Members Gremson Posted July 21, 2014 Members Share Posted July 21, 2014 Hey, remember when I had a cool new band with a female vocalist, badass jazz bassist and sax player? Yeah, that was fun....Crazy frontlady decided that she was the sole creative force in the band, and that the rest of us were just her backing band and easily replaceable. I guess she wrote all the songs and parts that I brought to the band too. Not to mention the hours I spent creating and managing several social media sites, and all the time my wife spent creating a website... I guess that was all her too! She should have no problem going solo though, because the rest of us won't play music with her anymore! Haha.I'm pretty annoyed that it went that way. I thought that band could have done something really cool. But I'm happy her ego showed it's ugly head before I put any more of my time into it. Now it's on to bigger and better things!I have an audition on Tuesday for a big funk band! I'm pretty pumped. I met the keys player at a jazz festival today and we talked for a bit. He seems like a cool guy, and they're all looking forward to meeting me. Right now they have a female vocalist, keys, guitar, bass, and sax. They're looking to add a few more horn players to the band too. Sounds like a hell of a lot of fun to me! I've never played in a band with more than five people. I told them that my background is more in the rock'n'roll realm, but they're still looking forward to jamming. If anyone has any recommendations on some badass modern funk bands for me to listen to, I'd love to get more in the mood! Also, unrelated to drumming, but the band I play bass in, Commonly Courteous, played a badass show with Dread Zeppelin last night! That was awesome! It's the first time I've played with a bigger known band that I actually cared about and listened to. We got booked on the show last minute, and didn't play to any of our usual crowd. The place was packed and all the folks seemed to really dig our stuff. We made giant dicks out of socks and nylons that dangled out of the pant legs of our shorts, and gave away free porn in our merch case. Hopefully we will be remembered for something!Dread Zeppelin was awesome too. I've never seen them live before, and they put on a great show, even if the drummer didn't have a ride cymbal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FitchFY Posted July 21, 2014 Members Share Posted July 21, 2014 Sorry to hear it collapsed so soon, man, but like you said -- better to have it happen early than to spend a lot of time and sweat equity involvement. Smelling out the crazy on people is tough to do! As for playing funk... well, much like "rock," funk can be a lot of things! I think it's best to get a feel for the different types of what people consider funky. From a drummer's view point, I'd break it down to these bands to get your head ready: - Parliament Funkadelic: lots of players means lots going on in the band, so a big fat backbeat with deep pocket to make people move.- James Brown: `Nuff said there.- Tower of Power: lots of horn kicks and syncopation -- linear funk kind of stuff with tons of ghost notes- Galactic: very groove focused with lots of energy and swing, and a fair amount of jamming around structure- Earth, Wind, and Fire: lots of traditional patterns supporting a bigger ensemble with the necessary kicks Hope the audition goes well! Keep us posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted July 21, 2014 Members Share Posted July 21, 2014 The drumming in Nword funk is so simple; nearly always boom crack boom crack, if it isn't dead solid locked in, " NEXT... "Get a slowdowner and practice simple tunes at 50% and below. It's excruciatingly difficult at first and generally just excruciating period but the work is invaluable. You get to know the actual space between the booms and taps both technically and mentally and all your favorite metric divisions besides; and when you do surface into real time, you'll be amazed at how easy and different it is to actually sync with the rhythm section. To do fancier and trickier white boy funk, same thing. Just fancier and trickier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gremson Posted July 22, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 22, 2014 Thanks guys. I've got the feel. I'm sure it'll be fun whether it's "Nword" funk or otherwise. I was more just curious to hear if anybody has some modern funk recommendations. I don't need to do homework, I just want to fit the mood! I've been listening to Galactic for a few years now, anybody got something more recent that's badass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FitchFY Posted July 22, 2014 Members Share Posted July 22, 2014 Also check out Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk - very cool. There's also a band from New York called Sophistafunk; wicked nice guys, three piece band with crazy talent, and their drummer is one sick cat. Great live show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted July 22, 2014 Members Share Posted July 22, 2014 Just sayin; it needs to be in you mentally AND physically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gremson Posted July 23, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2014 Well, I just got home from the audition. It went pretty well. I just jammed with the guitarist, bassist, and keyboard player. They just wanted to see how we all got along musically before bringing in the vocalist and horns. I had fun. They're cool dudes. It's been a while since I just jammed. Without learning parts, or writing parts to specific songs. They seemed to like my playing. Said that they could tell I'm "not just a drummer" but my background playing other instruments lets me feel the music more and anticipate changes batter. The guitarist mentioned that I was definitely more rock oriented, but good... Which is what I sort of expected to hear. I wonder if they'll ask me back, or if I'm just too much rock for them.Time will tell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Drumstix101 Posted July 23, 2014 Members Share Posted July 23, 2014 You gave it a go and if it's meant to be, it will be. Good luck Grem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FitchFY Posted July 23, 2014 Members Share Posted July 23, 2014 The guitarist mentioned that I was definitely more rock oriented, but good... Which is what I sort of expected to hear. To a degree, I've always been in the same boat. No matter what I play, there's a bit of a rock attitude and determination to the style. Sonically, it may sound like blues or funk, but when I open it up, it's always going to have a little extra boot in the butt. For most bands I've worked with, this was considered a good thing - hopefully they'll feel the same way about you! \mm/ Too much metal for two hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gremson Posted July 23, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2014 It's weird being on the other end of the spectrum. I've jammed with quite a few folks that have come from punk and metal backgrounds. Now I know how they must've felt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rayboomboom Posted July 23, 2014 Members Share Posted July 23, 2014 Hey Grem, Jumping in late here but my 2 cents: 1st hope you get the call back. Hey maybe what they really need is someone with a rock background that has the ear like you do. Also, if your still interested in listening, check out Lettuce - Adam Deitch's band. Great funk and soul! Lastly, I hope you guys took down the website and social media stuff. Nothing worse than overblown egos and no appreciation for the work that others do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted July 24, 2014 Members Share Posted July 24, 2014 speculative fiction content. If the band does lots of show then they want a pro. You can leave your phone off. Failing that, you are versatile, have a reasonable party quotient, and they may just like the creative aspect, you got yourself a jam band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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