Another problem with prog rock - the fans are all spread out all over the world! If the internet wasn't around we wouldn't have any new prog bands at all.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Starting a Prog Rock Band
- Thread starter amusicalperson
- Start date
Oh, I did. I see your Rick Wakeman, and raise you a Bootsy. Possible disqualification for genre-hopping. But Bootsy approves of this thread. Point being, none of it is pretentious if it's all in good fun.
Bootsy is the KING of the CAPE.
I'll have to disagree because Rick Wakeman is the king of the cape!View attachment 829947
okay, that IS cape-o-riffic
Rick Wakeman is definitely the king of the cape.
Anyways, i love prog rock and wish the OP the best on the project. Prog rock, believe it or not, is a pretty open ended genre where you can do pretty much whatever you want as long as you are utilizing the rock band type instrumentation. I like the classic stuff, along with the newer "neo-prog" bands.
There are some bands that have successfully found the balance between prog and other more familiar versions of rock. Coheed and Cambria for instance, blending prog rock with punk, metal, and hard rock. The Dear Hunter, blending prog rock with indie, folk, and a whole slew of other stuff.
Again, lots of options in a "prog rock" band.
Anyways, i love prog rock and wish the OP the best on the project. Prog rock, believe it or not, is a pretty open ended genre where you can do pretty much whatever you want as long as you are utilizing the rock band type instrumentation. I like the classic stuff, along with the newer "neo-prog" bands.
There are some bands that have successfully found the balance between prog and other more familiar versions of rock. Coheed and Cambria for instance, blending prog rock with punk, metal, and hard rock. The Dear Hunter, blending prog rock with indie, folk, and a whole slew of other stuff.
Again, lots of options in a "prog rock" band.
Have you dined on Honeydew and drank the milk of Paradise?
Sad but true; prog was dead as a doorknob until the internet brought it all back again around the mid-nineties. I feel like an island much of the time when I try to get others interested in prog. That includes musicians too.
By the way, my two favorite prog sites are:
Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed
Last edited:
Since you have acknowledged that Rick Wakeman is the king of the cape, we can be friends.
I really appreciate the support and I thank you dearly! Your reward? An awesome Rick Wakeman cape picture! 
40Hz is the real deal, he's done it all!Have you dined on Honeydew and drank the milk of Paradise?
Have you dined on Honeydew and drank the milk of Paradise?
Yes indeed! I'm a New World Man even though I no longer own my Red Barchetta.
Still have my Uncle's country place though. I rent it out weekends.
Note: I don't know if it aired up north. But public television down here did this great interview with Geddy conducted by author Mike Chabon. It started out as an interview, but later morphed into a back and forth discussion of creativity that was fantastic. Geddy even took over for a bit and started interviewing Chabon at one point. Two very smart guys having a deep conversation about how they work their magic with their chosen artform. Now how cool is that?
Here's a clip:
Last edited:
You know you'll be my Prog buddy till the end!Thx! But definitely not all. Just some.
Well here's a thought...is that really such a disadvantage? What's to stop the new prog from embracing technology the way old prog originally did and this time out go more virtual?
It's possible to cut an album in different locations at different times thanks to file sharing and the Internet. You can pass DAW master tracks back and forth just as easily as you can MP3s of other band's music. A private Dropbox account and you're ready to roll. (You could even sell music and videos that way if you wanted to.) All that would be needed would be for the parties to agree on the software and file formats. You'd also need to be very organized - and you'd miss the back and forth you get being together to do a recording. But in a pinch, it's better than nothing and lets you get the ball rolling.
You could also do virtual performances to start. Streaming live concerts from small clubs or a live audience soundstage are very doable. My GF and I regularly watch concerts through ConcertWindow.com I originally thought I wouldn't care for it too much. But through a decent home theater system and a nice smartTV, it actually works pretty well. We've seen Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters, Dana Fuchs, and a bunch of lesser knowns (GF is a blues aficionado!) that way. It's definitely doable - and more importantly - workable.
There was this sorta prog/gothrock band up on YT (
Good time to be in music, once you think outside the box the local club scene tries to shoehorn bands into.
Last edited:
I understand Yes went in the studio and jammed. Noodling around and recording everything. Then they pieced the stuff together that seemed to fit and rehearsed the finished multi-movement suites till they could play them proficiently.
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
First and foremost, I apologize for not reading the whole thread. I only read the first and last pages but here we go:
My last band was a prog rock band. It was difficult to get a following but we had a spot on the local rock station's website and did receive some airplay. We did eventually take on a lot of generic cover band music in order to do "evenings with" and increase our pay but we did do quite well as an original act, it wasn't uncommon to get $300/set. The only real "prog" cover we had that was in regular rotation was "Blackest Eyes" by Porcupine Tree. I remember doing an interview with a local TV show and the guy asked why we were in the band and I said "it sure isn't for the girls." Don't expect lots of women to flock to your shows like you get with a rock band.
It was really fun from a writing standpoint though. The guitarist and I would take a riff and alter the hell out of it, change the time signature or feel and maybe transpose the line. This is something that can only be done by versed musicians, theory helps being able to have such conversations. I would imagine most prog rock is written as straight forward rock and then manipulated into something fancy. Our drummer wasn't a theory nerd but he was a well versed drummer so we could tell him how to play polyrhythms or alter patterns. You also need to be careful you do not cross that fine line into Wank City. You will also require musicians with a level of dedication not often found in bands, you will need to hammer out parts and understand where they may be failing.
Just a head's up, you will quickly realize how most people do not "get" advanced forms of music. I can tell you from experience that if you toss a bar of 9/8 into a crowded dance floor they all think you messed up, they all also get confused (to your amusement.) While some musicians will love it I know I offended some purists with my double tapped parts and bass solos.
My last band was a prog rock band. It was difficult to get a following but we had a spot on the local rock station's website and did receive some airplay. We did eventually take on a lot of generic cover band music in order to do "evenings with" and increase our pay but we did do quite well as an original act, it wasn't uncommon to get $300/set. The only real "prog" cover we had that was in regular rotation was "Blackest Eyes" by Porcupine Tree. I remember doing an interview with a local TV show and the guy asked why we were in the band and I said "it sure isn't for the girls." Don't expect lots of women to flock to your shows like you get with a rock band.
It was really fun from a writing standpoint though. The guitarist and I would take a riff and alter the hell out of it, change the time signature or feel and maybe transpose the line. This is something that can only be done by versed musicians, theory helps being able to have such conversations. I would imagine most prog rock is written as straight forward rock and then manipulated into something fancy. Our drummer wasn't a theory nerd but he was a well versed drummer so we could tell him how to play polyrhythms or alter patterns. You also need to be careful you do not cross that fine line into Wank City. You will also require musicians with a level of dedication not often found in bands, you will need to hammer out parts and understand where they may be failing.
Just a head's up, you will quickly realize how most people do not "get" advanced forms of music. I can tell you from experience that if you toss a bar of 9/8 into a crowded dance floor they all think you messed up, they all also get confused (to your amusement.) While some musicians will love it I know I offended some purists with my double tapped parts and bass solos.
I don't know how it's done today. But with the bands I was with, composition took two forms. One was long sessions just doing stream of consciousness playing with one or two other musicians, and then analyzing what worked and go from there. Doing it that way usually meant songs took a long time to evolve. Sometimes what you thought might be the nucleus of two or three different songs turned out to be parts of a single one. But those three segments emerged months apart from each other. The other way was what I used to call a "song orgy" where we'd sit down and a half dozen complete songs would almost magically come together in short order. When that happened we usually tried to keep it going for as long as possible before we half collapsed after something like two or three days of non-stop round the clock songwriting and arranging.
Both ways work for me, although the "push it till burnout" path is definitely my preferred way of doing things.
If you're deliberately confusing your audience. and messing them up for your band's (or your own) amusement, you are wanking AFAIC.
And maybe I'm misreading where you're coming from with some of this, but there's a certain tone of superiority being directed towards the uninitiated/non-musician that seems to be a good part of your post. And if that's the case, you've stumbled into the same trap that's largely responsible for torpedoing classic prog rock back in the '70s. Too much ego and arrogance displayed on the part of the players towards their listeners. Maybe Frank Zappa was able to get away with that shtick for most of his career. But not too many other bands have. Just sayin'...
Hey man, thanks for your experience! And I'm not sure going to fuss at you because you didn't read the whole thread like that one guy was complaining about the other day.
