How do you test a band that invited you for auditioning ?

[rebelwoapplause]

 

unless i receive a link to the band's myspace page or some mp3s over the emails i cannot consider you a band. sorry if that's harsh but i don't think you can say that you do something unless you have actually done it. send me something crap ass from your garage i don't care. who can't record themselves these days? a lack of resources / initiative / music is not a good sign.

 

 

I'd think its easy to put up a web-page with glitzy pictures of some friends looking at you holding an instrument or a mic as you pose as if you are really performing (or, indeed, actually perform), yet actually have no music skills whatsoever. Indeed, if a start-up band is spending time making the web-page instead of working on their repetoire, I'd run as fast as possible in the other direction.

 

'Course, I suppose rejecting any band that has no web-presence keeps one from getting in on the ground floor with a band of prodigies about to take the world by storm. Cool!

 

But, this seems a bit off topic from the original post. Sorry.

 

Rebel

[stevesherbert]

i guess what i mean is that if i see an ad on craigslist along the lines of "band looking for ____", your band better actually be a band. you know, with songs. for me, hearing their songs is the first step of my/their audition. if you completely fail, i'm not showing up. if you only have 2 or 3 songs, then i'm going to expect to have quite a bit of pull right from the start. if you've got a set list pretty much ready to play live, then i'll keep my mouth shut and enjoy it!

[tucktronix]

 

i guess what i mean is that if i see an ad on craigslist along the lines of "band looking for ____", your band better actually be a band. you know, with songs. for me, hearing their songs is the first step of my/their audition. if you completely fail, i'm not showing up. if you only have 2 or 3 songs, then i'm going to expect to have quite a bit of pull right from the start. if you've got a set list pretty much ready to play live, then i'll keep my mouth shut and enjoy it!

 

 

For me, a MySpace page or mp3's don't mean diddly. Anyone can post doctored up, overdubbed mp3's of some crack band done in someone's basement on a MySpace page.

 

These days, I would only consider auditioning with established working bands with a booked schedule, no longer looking at startup bands. Usually, I would attend one of their shows to get a sense of their energy and the audience reaction. This will better help me to determine if the band would be good fit for me.

[Kramerguy]

 

For me, a MySpace page or mp3's don't mean diddly. Anyone can post doctored up, overdubbed mp3's of some crack band done in someone's basement on a MySpace page. These days, I would only consider auditioning with established working bands with a booked schedule, no longer looking at startup bands. Usually, I would attend one of their shows to get a sense of their energy and the audience reaction. This will better help me to determine if the band would be good fit for me.

 

 

I actually look for youtube videos of the band playing live. Most bands have at least one or two out there, and there's no way to make a {censored}ty band appear great on video, no matter how much you doctor them up.

 

You also get the added bonus of seeing how well they "perform", rather than just how well they practice.

[tucktronix]

 

I actually look for youtube videos of the band playing live. Most bands have at least one or two out there, and there's no way to make a {censored}ty band appear great on video, no matter how much you doctor them up. You also get the added bonus of seeing how well they "perform", rather than just how well they practice.

 

 

I usually don't expect every band to have YouTube vids posted. For me, being at one their shows, seeing them perform live speaks volumes.

[mstreck]

These days, I would only consider auditioning with established working bands with a booked schedule, no longer looking at startup bands. Usually, I would attend one of their shows to get a sense of their energy and the audience reaction. This will better help me to determine if the band would be good fit for me.

 

Kinda hard to have a booked schedule if you're down a man for some reason. We were without a bass player for over a month - and they are hard to come by around here - can't keep a schedule that way. We've been trying to fight our way back ever since and it hasn't been easy. Other than charity gigs, we've had three shows since September. No one wants to book a band that isn't booked.

 

 

Ugh... I have too many :facepalm:'s in my life.

 

[Austincowbell]

I might have missed this but is the OP talking about an original band or a cover band? Because my answer would be different based on his project.

 

A cover band - Yeah, suggest some songs you know. Just make 100% sure that they fit in with what the band is doing. If they play Whitesnake, Crue and Def Leppard don't suggest Depeche Mode, suggest Bon Jovi. We had a chick who wanted to sing with us suggesting Jewel and other boring ass music that we would NEVER play because she thought her voice sounded good on them. She saw the door.

 

Original band - tread VERY lightly about your own stuff with an original band. I'm in two original bands. One as a drummer and one as the singer/guitarist. In both bands the singer (which is me in the second one) comes up with EVERY song. Now... sometimes someone could play a bass line or a drum beat and I'll write off of it but in my project I write all the songs. If we were already established and we needed a new guitarist and a guy showed up at the audition with a bunch of his originals that he wanted us to do or even ONE original that he wanted to sing I would say "no". Bands need to have roles and in mine I am the songwriter. If you want to write songs and sing them you are welcome to start your own project and I'll be happy to be your bassist, guitarist or drummer.

[tucktronix]

If you want to know where a band's been , look at their pictures. Are the pics just of the band or are there people dancing and enjoying themselves? It took us a while, but we learned to start taking pictures of the CROWD. No one wants to see 15 pictures of my ugly ass up there, but they sure don't mind seeing a girl in a tight blue top dancing and having a good time. That shows that we can entertain - much more than any of the crappy demos that I did in my basement. Unfortunately, at our last gig the girl STOPPED taking pictures because "there were too many people". Kinda hard to have a booked schedule if you're down a man for some reason. We were without a bass player for over a month - and they are hard to come by around here - can't keep a schedule that way. We've been trying to fight our way back ever since and it hasn't been easy. Other than charity gigs, we've had three shows since September. No one wants to book a band that isn't booked. Ugh... I have too many :facepalm:'s in my life.

 

Keyboard players are in a bit of a different camp than say, guitarists, bass players or drummers. Usually, the band is looking to either change their direction or just add a keys player to fatten their sound. We're mainly the sauce being added to the meat. The meat can still be eaten, but the sauce gives it that added flavor. Gigs can still be booked and played sans keyboard player, just won't have that "sound". Even for any instrument, it may be a situation that the musician may be leaving the band at some time(for whatever reason) and will continue to play gigs with this band until he leaves, giving time for his replacement to be up to speed with the setlist.

 

I've just recently joined a swing/blues/funk band after they were getting frustrated with their old keyboard player, whom they wanted to dump. Before the audition, I had attended one of their shows and really got a sense of the vibe from the people around me. For me, that tells me a lot more of this band than any picture would: the sound, energy. The dance floor was packed and the place was lively that night. The frontman/singer was very engaging and everyone there seemed to be having a ball. The audition went great for everyone in the band and myself. I played my first gig with them a few weeks ago and it turned out to be one of the most fun gigs I've ever played.

[TrickyBoy]

 

One as a drummer and one as the singer/guitarist. In both bands the singer (which is me in the second one) comes up with EVERY song.

 

 

Not saying this is a bad thing, it's just unique and something I've never seen before - someone in 2 original bands, one in which they have complete songwriting autonomy and one in which they have no input into song writing. Have you ever tried to collaborate with the other songwriter? Just curious.

 

As for the part about treading lightly when auditioning for an original band, I totally agree.

[Austincowbell]

 

Not saying this is a bad thing, it's just unique and something I've never seen before - someone in 2 original bands, one in which they have complete songwriting autonomy and one in which they have no input into song writing. Have you ever tried to collaborate with the other songwriter? Just curious. As for the part about treading lightly when auditioning for an original band, I totally agree.

 

 

I have and sometimes with very good results. However, I wouldn't want a guitarist coming to an audition and explaining that we will be co-songwriter in addition to guitarist. If he were in the band and played a riff for me and we wrote a song around it that would be awesome. If he started playing and/or singing songs he wrote that would make the rest of his his backing band and we didn't place an ad to be a backing band, we placed one looking for someone to play guitar.

[TrickyBoy]

 

I have and sometimes with very good results. However, I wouldn't want a guitarist coming to an audition and explaining that we will be co-songwriter in addition to guitarist. If he were in the band and played a riff for me and we wrote a song around it that would be awesome. If he started playing and/or singing songs he wrote that would make the rest of his his backing band and we didn't place an ad to be a backing band, we placed one looking for someone to play guitar.

 

 

I totally agree with you. I wasn't commenting on the rest of your post at all. Yeah, back in my original band days, if a guy showed up at an audition with a bunch of tunes that he wanted to sing and play, I'd probably end it right there.

 

Like I said, I just found your specific situation unique and was curious if you had tried to work together or had made the decision not to. That's all.

[stevesherbert]

i want to hear the band's music because it's a resume. a band without recordings is like an artist without paintings. if you just got the project together, then send me something from your previous projects. if you can't at the very least find something for me to check out, then i'm sorry but you're useless. also, i'd rather find out if i like your style before we get the entire band together.

 

if you send me your songs, i can learn the songs myself (what a concept!) instead of having to waste everybody's time at practice. if the song is missing my part, i'd rather have a few days to try and come up with something instead of having to fake it during the audition.

 

re: injecting new ideas into an original band, i think it all depends on how many songs they already have written. if the 'band' i'm auditioning for only has the bare bones of 2 or 3 songs (e.g. no lyrics, arrangements not solidified, drummer forgetting the changes, etc) then i consider my position as a songwriter in the band (i also have 2 or 3 'songs' on the go at any moment) to be roughly equal. if the band wants me to pay my share of expenses then i expect to receive my share of creative input. if you want a sideman, show me the money!

[rhat]

 

i want to hear the band's music because it's a resume. a band without recordings is like an artist without paintings. if you just got the project together, then send me something from your previous projects. if you can't at the very least find something for me to check out, then i'm sorry but you're useless. also, i'd rather find out if i like your style before we get the entire band together. if you send me your songs, i can learn the songs myself (what a concept!) instead of having to waste everybody's time at practice. if the song is missing my part, i'd rather have a few days to try and come up with something instead of having to fake it during the audition. re: injecting new ideas into an original band, i think it all depends on how many songs they already have written. if the 'band' i'm auditioning for only has the bare bones of 2 or 3 songs (e.g. no lyrics, arrangements not solidified, drummer forgetting the changes, etc) then i consider my position as a songwriter in the band (i also have 2 or 3 'songs' on the go at any moment) to be roughly equal. if the band wants me to pay my share of expenses then i expect to receive my share of creative input. if you want a sideman, show me the money!

 

 

 

 

I think what it boils down to is that, if you dont have a steady sub biz going, and you are on the couch looking for a band, the best way is to invest a couple months if things go well on the audition and see how it goes.

 

With a known working band,,,,its a faster process. The demons will surface if there are any, and you will see if the slots that are open because of internal band issues,, or the problem went down the road, and they are re tooling.

 

Many times, a great band will have a leader that is demanding and not that easy to work with. That is how they got really good. There does have to be a spark plug to push things most of the time and to drive the high standards.

 

Then you have to decide if its worth it to play in that band. You also have to figure out if you can make the guy happy and if he has realistic expectations. Its quite hard to walk into a top flight band and replace the guy who grew up with that band over a several year process. Big shoes to fill.. because its a top tier band.

[tucktronix]

 

i want to hear the band's music because it's a resume. a band without recordings is like an artist without paintings. if you just got the project together, then send me something from your previous projects. if you can't at the very least find something for me to check out, then i'm sorry but you're useless. also, i'd rather find out if i like your style before we get the entire band together. if you send me your songs, i can learn the songs myself (what a concept!) instead of having to waste everybody's time at practice. if the song is missing my part, i'd rather have a few days to try and come up with something instead of having to fake it during the audition.

 

 

I've been with my blues band for 17 years. We have NO recordings, website, CD's, mp3's(outside of a few recorded gigs), whatever. Yet, we are very well-known here in town. Our name frequently pops up on the local Freetime entertainment listing.

 

As I said before, anyone can send you an mp3 done in the basement. For me, it doesn't legitimize anything. I gotta see the group in action in front of a live audience at a gig.

 

As far as learning the songs, I was given a couple of CD's to learn a few weeks prior to the aforementioned audition.

[wro]

i'd never show up at an audition with a bunch of originals and ask everyone to play them...

 

if a band has 30 songs (covers or originals), why cant I suggest 1 within the first 2-3 practices ? Would it be too much ?

 

it is better than spending 2 months learning those 30 songs just to confirm that you are not gonna have any input (although in the beginning they said you would). as someone said, if you want a sideman, show me the money !

 

and i am in this for fun, not for money. and tell that upfront.

 

seeing the band live is a great idea - much better than myspace.

[SpaceNorman]

I take a more simple approach: - Can ALL of the existing members play, and control, their instruments? (drummer control volume & fills, guitar control wanking, etc..) *if not, I don't come back. - Did the band come prepared on the songs I'm auditioning with? *if not, I don't come back. - Was there good communication between the band to me before the audition (choosing songs, timely replies, etc...) *if not, I still audition, but it's a major flag, they are on thin ice. - Anyone show up drunk or high? *I don't even unpack my gear. - Any noticeable egos? *time and time again, every time I've made exceptions, no matter HOW damn good of a musician they are, it NEVER bodes well. ever. ever.

 

I like Kramerguy's approach alot! As a "first meeting" test - I think it's pretty much dead nutz on.

[wades_keys]

I like Kramerguy's approach alot! As a "first meeting" test - I think it's pretty much dead nutz on.

Agreed - he nailed it.

[SpaceNorman]

 

...now I commit based on one audition....

 

 

I suspect there's alot of wiggle in terms of what commitment really means. In many ways, I think the idea of committing based on one audition is alot like using the "L" word on a first date. Shame on whoever tosses the word around - and shame on whoever believes it!

 

Like Kramerguy - I'll give a commitment based on one audition. However, my "one audition" commitment simply means that I intend to get to work on learning the playlist and show up for rehearsals and gigs as though I'm a full member of the band. Reality however, is that I can't really commit to the band until I've really gotten to know my bandmates, and reach the point that I understand and buy into the band's vision.

[tucktronix]

 

Kramerguy sez... I take a more simple approach: - Can ALL of the existing members play, and control, their instruments? (drummer control volume & fills, guitar control wanking, etc..) *if not, I don't come back. - Did the band come prepared on the songs I'm auditioning with? *if not, I don't come back. - Was there good communication between the band to me before the audition (choosing songs, timely replies, etc...) *if not, I still audition, but it's a major flag, they are on thin ice. - Anyone show up drunk or high? *I don't even unpack my gear. - Any noticeable egos? *time and time again, every time I've made exceptions, no matter HOW damn good of a musician they are, it NEVER bodes well. ever. ever.

 

 

+1000

 

Yep, the litmus test. One of my real pet peeves is the constant noodling during conversations, something that happened very often in the last band I was in. I was very impressed with the professionalism with this new band, how I was able to hear each person speak.

[SpaceNorman]

 

One of my real pet peeves is the constant noodling during conversations ....

 

 

I can understand noodling gets on the nerves. For me - it's too much conversation. I absolutely hate when rehearsals turn into a yak-fest. The guys that seem to need to stop constantly to discuss every little thing drive me nutz. I understand the need for some discussion - but too much talk about how something's gonna get played instead of actually playing it will get me noodling. I go to rehearsal to play - if it's a conversation I could have saved the gas, the lug and the drive time and had the conversation over the phone will sitting at home in my underwear.

[SteinbergerHack]

 

Yeah, it is of course but maybe the OP shouldn't be so obvious about it.

 

 

Why not? Any job interview is a two-way street. In fact, if I don't think the candidate/auditioner is sincerely "interviewing back", I generally assume that they're either not interested or inexperienced enough to not be a good fit.

[rebelwoapplause]

 

Why not? Any job interview is a two-way street.

 

 

True, but there are some questions it would be unwise to ask on day 1. For a job, someone showing up to work on day 1 should not say, "Hey, when am I eligible for vacation?!" Surely, it is an important question. Surely, day 1 is not the best time to ask it.

 

We know this intuitively. Why it becomes a matter of contention in one area, I do not understand. But, all should do what works for them. If one interjects early, one risks blowing what could be great situations. If its too stressful to chill out and see what happens over a month or two, go ahead, interject on day 1. It'll just help the band move on more quickly to someone interested in building a working relationship, and, no harm in that I suppose.

 

Rebel

[tim_7string]

 

I think I explained in the sentences that followed the quote, but it all lies in the definition of "stamp". A prospective musician can show me how he puts his "stamp" on the songs that exist in our defined set list. I'd be anxious to see that! How they put their "stamp" on our direction....I'd entertain the discussion and if the "stamp" was within our parameters and desirable...then it's all great. I think your underlying point is that a new member will absolutely change the dynamic of a band and thereby em blaze their "stamp" regardless...no argument from me. However, if the prospective member says "I can play your Kings of Leon and Katy Perry songs, but I'd like the band to incorporate some songs I really like - such as some Doors and BTO"...well then that "stamp" won't fit for us. I'm not knocking the Doors or BTO, but they don't fit our direction. Maybe our band is different than most and my comments aren't generally relevant. Our band is not a total democracy; nor, is the worked shared evenly. My wife and I do all the booking, website maintenance, we front the band, provide the PA and set the general direction of the band. As singers we know are strengths and as a long running band (almost 10 years) we have a reputation and expectations from our fans and the venues in which we play. I don't want a new guitar players "stamp" to conflict with that. I guess it's all in semantic's. It depends on what you mean by "stamp".

 

 

I'm in a similar situation as yours and understand what you mean about direction. To keep the other two musicians in the band happy, we had to learn a couple of songs that they really liked, but I wasn't that into. While the drummer's songs were similar to our band focus, the guitarist/bassist's were not. He is more of an 80s hair-metal fan and wanted to do more Ozzy and Poison. Nothing wrong with that, but they kind of don't fit alongside Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, CCR and the like.

 

When we reorganize the band in a few months, we're going to have to work out exactly what we want to keep as our focus (our "bread and butter") and drop what doesn't fit the vision.

[tucktronix]

 

I can understand noodling gets on the nerves. For me - it's too much conversation. I absolutely hate when rehearsals turn into a yak-fest. The guys that seem to need to stop constantly to discuss every little thing drive me nutz. I understand the need for some discussion - but too much talk about how something's gonna get played instead of actually playing it will get me noodling. I go to rehearsal to play - if it's a conversation I could have saved the gas, the lug and the drive time and had the conversation over the phone will sitting at home in my underwear.

 

 

LOL... I can definitely understand what you're saying. I've been in some rehearsals like that, not much gets accomplished. In my experience, it's been the constant noodling and wanking that's been prevalent. When someone hears something that doesn't sound right, I would much rather hear this person voice their concerns about it. Either way, it's a total waste of time and gas money.

[tacdryver]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBpjRDqZuhw

 

Pro players and bands have video of them playing...mine is above...see their video and you will decide in 3 minutes to move forward or not...