Is Bandmix as useless as it seems?

[Acoustic356]

Gonna bit the bullet and make a new Bandmix profile, see if it does any good. Craigslist has a lot of ads for my area but nothing that appeals to me.

Make a professional looking profile. It will impact who reaches out to you.

Add pictures of you playing
Add sound clips of you playing.
Add video of you playing with a band.

Be specific about what you're looking for, and have a mission statement that like minded musicians can identify with.

 

[mcontour]

I have a feeling that there are a bunch of folks waiting for the other "non-paying" member to contact them. In several years, I have only been contacted by 2 bands and neither was close to what I'm looking for.

In my case, I am a bass player looking to join a blues/rock band in my area. When I search for bands needing a bass player in the rock/blues genre, the search provides numerous "bands" that have no photos, audio, or video and are searching for every instrument that Bandmix allows and that play every genre that Bandmix allows. Sure, a blues/rock bassist meets the search criteria, as does polka and bluegrass and metal. Not exactly serious are they?

Occasionally I see a band that looks promising. I can usually figure out who they are and I contact them via other means. If Bandmix would allow the option for a small one time fee to direct contact another member instead of paying the too-high subscription rate, I would take advantage of that option. I did suggest that to them a few years ago, with no response.

 

[FenderBassist]

Make a professional looking profile. It will impact who reaches out to you.

Add pictures of you playing
Add sound clips of you playing.
Add video of you playing with a band.

Be specific about what you're looking for, and have a mission statement that like minded musicians can identify with.

Thank you for the good advice, and is what I usually do. The content of the profile has most of the CL ad that I post as well. Looking for the right kind of band (for me) with the right people (vs just anything that pays):

"I have professional gear (Fenders), chops, a wealth of stage experience & very reliable transportation. Quite mindful of stage mix and tempo. Am a daily self practicer that learns new (to me) songs all the time...a "like the record" player where applicable. Looking for same.

Have done many musical styles in previous bands. Grew up in a resort area on the East Coast where work was plentiful before the cost of living skyrocketed. Prefer various forms of rock from the 60s to now (acid-, psychedelic-, jazz-, reggae-, blues-, soft-, indie-, alternative-, garage-, folk-, art-, etc.), 80's new wave, electric blues, classic soul, miscellaneous standards.

I assume you have a cover band looking for a bass player, so please send me your audition list and meeting location / date / time. Will get back to you asap.

If things click mutually at audition, then we can talk turkey afterwards. Am looking for a quality situation, not a quick paycheck or a "just for fun" scenario where anything goes and no one really cares how. The rhythm section has to lock and groove to a tempo while other instruments bring the appropriate flavors to the songs in a mix.

Looking for the right band to commit to."

 

[FenderBassist]

What I usually encounter out here are people that all recite the same thing, whenever topics such as self practice, song learning, song choices, rehearsals, tempos (if there is a problem), working on the mix (if there is a problem), etc. are brought up...

"I just want to have fun".

Thus my ad worded the way it is. For better or worse.

 

[Acoustic356]

Thank you for the good advice, and is what I usually do. The content of the profile has most of the CL ad that I post as well. Looking for the right kind of band (for me) with the right people (vs just anything that pays):

"I have professional gear (Fenders), chops, a wealth of stage experience & very reliable transportation. Quite mindful of stage mix and tempo. Am a daily self practicer that learns new (to me) songs all the time...a "like the record" player where applicable. Looking for same.

Have done many musical styles in previous bands. Grew up in a resort area on the East Coast where work was plentiful before the cost of living skyrocketed. Prefer various forms of rock from the 60s to now (acid-, psychedelic-, jazz-, reggae-, blues-, soft-, indie-, alternative-, garage-, folk-, art-, etc.), 80's new wave, electric blues, classic soul, miscellaneous standards.

I assume you have a cover band looking for a bass player, so please send me your audition list and meeting location / date / time. Will get back to you asap.

If things click mutually at audition, then we can talk turkey afterwards. Am looking for a quality situation, not a quick paycheck or a "just for fun" scenario where anything goes and no one really cares how. The rhythm section has to lock and groove to a tempo while other instruments bring the appropriate flavors to the songs in a mix.

Looking for the right band to commit to."

Keep it short... people don't read... shoot me a message and I'll send you a link to mine.

 

[FenderBassist]

Keep it short... people don't read... shoot me a message and I'll send you a link to mine.

Hmmm yes I suppose that is another issue of our time. I will work on shortening it, thanks.

Is actually annoying to me that others can ask me to learn material, drive to their location and spend time working things out, but they can't read a few short paragraphs. I suppose I'm a fossil.

 

[LBS-bass]

What I usually encounter out here are people that all recite the same thing, whenever topics such as self practice, song learning, song choices, rehearsals, tempos (if there is a problem), working on the mix (if there is a problem), etc. are brought up...

"I just want to have fun".

Thus my ad worded the way it is. For better or worse.

I somewhat object to this. I, too, want to have fun. For me, having fun playing music involves working hard enough at it to make sure it's good. However, I absolutely do not want to be in a room full of people who are taking themselves so seriously that all the joy is squeezed out of the process. So it's very important to me that people understand that I'm in it for the fun but I also have very high standards that need to be met before the fun can occur.

 

[FenderBassist]

I somewhat object to this. I, too, want to have fun. For me, having fun playing music involves working hard enough at it to make sure it's good. However, I absolutely do not want to be in a room full of people who are taking themselves so seriously that all the joy is squeezed out of the process. So it's very important to me that people understand that I'm in it for the fun but I also have very high standards that need to be met before the fun can occur.

I do understand. I probably should have qualified it more. The "just want to have fun" comment was supposed to be a substitute for doing what I would consider the basics.

Please understand, I live in an area where a band may, for example, want to do Bad Company covers and blues standards that are shuffles...and the drummer cannot play a shuffle, the guitar player wants to use the high gain metal scooped sound with lots of boosted lows, and the singer wants a similarly scooped sound out of the PA....all with rushed tempos where I can't comfortably play the bass part in a mix like that anyway...and that's if they even bothered to listen to the songs at all and just ignored the parts on the records to make up their own while dropping occasional measures...

I suppose the only proper response to such a situation is "no thanks", and that I'll have to audition until I find kindred spirits. But that's why I wrote what I did.

 

[LBS-bass]

I do understand. I probably should have qualified it more. The "just want to have fun" comment was supposed to be a substitute for doing what I would consider the basics.

Please understand, I live in an area where a band may, for example, want to do Bad Company covers and blues standards that are shuffles...and the drummer cannot play a shuffle, the guitar player wants to use the high gain metal scooped sound with lots of boosted lows, and the singer wants a similarly scooped sound out of the PA....all with rushed tempos where I can't comfortably play the bass part in a mix like that anyway...and that's if they even bothered to listen to the songs at all and ignore the parts on the records.

I suppose the only proper response to such a situation is "no thanks", and that I'll have to audition until I find kindred spirits.

I do get it; I've encountered much of the same stuff around here.

I think maybe there are at least two sets of expectations that need to be communicated. One is the expected work ethic - learn at home, come to rehearsal prepared, know your parts, etc. The other has to do with goals, which is I guess what I was getting at.

I want to play with people who have skill and work ethic, but I'm not looking for a gig every weekend or auxiliary income from this; I do it because I enjoy it. That said, I do have gigs and we charge money for this, but that's secondary to the fact that I'm doing what I love to do. Making sure the goals are compatible at the outset can help avoid some of the stuff we see in the Band Management forum.

 

[FenderBassist]

I do get it; I've encountered much of the same stuff around here.

I think maybe there are at least two sets of expectations that need to be communicated. One is the expected work ethic - learn at home, come to rehearsal prepared, know your parts, etc. The other has to do with goals, which is I guess what I was getting at.

I want to play with people who have skill and work ethic, but I'm not looking for a gig every weekend or auxiliary income from this; I do it because I enjoy it. That said, I do have gigs and we charge money for this, but that's secondary to the fact that I'm doing what I love to do. Making sure the goals are compatible at the outset can help avoid some of the stuff we see in the Band Management forum.

I completely agree. And I'm also coming from the a similar place of wanting to do what I love. The money is secondary. I can't love trainwrecks, takes all the fun out of it.

 

[LBS-bass]

I completely agree. And I'm also coming from the a similar place of wanting to do what I love. The money is secondary. I can't love trainwrecks, takes all the fun out of it.

Yep. I am a little gun shy because I left a pretty good band earlier this year because they just weren't having any fun. I was rehearsing weekly with them, knew all my parts, everyone else was really hitting the limits of their ability so there was no more juice to be squeezed out of endless rehearsal, but the thing was being run like bootcamp. God forbid someone crack a joke. For that, among other reasons, I decided to take my leave. Nowadays I like to make sure people know I'm not interested in making this painful

 

[FenderBassist]

Yep. I am a little gun shy because I left a pretty good band earlier this year because they just weren't having any fun. I was rehearsing weekly with them, knew all my parts, everyone else was really hitting the limits of their ability so there was no more juice to be squeezed out of endless rehearsal, but the thing was being run like bootcamp. God forbid someone crack a joke. For that, among other reasons, I decided to take my leave. Nowadays I like to make sure people know I'm not interested in making this painful

Oh man that's no fun at all, you have my sincere sympathies. Painful is not fun. At all. I hope you find the right people. Is what I'm trying to do. Spent the last year playing with 2 drummers with whom I had a hard time locking in with. Just trying to work it out got me a lot of "I'm not doing that" type comments from people who admit they don't self practice at home at all.

Best of luck to us both.

 

[LBS-bass]

Oh man that's no fun at all, you have my sincere sympathies. Painful is not fun. At all. I hope you find the right people. Is what I'm trying to do. Spent the last year playing with 2 drummers with whom I had a hard time locking in with. Just trying to work it out got me a lot of "I'm not doing that" type comments from people who admit they don't self practice at home at all.

Best of luck to us both.

Thanks, I'm good now. Got several things going that are pretty satisfying. It's worth it to just keep your standards up and keep moving forward until you get the things you need. Might take a little time to get there but when you find that magic, it's awesome. Best of luck with it!

 

[Artman]

26008424[/URL], member: 279860"]That might quite literally be one of the bands I'm in now. It was a perfect fit for me and helped me to get up to speed on bass. Plus, it led to two other bands, one of them gigged all through the shutdown. So, thanks for turning them down.

And I found them on Bandmix.

No worries. They were quite a drive from my house. I ended up in a really great band with three other “old” guys my own age from my part of town, and we get along really well.

Sometimes it’s good to follow your instincts because things have a way of working out better for everybody when we listen to our inner voice.
I win, You win, both bands win.

 

[Naturekev]

Get Zero from it.

Anybody have any luck?

Our band got a great drummer through Bandmix. He saw our band profile and contacted us. He has been with us since 2016.

We recently contacted some singers through Bandmix. A couple of them flaked on us and never showed up for auditions, but then we found one with a great voice. She accepted our invitation to join the band a few months ago.

 

[MarkWtbyCT]

The only issue I have ever seen from Bandmix is similar to a dating site, there are a lot of obsolete listings that never get removed to make it look like there are more players available than there really are, like the dating sites. If in CT, try this room on Facebook. CT Musician Meet Market we keep the listings current.

 

[reverendboom]

I decided to try bandmix and actually found something that seems to fit. Paid the month's fee and contacted him. He's invited me to their practice next week...who knows how it will turn out but it's something.
.

 

[Aceman]

If you think you can post a faceless, video less post with your "resume" and wait...here is a news flash...nothing works that way.

If you get on it and work it from your end too; Picks, gig shots, video links etc...and work it both ways - you contact too....guess what? It works pretty good.

And guess what else? Musicaians are easily 50% flaky lazy losers. Set your expectations appropriately.

Pay the monthly and hit it hard for a bit.

 

[reverendboom]

Update...Finally had the first practice with the band. I think it's going to be just what I was looking for. Good hang, talented guys, and not planning to play out a lot (definitely not bars).

 

[toddsterbassist]

I use bandmix as a place to post some pics, videos, audio, and a brief bio. It’s convenient and free. Then I can always send the link to anybody who may want to audition/hire me.