Members ajunkieonmusic Posted June 12, 2007 Members Share Posted June 12, 2007 My brother and I are extremely devoted to music and also 17 and 20. Both no longer in school with days fully dedicated to music endeavors. Our style is alternative, punk, metal. Also pretty experienced for our age-been on XFL pre-game show, toured on a carnival cruise. A major problem we're having is finding musicians to finish the band who are as committed, skilled, and close to age as we are. We're looking for a drummer, bassist, and another guitarist. We've been looking through craigslist, music connection, la weekly, recycler, even myspace music classifieds, put up flyers in schools and music stores, we've even asked around at open mics and friends who are already in bands if they know of anyone. And we have people respond, but there's always one or more major flaws. We also don't want simply hired guns. I've been looking with my brother since January, and longer on my own. We live in Los Angeles, a music wonderland! Why are we having so much difficulty??? Does anyone have any other suggestions?? How did you find the musicians in your band? www.myspace.com/withintheeddy We're working on getting better recordings, do you think the quality of the recording is the main issue? or does it not even matter? What about already having drums and bass on the music? yes or no? We appreciate any advice. We'll give any opinions on music,etc in return. withintheeddy@yahoo.com Thanks. -Christina and Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members way2fat Posted June 12, 2007 Members Share Posted June 12, 2007 Your site says you're looking for the "perfect" bandmates". Since you live in a music wonderland that shouldn't be hard to do. I assume you know lots of musicians and go to jams regularly? That's how I got started, at 40, no less. After a while they started finding me. Nothing is easier than finding a guitar player, someone here called them more plentiful than hydrogen. Good bassists and drummers usually have a pretty long list of folks that want to play with them so that may take longer. My advice would be to find folks you like and won't have trouble hanging with. Chops will improve with practice, personalities may not. Have fun. Everything else is details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted June 12, 2007 Members Share Posted June 12, 2007 I live in Los Angeles, too. I have a band with 8 people. No one flakes, no one fights, people communicate and listen. How did I do it? Before I put the band together I just met people, networked and made friends with them. This was a process that took over five years. Most of them started as "friends of a friend" who were introduced to me by that friend, because they knew both of us were musicians and though it would be a good idea for us to meet. I met my sax player nearly 10 years ago when his late uncle, who played trumpet and led a jazz group, introduced me to him. I didn't even have to hear him play to know he had the skills. When the time was right, I just gave people a call or email, and after a month of rehearsals, we were playing live. My band is really a bunch of friends of mine who can play real well. The one catch, we're all in our 30s, one is even in his 40s. You're still young, you'll work with non-ideal people but after you stick with it for a while, you'll find some great people. Having a sibling who share the same musical desire is a plus...it worked for the Jacksons, the Vaughans, the Farrises (INXS), the Carpenters... As for finding a guitar player, yes they're a dime a dozen but for me a great guitarist is a diamond in the rough. For the music I do, the guitarist plays a rhythmic role. He doesn't overpower, he doesn't play too busy, he doesn't show off (unless you tell him to). In fact during rehearsals I actually have to tell him to turn his volume up. Another tip: Work with people who have songwriting experience, as opposed to someone who just plays...Musicians "visualize" or conceptualize music in different ways. Most people who write songs have a better sense of organization, know how things fit and can balance the melodic vs the harmonic vs the rhythmic. And if you guys write the songs in the band, they have a better sense of song structure and where things are supposed to go. People who simply "play" no matter how good their chops are, tend to see music as something linear, and things like "the 2nd chorus" doesn't really make sense to them. And "chops" doesn't really mean "better musician." Many players with GREAT chops get bored with simple lines or passages and make them more complex than they're supposed to be (read: show off), which ruins songs. sometimes you want someone who might not "know as much," as some of them like to seek a good challenge in the music to sharpen their skills, or just sit back and listen to the entire band and be content with their contribution. Oh yeah, the people with genuine talent are usually humble people. People who like to tell you in your face that they're total bad assses on their instrument - usually suck! Don't waste your time on them. The big mistake people make in the music business is expecting things to happen all of a sudden. It doesn't really happen that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinC Posted June 12, 2007 Members Share Posted June 12, 2007 You guys are young, but based on your experience your skilled, so you need to look where other young skilled players would be. I'd check college music depts. and working top 40 bands-those guys probably gig and read but some probably would want to also do what you want to do. I'd also hook up with an agency, check out their bands and members. You can surf an agents web site and scope out their bands/players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SleezeBeez Posted June 12, 2007 Members Share Posted June 12, 2007 classifieds!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Janx Posted June 12, 2007 Members Share Posted June 12, 2007 here's a radical idea. Join somebody else's band. You'll learn a bunch of stuff (do's and don'ts). And you'll meet folks. When you quit that band, join another. After about 3 bands, and umpteen gigs, you'll have met lots of folks. When their bands fold up, offer them a spot in your new project... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzball Posted June 12, 2007 Members Share Posted June 12, 2007 I usualy get people asking to join. Guitar players are easy to find (but great ones can be tough to find). Dependable drummers are hard to find. I put up a wanted add on our myspace and several players tried out. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members srsfallriver Posted June 12, 2007 Members Share Posted June 12, 2007 Most of the bands I've been in (around 20 at this point???) have been either word of mouth or I knew someone in the group. So my advise would be to meet people, jam, and make connections. I can recall two bands that I joined after responding to a flyer in a music store. More recently, I've worked with two bands that I found on Craigslist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HuskerDude Posted June 12, 2007 Members Share Posted June 12, 2007 Go to a lot of shows, meet other local musicians. That's the best way, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gtrbass Posted June 12, 2007 Members Share Posted June 12, 2007 Stop looking for perfection. First of all, It doesn't exist. What you think is perfect is less than perfect to others and vice versa. Music isn't about perfection. The "Major flaws" you seem to always find when looking for prospective members may indicate that you have too one-sided a vision of what you think perfection is. Your thinking might be a bit too rigid. If you want people to follow your vision verbatim, then obtain a financial backer and pay sidemen to execute that vision. Just don't fool yourself that is what a band truly is. If you want to form a band, know that 'what you want to do vs. what they want to do' may have some variations in it. That is a good thing. Great bands are greater than the sum of their individual parts. That is because a healthy creative tension exists. Your influences combined with someone else's influence may generate a unique and lasting combination. Bottom line: Be more open minded or stay a duo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzball Posted June 13, 2007 Members Share Posted June 13, 2007 Tough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J.Paul Posted June 16, 2007 Members Share Posted June 16, 2007 lol @ Perfectiona guy can at least try though... the band I had in high school went through a variety of bass players (and numerous stints of downtime)before we realized that who we REALLY wanted was Will Lee (from Paul Schaffer's band on Letterman) who was'nt available at the time (LOL). sometimes it pays to get CLOSE to perfection in the name of establishing momentum. Question: have you looked outside your city or geographical location?When your criteria becomes SO specific, it might help to widen the net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzball Posted June 16, 2007 Members Share Posted June 16, 2007 Try the unemployment line:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eleventeen43 Posted June 16, 2007 Members Share Posted June 16, 2007 My suggestion is to play coffehouses. Do some kind of acoustic show. Your bound to find musicians that way. I just dont understand if you have toured of carnival cruises and were on some xfl thing why it would be hard to find band mates. That sounds like great exposure to me. Go place some flyers at your local music shop. Its a music shop thats why people go there. And if your really desperate become pizza drivers and when you deliver the pizza's you can meet someone new and ask them if they play music. Its just one of thsoe things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deepblue Posted June 16, 2007 Members Share Posted June 16, 2007 I gurantee a wage....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzball Posted June 17, 2007 Members Share Posted June 17, 2007 I am lucky right now I have the best group that I have ever played with. They are all good and stretch eachother musicly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted June 17, 2007 Members Share Posted June 17, 2007 Bandmix has a pretty good network of musicians. They listed like 80 or 100 musicians within my area. Its a pay site ,,, but its cheaper than doing alot of running around. I checked out a few people ,sone checked me out....,practiced with a bass player all winter. Got a practice with a bass player and guitar player this week. Its a way to meet people who play music in your area. I think its worth the effort to pay for the up grade membership, It makes getting ahold of people alot easier. rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzball Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 Not true, I work a full time great job and manage to function and practice with a band. You just need to look harder, and know where to look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members STFU NOOB! Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 Try the unemployment line:) LOL a few years ago my wife opened a musical school and we made a bunch of flyers one of which read: Unemployed? If you were a musician no one would judge you... call 555-5555 for more information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members STFU NOOB! Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 Our style is alternative, punk, metal. toured on a carnival cruise. how did that work out? I can just see a bunch of retirees headbanging and moshing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzball Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 how did that work out? I can just see a bunch of retirees headbanging and moshing LOL I can see a shuffel board injury! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members New Trail Posted June 20, 2007 Members Share Posted June 20, 2007 This is a joke, right? "How do you find musicians?"Ask you pizza delivery guy! Similiar to a this joke a guy told me:"How does a drummer answer the phone at work?""Dominoe's Pizza!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzball Posted June 20, 2007 Members Share Posted June 20, 2007 How do you call a drummer at work? That is a trick question right, drummers don't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.