Slow Periods: How Does Your Band Spend Them?

[jaywa]

We all have seasons in our bands that are busier than others. For example, my weekend warrior cover/original band will be going from the last few months playing 8-9 shows a month, to September when we have only 4 nights on the books.

So I’m curious… when your band finds itself in a slow spell, what do you do with the extra time?

- Do you just take a complete break from each other and maybe even play some music with others outside the band (open mics, sub gigs, etc.)?

- Do you up your rehearsal schedule and learn new tunes (if you’re a cover band) or spend time writing (if you do originals)?

- Do you catch up on “back end” things like gear and vehicle maintenance, updating your Website, restocking merch, etc.?

- Do you work the phones (and pound the pavement) lining up new gigs?

It seems to me like the well-oiled band would be doing all of the above until its gig schedule got busier again but maybe that’s not always the case?

 

[IbanezBass69]

All are good ideas, depending on what everyone's "views" are. Personally, I would work to stock up on your suggested back end things, and pound pavement. I am a workaholic when it comes to my band. But, some people might want a break to either just get away from a band situation a bit, or to explore more musical opportunity. I am in an originals band, and we spend our down time writing, brainstorming merch designs, and we are working on recording an album. The album takes up most of the time, so our down time is working out well for us.

 

[Floyd Eye]

Learn new tunes. We plan our slow periods though. Right now we are really busy. When it gets cold we are going to hibernate in the studio and learn all new songs for the spring and work on a few originals. Also kill some 30 packs. lol

 

[Marko 1]

I’m happy when I’m off. Unfortunately we play almost every Saturday night, and most Fridays.

I get together with one band member who’s my neighbor/buddy and others to jam (studio is at my house) and we have a blast.

Now I’m using my spare time to get better at guitar, specifically rhythm, as I want to start another different project than the band, as an additional/backup or replacement thing.

I haven’t practiced my bass at all since I gigged twice last week, and I have a gig tonight and tomorrow, as well.

Tonight's close to home, though, so I don’t have to leave here until 7:15.

 

[Mybikeisblack]

My band just writes new material. We're pretty good at managing our time wisely. September, we have only one show booked, so we'll be spending time in the studio

 

[madmatt]

Usually sober.
Seriously.

 

[SpecialBlender]

A lot of the clubs we play in our area have cut back their entertainment from 2 nights to one or stopped booking live bands. Consequently the calendar isn't as full as the last couple of years.

That being said, Wednesday night is still practise night and we've utilized the slowdown to break in a new guitar player over the summer. We have taken a couple of practise nights off this summer due to vacation travel etc. but still work hard at every practise. Start @ 7:00 finish @ 10:00 with 2-10 minute breaks for the smokers and only the band is allowed in the practise room.
Equipment is always maintained and ready to go on short notice, no matter how busy the band is. Our band leader is constantly working the phones, even when the calendar was full, maintaining contacts, sniffing out good gigs or trying to break into new clubs.

 

[jaywa]

Equipment is always maintained and ready to go on short notice, no matter how busy the band is. Our band leader is constantly working the phones, even when the calendar was full, maintaining contacts, sniffing out good gigs or trying to break into new clubs.

This is a really good point and right after I posted the OP I realized that actually, a viable band needs to find time to do all that stuff even when they're playing a lot.

I guess what I was really getting at more in my OP was how much true "time off" do bands really take vs. still staying engaged in band related activities even when paying gigs are few. I personally think there's something to be said for totally getting away from your bandmates for short periods every now and then (perhaps even playing with other people just to get a fresh perspective and break out of the routine) -- and that this applies even if everyone in your band gets along famously. OTOH you don't want to totally unplug and lose focus and momentum, otherwise your "slow periods" will soon wind up being longer and more frequent than you wanted.

 

[crucislancer]

Typically we use the time to write songs, and perhaps revisit older ones that slipped out of the set list for one reason or another.

 

[jaywa]

FWIW my band played Saturday night (Aug 20) and our next gig isn't till Sept. 9.

We've had a really busy summer so we decided to pretty much take a complete break except for learning 3 new cover songs. We're gonna get together after Labor Day and work out those new songs and brush up on some other things but till then we're pretty much laying low. I'm sure our BL will keep working on bookings for 2012 etc. but that's about it.

 

[Waffles and Scotch]

About a month ago I stopped looking for new gigs for us so we could write some new material. So it seems (at the moment anyway) that we're creating our own slow periods...I sure hope that trend continues...

 

[Ric5]

We all have seasons in our bands that are busier than others. For example, my weekend warrior cover/original band will be going from the last few months playing 8-9 shows a month, to September when we have only 4 nights on the books.

So I’m curious… when your band finds itself in a slow spell, what do you do with the extra time?

- Do you just take a complete break from each other and maybe even play some music with others outside the band (open mics, sub gigs, etc.)?

- Do you up your rehearsal schedule and learn new tunes (if you’re a cover band) or spend time writing (if you do originals)?

- Do you catch up on “back end” things like gear and vehicle maintenance, updating your Website, restocking merch, etc.?

- Do you work the phones (and pound the pavement) lining up new gigs?

It seems to me like the well-oiled band would be doing all of the above until its gig schedule got busier again but maybe that’s not always the case?

I work in the yard, take a vacation, spend time with the family, help my kid with homework, etc.

Gigging pays so poorly that it is not a high priority to me.

 

[rtslinger]

Classic Rock band playing nearly every Friday and Sat only time we slow is if someone takes vacation with the family usually only a week off spend it with the family I have 12 more shows lined up 5 in Sept and 6 in Oct and 1 in Dec so far

 

[mboogiemanusa]

My weekend warrior cover band only gigs a couple times a months so i have plenty of time to jam with side projects and watch performances of other musicians. Frankly- performing only a couple of month is fine with me. Love music but have other things I like to do on the weekends like camping, boating and riding motorcycles.

 

[Rockmusician]

I spend time relaxing with my family.

 

[Josh Pelican]

I don't have a band so I spend my "slow periods" trying to find a band.