Original Bands? Why?

[ThudThudThud]

I've been in exactly two cover bands (one just as a fill-in) since I started playing (late 70s-early 80s).
It's good thing it's never been about the money for me!
I've played rock, metal, punk-tinged metal, pop, folk, singer/songwriter stuff, electronic pop, and the blues.
Playing something new sparks something inside me that makes me smile.

While I can understand why people play covers, it never did anything for me from a creativity standpoint.
I'd be saddened if every photographer took the same photograph, or artist painted the same pictures, or movie producers kept making the same.....oh....sorry...skip that one. It's all I can do not to walk out when I hear the same songs over and over. "Oh, but we do it our way..."

I'm past gigging now, and have a home studio for original compositions. Creativity is everything to me.

 

[Deleted member 365158]

I’m just a hobby player but my hobby playing increased considerably when I started playing with others. The first “band” i helped start started by learning some covers just for some common ground but quickly turned into originals. The second “band” was all originals with the same singer/guitarist. My 3rd and current “band” is all original as well with a guitarist from the first band and the drummer from the 2nd.
I really enjoy helping create and figuring out bass lines to ideas that start with a riff.
We don’t get a lot of interest from songs I’ve posted around the internet but for us that doesn’t matter. We have fun and enjoy making and playing the songs we come up with.
We do get good reactions at the gigs we play and that feels really good.

 

[lermgalieu]

How many folx out there play in original groups?

I seem to always find myself in two groups at once like I'm chasing something I can never catch and wonder sometimes if playing covers is the solution that's been in front of me the whole time.

Because I enjoy playing original, creative music, and having input on my originals in a collaborative environment which makes them even better. I guess if I was just trying to make money on it I'd feel differently, but I got into music and am still playing music because of the artistry, not necessarily the craft, if that makes sense. Though I do enjoy the craft. The most covers I have ever played in a band (I'm 53) was about 50%. Every other band was 80-100% original, including my current band.

 

[ThudThudThud]

The groups I played originals with never got out of the garage.

The cover bands I have played with gigged regularly.

YMMV

MMDV (My Milage Did Vary).
I played a lot of really fun gigs with some cool, creative people.

 

[DirtDog]

Success is having found people who dig the same weirdness as me.

This.

 

[GretschWretch]

I'm sliding so far over into the folkie end of the spectrum that even a Fender is becoming too sophisticated. But as a friend who just retired from a thirty-year second career in this world told me, to survive in this world you have to be able to write. Doing covers only is a no-go.

 

[Ron Berenato]

When I was younger it was mostly originals because we wanted a record deal. Now it's covers because we want bookings.

 

[ThudThudThud]

But for my own pleasure I’d write and record my own stuff at home, with no expectation that I’d ever perform it, make money from it, or get others to join me, and that still fills my “soul” when it comes to originals.

This.
Interestingly, I had a bandmate from 30+ years ago randomly quote one of my lyrics on FB recently. Not directly to me, but just on his feed.
If it stuck with him, I did something right.
I'll concede that there have been projects where the principal songwriters wouldn't/couldn't imagine that anyone else but them could write a song for the band, only to be 'surprised' when they later heard my stuff.

 

[LowendG]

Only played covers when I was first learning to play bass in High School. But it was an invaluable education at that point. And our little band had quite a diverse repertoire (it was the 70's after all, when you could hear "Roundabout" back to back with "Puppy Love" on the AM radio). Since then it's been all originals in one way or another.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

The creative process has always been the main thing for me so I've almost exclusively played in original bands, usually in "niche" genres. Which means I've rarely made decent money out of it, even in years with lots of touring. I have generally made a living from other jobs such as studio engineer, working at a guitar workshop or totally different jobs (I have a university degree that's completely unrelated to music). On the very rare occasions I've been in cover bands it has been more like "tribute" bands doing one particular artist or band that I love.

I can enjoy playing the occasional cover song but being in a cover band just isn't my thing. The fun is all about writing/arranging for me.

I'm pretty sure I could have made more money in a cover band but I would never be able to enjoy it. These days I'd rather make a living from something else entirely and do the band thing as a hobby. Only with good friends and VERY limited traveling. I'm sick of touring. In fact, I'm so sick of hotels and airports that I almost need to be pulled screaming out the door when we go on holidays! The trip to the airport makes me feel like a dog going to the vet.

 

[gtirard]

I only play in one band, original - see my signature - for more than 10 years, and I'm so happy.

The only time in my life when played covers was because I wanted so much to play with that friend drummer, I made the effort. Then I find a way to have him join my band InRed, and we're all so happy.

 

[Bassist4Eris]

I started playing as a creative outlet. Over the years I've done the cover band thing a few times, but it always felt like a distraction from my real passion.

 

[Egg250]

I enjoy playing covers, but I also enjoy putting my own spin on a bassline. I won't neglect or disrespect an iconic part of the song, but I never feel the need to play something note for note.

I'm not much of a songwriter (I tend to write very literally and I don't feel it works well) but I do love the songwriting process and the creation of my own basslines.

Music isn't my livelihood, so given a choice between a steady gigging covers band or a scratching for shows originals project......I'll choose the originals.

 

[Five or Six]

My cousin is in an originals band. I asked why originals and not covers? He said covers are meh. He said that originals are an expression of the people / group performing them. Any band can play covers. Covers have no soul. I said OK. How many gigs did you play last year? He said, 8 I think. Hm I said, we played roughly 48, so what's that tell you? Our covers are the result of patron conversations and what they would like to hear. He said no more. Works for us. Originals here don't play. To each their own.

 

[bylar13]

I have only ever played in original bands. Recorded a number of LP's and toured etc. None of it was successful from a monetary point of view but the experiences were really priceless. It was always an adventure, even when it was terrible.

I still play in an active original band and we draw smaller & smaller audiences as time goes by. It will probably end some someday but I have taken to looking at my whole musical experience as an "on-going art installation" .

It is really fun to listen to things you did in your teens and early 20's (56 now) and get to remember when it all happened.

It still really fun to write something, share it with like minded people, have their input in its creation and then end up with something that is ultimately, greater than the sum of it parts.

 

[ravlin]

Whenever these threads come up I struggle with putting words to the thing I'm trying to say. I recently saw a KEXP video with the easy star All Stars and it finally clicked. Adaptations. Just because you play somebody else's song doesn't mean that you need the sound like them. My band plays everything from Nina Simone to Allman Brothers, some new hip hop and some originals. It all sounds like us and giving yourself that freedom means that you can still be creative even if you didn't write the words and the main melody.
My goals are to have a creative outlet and to play some cool music, but also not play b******* gigs for three people, and I'd like to get paid at least something that covers my beer and transportation. Good luck on your journey.

 

[Egg250]

My cousin is in an originals band. I asked why originals and not covers? He said covers are meh. He said that originals are an expression of the people / group performing them. Any band can play covers. Covers have no soul. I said OK. How many gigs did you play last year? He said, 8 I think. Hm I said, we played roughly 48, so what's that tell you? Our covers are the result of patron conversations and what they would like to hear. He said no more. Works for us. Originals here don't play. To each their own.

I think the real question is, "did you guys book out last year?". Goals are different. People measure success differently.

 

[NorthTexasBass]

I play in an originals band, and we have no delusions about 'making it'. We are all 50ish professionals that don't have to rely on this as full time income. We practice 2-3 Fridays a month and we gig about 5-6 times a year and that's really just an excuse to get our friends together. We normally draw somewhere in the 40-80 person range for a crowd and while not huge, for the smaller rooms we play it feels like a decent crowd.

We do mix in one or two covers at certain venues but tend to mix them up so they don't become stale. I really like the process of coming up with my own basslines and helping with arrangements on originals.

I played in a cover band when I first started playing and it was an excellent education. It did make me hate certain songs though. I used to absolutely love The Cult, but we played 3-4 songs by them that were so boring to play, I couldn't listen to them for several years afterwards. Occasionally I will be approached by a cover band and when I look at their setlist I have no desire to play about half of their songs. Music needs to be fun to me and a decent amount of cover band standards really beat me down.

There are certain cover band situations that I might do, but I would be very picky about it.

 

[logdrum]

I play originals with 2-3 core bands Sometime too original. Basically free jazz/avant garde. These guys are not hacks, like classical players, who are just tired of playing written music or jazz guys just tired of the real-book and older jazz.

On my own I am working on "film like" scores because during COVID I amassed all these Orchestral libraries and learned sampling on my own and started creating Kontakt instruments plus when I worked in San Diego - I got me some Eurorack, Analog and Digital synths, so I definitely into atmospheric music. No previous experience in orchestra's only horn bands. "The Study of Orchestration" by Samuel Adler is my main reference.

The money even for cover bands is not that great and there are already established cliches in town. I did play with a jazz singer but she moved to the UK. I could probably hook up with the salsa bands again. Now I just play with a dad band doing re-imagined covers and the piano player has some paying gigs playing lounge jazz and I join him sometimes. The other free/avant garde are definitely low paying art gallery or cerebral performance space gigs only.

I may look up some funk or dance bands and probably play the horn sections.

My current job is high tech semiconductor automation engineering and it is not conducive to be tied to band schedules i.e - maybe you will be called on the weekends or evenings. Oh well. What will work for me are straight up reading or non or very little rehearsal gigs.

 

[Bringindafunk]

I've only played in original projects until recently. Currently I play in both an original and cover band. The original band has a couple of excellent songwriters and everyone in the group is an outstanding musician. We get paid comparable to my cover band though it isn't about the money for us. We enjoy getting the creative juices flowing and writing/arranging the songs. The fact that we can bring those songs out and perform them to appreciative audiences is icing on the cake to us.