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That Feeling

L

Longshot754

Mar 3, 2011
20
0
#1
:hmm: Anybody ever go to a first practice of a new project and get that gut feeling that mayb it is not going to work out. Or bad vibes that really justy put a damper on your high hopes.. (IE)
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My last project i was really stoked for cause we had two guitarists, myself on bass and vocals, and for the first time a drummer and we were going to try our hand at originals. I was having a great time until we started playing lol. To my right i had one guitarist, nice strat into a fender amp with a good clean bluesy tone but loved to jack up his volume. To my left i had the other guitarist with his flying V into a Marshall stack with his gain turned up to 11 and both guitarists decided to have a "volume war" every practice. The drummer was decent and was really into writing originals but every time we tried writing, Mr. Flying V would whine and walk away cause we refused to play death metal covers... Long story short I disbanded the project after two practices. My ears will never forgive me for abusing them with the sound of a split coil strat cutting through the muddy, grainy, satan like tone of the other guitarist. But in general I was wondering if any other players out there could or have sensed that "Bad Vibe" before its to late.... If not share your horror story!
 
#2
someone had to lead and chose the right guitar sound required.......start off with just you and a guitarist having some ideas to throw around then build it out...therefore no fender amp v marshall stack issues....

dont give up on your project...

ive done some original projects...but i only start when there is a vision and he or the leader knows what he wants....therefore no time is wasted
 
#8
Longshot754 said:
:hmm: Anybody ever go to a first practice of a new project and get that gut feeling that [maybe] it is not going to work out. Or bad vibes that really [just] put a damper on your high hopes..
Click to expand...
I've been doing this for 40+ years and my answer is yes, I've had that gut feeling many times. I'd say, on average, the red flag has to do with someone's personality in just over half the cases, and to do solely with someone's playing or technical competence in the remainder of the cases. My early warning system has saved me months (No... years!) of being in bands that would've eventually imploded. BTW, you can get additional useful input to your warning system by finding out as much as you possibly can about the band's history, its former members, why they were fired or left on their own, and so on. Dig hard, dig deep, contact them if possible, use a third party if you believe that would be appropriate. That, summed with the first audition (which goes both ways, don't forget), can often give you plenty of basis on which to make a decision -- much more so when your research lines up with what you experience in person and turns out to be additive. (And that's what usually happens, in my experience.)

Where it gets frustrating is when it doesn't turn out to be additive: When you hear things that are the opposite of what you experience in person. It's the old He Said She Said business. I still haven't quite learned how to resolve this. Who do you believe? Oftentimes the true nature of a person doesn't come to the surface until he sheds his best behavior because the band has gelled and so it doesn't matter any more and he can go back to being a snake. Or so he thinks. I've seen it take a week, I've seen it take months. The turnover rate and turnover volume in a band can be clues to this. This is why a background investigation is so important.
 
#10
I got a horror story, still in process.
I recently got into a grunge-esque band and at the time I thought the guy fronting the band on guitar and vocals was really cool. I didn't get that feeling. I actually got the opposite but, recently, bad vibes have come into play and I have that feeling now. I'm contemplating what to do. I think I should at least try and discuss before splitting. It's different with this guy though. Confronting him doesn't go over well. He's very close minded and overly pessimistic.
 
#11
BulbofPassion said:
I got a horror story, still in process.
I recently got into a grunge-esque band and at the time I thought the guy fronting the band on guitar and vocals was really cool. I didn't get that feeling. I actually got the opposite but, recently, bad vibes have come into play and I have that feeling now. I'm contemplating what to do. I think I should at least try and discuss before splitting. It's different with this guy though. Confronting him doesn't go over well. He's very close minded and overly pessimistic.
Click to expand...

Trust me dude, you want out now. I dealt with that for 3 years and ended up quitting music for a while because of it. Some people just have crappy attitudes. If he's going to freak out no matter what just pull the band aid off and move on with things.
 
#12
I was in a project like that for a short time.

The musicianship was fine but after only a couple of rehearsals there were 5 issues that were very apparent and which I knew would pretty much doom the project:

1) nobody really had a clear vision of what the band should be about
2) the proposed cover material was only marginally marketable (at best); a couple members were adamant about doing material that would "set us apart", completely not recognizing (or caring) that it was stuff nobody would pay to hear these days
3) nobody really wanted to step into the role of marketing the project and getting us gigs,
4) the lead singer was adamant about not playing venues where alcohol was served, and
5) while we all got along it didn't feel like a group of guys you'd want to ride 2-3 hours to a gig with (and back).

We had about 5-6 rehearsals, during which time we went through 3 different drummers, all of whom politely bowed out (two of whom were very good players). After the 3rd drummer bailed (and still no progress on landing any gigs), the lead guitarist finally stepped up and said what we were all thinking, i.e., it just wasn't meant to be and we should all cut our losses and move on.

It did net me a great connection though, who eventually got me into my current band (which is pretty much everything I ever wanted out of a musical situation). Which brings up a really important point that is, even if you get into a project that's a dog, try to split on good terms with everyone. Especially any other members that you actually do enjoy playing with and get along with personally. I've played paying gigs with 8 or 9 bands over the last several years (either as a full time member or a sub) and never actually "auditioned" for any of them. It was all friend-of-a-friend or word of mouth.
 
#13
jaywa said:
I was in a project like that for a short time.
It did net me a great connection though, who eventually got me into my current band (which is pretty much everything I ever wanted out of a musical situation). Which brings up a really important point that is, even if you get into a project that's a dog, try to split on good terms with everyone. Especially any other members that you actually do enjoy playing with and get along with personally. I've played paying gigs with 8 or 9 bands over the last several years (either as a full time member or a sub) and never actually "auditioned" for any of them. It was all friend-of-a-friend or word of mouth.
Click to expand...

This is the key, and also brings up the idea that cutting and running right away when you get "that feeling" perhaps isn't the smartest thing. The real decision process should be, what are my alternatives to this band? If I get out of this situation will another better one come along immediately? What is my investment in time worth? What would I be doing if I wasn't at rehersal with this band? Etc. Etc.


I've been in plenty of situations where if I took the advice of some here I would have bailed immediately.....and walked away from months of lucrative work, or great contacts with good musicians and/or venues. Yeah, eventually these bands did implode as predicted, but not before I got my time investment back. Don't bail until you've got something better. I may be morally bankrupt, but I can say with certainty that I've never been actually bankrupt.
 

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