What is your band's goal?

[southshoreconor]

Awsome you took my offen used quote...a classic!

one of my favorites haha. i guess my goal is just to be able to tour around the world and have fun. being "irresponsible" may be a bad choice of words but i think theres something really cool about being on the road and having no one to answer to but yourselves.

 

[CapnSev]

TO HAVE FUN!

...AND MAKE A LITTLE MONEY ON THE SIDE TOOOOO!!!!

 

[Passinwind]

Never let it feel like it's a job.

 

[Skel]

Well, the ultimate goal is to become a well known touring band that gets to play festivals, nice theaters and the like.

But, the driving goal behind that (at least as I see it) is to put out new originals with a style all our own and to cover the deep tracks that no one knows about, but are really awesome songs. We want those covers to become "our" songs in the way that Led Zeppelin made all those old blues covers their songs, while introducing the people who really appreciate the music to those artists and those songs so that they can enjoy them and the music they never would have had an opportunity to listen to in the first place. We want to have a good time playing rock and roll and have a good time with the fans that come to see us.

If we can accomplish that, Fat Jackson will become what we want it to be.

I can so relate to what you're saying. Especially about seeing what others have never seen in those "deep tracks" that are just ripe for a great interpretation that makes it yours. To use a metaphor, I love taking that raw piece of clay and molding into something fabulous. Nice goals.

 

[Skel]

I think "being the highest paid cover band in the history of a particular state" is a very specific and worthy goal.

We're a duo/sometime trio, our goals are to improve our playing and to entertain whoever will listen to us. I'm blessed with a large family, containing some professional musicians, and we play for family get togethers, etc. I guess our "goal" is to be a great amateur act, with an emphasis on the word "act." I see us as a kind of vaudeville band, keen on surprising the audience with unexpected new songs or wooing it with much-loved covers. We also want to be able to play standards that one might hear at modern weddings or family events.

Our goals include playing every day, to always be learning something new, to play songs of many styles and types. My goal is to be the best accompanist (sp?) I can be, and to find ways of complimenting whoever/whatever style I'm playing with. Oh - and not to embarrass myself too much.

We play some originals, but mostly covers - but we like to surprise listeners with offbeat songs and combinations of songs or unusual styles on familiar songs.

Personally, I've expressed an interest in doing some studio work (pie in the sky for me right now), but the "band" is unimpressed and unsupportive.

Sounds like you've felt some of the same feelings I have. Espcially about the frustration with the people you work with. I love being creative and digging out some old song that's just so "out there" and maybe even retro-fitting it into something modern sounding. When the people I work with hear the original song they just don't hear what I hear in my head, even though I explain it to them. All I ask is that they give me 5 minutes with our instruments to just try what I hear in my head and see how it feels, but they're even leary of that -they think I'm nuts (maybe I am). I at least got the band to try "To Sir With Love", telling them to just think "Takin' Care of Business" as the beat with the simple crunchy rock & roll guitar and just driving single 8th note bass with some cool subtleties in there, leaving only the vocals as they are on the original. The music sounded great but I couldn't get our singer to just learn the first verse and see how it felt. She really does think I'm crazy, especially after telling her I wanted to work up an awesome reggae version of "Freebird". I just felt it we be so fun to announce that we were going to do "Freebird", having half the audience puke or start throwing stuff at us, then do it our way and get off on the looks on some of their faces. Of course, disappointing the other half, but I felt like they could get over it.

 

[Deacon_Blues]

• To have fun (#1)
• To not make it too serious, meaning weekly rehearsals, gigs every weekend, huge PA, lots of band advertisement and merchandise, tours...
• To sound as good as possible with a minimum of equipment - everything don't need to be mic'd
• To make some extra money. We won't play for free unless there is a very good reason to do so, and we'll charge as much as we think we're worth based on what regular bands charge for similar gigs.
• To play on weddings, private parties, certain bars/restaurants.

 

[Timbo]

we live in the coachella valley.. so it seems fitting that we want to play Coachella Fest!

 

[pklima]

To completely ruin my most successful band and make the vast majority of our fans turn against us - either that or make it much more successful and popular. I don't really need the money anymore and most of our fans live thousands of kilometers away so complete failure is an option. That means I can take a huge risk and have some real fun!

 

[playibanez]

My bands Goal. Nationally tour. Get signed to a good label.

The signing i don't think will happen. Tour, i hope so.

 

[Moreno_IV]

I can so relate to what you're saying. Especially about seeing what others have never seen in those "deep tracks" that are just ripe for a great interpretation that makes it yours. To use a metaphor, I love taking that raw piece of clay and molding into something fabulous. Nice goals.

Thanks man. It's nice to run into somebody here who thinks like that.

 

[baba]

coke and whores

 

[bassforce]

Enjoy the time, having fun playing music, coke and whores

 

[zeppelinfreak]

My bands goal is to one day be the closing act at lalapalooza

 

[artdrtr]

To somehow get the lead singer (band leader) to learn the words/structure to our songs.....

 

[Elsebet]

To play a friggin show.

This is mine, unfortunately our leader refused to do even our 2nd guitarist's private 4th of July party let alone a real show.

 

[steve21]

My comedy rock duo's main goal right now is to get time in our schedules to jam again. We went on a yearlong hiatus as a band (and to be honest a bit of a hiatus on how good our friendship was) and have recently gotten back to being totally best buds and we want to **** **** up as the best goddamn comedy band in the world.

And then to take the Scepter and Robes from the boys in Tenacious D, because our music was/is legitimately better.



Funny thing is the only band I really ever saw having a future was the one I didn't play bass in. I used to handle vox/lyrics, and am considering picking up acoustic guitar to add to my buddy's guitar work (he does vox as well).

 

[dangnewt]

My goal for the band is to not suck. My personal goal is to not embarrass myself.

My bandmates probably have higher aspirations, but I like attainable goals. This is a hobby for us and as long as I don't have to pay people to listen to us, I'm happy.

 

[Elrend]

We play because we have to

 

[E2daGGurl]

Sounds like you've felt some of the same feelings I have. Espcially about the frustration with the people you work with. I love being creative and digging out some old song that's just so "out there" and maybe even retro-fitting it into something modern sounding. When the people I work with hear the original song they just don't hear what I hear in my head, even though I explain it to them. All I ask is that they give me 5 minutes with our instruments to just try what I hear in my head and see how it feels, but they're even leary of that -they think I'm nuts (maybe I am). I at least got the band to try "To Sir With Love", telling them to just think "Takin' Care of Business" as the beat with the simple crunchy rock & roll guitar and just driving single 8th note bass with some cool subtleties in there, leaving only the vocals as they are on the original. The music sounded great but I couldn't get our singer to just learn the first verse and see how it felt. She really does think I'm crazy, especially after telling her I wanted to work up an awesome reggae version of "Freebird". I just felt it we be so fun to announce that we were going to do "Freebird", having half the audience puke or start throwing stuff at us, then do it our way and get off on the looks on some of their faces. Of course, disappointing the other half, but I felt like they could get over it.

Oh, you are SO my type! (Don't tell my guitar player). I think the Freebird idea is great - it's a performance, getting the audience to do something is so cool. The To Sir With Love idea with a different rhythm is an excellent idea (it's related to what someone else said about Led Zeppelin - taking old songs and making them your own is a very rich thing to do, musically.

Thing is, when someone else proposes something, I can actually imagine it and I listen and try to do it the way they want it to sound (usually successful, I might add - so the guitar player feels rewarded in suggesting songs with a twist). But when I ask to do the same thing, no one else can imagine it.

This has something to do with being bass players, I think - I spend a lot of time listening to music and breaking it apart in my mind and figuring out how to think/talk about it. No one else I play with does that. I didn't realize it until recently - that my suggestions about songs/styling are almost never implemented.

May have to go into pout mode sometime.

Anyway, too bad you and I (and everybody else here) are all bass players - or we good form one really cool band!
---------------------------------------

A quote from Iz:

Maximum pleasure for minimum effort, that's my way.

(That works only for people much more talented than I am, though).

 

[E2daGGurl]

BTW, reading this thread has been great. Fame, fortune and fun seem to be the three themes - but reading someone say, "Lead singer should learn the words/structure to songs" just makes me appreciate my own musical situation.

I too would like to perform more (this thread is helping me realize that). If my guitarist continues to be so shy, I'm going to have to find some way of inducing him not to be (he's really good, he's just a perfectionist).

We need a "We want to perform more club" on TB. Also, I was thinking it would be fun to have a "Started playing again after 20 years club" or sumpin.