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Red Flags For Bass Players Looking for Work

#101
bassbully said:
Yes but thats you! There is allot of us that want to play more and would if we could. 2x a month 3x a few times a year is all a guy like myself with a 6 year old daughter, full time job, wife full time job, house, yard, family time can handle. I already did the DIVORCE thang and have the scars from that. As much as I love playing music it has to be second to my family. There are allot of us on here in this boat and are happy with the way it floats.
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Funny thing is in my 20s, I'd have bands break up or lose players due to them getting married, having kids, drug problems, financial problems, etc. In my 30s and 40s, I'm losing players and having bands break up due to marital problems, divorce and other family issues. IME, you'd think the guy getting a divorce is now free to do put more time into the band, but it doesn't often work that way, at least not in the beginning. The guy has less emotional energy to put into the band, and more preoccupation to devote to a band. IMO, you want to keep a band together and people happy, keep their families happy.
 
#102
My red flags include:

Grammar and spelling errors. If you can't figure out "they're", "there", and "their", or "its" and "it's", etc. then we're not going to be able to communicate easily. And if you're too lazy to write "you're" or "your" yr not willing to work. And type the ad up in Word (or open office) and run spell check first!!!

Genre clash- the band that said "blues band" and the first two bands they cited for reference were Zepplin and The Yardbirds. Ditto for the guys whose set list included "Dreams" and I asked if that was the Allman Bros. song. They said "no, it's a Molly Hatchet song".... run away!!!

The usual hype "must be willing to work", "dedicated", "serious", etc. If you have to put that in the ad when it's something that should be understood, I'd have suspicions about how serious, dedicated, or focused YOU are.

Rehearsing more than gigging is a flag, always. So is "originals"- sorry but my experience over 30+ years is that most originals are anything but original, the writers have avoided learning other peoples' songs so they don't KNOW the difference between a good song and a POS, and they think every turd that comes out of them is a gold nugget. Plus original bands never play a whole gig. Now why would I load up my gear, drive for an hour, listen to (or endure) three other bands, play 40 minutes, endure three more bands, then drive home for $25?

"Working band needs bass player, drummer, and singer"- unless I know the band and the back story, I'm going to assume your definition of "working band" is much different from mine!!

John
 
#103
bluewine said:
But since you bring it up, is it that you can't gig a lot or you don't want to.

I mentioned that we are all different. I can understand guys that can't gig a lot. I will never understand guys that play bass, like to play bass are physically and mentally able to gig but don't like to gig.
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For me the time and money for gigging a lot doesn't make sense. I have a family and I have a demanding but good paying career as an architect. So I don't want to play every weekend. But I do like to get in front of people to play. If I gig occaisionly then I really enjoy it. I don't need a second job or second career. So I search out other musicians who have similar situations. It is kind of tough to find good players who don't want to gig every weekend.
 
#104
For every rule there is an exception.

My current band was a startup three years ago. I've had my time wasted in countless startups and know the deal, but I could tell these guys were pros, and we sounded good from the first note of my audition. Now we gig as much as we want and get to be picky about what rooms we play. It's grown into a big enough thing that even my side-band doesn't beg for work, the work finds us.


Long before Craig's List I made a comfortable student-level living playing music primarily based on an ad I answered on a music store bulletin board. Ended up getting tossed right into the gigging world, my first real paying gig and we played enough that I could get an apartment, buy all the gear I wanted, get my first cat... it was the job that changed me from a college kid to semi-adulthood. I was about to work at WalMart and move back in with my parents for the summer to make ends meet but my whole life changed with one phone call.


More recently I made a nice side-living for a few years playing for a guy who could barely spell his own name. I don't recall what his ad had for spelling and grammar but I'm sure it was atrocious. Not everyone who is a good bandleader is also good at written communication.


Point is - don't worry too much about the ads. Sure, some will tell you a band is definitely not for you, but my advice is to call all the borderline ones just in case. Just don't put all your eggs into one basket until you've passed the audition and played your first few gigs.
 
#105
bluewine said:
No, you get what you do and it works for you.

You don't have a clue as to what I do, why I do it,what I get, don't get or anything else jive. You understand your life and your music.

You sort of live between your own 2 ears and nothing else matters or makes sense to you.

And I guess thats fine there are a lot of guys like you.
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There are a lot of guys like us, Jive included.

The difference is that we don't spend hours on internet message boards seeking validation for what we are.
 
#106
JTE said:
My red flags include:

Grammar and spelling errors. If you can't figure out "they're", "there", and "their", or "its" and "it's", etc. then we're not going to be able to communicate easily. And if you're too lazy to write "you're" or "your" yr not willing to work. And type the ad up in Word (or open office) and run spell check first!!!

Genre clash- the band that said "blues band" and the first two bands they cited for reference were Zepplin and The Yardbirds. Ditto for the guys whose set list included "Dreams" and I asked if that was the Allman Bros. song. They said "no, it's a Molly Hatchet song".... run away!!!

The usual hype "must be willing to work", "dedicated", "serious", etc. If you have to put that in the ad when it's something that should be understood, I'd have suspicions about how serious, dedicated, or focused YOU are.

Rehearsing more than gigging is a flag, always. So is "originals"- sorry but my experience over 30+ years is that most originals are anything but original, the writers have avoided learning other peoples' songs so they don't KNOW the difference between a good song and a POS, and they think every turd that comes out of them is a gold nugget. Plus original bands never play a whole gig. Now why would I load up my gear, drive for an hour, listen to (or endure) three other bands, play 40 minutes, endure three more bands, then drive home for $25?

"Working band needs bass player, drummer, and singer"- unless I know the band and the back story, I'm going to assume your definition of "working band" is much different from mine!!

John
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I disagree with your view on originals bands. I understand that was your experience but in mine there are some very talented writer's and musicians that do originals and do them well. These people are dedicted and dont think they are dropping "Golden Nuggets" although there are those who do.

I am amazed at the original talent I see and it just makes me belive more and more it's all about being in the right place at the right time or knowing the right people that keep some really great music from ever getting heard by the masses. My band plays whole gigs and makes about as much as any coverband in my area, often more when we play a short set for good pay.
 
#107
Coop Soup said:
Actually none of these ads are "Red Flags". I think they've done a decent job of spelling out what they're looking for.
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I agree. So many times we give people here advice that if they know exactly what they want, to not settle and be upfront about it. It goes both ways; some guys are perfectly content to jam in the basement, and there's NOTHING wrong with that.
 
#108
phatbass said:
"Working band needs Bass, Keys, Guitarist, Drummer"

"Work waiting" - W T F does this mean, anyway?

"No time wasters" - So when I show up for the audition and you announce you're no longer doing half the songs I was told to learn, or you're a disorganised rabble who take an hour to set up, noodle around another 15 minutes "getting your sound" in a room you've been rehearsing in for 8 months, break for a smoke, noodle some more, then spend 10 minutes discussing what song you want to play first, you're not wasting *MY* time?

Oh; and any band that rehearses more than they gig. If you just want a weekly fun jam, fer chrissakes put it in your ad so I won't waste my time or yours.
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Yeah, I hear you. I have been in that situation where there are a couple guys chugging 1 beer after the mext. No thanks
 
#112
Jive, don’t take this the wrong way. But you sort of ripped on my experience level. Something to do with guys gigging more this month than I have all year.

That’s fine, I don’t know if it’s true or not. At the end of the day I think your spirit is in the right place. I am really happy right now, it’s hard for most of us to find a band that truly matches where your head is at.

How’s this we are doing some festivals in your neck of the woods and playing at some place called The Fuel Room. You should stop by, I am willing to comp you anywhere we play when we are in your area. We are a Sleeze/ Pop Rock Band we might not be your cup of tea however we work hard at doing it right.

And in the spirit of ripping, I probably won’t be doing any shows behind a deli:D See the happy face
 
#115
bluewine said:
How’s this we are doing some festivals in your neck of the woods and playing at some place called The Fuel Room. You should stop by, I am willing to comp you anywhere we play when we are in your area. We are a Sleeze/ Pop Rock Band we might not be your cup of tea however we work hard at doing it right.

And in the spirit of ripping, I probably won’t be doing any shows behind a deli:D See the happy face
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I wasn't ripping on you, I was just telling the truth. ;) You played like one gig with this band, and had lots of time off for the year before.

I don't live in Chicago anymore, but if you're ever in DC I'll come check you out. And if you're looking for a place to play, I'd be happy to see what I can do to hook you up. At the end of the day, I still believe in helping out fellow musicians, even clueless ones. :D

All I was trying to say was that it's ironic that a guy with no experience doing music as a living is telling guys who make a living doing music how it should be done. But it's the music business, one of the few businesses where those with little to no experience will tell experienced people how it should be done. It just comes with the territory.
 
#117
JTE said:
My red flags include:

Grammar and spelling errors. If you can't figure out "they're", "there", and "their", or "its" and "it's", etc. then we're not going to be able to communicate easily. And if you're too lazy to write "you're" or "your" yr not willing to work. And type the ad up in Word (or open office) and run spell check first!!!

Genre clash- the band that said "blues band" and the first two bands they cited for reference were Zepplin and The Yardbirds. Ditto for the guys whose set list included "Dreams" and I asked if that was the Allman Bros. song. They said "no, it's a Molly Hatchet song".... run away!!!

The usual hype "must be willing to work", "dedicated", "serious", etc. If you have to put that in the ad when it's something that should be understood, I'd have suspicions about how serious, dedicated, or focused YOU are.

Rehearsing more than gigging is a flag, always. So is "originals"- sorry but my experience over 30+ years is that most originals are anything but original, the writers have avoided learning other peoples' songs so they don't KNOW the difference between a good song and a POS, and they think every turd that comes out of them is a gold nugget. Plus original bands never play a whole gig. Now why would I load up my gear, drive for an hour, listen to (or endure) three other bands, play 40 minutes, endure three more bands, then drive home for $25?

"Working band needs bass player, drummer, and singer"- unless I know the band and the back story, I'm going to assume your definition of "working band" is much different from mine!!

John
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to be fair,molly hatchet does do a version of dreams,for good or ill.....but yeah,i'd be forced to flee if that was the one they wanted to play....the spelling/punctuation errors i can live with......i tend to type with one hand while the other steadies my j and while some find it annoying,i think i'm articulate enough to be understood....

dead on about the original stuff tho'.......i'm always curious at why so many guys think they have something new and exciting to add to the millions of recordings already out there.....
 
#118
jive1 said:
I wasn't ripping on you, I was just telling the truth. ;) You played like one gig with this band, and had lots of time off for the year before.

I don't live in Chicago anymore, but if you're ever in DC I'll come check you out. And if you're looking for a place to play, I'd be happy to see what I can do to hook you up. At the end of the day, I still believe in helping out fellow musicians, even clueless ones. :D

All I was trying to say was that it's ironic that a guy with no experience doing music as a living is telling guys who make a living doing music how it should be done. But it's the music business, one of the few businesses where those with little to no experience will tell experienced people how it should be done. It just comes with the territory.
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Cool
 
#119
dead on about the original stuff tho'.......i'm always curious at why so many guys think they have something new and exciting to add to the millions of recordings already out there.....
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Gee without those out there with the guts enough to write and record original music what would we have new? Some are not afraid or want to be stuck into doing others music for the rest of their lives.
 

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