Members etcetra Posted April 18, 2014 Members Share Posted April 18, 2014 So I get this called from a friend who wants to organize a gig with one the band I am involved in. The gig will consist of a salsa band(the one I'm in), a hiphop band(friend's band) and a rock band, and the idea is to have some of the members of the band switch and play in other bands. At first I thought this was a neat idea, we'll do our own set, feature couple of people from other bands on some songs. We'll get three different kinds of audiences who are going to be listening to something different and hopefully they will be interested in what we do. But that's not what he was talking about...He wants all the members of the bands to do a complete swap, make 3 different new bands and collaborate. Think of it as a band version of "Wife Swap" but it involves 3 different households and you are swapping every single member of your family and redistributing them. I told them from the get-go that I was very skeptical of this idea. The three different bands are totally different stylistically and while some of our band members know and have worked with the hiphop band, we don't know anything about the other band... It's one thing to have a guitar guy from rock band solo on "oye como va" on our set, that's doable.. but having our band leader work on his originals or any other salsa music with people who have little or no understanding of the music? That just didn't make any sense. I also know the band members well enough to know that they'll also get the same reaction as I did. It also doesn't make sense because whatever band you will end up playing won't be your band. So what would the salsa music crowd think of the music when they see the band leader with completely different member who doesn't play that music? My friend kept on insisted that we'll have rehearsals and it doesn't have to be perfect. The gig is about working with new people, trying new things and seeing what comes out of it, it's supposed to be jam, and it's going to be pitched as jam session. He even accused me for having a negative vibe about the whole project. My question is has anyone done, anything done anything like this, and do you think something like this is actually feasible? I think my skepticism is warranted, and what my friend is asking is too ambitious and vague. Frankly I just don't see how it's going to work. It would make sense if we did it like I described above(sit-in method) or have members of different bands collaborate and work on some new materials, but I don't think I can convince him to do so. At this point, I think it's best that our band stay away from this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members joshmac Posted April 18, 2014 Members Share Posted April 18, 2014 Sounds fun. If youre phased out about it, just dont do it. Worst comes to worst you have a {censored}ty practice session and then nothing comes of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etcetra Posted April 18, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 18, 2014 joshmac I wouldn't mind the idea as a practice session if it wasn't for the fact that we are playing in front of a crowd, which includes our fan base. right now is that I just don't see how this will work out such that it won't turn into a **ty practice session. I know some of our band members are versatile enough to do other types of music but others aren't(nor do they care to), and I really don't know enough about the other bands to make that call. I think the problem is with the scope.. it's an all out switch and you are doing 2-3 sets of music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FitchFY Posted April 18, 2014 Members Share Posted April 18, 2014 I mean, in a perfect world, that could be a lot of fun, but this is the real world: that's going to be a lot of work to have it come out decent, and to what effect? Each band plays a sub-par show and you make a handful of new fans after a lot of time/effort, right? I like the concept, but it would be more effective to pull it back a few scale degrees. Have 1-2 guys of each band join each of the other band on 2-3 songs so it adds something to the existing band, instead of defacing their core sound. It's like the RZA and the GZA sitting in with Santana, and then he solos over "C.R.E.A.M." later on. I have NO IDEA why I just used Wu-Tang as the example. No idea. At all. Happy Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etcetra Posted April 18, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 18, 2014 I like the concept, but it would be more effective to pull it back a few scale degrees. Have 1-2 guys of each band join each of the other band on 2-3 songs so it adds something to the existing band, instead of defacing their core sound. It's like the RZA and the GZA sitting in with Santana, and then he solos over "C.R.E.A.M." later on. . Exactly, and I even suggested that, but my friend turned it down. He wants an all out switch. Considering we are probably going to do 2 rehearsals for this per band, I think that's probably the most realistic way to do things. It's difficult enough trying to get a set together with completely new people in 2 rehearsals, it's going to be a nightmare if the people you are working with don't anything much about the musical styles and the repertoire at all. It will also ease up the workload too.. you won't have to have everyone learning a new set of music.. each guest musicians just need to learn 1-2 tunes from the other bands setlist as an add-on while the base band stays in tact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted April 18, 2014 Members Share Posted April 18, 2014 I'm thinking of Willy and Metallica on tour, Metallica plays Willy songs and Willy jamming out power cords to ONE. I suppose it would work but.......but.......Yup, maters and fresh oranges may come flying up on the stage? heh What stuck most to me was when you said it's a Jam that and nothing more. Seems to me it's been taken a little out of proporation so to speak, even overkill is a word that comes to mind? Not to mention now you have bands that have to play styles that are not their forte meaning they need to learn a different style of music, If I'm the drummer for Willy and I have to play Metallica songs? Man, that could be more work than one wants to do just to "jam". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etcetra Posted April 18, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 18, 2014 Nchangin, Yea it's kind of like that+ you add Poncho Sanzhez band in the mix and have the three different band do a complete switch up. My friend said it doesn't need to be perfect, but he is underestimating what it takes to play a different style of music even adequately. You might be able to fake it as a soloist or filler, but playing as a part of rhythm section is a totally different story. Having electric guitar solo in our band, or adding our percussion into rock band or the horn player into hiphop band might work. But I can't imagine a rock/hiphop drummer/bassist being able to play salsa patterns in 2 rehearsals and vice versa, and I doubt my band leader would want to spend the time teaching them either. It's too bad because some of the band members have subbed/jammed with the hiphop band and we have genuine interest in working together.. but what is being asked here seems too weird to wrap my head around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted April 18, 2014 Members Share Posted April 18, 2014 If salsa is what I think it is, (latin, bosa and other grooves) indeed if I was Lars I would probably be able to pull it off but would it fit? Bosa nova with a double bass? Why not! heh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etcetra Posted April 19, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 19, 2014 We do mostly afro-cuban music, so don't really play much bossa, but we do stuff like mambo, cha cha, bolero..etc. Also, we use timbales instead of regular drum set, so whoever is filling in that spot will have to deal with that too. I guess of all the bands here, we are the least jam-friendly band in terms of style and setup. Like you have said, the problem is with the sheer scope of what my friend is suggesting...it's an overkill. We are dealing with 15+ people and it's going to be really difficult assigning them into bands that works and people enjoy playing in, especially since we don't know much about the other bands. And as expected my bandmates had the same reservations I had about the whole thing... we don't know what we are getting into, and we don't feel like committing until we know the detail, but I guess they want us to commit first and figure out the details later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted April 19, 2014 Members Share Posted April 19, 2014 Sounds like way too much work for any type of reward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opus Antics Posted April 21, 2014 Members Share Posted April 21, 2014 I have NO IDEA why I just used Wu-Tang as the example. No idea. At all. Happy Friday. That's what you get when Wu-Tang raised you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted April 21, 2014 Members Share Posted April 21, 2014 Maybe you could do the wheel of musicans, spin it 5 times and pick those 5 musicians to play a set? Be about the same result. I know if I'm doing a jam and I have to learn new material and NOT get paid? Not a lot of energy going into that prep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Iamthesky Posted April 21, 2014 Members Share Posted April 21, 2014 The closest I've come to this is a show we did a while back. The opener played a set, the second band played a set, we played a set, then we and the second band combined together to finish off the evening with a set of jams. Members of the two bands had jammed together before, and we had a couple of rehearsals and put together a "set list" with basic info like key, instrument changes, whose turn it was to solo, the "theme" of the jam (e.g. tribal, space, etc.). It worked, at least certainly well enough for the late-night audience. Playing impromptu jams as a free event is one thing, but it seems like mixing it up in front of a paying audience should bring a little more responsibility and some behind the scenes efforts to boost the chances of it sounding good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted April 21, 2014 Moderators Share Posted April 21, 2014 joshmac I wouldn't mind the idea as a practice session if it wasn't for the fact that we are playing in front of a crowd, which includes our fan base. right now is that I just don't see how this will work out such that it won't turn into a **ty practice session. I know some of our band members are versatile enough to do other types of music but others aren't(nor do they care to), and I really don't know enough about the other bands to make that call. I think the problem is with the scope.. it's an all out switch and you are doing 2-3 sets of music. I think the idea it to NOT do other types of music, but to bring your own thing to that style of music. Nobody wants to hear Billy Gibbons play salsa. But they'd love to hear him be Billy Gibbons in a salsa band. Look at it that way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members etcetra Posted April 24, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 24, 2014 Lee Knight, I agree and that the idea would be somewhat feasible if it wasn't for the fact that 1)this is an all out switch and 2)my friend insists that we do our own setlist and original material for this gig. It's more like Billy Gibbons+Questlove+Robert Trujillo+Bebo Valdes.etc forming a band playing salsa music and Bebo's setlist even though only 1 of the musician in that band actually play that music. As far as I am concerned half of my band members are probably capable of doing different styles of music, the other half would be clueless and/or they wouldn't care to to play in other setting either. I guess it would help if I actually knew more about the other bands(namely the indie rock band) because I have no idea if they've jammed with other musicians before and if they are capable of playing with other people in different musical settings. It would be much more feasible if I we didn't have to follow those 2 requirements. Like I said above, keeping each band in tact and adding 1-2 musician as guests would make things a lot easier. Or if you want to do an all out switch, forget about doing originals and your regular set and just jam on set of changes/rhythmic feel like lamthesky suggested. lamthesky How long was the jam set? Were the two bands similar in style, and how did you guys mix up in terms of rhythym section? I am guessing drum&bass switched between songs? Like I said above, I think one of the big issue here is that we don't really know anything abou thet rock band. I feel somewhat comfortable working with the hiphop band because me and others have played with members of the other band in different settings, and I know them well enough to know that we can probably put together something that works. I agree that pulling a jam like this would require some planning, and you guys did it in a way that works. I think each band doing a set first and doing the jam is a good idea, that way the audience also gets the chance to hear the band as they are(which is what the audience is probably looking for). But doing 2-3 sets of jam that involves 3 bands just seems like a lot of work and it's probably not all that effective as a show. This is just me, but IMO jamming for too long without playing an actual song can get boring very quick, and it's not something I'd do for an entire night. Also what my friend is suggesting isn't just jamming on a set of chord changes with various theme or rhythmic feel, but actually learning the other band's set list and jamming on that, which could mean learning like 8-10 new songs for the show. nchangin I agree. This would require all 3 members of of the band to be committed enough to make it work and that's a lot of commitment to ask to a lot of people, especially since we don't have any idea about how much the gig would pay. If the turnout is bad, you are playing for next to nothing. It's one thing if the other band actually want to learn salsa music and vice versa, but that's not the case either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Iamthesky Posted April 24, 2014 Members Share Posted April 24, 2014 Our jam set was about an hour. We were an originals band ( ), alternative with a new wave/prog kind of sound; the other ( ) was a hippie band doing a mixture of covers (jam and southern rock) and originals. Our bass player did some bass, and played djembe or trumpet on the rest; their bass player picked up a guitar when not on bass. They had a keyboard player who did conventional organ and piano, which means my synth style complemented his contribution rather than duplicated it (in fact the two of us had done a couple of duo jams at other shows before). We just used our drummer; theirs sat out the whole set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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