pull rank and pull it hard. you earned it.
