• 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.

Time waster flags

SBassman

SBassman

Jun 8, 2003
9,789
3,350
Northeast, US
#1
If you spend enough time in the live music world, you can start seeing patterns of behavior from time wasters.

Lots of people want to be a in a band - and too many of them don't know how to graduate beyond a time waster and permanent garage dweller.

Post your observations of things that indicate time wasters.

Here's my latest:

While looking for a working band, and placing ads, I get a reply from someone saying the band will be gigging as Soon as I learn the material. I ask them to send me a setlist, and suggest we try our first rehearsal on so and so date. A week goes by, then the guy tells me, they don't have a set list - and they just want to jam on "Stock Material" for the first couple of rehearsals.

I go back into my mail folders, I see I had a mail exchange with this guy - 3 years ago.

Time waster flags.
 
#2
Dead giveaway of a time waster is the guy/gal who comes to a band rehearsal and hasn't learned his/her parts beforehand so the whole rehearsal is dragged down while this person attempts to learn / fake their parts on the fly. This includes singers and sometimes they're the worst offenders.

Been in too many of those bands to count... not going there again.
 
#3
Time wasters aren't all bad or flaky musicians, either. I joined a cover band once under the premise that all members wanted to eventually get to the point where we were gigging at least 4 times a month (if not more). Everyone agreed to this, but when that goal started to become a reality the guitarist suddenly had a change of heart and said, "I never really wanted to gig this often - I just figured everyone was shooting the **** when they said 4+ times a month so I agreed to it."


:eyebrow:


To me, that was worse than finding out a member simply shows up unprepared or one who constantly dreams about forming a band but can never get their crap together enough in the early stages of a band to do so. We had spent a good 3-4 months building up to that point only to have to start over and have to search for a new guitarist. Unfortunately, these guys are hard to spot because they'll promise you the world and will stick to that story up until things become 'too hard'.
 
#7
SBassman said:
No sites - no working band.
Click to expand...
Not true ... I'm in a country band that plays an average of 4-5 times a month. We don't have a website, no promo pack, nada. We play in the same places, and have for years. I'm in a duo with a singer songwriter ... again, no website. We get plenty of gigs.

To me, the biggest giveaway is the lack of a set list. If you can't supply a list of the songs you play, then how the hell can you be gigging? Second, tell me where you've played recently, and what gigs are on the books. Third, lack of recorded rehearsals (ie, reference recordings) to be taken home and worked on by band members. I refuse to spend money and gas on traveling to rehearsals only to be met by an unprepared and unpracticed band.
 
#8
RustyAxe said:
Not true ... I'm in a country band that plays an average of 4-5 times a month. We don't have a website, no promo pack, nada. We play in the same places, and have for years. I'm in a duo with a singer songwriter ... again, no website. We get plenty of gigs.
Click to expand...
+1

Although it would raise a flag to me, not having an online presence isn't always a guarantee of a problem. I auditioned for a band that played 3-5 times a month and had no website or Facebook page. I verified their jobs through the websites of the clubs they were playing.

For me a sure sign of a time waster is when someone wants to talk more than they want to play or exchange emails and phone calls for weeks without actually getting together to play.
 
#9
Looking through the typical craigslist ads, it's hard to find the ones that are NOT time wasters. The things I see that keep me scrolling:
- any ad containing the word "serious"
- "we will start gigging in a month, build a following, then go on tour ..."
- "need bass, guitar, drums, keys, sax, and vocals..."
- "style is a blend of rock, funk, jazz, reggae, hip-hop, and world beat ..."
- ALL CAPITAL LETTERS AND BAD SPELLING
 
#10
Jim Nazium said:
Looking through the typical craigslist ads, it's hard to find the ones that are NOT time wasters. The things I see that keep me scrolling:
- any ad containing the word "serious"
- "we will start gigging in a month, build a following, then go on tour ..."
- "need bass, guitar, drums, keys, sax, and vocals..."
- "style is a blend of rock, funk, jazz, reggae, hip-hop, and world beat ..."
- ALL CAPITAL LETTERS AND BAD SPELLING
Click to expand...

Funny stuff. All very true.
 
#11
Another want-ad catch phrase to watch out for is "must have pro gear".

Which IME either means you're dealing with hobby players who have more money than skill and are using the band as an excuse to buy gear, and/or "gear snobs" who will immediately disqualify you if you don't have the quantity or brand of gear they think is "correct".

IME the truly "pro" bands assume that whoever auditions for them will have the gear to cut the audition (and subsequent gigs) -- regardless of brand -- and that if you can't hang gear-wise you'll save everybody's time and not audition in the first place.

Not to mention, who's to say what "pro gear" is, anyway? If I'm a good enough player that I'm pulling down $300-400 a weekend 3 weekends a month with an SX bass and some cheap little combo amp, then wouldn't that by definition be "pro gear"?
 
#12
Yeah - the references to gear always surprise me.

Most of the time, gear is not the problem.

Although I admit I have had drummers answer ads, saying they think they are a match for the band, and then ask if the band has a kit they can borrow. Huh?
 
#17
Jim Nazium said:
Looking through the typical craigslist ads, it's hard to find the ones that are NOT time wasters. The things I see that keep me scrolling:
- any ad containing the word "serious"
- "we will start gigging in a month, build a following, then go on tour ..."
- "need bass, guitar, drums, keys, sax, and vocals..."
- "style is a blend of rock, funk, jazz, reggae, hip-hop, and world beat ..."
- ALL CAPITAL LETTERS AND BAD SPELLING
Click to expand...
Yep, all good stuff. Let me add a couple:

"<SomeBandName> is auditioning for bass, guitar, drums, keys, sax, and vocals" ... what the hell DO you have, beside a name?

"Influences are <five bands that no one has ever heard of>" ... that's really helpful

"Acoustic upright bass needed for metal trio" ... sure, I'll be right over! :eyebrow:
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back