My Band was Auditioned and ...

[darkwasthenight]

I'm making a giant assumption, but I wonder if she would be able to have a musical discussion with a MD or musicians who actually know what they are doing.

Probably not but with the right MD it shouldn't really matter. Obviously the closer your languages are to each other the more intuitive the process can be, but there are a huge amount of successful musicians out there with very little theory knowledge and an MD with good communication skills should be able to translate "can you put a baadafaffa bit in there?" into actual instructions for the band. Turning vague lumps of dust into solid gold is why they get the hazard pay...

 

[5andFretless]

I'm making a giant assumption, but I wonder if she would be able to have a musical discussion with a MD or musicians who actually know what they are doing.

We were told to play the songs as close to the recordings a possible. That is what we did. If you are implying we don't know what we are doing on stage you are off base. The core group has been together for 15 years. If her rep had told us she wanted something different they would have gotten what they asked for. If she wanted to cover Mustang Sally we would have done it

 

[kevrex]

Depending on the genre of music this Instagram "star" sings (e.g. Pop), finding 19 year olds who actually play real instruments, could be insurmountable.

Depending on the genre of music this Instagram "star" sings (e.g. Pop), finding 19 year olds who actually play real instruments, could be insurmountable.

At the time of this recording, I believe the players were 14, 16, and 17. There are a ton of good young bands up here in the PNW.

 

[Jefus]

Depending on the genre of music this Instagram "star" sings (e.g. Pop), finding 19 year olds who actually play real instruments, could be insurmountable.

LMFAO!!! I was in the backing band for one of these one time. They started out trying to find teen musicians; singer was 16, keyboard player was 15 (both female), rhythm guitar was 20, I was on bass at 30, lead guitar was 31, and drummer was like 42. Weird project. The singer was the manager's niece. He purchased songs from songwriters for the project. The lead guitarist and I were in another band together that was weirder and grittier. But as musicians dropped out, the entire group was replaced with our other band. So we had an original band with a female vocalist who played rhythm, then we'd dress out to play power-pop and the 20 year old rhythm player played rhythm and the singer just sang.

These kind of "make a teen famous" gigs are strange. The likelihood of failure over something miniscule is gargantuan. But, I got to wear skinny jeans and guy-liner while pounding out 8th notes for awhile, and it was kinda fun.

 

[PillO]

The 19 year old Instagram "star" called us a bunch of "Old fakers that sound like an elementary school orchestra."

We are now waiting to see if we are fired. It wouldn't disappoint any of us.

What are you waiting for? Tell your lawyer what happened and that you have been fired. Have him contact management to activate the severance clause.

Unless you don't have a contract...

 

[Low Down Brown]

It sounds more like the singer is less experienced ,insecure, and more immature than management expected. I doubt that can be fixed by working with musicians her age.

There....added to an already spot on statement

I've worked with younger musicians who have the drive to succeed and the maturity to learn from us "old fakers" since we've done this for much longer than most of them have been alive. Sounds like this statement:

Your ages are the easy button for an entitled young narcissist who discovers she can’t cut it in the real world

summed it up quite nicely.

 

[pglaser01]

We were told to play the songs as close to the recordings a possible. That is what we did. If you are implying we don't know what we are doing on stage you are off base. The core group has been together for 15 years. If her rep had told us she wanted something different they would have gotten what they asked for. If she wanted to cover Mustang Sally we would have done it

Actually unless I ALSO am off base, I think this was reply was more in the vein of “she wouldn’t even know how to hold a discussion with musicians who knew what they were doing”.

she wouldn’t be able to speak to people who knew what they were doing (because she is so lacking in experience) in order to understand each other and come to a common alignment

 

[Wesley R]

I am wondering how doe someone like her get backing from a label? Admittedly I have no knowledge of the current workings of labels or stardom.

 

[Calebmundy]

Why did your singer sing one of the Artists songs in front of her? That's a weird move.

 

[Wisebass]

Hi 5andFretless

"Old fakers that sound like an elementary school orchestra."

she is a Karaoke singer with no experience with a live band

So you tried to sound like an elementary schoolband for a kid that can't sing?

That's when our "star" stormed out. We are now waiting to see if we are fired.

Too bad! Sounds like a perfect match to me!


greetings

Wise(b)ass

 

[Stewie]

I’m sorry, our schedule won’t allow us to proceed with this project. We wish you well and hope that it works out for you,

 

[Cavemanfrmc]

She sounds perfect.

 

[Altitude]

19 year old needs equivalent age bandmates. Trying to do it on the cheap with a bunch of folks my age won't work for anything save for an uncredited recording session.

Nah. If it's a "band" maybe. If it's backing musicians for a featured singer, it happens all the time - no better way to make a young singer sound mature and refined than to surround that singer with experience.

Check out the bios for the people in Taylor Swift's band, in which there's been fairly little churn since the early days. Mostly 40s and 50s.

 

[BassNugget]

Something I learned a few years ago.
My oldest son is a great singer, choir, karaoke, has sung the National Anthem at race tracks, sporting events. He has tried to sing at jams with my band and just can’t get the hang of it. And I have noticed this at other open jams you can tell the Karaoke singers in one note they can’t sing with live music.
It’s funny, people who have sung with live musicians can go out and sing karaoke all night long, but people who only sing Karaoke can’t sing with live music to save their soul.
I’m sure there maybe some, but I have yet to hear one
Duke

I've noticed this. I've also noticed that music students who are classically trained vocalists struggle with a microphone and FOH system. I was certainly one of em! Had to get used to that mic and let the system do the heavy lifting rather than trying to reach the back of the hall on my own.

 

[Nashrakh]

Why did your singer sing one of the Artists songs in front of her? That's a weird move.

Reading the OP again, the scene could be construed as "boomers showing the younguns how it's done", with all the condescending baggage towards younger musicians and media that entails.

Please prove me wrong.

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

"ummm, so we still getting paid, right ?"

 

[Ric5]

Sounds like she should team up with these guys:

View attachment 4577541

they can be called millie, vanillie, and sillie

 

[40Hz]

our "star" stormed out.

We are now waiting to see if we are fired

If I were to place a bet…

 

[5andFretless]

Reading the OP again, the scene could be construed as "boomers showing the younguns how it's done", with all the condescending baggage towards younger musicians and media that entails.

Please prove me wrong.

Bingo! By that time it was simply twisting the knife.

 

[micguy]

YouTube and other online platforms allow people who can do, or who can edit together, one good take to achieve a certain amount of notoriety - under very controlled circumstances. Live music is much harder - it’s about how good you are at your worst under chaotic circumstances. In the last couple of years, I’ve done a lot of both, as church services moved online and back to in person.

It takes a lot more practice and experience to do live music well. Someone who’s had success only on YouTube probably has no clue about this, and may blame you for their inability to perform in the real world.

All that said, I work with a lot of young musicians that absolutely CAN handle the stresses of live music, and who play wonderfully. It’s not a young vs old thing, it’s just folks that don’t understand what it takes to play live music well.