How many of you are in the band you want to be versus the band you wish you were in?

[ckcondon]

Most of us know bands are all about compromise. The perfect band and the perfect show are usually unattainable.

How many of you are in your "Dream Band"? I don't meant that as who is a "Millionaire rockstar", but a perfect mix of people all sharing the workload, being professional, enjoying playing together and no drama?

How many of you are close, but would only change a few minor things?

How many of you hate your band and want to walk, but feel it's the best option for you now?

[ggm1960]

I've never found a band I was happy with. Normally the reason has been that the local musicians I've played with are not up to my standards. In a couple cases I played with musicians I thought were very good. In the first case the drummer and bassist couldn't get along but in both cases the bands were only three piece which is hard to do.

 

I didn't vote because I'm not currently in a band and I may opt to only do occasional fill-in gigs from now on so as to avoid any emotional attachment.

[kmart]

Wow, that's a slippery slope to get thinking about, but...

 

I can honestly say that the following:

 

...people all sharing the workload, being professional, enjoying playing together and no drama

...applies to my current primary band.

 

I'd say we're still not getting quite the quality of gigs we want (and frankly, are more than capable and deserving of), but I'll say I'm pleased to have that as the sole 'problem' IMO, and none of the 'personnel issues' that have been all too common with most other bands I've played in.

[wheresgrant3]

Good and timely thread. I wouldn't call this a 'dream band' but it's as cl;ose to the best probably band experience I'll have in this lifetime. I've always played in popular bands but this one is unique on many levels. I don't see this band breaking up as much as me aging out and the band continuing on with younger players. I'd be happy if I we'ren't involved just to know I was part of the legacy.

 

We've been together for 8 years and I couldn't be happier. Probably the most popular band on our circuit the last 5-6 years but it wasn't without some bumps. Financial investment, time consumption and a few lineup/member changes in 3 years. Some marriages and friendships have suffered for it. But for my involvement I couldn't be more pleased. This band really defines compromise.... compromise on material, compromise on gig schedule, even compromise on business plan. There's always a little room for change but right now at this very moment this line up is shinning white hot. There are no conflicting personalities, no bad habits. I've joked that we're an 'asshole free' zone right now and in danger of tipping over in niceness and good feelings. It's a great place to be after 8+ years, a popular band and a full calendar with great pay. I suspect there's nowhere to go but down. What impresses me is that we're all on the same page and we all see what works and doesn't. So we're all committed at putting on the best show possible without letting egos or preferences interfere.

 

 

I'd say pretty confidently that our band is the band that most in my area want to be or strive to be. I hear it all the time from other musicians to keep them informed if a slot opens up. Keep in mind, most of these guys are the first to slag us and say that we suck (word travels ), our setlist is horrible, our musicianship overrated, yet "keep me in mind" if we ever need a sub or an open position. I say this all the time: the defining factor that seperates us from the other bands in our market is in the decisions we make. We tend to always focus on the bigger picture where the other bands tend to focus on 'what are they earning at that very moment'. I think often about what life would be like in some of the other bands in my market... largely driven by one bandleader, decisionmaker. No real sense of investment or equity in 'the ownership' of the band. One guy doing all the work and other guys just showing up to play and get paid. I know what we have is unique, and certainly by design. And I'm sure there are plenty of bands that are just as happy as mine. Plan trips and vacations together. Share the workload and investment. But in my area we seem to be one of the only ones to operate this way.

 

One of the things that have made me most pleased is in our agreement to constantly invest back into the band... often times at the expense of our own pay. When we first hired on a manager we split $400 6 ways. Now and for several years we earn more than 4-5x's that. When no other bands would take free gigs (or unwisely choose the 'wrong' free gigs) we figured a way to take these gigs in trade for either advertising or design work or entrance into new rooms and events. When other bands struggled with one member buying lights, sound and transportation, we made unity decisions to invest as a band and partnership. And we've grown... adding two more members (7 onstage and 8 on payroll) usually at the expense of sharing a little less at the end of the night... in lieu of having a calendar booked 9 months in advance.

 

What works for this band wouldn't really work with others. We just happened to find the right guys, with the right personalities who wanted to build something together. Not just sit and play for money, but to really create a name for ourselves in our market. It's an Ego-free zone. As we've come across the wrong personalities along the way, we've worked to shed them. For that reason alone, many in the band community think we're dicks.... yet they are first in line to play with us if there's ever an opportunity. They never thank us for helping to raise the ceiling for pay in the area... for opening new rooms, for keeping struggling rooms alive. We're often the target of envy/jealousy/criticism... yet many of the other bands wonder why they don't get the same opportunities. We're a lonely island at times... but still a good place to be.

[rhino55]

My names on the bill, so I dont really expect the people I play with to share in too many extra responsibilities, but if I do happen to ask they always seem willing to help.

 

Sometimes it can be hard scheduling practices because all the guys play with multiple bands, but to get people that don't suck to jump into this kind of situation, that's what it takes. They all make practices, all be it usually 15 minutes late, and are on time for gigs.

 

I write and do most of the arrangements for the horn parts, but the horn players are willing to do them for new songs when I ask. The longer we play together and especially with newer songs, things are becoming more collaborative, which I think is imperative to gel as a unit and really get tight.

 

Considering we play mostly songs I've written, and the money is not that great, I feel pretty fortunate to be able to play with the people I do. I'm the only one who isnt a "degreed music person" so the exchange of ideas can be pretty interesting. Plus, I've learned a ton of theory and official terms by listening to them talk

[bnelly428]

I would have voted between "I lovemy band and hope we never break up" and "couple things I'd change"

 

We started playing in 2009 as a 4 piece, drums, bass, guitar and singer. Doing obscure rock songs with female lead. The people that came to the dive bars we were playing loved it, but you can only feed off of people sitting at a table staring at you for so long.

 

After a couple of lineup additions/changes, fast forward to present day. We are quickly on our way to becoming the next big name band. We play all the "staples" and add a lot of our own flare in for a strong female lead, which no other party band in my area can. (there are VERY talented female leads, but they don't play the same circuit nor want the same gig schedule) So we are currently filling a void that people did not know exsisted. We went from making anywhere from 2-300 for a night with some very questionable "B" equipment, to 4x that with a PA focused around JBL, Yorkville and Presonus. Contrary to Grant and NIAB's business plan, we did not have the luxury at least initially that all members were willing to invest, and other determining factors re: personalities, did not allow this. So now I own a part of the PA, and current plans are that either our Bass player (monitors and lights) will purchase a second JBL PRX615m to use as a monitor until the current mains, JBL Eon G2's die. Could we have saved all of our gig pay for a year and purchased this equipment? Yes, but luckily a couple of us could afford to invest in the band PA so we did. And up until recently, everything was an even cut. Being the leader and doing all the work associated with that (booking, communication, song selection) I make a few bucks more per show, Nothing to write home about, but enough so that I don't have to count out quarters at the end of the night!

 

What would I change? I think we could be stronger in certain areas, instrumentation wise. I think NO ONE in the audience besides other musicians would even bat an eye. I think we are really coming into our own for our show presentation and get tighter the more we play out. I would like to be making more money, but I think that's only a matter of time. I do not want to be playing out 8 times a month, I think 4-5 from Oct-Mar and 6-8 Apr-Sep is a good goal. The band has caused strain in some relationships, all of which have ceased for other reasons. But what's better than going into the summer season with 4 single guys and a good looking single female singer ?! I don't think there is anything better

[Dancebass]

I am certainly in the band that I want to be in, no doubts. There is always room for improvement though.

[SeniorBlues]

Two relatively new projects . . . . Ask me again in six months.

[can't remember]

I just quit my band in hopes of finding another with more dedicated muscians,

people to "share the load," and a different musical direction other than the one

I was taking with the old. It was all good and most understood my reasons.

[troyguitar]

If I had a full lineup and lived in Europe instead of North America we'd be about where I want to be. The only other improvements to be made are all in the songwriting department which is something I want to be better at as an individual so I don't really count it as part of this discussion.

[ski219]

I was very recently booted from my cover band for missing practices and generally being more into my original band.

 

Cover band was fun and was a source of extra income that I appreciated, however, there were things i did not like - song selection for one. I also had some pet peeves regarding musicianship that had been nagging more and more at me as time went on. The other guitar player is a noodler who plays constantly from the time he sets up to the end of the night and he is old enough and has been playing long enough to know better. He also could not gauge how loud or quiet his amp was. For example one week it was screaming loud and he says, "It's the same level I had it at at practice." the Next week it's too soft and he has the same answer... I learned a long time ago that different rooms sound different and you need to set your amp up for that particular time and space. And finally, he overplayed and over distorted - both common mistakes that a good, experienced player should have grown out of. I also had issues with our new bassist playing too loud and too busy, not to mention standing stone still and staring at his music stand full of cheat sheets. Add to that the fact that we had gone from 4 - 6 gigs a month to 1 or 2 and something was not right. Being kicked out was more of a relief than anything.

 

 

Now my original band is very much a band I enjoy being in and is close to my ideal as I will likely ever find. All very good musicians and some very good writers. The rhythm guitarist is easily the best rhythm player I have ever played with and I get all the leads and fills (which I love). We all leave space for each other and work well together in arranging tunes. We have been together for about 1 year and are getting lots of gigs - and the quality of those gigs has been getting better as we go along as have our performance chops and comfort level with each other. Only thing is I like making some extra money from playing and playing originals is not the easiest way to put cash in your pocket. I was, in fact, using the money I made playing covers to finance things like studio time for recording and mixing, and the cost of traveling down to NYC: gas, tolls & parking for original gigs.

 

I may, soon, look for another cover situation to have in addition to the original band, but if it's another $80 - $100 per man per gig band it will be stuff I enjoy playing over the typical classic rock/party band format of my last group. For more money I would play anything...but I'm kind of old for a band that plays for the young crowd in the big clubs...that's just who I am.

[jeff42]

I love my band and hope we never break up BUT there are a couple things I'd like to change... and that is always the case. I always try to make it better... there is always room for improvement.

 

in 2002 we just all got together for a jam session. It was very free form. When we started gigging many things became crystal clear to me... There were like a thousand things I wanted to change, and over the next few years we did. Lost a few members along the way but everytime we replaced someone it was always for the better.

 

This is by far the best band I have ever played in and usually I am pretty happy about everything. Sometimes not totally happy but that happens. The biggest thing is the age differences. Sometimes the older guys (who are brothers) don't "get" some of the material until they see it work with our crowd.

[tim_7string]

I voted for the first one, but if this poll had come up about 2-3 months ago, I probably would have gone from the third to the fourth option. The band I was in at the time was stressing me out big time. I'm in a much better place now. Nice to be able to communicate with each other as adults on the same level.

[TIMKEYS]

There really is no such thing as the perfect band. There are so many ways to look at things. I cant think of another band down here that i would rather be playing in. Some other guys would pass on our band in a NY second.

[SpaceNorman]

Being that the poll seems focused on the "interpersonal" aspects of the band - I went with Option #1. I'm happy as can be with the folks I play with in both of my projects - competent players, fun folks to work with, everybody does their share - lots of flexibility in terms of making things work - all with pretty much zero drama.

 

The things I'd change if I could have nothing to do with the band - but rather, our gig schedule. I'd like to see both bands working a little more frequently.

[mstreck]

The first thing I'd change about our band is our pointless second guitarist. Other than that, we're all on the same page, we all get along, all try to put the band first, all show up for practice, etc. We're gaining a reputation among venues and audiences as being a fun band and people drive for miles to see us. The pay is getting respectable and we're not having to work so damn hard to get gigs. I'm not gonna complain about any of that.

[Chicken Monkey]

I'm in a duo, and I want to be in a full band. My bandmate is aces, though--hard worker, eager to play, does arrangements, good in the studio, always working up harmony parts, etc. We're looking at a pedal steel player in the next couple weeks, which could be the start of a snowball towards my ideal band.

[stangconv]

Wow this is a tough one.... On one hand when we get up on stage its like magic. Crazy reviews and people just love us. On the other hand I am so frustrated because we seem to be making all the wrong decisions. We just played a couple freebies that really boosted our name and then when we got 10 offers for gigs we turn down 6 of them. For reasons like "our fans won't come to that bar" and "$600 isn't enough we should be making $1000"

 

Plus we got an offer to break into a bigger market, and we turned it down because the 3/5 thought we needed hotels and weren't getting paid enough.

 

These guys talk about "making it"and there is a lot of talent, I just worry we keep doing the worng thing. We have only been together for 7 months.

[wheresgrant3]

 

Wow this is a tough one.... On one hand when we get up on stage its like magic. Crazy reviews and people just love us. On the other hand I am so frustrated because we seem to be making all the wrong decisions. We just played a couple freebies that really boosted our name and then when we got 10 offers for gigs we turn down 6 of them. For reasons like "our fans won't come to that bar" and "$600 isn't enough we should be making $1000" Plus we got an offer to break into a bigger market, and we turned it down because the 3/5 thought we needed hotels and weren't getting paid enough. These guys talk about "making it"and there is a lot of talent, I just worry we keep doing the worng thing. We have only been together for 7 months.

 

 

If you are only together 7 months and making $600 as a original band then you are doing fantastic. Most original bands are lucky to get paid at all. If you are a cover band, still breaking it in after 6-7 months are looking to make $1000 per gig then get in line. There are bands far more established that are likely earning that pay and without the rep to go along with the talent you'll just have to wait a while until you're in a position to negotiate higher pay.

[Roy Brooks]

I like playing music. And I am always up for a challenge. I like who I play with now. And I am looking forward to who I might play with in the future whether I know them right now or not.

[souldonor]

I told my band in Jan, that I would give them until July to replace me. I am tired of all the load in and load out. I play solo mostly and I am tired of loading all the gear by myself. The rest of the guys in the band have real jobs so they can't get there until close to the time we start. I am just sick of it. They are a great bunch of guys, but they don't seem to get that I really hate splitting the money even when I feel like I do twice as much of the work, not to mention wear and tear on my vehicle, and gear. They seem more preoccupied with getting t-shirts and stickers made, than learning new songs. The last time we practiced, we picked up some new songs, but we never really added them to the show. Now I am sure if I tried to play them it would be a train wreck. Solo I can pick up 10 songs a week if I want to.

[stangconv]

 

If you are only together 7 months and making $600 as a original band then you are doing fantastic. Most original bands are lucky to get paid at all. If you are a cover band, still breaking it in after 6-7 months are looking to make $1000 per gig then get in line. There are bands far more established that are likely earning that pay and without the rep to go along with the talent you'll just have to wait a while until you're in a position to negotiate higher pay.

 

 

That's the thing... We are getting gigs in the $1000 range, just not very many. If we took all the gigs from 600-1000 then we would be over 2X's as busy!

 

We are a cover band with some originals. Its just feels like me and the other guitarist are the only ones who feel like we should be out there doing tons of shows to keep riding our wave. As it stands today, we have 3 gigs booked for 2011 and if we didn't turn down so many we could have 10 within the next 4 months.

[jeff42]

 

That's the thing... We are getting gigs in the $1000 range, just not very many. If we took all the gigs from 600-1000 then we would be over 2X's as busy! We are a cover band with some originals. Its just feels like me and the other guitarist are the only ones who feel like we should be out there doing tons of shows to keep riding our wave. As it stands today, we have 3 gigs booked for 2011 and if we didn't turn down so many we could have 10 within the next 4 months.

 

 

The band members I guess need to figure out how much you guys want to play. Some gigs pay more than others. For us we usually do 2 per month. I do understand that sometimes certain clubs/bars are not good for certain bands. We turn down some places we would not feel comforatable playing... but again we play 2X a month. Usually it is not hard to fill our schedule. Hell, we are almost filled to the end of summer!

 

I must say congrats and good for you! Making that kind of cash pretty much right out of the gate is awesome! We have been at it for 8+ years and gigs that pay $1000 make us smile!

[StratGuy22]

I told my band in Jan, that I would give them until July to replace me. I am tired of all the load in and load out. I play solo mostly and I am tired of loading all the gear by myself. The rest of the guys in the band have real jobs so they can't get there until close to the time we start. I am just sick of it. They are a great bunch of guys, but they don't seem to get that I really hate splitting the money even when I feel like I do twice as much of the work, not to mention wear and tear on my vehicle, and gear. They seem more preoccupied with getting t-shirts and stickers made, than learning new songs. The last time we practiced, we picked up some new songs, but we never really added them to the show. Now I am sure if I tried to play them it would be a train wreck. Solo I can pick up 10 songs a week if I want to.

 

 

Maybe ask to renegotiate since you are doing th heavy lifting. If there's 4 of you, split the pay into 5 shares, and take 2 of them. We use my PA in our band. The guys all help load in and out. I set it up, run all the lines, and tear it down by myself. I just find it easier and I know that it's done to my liking. The others do the "around the elbow" technique for winding up cords, and half of theirs don't work. I can eyeball the size for over-under, so everything fits nicely, so I don't mind doing it myself.

 

[pickinatit]

I'm 99% happy with the band I'm in. Everyone else is old like me. We all seem to enjoy the same music for the most part. Nobody has an overwhelming desire to gig regularly (or at all really; a few back yard parties a year for family and friends are fine with us). We are not and don't claim to be a "polished" professional act. We just get together and play once a week. We work on the material somewhat like a band would. In other words, it's not really just a jam....we do "work" on the arrangements and strive to play the songs we choose as well as possible, but we're certainly not fanatic about it. I mean, I'm not going to get up-set if the guitar player didn't have time to work on that new song we wanted to put together this week. We just have fun playing. Some of my favorite sessions are the ones that deteriorate into "Hey, do you know this one" sessions.

With no one to please but ourselves really we play whatever we like and whatever someone brings to the table from their own personal taste. Everyone is very unselfish about playing each other's music.

We play Joe Walsh "Rocky Mountain Way" and Melanie "I've Got A Brand New Pair Of Roller Skates". We play Pink's "Who Knew" and Bad Company, "Can't Get Enough...", Olivia Newton-John, "Magic" and quite a few old, old Beatle tunes ("Misery", "Chains", "You Won't See Me" ) & Carrie Underwood "Before He Cheats.....

 

Perfect situation for me at this stage of my music life (I'm not quite 57). I have always loved playing ALL kinds of music...from WWII era love song/ballads, show tunes, Pop, Rock, Soul....I have always loved playing it all.